Thanksgiving Tables and Place Cards

I cannot believe how fast Thanksgiving snuck up on me.

I confess. I did not even get any of my fall decorations out. 

I might as well just zip on into the Christmas stuff. But not until we get back home.

Right now I’m working on place cards for Thanksgiving.

And if you need a last minute idea, then this is for you.

We just cut down a little sapling from the backyard. A thick branch would work too. 

Then we chopped it up into little chucks with the chop saw. And by we, I mean he.

And then HE used the Dremel tool to make little slits. 

All he had was a metal cutting disc but I’d recommend one for wood. 

It took a bit of effort which isn't really safe.

I printed out the cards on some olive green card stock. I downloaded a brush set from Shadowhouse Creations that had a variety of tree silhouettes. Easy peasy. Except for a little printer glitch. There is always a glitch it seems.

Those of you that have been around here for awhile might remember me mentioning our big Thanksgiving feast that we have at my sister’s house in Jacksonville.

We’re down to 24 this year.

We like to eat outside under her big old oak trees. But Thanksgiving 2011 was too windy.

We had to move it indoors and the table overflowed with kids in the kitchen!

I think we were over 30 last year.

 

Here is what it looked like outside for Thanksgiving 2010.

And then back in 2009 we were able to set up outside as well.

Place cards can be really simple to do. They have to be when you make so many!

I hope we can be back under the oaks this year.

I’ll let you know if the weather holds out!

What are your Thanksgiving plans this year?

Will it be big and loud or small and quiet?

And come back later this week. Skyland Drive has something to share with you all!

Think Black Friday or Cyber Monday.

:)

Sweater Pumpkins

Have you heard of the new FOLK magazine?

This is their first issue.

I love the way they embrace living simply. Nothing fussy or fancy. It’s about enjoying the beauty that is around you and the little things in life that bring a smile to your face.

I fell in love with this issue so I subscribed.

I’m looking forward to when the next issue arrives in my mailbox.

I had picked up this wool sweater at the thrift store and I wanted to try to felt it.

It didn’t really felt they way it should have because it was a blend and not 100% wool.

But it did soften up nicely and so I wanted to find way to use it.

Inside of FOLK was this how-to from Deb Kennedy. She made these cute sweater pumpkins.

It looked easy enough so I thought I’d give it a go and see how they came out. 

There is no sewing involved so you non sewers can do this.

Here are my versions.

 

I like the way the stem curved a bit on this one.

 

I was able to make both of these out of just one sleeve.

Now I want to go find more wooly sweaters and make more!

I still have the body of the sweater left so I need to see what else I can come up with.

I’m thinking a cozy pillow might be nice.

Have you repurposed an old sweater into something else?

Leave me a link, I'd love to see it.

Linking up with:

DebbieDoos: Magazine Copycat Challenge
Coastal Charm: Nifty Thrifty Tuesday

Midwestern Sewing Girl: Everything Autumn
Freckled Laundry: Air Your Laundry
Inspired By Charm:Thrifty Thursdays

Window Frame Memo Board

I finally hung up the ribbon rack I made for the blogiversary celebration we had. You can see the before here.

I have had this pinned on my Pinterest board for awhile. I’ve been wanting to do something similar.

So this old window frame has been lying around so I thought I’d do something with it. Here is what it started out like. Just brown.

The middle piece needed to be glued again. I don’t think it was clamped the first time and the gorilla glue really should be clamped. I used some rope since I didn’t have clamps long enough.

First I painted it with some blue paint I had then dry brushed some white on top. Sanded it a bit then added a little more blue back to it. I used a piece of foam core, wrapped it in batting and then with some burlap. I just taped it in the back with duct tape. Then I used jute to make the X’s on the front and tied them in the back.

    

I popped into one side of the frame and used tiny nails to hold it in. The other side I stapled on some chicken wire. Then along the bottom I used some pipe clamps I found in the plumbing section. Screwed them into the bottom of the frame and then inserted some jars.

The middle of the X’s were tufted just by using some jute and a needle and bringing it through the foam core. Now I can use tacks or just tuck thing under the jute.

I have room on either side to add some hooks or more jars.

I cut a piece of cardboard to fit the lid and glued on some of the paper I used on the desktop. Then just cut an X through it to run the jute through.

 

Here it is all together with the desk. The desk was a pretty easy project to put together. If you are in need of a table or desk you can put this one together pretty cheaply.

Hope everyone is having a nice relaxing weekend. The weather has been great. We’ll be going out on the boat if the water is good. I like a calm sea :)

Linking up with:
Coastal Charm: Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
Savvy Southern Style: WUW
Funky Junk Interiors: SNS 95 

see ya,

Seashell Shadowbox

Say that one three time fast. 

So I wanted an easy project. You know, something I could actually finish instead of it laying on the table or spread out over the house. Of course I could have just finished one of the many that are already started. 

But we all know how that goes. 

This one was pretty fast with minimal snafus.

I didn’t say there weren’t any.

This is what I started with. I found it at the thrift store for a dollar. 

It had a 3D palm tree in there. 

But it was a shadow box. 

I opened it up and painted the frame. Ripped off that 3D beauty and then covered the backing with some neutral canvas that I had. I used spray glue then trimmed it with my rotary cutter.

        

Then I just started arranging my shells. The smaller ones sort of get lost in the jars so this is a good way to display them. I thought I had made sure they would fit behind the glass but one did not. I had to swap it out. I used hot glue so he peeled right off. 

This is how it turned out. I am pretty happy with it. 

I’ve been wanting to do some sort of gallery wall somewhere. Maybe I’ll include this in it. 

So how many projects do you usually have going at one time? One? Three? Ten?

You first.

Linking up with:
Funky Junk Interiors: SNS 80
Coastal Charm: Nifty Thrifty Tuesday

see ya,

Stenciled Towels

I have been crafting again. I don’t know what’s gotten into me. I am trying to use up some of the things I already have. But then I always seem to need to buy something else. I will never whittle my stash down if I keep that up. I used freezer paper again like I did with the lavender sachets. This time as a stencil.



The first thing I did was print out an image that I wanted to use. For my first try I used this cute little crab. Something not too hard to cut out.



I taped a piece of the freezer paper on top of the image and then taped it all on a piece of card board so I’d have something to cut on. Then used my x-acto knife to cut it out. Mine is ancient but I think they have some now that pivot.



Then I just ironed the freezer paper onto the flour sack shiny side down. I picked up a pack of 5 towels for under $5. And I prewashed them. It doesn’t take much heat for it to stick.  Just make sure you get the edges well. (ha! see below) I mixed some fabric paint medium with regular craft paint. The ratio for this brand is 2:1. Try to work from the outside in around the edges. I may try a sponge next time. I think that would be better.



I put it on top of hubby’s magazines to catch any seepage. Why mess up one of my mine? 





I had a bit of a leak under his left claw pit. I don’t think the paper was down well. A little corner stuck and I tried to pick it off with my fingers and should have used tweezers. Then I dripped paint on the towel too. Not bad, I blotted it off pretty fast and it came off. It looked better after it dried.


The next one came out better. No leaks. Clean edges.



I added some ribbon that I already had. I pick up ribbon when I find it on clearance. It’s a weakness. I have to buy it. At first I just ironed it on with the stitch witchery hem tape stuff. But then I decided to just do a zig zag stitch and I liked it. You could use a contrasting color too. I think that would be cute. After they dry for 24 hours you heat set it with the iron.



 

I will do this again. It was really easy. Maybe a red lobster to go with the crab. I wish I had one of those cricuts or silhouettes but it wasn’t too hard to cut it out by hand. Maybe I’ll splurge on a new knife instead. Do they even make those pivoting or swiveling ones or was I dreaming?

see ya,