Pinecone Garland

Happy Thursday Friends! I don't know if I told you this already, but I love fall. I think October is my favorite month of the year. The weather has just been beautiful and the trees are changing colors. I wish it could stay fall all year long. My pine trees as you might remember from my pinecone wreath finally produced enough pinecones this year to fill several buckets full. I have been trying to come up with ways to use them in my seasonal decor. I thought it would be kind of fun to make garland to fallify (totally not a word) my entryway. 

This was such an easy project. I think it took maybe 30 minutes from start to finish.

SUPPLIES

Dollar Tree Leaves 

Twine

Pinecones

Hot Glue Gun

The first thing I did was cut my twine, I cut mine to about 6 ft. 

Next, I tied the twine around the pinecone and added a little hot glue to the tie to hold it in place. I tied the twine closer to the top of the pinecone. I just kept adding pinecones until I had enough to fill up the twine. 

Once I had all of the pinecones added to the twine I hot glued the leaves in between each pinecone.

I love how the garland turned out and it makes my entryway feel so cozy and fallish. I also love how cheap and easy this project was to make. 

I am linking to:

Little Miss Celebration
Debbie Doos: Pinterest Blitz
Home Stories A to Z
Savvy Southern Style
Rain on a Tin Roof

Fall Giveaway

I am so happy to offer another Fall Giveaway for my readers. I've teamed up with some more amazing bloggers to offer you another great giveaway. The winner will receive a $300 gift card from Michaels, Target or a Visa card.

To enter this giveaway just click on the Rafflecopter below.

 It will walk you through the whole process, super simple. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*The bloggers involved in this giveaway have pulled their money together to offer this gift card. Social Media Sites, Target, Michaels and Visa are not sponsoring this.

Good Luck to all of you and Happy Fall!!!

Fall Mantel

I have really been enjoying this cooler weather, it has definitely helped put me in the mood for fall. The trees are starting to change colors and the leaves are falling. There is nothing like a gorgeous fall day! One of the things that I do every year is decorate my mantel. Sometimes, I tend to go a little overboard with the decorating. This year I decided I was going to try to keep it simple and not get every fall decoration out.  

I like a little symmetry when decorating and thought the candlesticks evened things out a bit.

I leave this chalkboard frame up almost all year long and then change it for each season. It's perfect for hanging wreaths on as well as being used as a chalkboard.

I found this old wheel at a local antique store. I think it might have cost $5.00. I think it gives the mantel more of a rustic feel.

 This little ceramic acorn came from my husband's grandma. She had an antique store and she let her children and grandchildren go through the store and pick things out before she sold the store. I might have squealed when I spotted this little cutie!

 

I love stacking books up and using them for decoration. This little pumpkin is also a favorite that I sit out every year. 

There you have it, my fall mantel for 2013! Are you going all out with the decorations this year or keeping it simple?

I am linking to:

Thrifty Decor Chick: It's Fall Y'all Linky Party

Little Miss Celebration
Debbie Doos: Pinterest Blitz
Home Stories A to Z
Savvy Southern Style
Rain on a Tin Roof

Celebrate Fall Giveaway

Guess what today is? Yep, it is officially the first day of fall y'all! I've teamed up with a group of amazing bloggers to offer you another AWESOME giveaway.

The winner can choose how to spend the $300 gift card at Target, Amazon or choose a Visa gift card!
  

To enter this giveaway just click on the Rafflecopter below.

 It will walk you through the whole process, super simple. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 Contest runs from September 22 - September 29, 2013. 
A great group of awesome bloggers have pooled their money 
to sponsor this giveaway; it is NOT sponsored by Target, Amazon, or VISA. 
The more entries you have, the greater your chances of winning. 

Good Luck and Happy Fall to all of you!

State Silhouette Pumpkin

Fall is finally here in Indiana! Wahoo!!! I was a little worried earlier this week that fall wasn't coming because of a few 90 degree days we had. The temperatures finally dropped and I have had to break out my cardigans. I have a checklist of things that I need to do once September 1st comes 1). put up a fall wreath 2). buy mums, 3). buy pumpkins (this includes anything that looks like, smells like or tastes like a pumpkin). Yeah, I might be a little obsessed with pumpkins! So, I must warn all of you that you might see a few posts about pumpkins. One project I did this past week was create a state silhouette for a pumpkin that I have on my front porch.  I first saw the idea from Country Living magazine. I know I am a total copycat, I hope we can still be friends but I think you will like my version. :)

The first thing I did was spray paint a "Funkin". Have you all heard of a "Funkin"? It is a fake pumpkin that you can carve. See, I told you I like anything that looks like a pumpkin (even if it isn't the real thing). Funkins are awesome because you can use them year after. I bought mine at an end of season sale at Jo-Ann's. 

I spray painted mine with Rustoleum's Heirloom White spray paint. 

To create the state silhouette I went to 50states.com and printed off the state of Indiana. You can print any state you want. Once I printed off my state, I turned the printed sheet over and took some black sidewalk chalk and rubbed the chalk on the paper. You might remember me using this method before in previous projects. It's the easiest and cheapest way to transfer images. 

After you have finished rubbing the chalk on the back of the printed paper you can then tape the picture onto the pumpkin. This was probably the trickiest part because the pumpkin is not a flat even surface. Once I had taped the print to the pumpkin I then began to trace the outline with an ink pen. The pen transfers the chalk onto the pumpkin and creates an outline for painting the state.

After the image was transferred to the pumpkin I was ready to start painting. I used an outdoor paint for the state because I am putting the pumpkin on my front porch. I would use a smaller paint brush for the outline and then a bigger one for the inside of the state. I did a total of two coats and let it dry for two days before sitting it outside. 

I am pretty pleased with how the project turned out. I was a little worried that it wasn't going to look like the Hoosier state but I think it looks pretty darn close to the printed state. Here is a picture of the printed state again and the finished pumpkin. Not too shabby, huh?

I love how it looks on my front porch. I think I am going to paint a little heart or a star where my hometown is located. And even though I am a copycat nobody else in my neighborhood has a state silhouette pumpkin sitting on their porch! ;) 

I hope you all have a great week! 

I am linking to:

Little Miss Celebration
Debbie Doos: Pinterest Blitz
Home Stories A to Z
Savvy Southern Style
Rain on a Tin Roof

It's A Blogiversary Giveaway!

I have a special giveaway for my readers today! It's actually a blogiversary in honor of two awesome bloggers who revive outdated or old furniture with paint and a lot of love. 

So, since it has been one year since Girl in the Garage and Restoration Redoux started blogging we're celebrating by offering a big giveaway! 

There will be TWO winners:

1st prize- $225 gift card to Target

2nd prize- $100 Plum Box filled with all kinds of goodies from Pick Your Plum!

Just follow the directions in the Rafflecopter below!

(Sorry, U.S. only)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The giveaway ends September 14, 2013! Good luck to all of you!!!

Please visit Jen from Girl in the Garage and Shanna from Restoration Redoux you will love their blogs, I promise!