Celebrate autumn - How to make easily make a colorful fall pumpkin topiary

 

Learn how to make this colorful fall pumpkin topiary with this quick and easy DIY.  

 

Pumpkins are everywhere right now.  If you want to pumpkin spice up your décor follow this easy tutorial to create this super easy pumpkin topiary.  Check out the dollar stores for stacking pumpkins, grab some supplies, and let’s get started!

 

Materials:

 

Spray primer

 

Stackable pumpkins

 

Acrylic paints in a choice of colors

 

Small Paintbrush

 

Misc. fall florals and berries

 

3 yards of 1 ½’ wide green ribbon (I used double side greens)

 

Green Ribbon bow

 

Glue gun and glue sticks

 

 

Instructions:

 

First, spray all your pumpkins with a coat of primer and let dry.  (You should do this outside or in a well-ventilated area)

 

Next, decide what colors you would like your pumpkins.  You can paint them solid or paint a pattern.  Anything goes.  I decided to paint one orange, one cream, and the top one brownish red. Apply one coat and let dry, then apply the second coat and let dry completely.

 

Make a bow for the top of the pumpkin.  To make a super easy and beautiful bow try using the Bowdabra bow maker.  It’s like having an extra hand.

 

While your pumpkins are drying, you can make your bow.  

 

Finally, snap the pumpkins together. I like to secure it even better by adding a bit of hot glue. Now, using the hot glue attach foliage, florals, leaves, and berries all around the bottom edge of the biggest pumpkin.  Continue adding florals all around where the second pumpkin attaches to the first one.  

 

Tie the green bow to the stem of the top pumpkin and add some leaves in between the bow. You have a gorgeous pumpkin topiary to display indoors or on a front porch in an urn.

 

Note:  You can go one step further by wrapping around some twinkly lights and hiding the battery pack under the largest pumpkin

 

 

Five super simple upcycled crafts to turn trash into treasure

Since the coronavirus has a lot of people self-quarantined many are looking for things to do.  If you didn’t have time to go to the craft store to stock up on supplies, don’t worry.  You can create upcycled crafts with just ordinary stuff you find around the house and turn trash into treasure.

Just be creative.  If something calls for felt, substitute construction paper.  It’s all relative.  There are so many options.  

Most of these projects are great to make with bored kids.  Great for family time while we are all staying inside and safe. 

1.     Recycle advertising magnets into magnetic pets.  You can really have fun with these magnets.  Try using photos of friends and relatives in addition to pets.  If you don’t have double-stick tape, substitute some school or tacky glue spread thinly.

Recycled advertising magnets 

2.      Paint chip photo frame.  You might have some paint chip samples leftover from a painting project.  If you do, the color chips are super cut up and applied onto a frame. You can use a paper shredder to cut the strips or just cut them with scissors to vary the sizes.  Don’t have a frame, use some corrugated cardboard cut in a frame shape and apply the strips to that.

Paint chip photo frame

3.     Plastic bag friendship bracelets.  If you get the newspaper delivered many times during rain they come enclosed in plastic bags.  Don’t toss those bags, use them to make cool friendship bracelets.  This one uses a rattail ribbon, but you can easily substitute extra shoelaces, ribbon, strips of fabric.  Be creative.  It’s fun and easy and kids love them!

Plastic bag friendship bracelets

Egg carton shrink charms

4.     Shrink an egg carton to make charms.  Remember shrinky dinks?  Well, did you know that any plastic container that has a #6 on it you can shrink to 1/3 of its size and the thickness of about a nickel.  A lot of egg cartons are listed number 6 so if you have one of these follow the tutorial and create all sorts of charms you can use for key chains, backpack charms, hair clips and more.  Remember only number 6 will work. 

Recycled DVD egg mosaic

5.     Cut up an old DVD and make a shiny mosaic Easter egg.  You can use paper mache eggs, plastic eggs, even Styrofoam eggs.  The trick is for this craft is that DVD’s have two layers, when you separate the layers they super easy to cut into pieces.  The pieces can then be glued onto an egg or other surface.  

How to easily paint a fun light bulb icon pull chain

You’ve had it happen before.  You enter a room and want to turn on the ceiling fan light but instead of pulling the right cord for the light you turn the fan on full blast.  Not a fun experience right.  Well if you paint a simple but fun light bulb icon pull chain you will never pull the wrong cord by mistake again! 

It’s so easy to paint this light bulb icon pull chain in just minutes.  Then, attach it to your ceiling fan.  Using a piece of recycled champagne or wine cork you simply paint the light bulb with acrylic paint, so it basically costs nothing!  How is that for solving this common household problem?  So lets get started

Materials:

Ultra fine line sharpie marker

White acrylic paint

Silver acrylic paint

Yellow acrylic paint

Clear acrylic finish

Small paintbrush

Champagne or wine cork

Ball chain

X-acto or craft knife

Small awl or drill

Tacky craft glue

Corrugated cardboard or self-healing plastic mat

Fine sandpaper

1.     Working on the cardboard or self-healing mat use the craft knife to slice about ¾” off the top of a wine cork or champagne cork.  A Champagne cork is larger so that is what I used, but you can substitute a wine cork and your light bulb will be smaller.

2.     Use the sandpaper to file down any writing on the top of the cork and to make a smooth surface and remove any writing.

3.     Next, use the awl or drill to make a hole in the cork.  You only need to drill halfway down.  Then, add a dab of tacky craft glue and push the ball chain into the hole and let dry.  You are ready to add your image.

4.     Using the fine line marker draw a light bulb shape on the flat side of the cork.  (Pear shaped, see photo)  Next fill in the bulb with white paint.  Then, add the silver paint for the top of the bulb. 

5.     Finally outline the entire outside area of the bulb with yellow paint and let dry completely.

6.     When the paint has dried, with the marker, draw some highlight lines around the bulb.  Then coat the entire piece with clear finish. Let dry and attach to your ceiling fan light.

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How to paint a fun crazy quilt rock

I admit it.  I love quilts, but they take time and like many people have a limited amount of that!  So since leaving rocks has become a worldwide fad, I figured why not make a few quilt like rocks.  They are quickly painted and so much fun.  This crazy quilt rock is so easy and looks amazing when done!  You can leave your crazy quilt rock in a public place for someone to find, or just keep it yourself for a décor item or a paperweight.

Crazy quilts were quite a fad in the latter part of the 19^th century.  They were made into smaller quilts for framing or lap robes.  They were a way for people to use fancy fabrics and decorate them with unique stitching.  Your crazy quilt rock has all the elements but no stitching required!!!

The crazy quilt rock is so easy and is a fantastic craft for camp, girl scouts, church and senior groups, and more!

Materials:

Rock from a creek or river

Acrylic paint in desired colors

White acrylic paint for stitch lines

Pencil

Small flat brush

Line brush

Paper to protect your work surface

Instructions;

1.     First, wash and dry your particular rock.  Next, draw sections all around the rock with a pencil.  These will be your quilt blocks.

2.     Now fill in each section with a flat brush filling in each block with a different color acrylic paint. And let dry completely.

3.     When your paint is dry load a liner brush with some white acrylic paint.  Then, begin making stitch marks all around each block, varying the design of the stitches.  Try little X’s, or U shapes, diagonal lines, etc. this is where you can be creative just like they did in the 1800’s.  You can even write a message on a block such as “love”, or “peace,” etc.

4.     Let dry and your rock is ready to spread the love!

Be sure and visit Make it easy crafts often for more quick and easy craft tutorials, printables, and recipes

How to easily turn junk mail into a cute wastebasket

If you have a lot of junk mail lying around instead of tossing it in the wastebasket, try putting it on the wastebasket!  This cute wastebasket is so easy to make with some Modpodge decoupage glue, some strips of junk mail and a little time. 

When you are done you will have a colorful quilt-like and very cute wastebasket!  The paper may wrinkle a bit when you add the strips. The wrinkled look adds texture and gives it a quilt-like appearance.  So much fun that you can even get the kids involved! 

Materials:

A small round wastebasket, any color

A pile of junk mail, flyers or advertising media

Tacky craft glue

Scissors or paper cutter

Mod Podge decoupage glue

Paintbrush

Turn ordinary junk Mail into a cute wastebasket

1.     Cut the junk mail into strips.  Vary the thickness but a good start is ¼”.  It is easier if you stack them together and cut the strips with a paper cutter but you can use scissors.  You can even use a shredder.

2.     Spread some tacky glue around the edge of the wastebasket.  Begin adding strips around.  Overlap and connect each strip.  Continue adding glue and strips working your way down the wastebasket.  If a strip doesn’t meet connect with smaller strips.  Being perfect doesn’t matter and you can’t do it wrong.  Let dry.  You may notice that the strips may wrinkle slightly; this is desirable since it adds texture to the wastebasket.  You can smooth the wrinkles down with your fingers if desired.

If strips don't meet cut smaller pieces to connect

3.     When the wastebasket has dried use the paint brush to spread some Gloss Modpodge over the entire surface and let dry.

Scotch Quick-Drying Tacky Glue, 4-oz - Glue & Adhesives