Thursday Thoughts

Ten Thoughts This Thursday

1.  I wish...$200 baseball sign-ups weren't smack dab in the middle of the holiday shopping season.

2.  I want...to try stripping the paint off our mantel in order to stain it.

3.  I think...I'll begin planning my 40th birthday (yikes, it's 6 months away!)

4.  I have been...downloading some pretty awesome mash-ups.

5.  I appreciate...these nice fall days without rain...we'll get plenty of that later on.

6.  I enjoy...Starbucks iced teas.

7.  I struggle...with my Type A personality sometimes.  (Just.Let.It.Go)

8.  I feel...like I am caught up right now.  Whew!

9.  I hope...Nolan's baseball team wins their first play-off game on Saturday.

10.  I recommend...the following Paula Deen recipe:  http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/chicken-and-rice-casserole-recipe/index.html.

Custom Pumpkins

This year I wanted to bring a deep turquoise color into my Thanksgiving mantel design.  However, that color is a bit hard to find in between all of the orange, yellow, red, and brown on the shelves...especially when you are talking about pumpkins.

So I thought to myself...why don't you paint some pumpkins yourself?  

I found these pumpkins at Hobby Lobby, on sale of course, for about a dollar a piece.

And this one for a couple bucks.

My idea was to paint the pumpkins the deep turquoise color.  Then once dried, I would brush on a wood stain on top, to add dimension.  And it worked!

I started by mixing together some acrylic paints to create the color I wanted.

Then using a basic paintbrush, I painted the pumpkins...nothing too fancy.

After the paint dried (which didn't take very long) I used another paintbrush to brush on the stain.  I used a water-based stain because there is a little more give to it (opposed to a polyurethane) plus the clean-up is easier.

I had the option to wipe off a bit of the stain, but I felt that I didn't need to.  It was a totally easy project with a nice outcome.  The turquoise pumpkins add a nice richness to my mantel.

Rhinestone Monogram

I have mentioned it once (and maybe twice) recently that a Hobby Lobby opened close by.  During my first first sweep through the store I picked up some random things here and there.  When I stumbled across the wooden letters aisle, I had to pick up this R for my daughter's room.

Back from when I posted about the canvas art project I did, I had some extra 12x12 canvases that I thought I could use with the project.  So here it goes...there are 2 rounds.

Ding, ding, ding...Round One.

I gathered my materials.  My vision was to glue the paper to the canvas.  Cover the letter with rhinestones, and top the canvas with some ribbon and roses.

I began by spray painting the canvas and gluing on a piece of scrapbook paper with Modge Podge.

I then added some rhinestones to the wooden letter with a low temp glue gun...

...and glued it to the canvas.  I also added the ribbon and roses.

All was good until the letter peeled away from the paper and the paper peeled away from the canvas.  I think the satin finish of the spray paint is what did me in.  Nothing was sticking, but that wasn't stopping me.  I had to think of another idea.  And I did...

Ding, ding, ding.  Round Two.

I grabbed another 12x12 canvas (and the letter) and painted it with regular paint.  I had some "Ballet Slipper" paint left over from a previous project.

I decided to forgo the paper this time around and just added the ribbon and roses.  Of course, the colors don't come out as nicely as they do in person. 

Thursday Thoughts

Ten Thoughts This Thursday

1.  I wish...my kids wouldn't bicker (but know it's normal.)

2.  I want...new winter clothes.

3.  I think...Kim Kardashian has made a fool of herself.

4.  I laugh...when our chickens play chase when one has something.

5.  I appreciate...respectful students.

6.  I enjoy...polishing my nails.

7.  I struggle...with finishing the "No Bread" challenge.

8.  I feel...like I've been low on the patience side.

9.  I hope...November is good to us.

10.  I recommend...Benefit's lip plumping lip gloss.  Love it!

Thankful Tree

Finally, part II of the "Give Thanks" post I did last week.  I came across the idea of a "Thankful Tree" quite a while ago and I haven't forgotten.  The idea is to have leaves that the kids write on each day, stating something they are thankful for during the month of November, placed on the branches.

For this project I needed brown butcher paper, paper leaves of various colors, and painter's tape.  I started by taping the butcher paper on the wall and drawing the trunk and branches.

Here are the leaves I am using.  I used the die cut machine at work (school) to cut them out.

Here is what the wall looks like right now.

Each night, the kids will take a leaf and write something they are thankful for on it.  Then they will place it up on a branch of the tree.  The leaves are taped on the wall using painter's tape.  By the end of the month the tree will be filled with colorful leaves and thankful thoughts.

Happy Halloween

Have a fabulous and safe Halloween!

-Emily

Something I Whipped Up: Monster Eyes

Here it is the day before Halloween and I didn't have anything little for the kids' teachers.  I wanted something easy and that didn't require any baking.  I searched through Pinterest and came across this idea from The Fickle Pickle.

I used her free printables for the eyeballs and the gift tag.  The idea is to glue/tape the "eyeballs" to one end of a mini Reese's cup.