Burlap Banner Tutorial

Hey there!!

Recently I took you guys on a little tour of my cheaply inexpensively decorated fall home.  One of the stops was my fall mantel.  It really makes me happy every time I walk in our family room.  Even when the pumpkins I so artfully set up are scattered all over the floor.  Can you tell I live with little people?

The banner that I added was super easy to make.  All I needed was a good movie, and what better movie to get me in the fall/Halloween mood than Hocus Pocus?!? Love Love Love that movie!!!

This was way easy to make.  So it hardly needs a tutorial, but I'll show you the steps I took to make mine anyway.

You'll need:

1 Burlap.  I bought 2 yards at Walmart.  1yd is enough, but I have plans for my leftover.

2. Some pretty ribbon to hold your pennants together.

3. Stop Fraying (I'm pretty sure glue would work too)

Things I already had on hand: Card stock, Marker for tracing, acrylic paint, hot glue gun

I started by printing my word.  One letter per page on card stock.  Sorry, I can not for the life of me remember the size, but I used Century Schoolbook for the font.

Next, I created a card stock template for tracing pennants.  Mine was 8 inches across the top and 12 inches down each slanted side.  I had to play around with sizing to be sure my letters fit.  Next I traced a pennant for each letter.  I chose autumn because I feel like fall wouldn't have been long enough for the size of my mantel.

Once the pennants were all traced, I cut each one out.  Be ready for some serious sweeping and vacuuming, as there will be strands and burlap particles all over.

Then, I immediately applied this Stop Fraying solution.   I used this entire bottle.

TIP: I used a paint brush to help spread it along the edges.

While I waited for the Stop Fraying to dry I cut out each of my letters.  I wish I had one of those awesome Silhouette cutting machines, but I don't.  So very carefully I cut out each letter, be very sure to keep the surrounding paper in tact.  I laid my letters out on my pennants one last time to ensure they all fit nicely.

I used double sided tape to hold my letter templates down while I sponged on my brown acrylic paint.

Mostly I only had to do one coat, but there were a few I went back over.

Once they were all painted,  I lined them up.  I left about a fingertip's worth of space between each one.  

Last I used my hot glue gun to glue on a pretty crocheted ribbon I picked up from Hobby Lobby.

I have since fixed my rose, that appears to be unraveling. 

After I had hung my banner I decided it needed a little something, so I made cute little ribbon roses.  I hot glued them on, then added a small brown pearl accent to the tips of each pennant.  I had those in my stash.

I finished a little before the movie went off, but missed the ending due to the fact I was staring blissfully at my new banner.  Sigh... I'm in love.

Cheap Fall Home Decorations

Hey all!! 

October is well under way and I am loving the crisp fall air and beautiful colors.  I have not always been a fan of the fall.  I typically only saw it as the end of summer, that glorious season in which I was off work and basically played at the pool or beach.  However, as I have grown, so has my love for all seasons, including the fall.

As a child I loved dressing up for Halloween, but as a young adult, the holiday lost it's appeal.  Now, this mother of three, loves it all over again.  I can't wait to dress my kiddos up, take 65,000 pictures, and go Trick or Treating!! This will be the first year I get to be creative during Halloween.  Ace wants to be a Spy, not the trench coat and sunglasses kind, a secret agent spy with cool gadgets.  He's kind of obsessed with SpyKids.  I've got some great ideas up my sleeve for him!  Bear keeps saying he wants to be a pumpkin.  If he gets his way, it will be his 4th... yes 4th year as a pumpkin.  Haven't decided on a costume for CJ yet, traditionally I've dressed the youngest in the pumpkin costume we have, but that may not work out this year.

Thanksgiving is another fall holiday I have a new found love for.  As a foodie, it has always been dear to my heart (especially while in college).  I have so many things to be thankful for and I love a holiday that celebrates all of those things.  This year will be extra special because my little turkey (CJ) will be turning 1 very close to Thanksgiving this year.  We brought him home from the hospital last Thanksgiving.   I've decided to host a huge Thanksgiving this year so our family can all give thanks and celebrate my baby's first year together.

In years past, I wasn't a huge seasonal decorator.  When the Christmas holidays rolled around my husband and I would go all out, 13ft tree and all, but the fall was typically passed over with the exception a Jack-O-Lantern on the front porch.  Last year I began collecting and making fall decorations for my home.

Today, I want to share some of the things I've made and collected.  Hopefully in the next week I can do a tutorial or at least point you in the direction of some really good ones.

These little scarecrows welcome guest at the front door.  This is one of the few items I've had for a few years.  It's seen better days, so I spruced it up with some Dollar Tree glitter accents.

I added simple little metal pumpkins on this table.  I bought them for $3.99 at the supermarket.  I have yet to add little tea lights.

I've been in love with burlap banners since I've seen them popping up all over the blogosphere.  Of course I had to make one.  UPDATE!! Here's my Tutorial!!

A closer look.  I love this, especially since it was pretty simple and inexpensive to make.

I added mini pumpkins to a cylinder vase I already had, and topped my candle sticks with  dressed up Dollar Tree pumpkins.

I made these last year (or was it the year before last?).  Quite simple, I painted them the same color as my family room walls, applied a crackle medium, then topped with white paint.  The jewel and ribbon came this year.  I thought they needed a bit of bling.

Moving on to the kitchen, I made and hung a new burlap wreath on my pantry door.  All my searches for burlap banner tutorials lead me to burlap wreath tutorials and I couldn't pass this up.  They were both so easy and like I said before, cheap.

I found these happy little guys at Walmart for $1.99.  I love them, of course I had to get three!! I added them to one of my kitchen windows.

I added 3 little pumpkins to my window by the sink.  They make me happy.

I put together a small platter of candles (which I already had), small pumpkins, and foe leaves for the kitchen table.  At some point I know I will be making a fall flower arrangement, but for now this will do.

I made a similar platter in my dinning room.  I bought those pumpkins last year from Hobby Lobby at %50 off towards the end of the fall season.  At the end of this fall season I will be going back to shop for cheap decorations again.

I had to add these pictures of the two Softsoap dispensers I bought.  I added one to the kitchen sink and one in our downstairs powder room.  When Ace first saw the Jack-O-Lantern, I was promptly given the best mom ever award.  I gladly accepted of course.  I love this age when it truly is the little things that make them so happy.

Munchkin's Disney Cars Birthday Party

Get ready for a photo overload!  I am so excited to share my uum.. Munchkin's party.  All of the hard fun work paid off.  The Munchkin had an awesome time.  I tried to take pics of everything but that didn't work out.  I also plan on doing tutorials for most of the DIY projects I did, so stay tuned.  Alright, enough of the chit chat... on to the party!!

The decorations!

I was trying to not go totally commercial with the decor.  We did purchase some balloons, a scene setter, and a few other items (like plates for the littles).  Mostly though, I attempted to make the decorations, starting with this balloon wreath.

I read some where (forgive me because I don't remember where) that it could be a cute tradition of hanging it on the door of the birthday honoree for the week of their birthday.  Munchkin loved it!!  Tutorial to come!!

I added traffic lights, and tissue puffs around too.  Those puffs are super easy to make and they add fun and color.  The Traffic lights are just spray painted orange juice boxes (tip: just wrap in black paper, it took too many coats of paint to cover them).  I also shopped around the house for Cars things we already owned (like the mini lunchbox).  

What's a Cars party with out Lightning McQueen!?!?! We had Mater too on the other side.

Blurry much?

The Food!

I tried to tie everything to Disney Cars, We of course dinned at Flo's V8 cafe.   

The Menu:

Chick's Chicken Nuggets, 

Mater's Taters, 

Holly's Hot Dogs, 

Mack's Mac n' cheese, 

A Champion Chili Bar with Finn's Fixens'

Chili bars are great for parties because you can make the chili ahead (and freeze), keep it warm in a crock pot and people can customize the way they like - Chili dogs, Chili fries etc... I add toppings like chopped onions, bacon, cheddar cheese, and sour cream (I meant to add chives, but totally forgot).  Yesterday we had chili mac for dinner with... you guessed it, left over chili.

Guest also got to munch on Cozy Cone Motel Munchies.

I made all of the food labels using MS word since we don't have photoshop.  Hind sight... It would have saved tons of time buying everything pre-made and time is money right? (but whats the fun in that?!?).

For the drinks we had Filmore's Organic Fuel (green lemonade), Rusteeze Bumper Oil ( Coke), I also made labels for the water bottles.  The little guests (and some of the grown ones) drank from cone cups.

The Sweets!

What's a party without sweets, and boy oh boy did I go crazy with the sweets.  It's 4 days later and the Munch is still coming down off his high.  There is just so much great inspiration out there, I couldn't help myself.  I encourage anyone party planning to do a google images search and just scan.  I usually don't even go onto the websites... I just look at pictures and get inspiration.

I didn't get pics of everything, but here's the dessert buffet run-down!!

Candy Dipped Marshmallows

White Chocolate Covered Oreo Pops

Traffic Light Rice Krispies and Racing Stix (Chocolate covered pretzels using a race car mold)

Birthday Cake and Cupcakes of course.  I made the everything myself from scratch.  I think I've mentioned before that I was not a big fan of cake with icing... until I started making my own.  There is such a huge difference in taste when you make things from scratch.  (tip: make batches of the dry ingredients before hand, then you just have to add the wet ingredients when your ready).  The cake was chocolate with white chocolate buttercream (recipes to come).  I colored some of the frosting blue for cupcakes, and green to make grass and bushes.  I set the cupcakes up on a Cars Racetrack which doubled as a gift to Munchkin after the party.  Sorry I didn't get a great pic of the cupcake set up... but trust me it was cool.

   I also had tons of red or blue candy and cars fruit snacks. 

There were more than one cupcakes with finger swoops through them by the time guests arrived, Munchkin just couldn't help himself.

I tried my hardest to get a good pic of the completed table, but it was a gray day and nothing I tried worked : (.

The Activities:

Last year I spent a week of late nights and no sleep making this huge cardboard train for Munchkin's Train Party.  I thought for a second of making Cars characters out of cardboard... but decided I'd rather have sleep.  Turns out I ended up staying up until at least 2 the week before the party anyway.  When they arrived they all got to put on VIP Pit Passes with their names (the adults had pit passes too, but not personalized).  

The kids were able to color and get temporary tattoos at Ramone's House of Body Art.

My niece posing for a pic... lol!

I also transformed the reading tent into the cozy cone motel with some orange fabric from Walmart... of course I have no pic!!, and it was so cute... No sewing either!

We also played Tractor Tipping (pics of the tractors taped to empty water bottles) the kids loved it.

Of course this pic was taken before little hands got a hold of the bean bags.

I had a little play area set up, with a Cars rug and all of the Cars toys the boys have.

The Scene setter was 3D, Munchkin tried so hard to get the glasses on himself.

Before leaving the kids took home a goody bag filled with sweets from the dessert buffet, cars crayons, a hot wheels car, stickers, and a cars puzzle, along with their Cone cup.  All in all this party was a huge success.  The kids (especially Munchkin) had a blast!  This is what makes all of the time and effort I put into his parties worth it.  Happy 3rd Birthday Little Man, Mommy Loves you!!

Resources:

The signage for Flo's V8 cafe, Filmore's Organic Fuel, and Ramone's - So Wonderful, So Marvelous

Lot's of Great ideas! - The Jolly Mom and Mad In Craft

Homemade Sugar Scrub

Hey all!! Sorry I missed you on Friday (lol, you may not have noticed I didn't post a Friday Five).  The boys were in rare form, and I had a serious case of writers block?!?  Anyway, I can't wait to show you what I did this weekend.  

So in my last Friday Five, I explained how I'd like to take care of me a little better.  Give myself a bit of pampering here and there.  Well a side from giving myself a full Mary Kay  Miracle Set treatment here and there, I also decided to get back to giving myself spa treatments.  You know foot soaks, and all.  Well I happened to be searching for race car party ideas (the Munchkin is turning 3, more on that later...), anyway I found this on one of my bloggy friend Latoya's Page.  

Pinterest via The Scott's Crib

I am easily distracted so while it had nothing to do with race car parties, I decided to take a closer look.

Your very own salt scrub?!!?! I have got to try that... and I did!!

Years ago I used to get this scrub from Bath & Body Works.  It was a lavender scented sugar scrub, and it used to make my skin feel so smooth and smell delish!! Problem... it was $20 a jar.  Also these days hubby and I share a car, so trips to the mall during the week don't happen, and honestly... taking an almost 3 year old and a 16 month old are hardly my idea at a fun trip to the mall.

Anyway... here's what I did.  During my trip to the super market I bought the following: Raw sugar (I was trying to imitate my fav from BBW), Grape seed oil (okay in the original pin it says olive oil, but I forgot and figured I just pic any kind).  The Sugar was $2.99, and the oil was 4.99.  You see where I'm going with this???

When I got home and re-read the pin I saw that you could use almond oil or olive oil, as luck would have it, I actually had a bottle of a body oil mix (almond, olive, peanut... and Vitamin E).  I grabbed this bottle, my bottle of lavender essential oil, my new purchases, and a random glass jar that I had just sitting around waiting to be used.

Sorry the pic qualities aren't so great... I did this at night.

I bought the Almond mixture from a natural health food store, I think it was around $7, I typically add this to bath water (I get really dry skin in the winter).  The essential oil came from the same store for $9.99 (I know because the price sticker is still there), yes sounds like a lot for such a small bottle (it's the little dark brown one).. but you really only use a few drops at a time.  I've been using drops like crazy: in the bath tub if I take a soak, in shampoos and conditioners, lotions.. you get the idea.. I love the smell of lavender and the bottle is still filled to near the top.

I added equal parts of the almond oil, and grape seed oil.  Notice the jar isn't even half full?  If I was to do it again I'd start with less oil.  Possibly 1/4 cups of each oil (or you could just do 1/2 cup olive oil).

Then I added about 5 drops of essential oil.

Then I started pouring my sugar in.  Not sure how much... maybe a cup and a half (maybe 2?).  I just kept pouring until it was at the top.

And that's it.  Voila' !!! I tried it right away on my hands, and could not stop rubbing them together and smelling them (sounds crazy right?).  Later on in the shower I gave myself the spa like scrub my dry skin has been needing.  OMG!!  I am so excited to have found this.  I will never go back to store bought scrubs.  This was so simple and inexpensive to do.

If you count what I spent at the grocery store it cost me $7.98, compared to $20 for a smaller jar!!!  If you add in the other oils I used the total is $24.99... but I have so much leftover I could make this at least three more times... and still have PLENTY of essential oil left!!! I may start getting creative and add some aloe, or maybe combine some other kind of essential oils for different scents.

Hope you enjoyed!! I really encourage you to try this! I can't wait to get in the shower again ; ).

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