Front Porch

My husband grew an amazing crop of pumpkins this year. We counted at least 55! I am LOVING our Autumn porch, but we "needed" a bigger welcome sign. 

Our porch is so pretty! I hope the pumpkins will last through Thanksgiving. 

Our succulents are overflowing their bucket!

Adventures with Cricut & Beyond

I just realized I haven;t shared any of my Cricut projects! My mother-in-law gave me a Cricut Explore Air 2 for my birthday and so far it's been really great!

My very first project was a t-shirt that is one of my favorite sayings for this crazy year we've had!

The rest of these photos are out of order, but I'll share anyway. I have been attempting to propagate succulents and have a section on our patio devoted to our "nursery." So naturally I needed to make a sign! 

I have also been experimenting with the stencil product from Cricut. There's definitely a learning curve, but I like the look of painted signs over vinyl stickers. 

A few more t-shirts. We tease my son all the time by asking "do you know you're still talking?" He now has two of these shirts "am I still talking?" and he loves them.  

My first attempts at vinyl on canvas turned out cute! 

Another wood sign, this time with a vinyl sticker instead of the stencil. 

This bookshelf shirt is my favorite and I would wear it everyday if I could! I drew the design in PhotoShop and I am so proud of how it turned out.

These flowers and hot air balloons are all free downloads from Love SVG.

I also made some canvas toiletries bags. The bags themselves are from Hobby Lobby and I think they were $1.29 each. Can't beat that!

Second attempt at a barn quilt painting with Cricut stencil. Better, but definitely not perfect! It makes me happy to see by my rulers and cutting area.

I also made some cute little wooden labels for my fabric baskets. 

Not Cricut related, but I have found myself in a lovely Summer habit of a afternoon iced latte. It's one of my very favorite times of the day. Speaking of... my espresso machine is truly one of the best purchases I have ever made. I love it so much. 

I also loved this month's American Patchwork & Quilting magazine. The magazine was great, it was also a wonderful idea to read it while floating in the pool on a hot afternoon. 

We went up to Shaver & Huntington Lakes for the last weekend before school (distance learning) started. It was so beautiful (and just before all of the California wildfires started and smoke overtook these beautiful blue skies). 

Last but definitely not least, if you are a quilter or a puzzle lover, Camille Roskelley's new puzzle is SO good and SOOOOOO cute! I loved working on it while listening to an audiobook. 

*Affiliate links... if you purchase a product using any my links, I earn a very small "commission." 

Board & Brush Sign Class

A few weeks ago, I took a sign making class at my local Board & Brush. It was so fun! We distressed, sanded, stained, assembled, painted, distressed (again), and waxed our signs. I loved it! Removing the stencil was so satisfying!

I made a "Barn Quilt Welcome Sign" and I LOVE it.  

And I did an add-on 12" sign, too! 

I had planned on putting this in my kid's bathroom, but I love it so much I want it somewhere where I will see it, too (I avoid my children's bathroom at all costs!!).  

There was a pretty good group of my friends who did the class together. I loved all of our projects!

All dry and ready to hang up! 

We hung it at the beginning of our hallway. We can see it from the kitchen, living room, dining room, and front door. That's how much I love it!

Wedding Sign & Other Crafts Lately

I made this sign as part of a gift for a friends’ daughter’s wedding. I used the same technique I used in this blog post (one of my most “pinned” posts ever!). It’s fairly easy, but a little time consuming. 

My mother’s group had a painting project for us last week, too. It was fun to paint with a bunch of friends and see how all of our paintings turned out similar, but different.  

Speaking of my mother’s group! I just realized I never shared any of the crafts I taught this year (I served at the Creative Activities Coordinator this year). These were two of our Spring projects... Sharpie Mugs (using oil based sharpies). I wouldn’t really recommend this project since the cups haven’t held up as well as I hoped they would, despite following instructions. 

And photo blocks. These are 2x4” boards, cut to photo size. Then we painted the edges with acrylic paint, modge-podged photos on them, and decorated with fabric/paper flowers and ribbon. They turned out very cute and the moms in the group seemed very happy with this craft. It helps that our kids are adorable!  ; ) 

Christmas Wooden Signs or Ornaments

I am the Creative Activities leader for my local Mothers of Preschooler's group. Our Christmas craft this week are these cute little wooden signs that can be used as Christmas decor or as an ornament on the tree.

I designed them using digital scrapbooking papers and embellishments and printed them on photo paper. My darling husband cut the wooden pieces to 5.75" from long pieces of door molding and drilled little holes in the tops. I then painted the edges white and modge-podged (is that a verb?) the photo designs. Once they were dry, I poked holes through the paper and added 22-guage wire for the tops. I think they turned out very cute and the total cost ended up just less that $2 per mom in the group! 

I'll be back soon with pictures of the rest of our Christmas home decor. I can't believe Christmas is in just a few days!!! 

If you'd like to see all of my Christmas crafts over the years (including that green button tree in the last photo!), click here! 

Crafty this week!

I've completed quite a few little projects this week. First, this little "Welcome" sign, made with a recycled piece of pallet wood. I like it leaning up casually near our front door. I might make another one for at the end of our very long dirt driveway - a little hint that you are, indeed, going the right direction.  : ) 

 Second is another piece of recycled wood, inspired by a sign by this blogger that I found on Pinterest. This is for the backyard and will probably hang this on the patio, or maybe near the kids' swingset... haven't decided yet. I do love the rainbow of colors.

And last is a little blue and white pillow. I pulled out my old pattern for the rail fence quilt - the first quilts I ever made! I love this variation in blues and whites. 

Happy Fall! 

Secret Sister

The mother's group I am in organizes a secret sister gift exchange. Our big "reveal" was today, so I can show the gifts I had made for my secret sister this year. I don't think she's a blog reader (?), but just in case I hadn't posted any of these as to not spoil the surprise. 

First was a little ceramic sign. I actually somehow didn't get a picture of the finished one, but here's almost finished. Their last name + the year they were married. 

Homemade sugar scrub. Super easy to make - just use white and brown sugar, mix in olive or coconut oil and add a fragrance you like. I used lavender. Scrub your hands, rinse with water, and enjoy the inexpensive, homemade manicure.  : )

 And lastly, a knitted scarf. Kind of silly in this area since we are at the beginning of a good 4+ months of heat, but maybe she will go to the coast or somewhere and be able to use it.  

I don't remember the brand of yarn I used, but it was from Michaels. I love the turquoise color with just a little bit of purple to make it interesting. 

To wrap it up, I rolled the scarf into a ball and tied it with another short piece of yard. Pretty!

Weekend Away and Wedding Gifts

Our good friends Daisy & Kris were married last weekend in Yreka, CA. Talk about a long drive! But it was a lovely weekend and a nice little getaway for my husband and I. 

The happy couple... 

I had asked Daisy if she would like a homemade gift and she gave me a few ideas. First is this pretty little wreath - made with white hydrangeas and a wooden letter "P" monogram (painted turquoise, of course). 

I also made her a scrappy little string block pillow, with lots of turquoise and blues. 

And this funny little sign. They originally planned their wedding for 2006, but postponed 7 YEARS! The wedding was beautiful and definitely worth the wait. And... if they had married in 2006, I wouldn't have been able to attend - my daughter was actually born that day!