Sawdust and Paper Scraps: Front Door Fall Leaves

Hi ECE peeps! I'm Sandra from Sawdust and Paper Scraps. I just moved and am living in a cardboard box maze so I'm not super motivated to go crazy with seasonal decorations when I have so many really necessary projects to work on in order to just LIVE in our house. However, Halloween is my daughter's FAVORITE holiday so I have to do something. I decided the porch, at least, should give her a cheery if not spooky greeting when she comes home from school every day.

It's not over the top, but it's a little more holiday spirit inducing than this:

This project had to be quick because, like I said, I'm up to my eyeballs in BIG remodeling projects and am a bit overwhelmed...

Anyway, I had the topiary already so I just went to the dollar store and spent $5 on 5 bunches of fall leaves and flowers.

Cut them apart with electrical wire cutters because that's what's in my toolbox.

I simply wrapped them around the topiary stems.

 

I started at the bottom and worked my way up.

Then I found my SPOOKY SIGN that I made last year, through it up and 5 Minutes later - BAM! Fall decorations -- check!

OK, It's not my usual "Totally Decked Out" holiday decorating but it's something and it was quick. We don't always have hours and hours or $$$$ for decorations that are coming down in 30 days anyway, right?

That's what I keep telling myself anyway.

Come on over and check out all my Halloween decorations that I had time and leisure to create last year before SOMEONE got the bright idea that it would be fun to move again. Sigh!

Happy Fall Everyone.

I agree! You don't have to spend a lot of money to make something super cute -
I love that you simply added fall leaves to your porch - they turned out darling!

Today was the last day for Tutorials -

but tomorrow I have an amazing Giveaway to wrap it all up with -

You won't want to miss it - I promise!

A Lemon Squeezy Home: Bats!!

First - If you haven't entered the $25 Tara Dara Giveaway yet - please do!

Okay - now onto the super cute guest poster!

Hello Every Crafty Endeavor readers!  My name is Christie and I blog over at A Lemon Squeezy Home.  I’m excited Amanda asked me to join in on the fun of her Fall Fever event! 

I’m sure you’ve all seen the Country Living Bats from a couple years ago.  I know I was excited to make some for my own front door and then some for inside my house.  Out of all my Halloween decorations, these get the most comments.

It’s pretty self-explanatory, especially for those well seasoned in the freezer paper painting method.

  

You’ll need:

-freezer paper

-cardstock

-paintbrush

-acrylic paint

-shirt

-bat shirt template (click HERE to download).  This template is for a toddler size shirt—the size shirt I used was 3T.  You could use multiple templates however, to paint the bats onto a larger area if you want to.  To create the template, I used THIS bat.

Ok, so I’m spoiled and my hubby bought me a silhouette for Christmas last year, so I was able to use my trace feature and cut my freezer paper that way.  But I sure have done a fair amount of cutting my freezer paper by hand on a few different projects.  If I was to do that on this project, I’d probably simplify the shape of the bats a bit while cutting them out (if not using a silhouette, then trace the template onto the freezer paper and cut out the bats, or you can print onto the freezer paper—I’ve done that before but sometimes the freezer paper gets stuck in my printer and that’s no fun!)

Iron the freezer paper onto the shirt.  Make sure that you get the edges to stick down well so the paint doesn’t seep under.

Place a piece of thick paper (I use cardstock) between the layers of the shirt.

And paint away.  Dabbing the brush seems to work great and not lift up the freezer paper. Both my sons helped me paint this—it’s a great project for kids!

Once you are finished painting, you can peel off the freezer paper.  Just be careful not to get any paint on the shirt where you don’t want it!

  

Allow the paint to dry before removing the cardstock.

All done!  A brand new Halloween shirt.  My boys loved it so much they want one of their own now.

Thanks so much for having me today, Amanda!  What a great idea Fall Fever is.  I’ve loved seeing what everyone has come up with! 

This is so fun! I love all the cute bats - it is so fun to see them everywhere on your house -

Tomorrow is the last day of tutorials and Sawdust and Paper Scraps is here!

Thirty Handmade Days: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies & Printable

Hi Every Creative Endeavor readers! I'm Mique from 30days. I live in the beautiful Los Angeles area with my husband and three kids- 2 boys, 1 girl. I am passionate about my family, friends and creating. I am learning to embrace my role as an autism momma. I also love running the Queen Bee Market with my sister Jessica.

Fall is my favorite time of year. Growing up my mom made everything pumpkin flavored thing she could in the fall. Pumpkin cookies, muffins, bread, pie. Shhhh....don't tell...I actually didn't like pumpkin for a long time because it was a little pumpkin overkill at our house. So today I wanted to share some pumpkin chocolate chip cookies and a fun printable tag. What better way to bring in the new season than with a plate full of cookies and a happy note?

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes 3 dozen cookies

Cream the following together:

1 c. shortening

1 c. sugar

1 c. canned pumpkin

1 egg

Then add one at a time in order and mix well:

1 tsp. vanilla

2 c. flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 bag of chocolate chips (I sometimes mix 1/2 milk chocolate & 1/2 semi sweet chocolate chips)

Mix well. Place on greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes (I just do 10 mins, I go for underdone rather than overdone). 

Make your cookies & print out a page of Happy Fall tags.
For personal use only.

Drop them off at friends or neighbors before your family eats them all up.

These cookies would be perfect for new neighbors too.
You could attach a Welcome to the Neighborhood card to them. 

Very Cute and Thanks so much for including your darling tags!!

A Lemon Squeezy Home is here tomorrow so come on back!

Wannabe Crafty: Give Thanks Magnets

Hello all you ECE readers! What a fun collection of projects so far at Amanda's FALL FEVER, right?  I'm stoked to be joining the party :)  I'm Nicole- mom to a mischevious one year old boy, luckiest wife in the world, triathlon junkie, and in my spare time I blog over at Wannabe Crafty about all my creative projects.

Perhaps my favoite thing about this time of year is Thanksgiving.  I know that holiday is still a few months away, but because of my love for TG, autumn always brings gratitude to my mind.  So for my contribution to Fall Fever, I'm going to show you how I made these cute little "Give Thanks" magnets.  I love them on my magnetic whiteboard calendars and on my refrigerator! They are small daily reminders of what I need to do more of every day.

SUPPLIES:

1" square glass tiles (I got mine here)

Glaze (I used this, Amanda shows you another way here)

Magnet (I used a free magnet from a business)

"Give Thanks" printable (download my image below or make your own)

Wax paper to cover your working surface

I made this image using scrapbook paper from the free download site shabbyprincess.com (shabby fall orange paper).  Fonts are Century Gothic and Freebooter Script.

First you will need to print and trim your 1x1 images.  I use a laser printer to avoid ink smears after the glaze is applied.  Next, apply glaze to the back of your tiles.  Then place the glass tile, glue side down, onto your trimmed "Give Thanks" image.  Let dry.

Cut your free magnet up into squares just slightly smaller than 1"x1" and glue them to the backs of the images using the glaze (or super glue, or E6000, or whatever suits your fancy). 

That's it!  Pop it on anything magnetic and be a little more grateful :) 

Be sure to stop by my blog, Wannabe Crafty to check out my tutorials and projects.  Thanks for having me over, Amanda!

Nicole! Those turned out so cute and who doesn't need a constant reminder to give thanks around the holidays when things get so crazy! What a great idea!
Thirty Handmade Days is here tomorrow so come on back!

Shop For Sharlie

Jessica (one of Sharlie's best friends) and Mique reached out to the creative community to come up with a way to raise funds for her impending medical bills. They created a Shop for Sharlie- full of tutorials, printables, and advertising opportunities.

And guess what? I get to participate! I am delighted that I get to use a creative talent to help someone in need!
I donated a tutorial to make a Burlap Message Board – It is super cute and perfect for any space!
(I knocked it off of this Ballard Design Message Board)

The tutorial is only $5.00!! Every single dollar raised will go straight to Sharlie's Angels. So shop 'til your heart is content. And in return it will help Sharlie get her new heart.

Sharlie is a wife and mom.
She loves to read.
She loves to laugh.
She has an infectious smile.
And the best hugs on the planet.
Sharlie is also awaiting a double lung AND heart transplant.
She is an inspiration.
A fighter.
A miracle.

To find out more information about the shop – click here!

Brown Paper Packages: Burlap Garland

Hello friends!  I'm Kierste, the girl behind {brown paper packages}, and I am delighted to be a part of Amanda's "Fall Fever"!

  I'm a simple girl, and believe that the simple touches are what make all the difference. Burlap is one of my favorite things to work with, and it's absolutely perfect for this time of year.  This burlap garland is one of those simple touches, and will take just minutes to make! It's also an inexpensive project--less than $5--plus all you need is some burlap and some twine!
I {love} it!

ITEMS YOU NEED:

• burlap
• twine/jute

DIRECTIONS:

1.  Measure your space, and cut a piece of twine to fit the space, plus a little extra on either side. Tie a knot where you want to begin your strips of burlap on one end, and a knot on the other end, where you want your strips to stop.

2.  Cut the burlap into strips--I wanted mine long, so made them about 2 inches wide and 18 inches long.

3.  Starting where the knot is, start tying your strips of burlap on the twine.  I used about a yard of burlap.

Add this to your mantel, a doorway, or even across your front porch for a darling addition to your fall decor.
 

Thanks so much for having me, Amanda!  I hope you'll stop on by {brown paper packages} to say hi...I'd love to have you!

What a fun, cheap and easy project! Those kinds are the best kinds!
Burlap is so fun to work with and this project is darling!
Stay tuned for tomorrow - Nicole from Wannabe Crafty is here!

Go! Baby Fall Medley Table Runner

You know how you don’t really know what you are missing out on until you do? Does that make sense?
I had NO idea what I was missing out on before I used the Go! Baby Fabric Cutter – and now I am positive I could never make a quilt without one. This machine is amazing!

I decided to give it a test run and started out with a Fall Medley Table Runner – Perfect for Autumn and my Fall Fever! I think it turned out so cute and and was so easy to make – thanks to the ease of using the Go! Baby!

First – let me show you how easy it is to use the machine. You get it out of the box and open it – and your ready to use it – YES WAY!! That easy!!

There are a lot of different dies you can use – I used the 2 1/2” strips and the Fall Medley for my project.
Here is am using the strips.

First, You cut your material the size of the die you are going to be using. Second, you lay your material on the die. Third, you cover your die and fabric with the cutting mat and lastly, you roll it through – make sure you roll in the direction you want your die to roll.

When you are all done – you will have perfect strips!

Or perfect, leaves and pumpkins!!

Normally, I would have had to trace, and cut all these out by hand – but not anymore!!
I seriously cut all these out in a little under 3 minutes! 3 MINUTES PEOPLE!! YAY!!!

Then I simply sewed it all together!

and a couple more because I am still in awe of how simple it was!!

If you haven’t looked into getting an Accuquilt Go! Baby – I would seriously encourage you to do so! Tell your hubby that it’s on your Christmas list and send them over there right now!  There are so many things going on right now – click the following link below to download 22 FREE patterns – sweet!! I did and I love them! I cannot wait to try a bunch out!

While you are there downloading – you can also click on over to the Go! Baby for this amazing deal!

FREE Gift with Purchase!
Receive a FREE GO! Die Set with a GO! Baby Fabric Cutter purchase - a $112 value! One (1) free gift per cutter. Plus, get2 FREE Patterns!

p.s. Disclaimer: I did receive the Go! Baby and a couple dies for review, but the opinions are my own and are totally honest and I really do love this machine!

I am linked to Motivate me Monday