Thanksgiving, Dollar Tree and Cost Effective Decorations

I have pinned so many things for decorating for Thanksgiving. I am a bit obsessed with Pinterest, and I am sure some of you know what I mean.  I shop thrift stores year round for different items. All the candle globes came from the Goodwill, Salvation Army and Dollar Tree. I paid less than $1.00 each for them.

Happy Thanksgiving Banner

Material List

Twine
Scissors
Hot Glue
Burlap or Linen
Letters
Leaves
Safety Pins



I picked up the leaves and paper letters from the Dollar Store, I've had the twine on hand for a couple of years.



Paper Letters. There are 3 of each letter so I had enough to do one Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas.







I'm a lucky girl, the town I live in has a fabric ware house called Phoenix Fabrics, they are open once a month to the public. It is an amazing warehouse full of every possible fabric. I picked up a scrap of linen several months ago for less than $3.00. I was thinking of making a runner for the dining room table, but that project never happened. LOL!

Disclaimer: I didn't take photos of each step, but it really is pretty simple.

First, I made the streamer to hold the linen flags. I made it long enough with little swag. I made 2 of these on for Happy and the other Thanksgiving.

I didn't measure out how far apart the leaves were, I just randomly hot glued them to the twine.

Flags

I made a template from a brown paper bag, laid it on the linen and then cut out my flags. They are roughly 4" wide at the top. They are not perfectly straight (this was a little difficult for my OCD to swallow) But my creative side, "ohhh that looks so good!" LOL 

I hot glued my letters simply because I was out of Tacky Glue. It worked very well.

There are times my OCD has full control and making sure the banner was centered to the fireplace opening was non-negotiable. FYI, the fireplace is non-working (no chimney).

First, I hung the twine for Happy. The first P was the middle letter so I centered it with the opening. I used the safety pins and attached each side to the twine. I did the same thing for Thanksgiving.

This took about and hour to finish give or take 15 minutes.

The Windows

I didn't take photos of the process, but it is sooooo simple and really added to the feel of the room.

I went across the street and pick up pine cones and hot clued them to twine. I then tied them to the tension rod.  The larger windows I added leaves too and again tied it to the rod.

The Candles

I 5 of these candle at the Dollar Tree, wrapped them in twine and tied a bow in front.

Before

After

I bought pinto and Lima beans and orange split peas and filled the globes and mason jars. I tied twine around the candles in the jars and on the outside of the mason jars.

I set some of these in the fireplace, some on the mantle, and others on the dinner table.

At the back of the fireplace I placed a mirror to reflect the light. I wish the mirror was large, but this was all I had on hand and it was a last minute idea.

Basket of flowers

On top of the mantle I placed of basket of flowers I've collected over the past year or so. I use them for wreaths. It worked out really well they happened to be fall colors, deep oranges, reds, purples.

 

Simple, cheap and fun to make, it doesn't get any better than that!

Would love to see your Turkey Day decor :)

Mel :D

Halloween Take Over!

I'm having a ball this Halloween with the décor! I don't know if I'm doing it for by sweet boy or if it is for me, LOL.

The Witches Brew

 

SPIDERS!!

 



 

Happy Halloween Table Runner

 

 

 Hurricane Lamp with a grapevine wreath wrapped in fall leaves.



 

Scary black bats!

 Lots of Jack-O-Lanterns

 

 

 

Autism Football Behavior Chart!

This is one of the most awesome ideas for a behavior chart. My son is autistic and we are always looking for ways to help with his behavior. He is also ADHD, OCD, sensory processing and the list goes on. 

Anyway, he has ABA therapy through the week and our wonderful therapist came up with the idea of a football behavior chart. Side note, he is obsessed with football, he wears a different jersey everyday! LOL

He starts in the End Zone on the left and each time he meets one of his goals he moves 10 yards! If he doesn't do what he is suppose to do he moves 10 yards back. When he gets a touchdown he gets to choose his reward.

His favorite football player is former Gamecock, Marcus Lattimore and current 49er! He loves to move Marcus and get the touchdown! 

Would love to hear your comments and if you have a great way to help manage behavior I would love to know!

Mel:D

Halloween Wreath for Grandma Fread :)

I know I have been MIA from my site, but it is not without warrant. I do currently have several unfinished projects going on ;}  My Hubby's family will be coming for Thanksgiving this year (they live in Missouri and Kansas) which means big projects around the house!  Poor, poor Hubs!

Now that you know that useless bit of information... I got a text from my Aunt asking me to make a Halloween wreath for my grandparents they're 91!!! 

You know most of my projects I do on the cheap, but it's my g'parents and I want to do it up right! I get my handy dandy smart phone, hit up Michael's and Hobby Lobby with my in store coupons, and still come out pretty good.

I hit there Halloween decor and starting picking up stuff at random with no real thought about how it would end up.

I did make sure I had the black, purple, orange and green deco mesh, black ribbon and a circle foam.

I covered the circle foam in the black ribbon, took the deco mesh (I use floral pins and hot glue to hold in place) and worked my way round the circle. Once this was completed it's just a matter of putting everything in place.

I took my larger items the WELCOME sign, owl, witches hat, BOO!, large spider, large pumpkin and the squiggles (for lack of a better word) and placed them around. I always go back and forth, moving, adjusting, and arranging everything. I also like to let it hang up on the door so I can see how it will lay.

 

 

 

Once I have the bigger items like I want them, I hot glue and pin them in place. After this I place the small green and black spiders around, green, purple, and black glass balls, small squiggles, etc.

This project at most took an hour, more like 35-45 minutes.

Let me know your thought!! I would love to see your projects too.

Happy Halloween!
Mel :D

Getting Ready for Game Day! GOOOO GAMECOCKS!

I saw this on Pinterest and KNEW I had to try my hand at making it.

 

 

Supplies:

• 5-1x4's
• Paint- I like Lowe's Valspar Vanilla Steam, I've had a gallon for about 6 months I use on different projects. It is the perfect NOT WHITE, NOT YELLOWISH neutral.
• Sample paint Madeira Red, I got a sample from Lowe's at Christmas for $2.50, I used it on this project, O' Come Let Us Adore Him. Then while at Lowe's I picked up another sample of it from their Oops paint for $0.50!
• Electric saw and tape measure to cut the wood down.
• Electric Drill and screws or a hammer and nails. (A drill is so much easier :-})
• Paper for your stencil and scissors to cut it out.
• Paint brushes: Foam and artist brushes

First I cut the wood down to 36" pieces. Screwed in the cross pieces to hold it all together.  I didn't take photos of this process (sorry:}) Here's the after.

 

 

To make my stencil I used my PC, scrap paper, and scissors. Open MS Word or what ever word processing program you have, type out your text and enlarge, trace the letter and cut them out. I guesstimated at the size I needed and it worked out:)

 

 

 

Side note: There are TONS of FREE FONTS out there you can get a little side tracked looking for the PERFECT font!

 

 

 

It took me about 30 minutes to copy all the text and cut them out.

 

OK, now paint your base.

 

You can either caulk the seams or leave them alone, I left them. I want my sign to look a little aged and tumbled.

After the paint has dried (of course) lay it all out again, and use a pencil and lightly trace around your letters.

 

Can  you see it???

 

After everything is traced start painting.

 

I have no idea why I started at the bottom....

 

 

 

So, here is my little BIG difference, LOL. I added the Gamecock's logo to the State.

 

 

 

 

Happy Pinteresting!!!

 

Mel:D