Thursday, September 30, 2010

Square Pumpkins

I must admit that I have been in a creative slump. I wanted to come up with something that nobody had done before. I racked my brain for a week. Finally, I came up with what I call "Square Pumpkins." Original... I know

Buy List:
2 -3/4x4x6 ceder fence slat
$1.49 each at Home Depot

Cut List:

Large Pumpkin:
sides: 4@ 8 3/4in long
lid & bottom: 2@ 4 1/2in long

Medium Pumpkin:
sides: 4@ 5in long
lid & bottom: 2@ 4 3/4in long

Small Pumpkin:
sides: 4@ 3 1/4in long
lid & bottom: 2@ 4 1/2in long

I cut the wood with our miter saw. It was pretty simple. It was actually my first time using it. I have been a chicken up to this point. But since my husband wasn't due home for a few hours, I had no choice but to try. It was a pretty good first experience.
After you have made all your cuts, you need to glue your sides together. One side at a time, use wood glue and glue each side to the bottom wood piece. Let the glue dry for 30 minutes.
For the lid, I glued a small square of MDF board to the bottom, so the lid won't slide off. I also glued a random piece of wood on top for the stem.
Paint!
Sand each pumpkin to give it a distressed look. I also nailed little nails into each corner of the front and back of the pumpkin to give it a little more UMPH. These nails are actually carpet nails. They were $1.20ish for a pack at Home Depot. They are down the screw/nail aisle.Embellish and Display…. I kept it simple.
Large Pumpkin
Small Pumpkin
Medium Pumpkin
Cute!

You could even put something inside each pumpkin. Maybe some scented candles... or candy.

Monday, September 20, 2010

A little B&B

No, not a little Bed and Breakfast... but a little Board and Batten. I said I was going to do it HERE. I watched as my husband went to work, measuring cutting, nailing and caulking. Finally my part came at the end by patching the holes, sanding and painting.

I am so happy how it turned out.

Here is my wall before we did anything.
I couldn't make up my mind. I wanted blue, but when I painted it on the wall it was too baby blue. I was going for a gray blue, but it didn't turn out that way. So then I painted on a dark grey. But it was too dark. So I settled on a color I knew wouldn't fail me... Granite Boulder by Behr. I used this color in my kitchen in my previous house.
After measuring, Matt, nailed the end pieces and top piece to the wall. Then he nailed the shelf on, and attached an under piece to make it look nice and more sturdy.Then he attached the vertical boards every 28in, then the horizontal board 12in down.Matt then caulked the sides. I filled the holes, sanded, and painted the boards the same color as my walls.
Once everything was dry, I decorated... what I love best.
Even the cat took a minute out of her busy life to admire our handy work...

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Landscape Timber Pumpkins

On one of my many Google searches, I came across these beauties HERE. They are pumpkins made out of those red/orange landscape timbers you build flower beds with. Genius! So I went to my Home Depot (one of my favorite craft stores) and bought one timber for $1.97 and had them cut three sizes for me.

Cut List:
1@ 2ft
1@ 1.5ft
1@ 1ft

You will be left with a little less than half of the timber. You can either throw it on the scrap pile or make smaller pumpkins. I think that is what I am going to do. I didn't want the HD employee to cut smaller ones for me because they charge per cut after the first two. Plus, he was kinda slow in the actual measuring and cutting. I can't complain though, I didn't have to wait for my husband to come home and cut them. I haven't gotten daring enough to use the saws. I have a fear of cutting off a hand or fingers. One day maybe...

Gather your supplies: timbers, base and stems. I was going to use those little wood blocks, but then I remembered I had a large stick laying around, so I used that instead.
Paint, paint and paint.
Glue the timbers to a base. I used liquid nails. Also glue the stems on top. Then wait for the glue to dry. I let it dry over a couple of days.
Embellish! I tied some raffia and jute sting around each stem. I also glued on some leaves.
I thought the whole ensemble needed something else, so I made a sign. “Pumkins 5 cents”
Display… (my favorite part)



I Linked up to Sawdust and Paper Scrapes. Go check it out. She is doing a Scentsy give away...

Friday, September 10, 2010

2X4 Pumpkins

Last Fall, I came across some cute pumpkins found HERE. I was going to make them last year, but I never got around to it. So I made them this year!

First, cut three different lengths of 2x4's. My tallest is 10", the middle is 6.5", and the small is 3.5".
Second, paint each pumpkin.Third, use a chisel and take some wood off the sides. Also, distress by sanding each side of the pumpkin.
Fourth, drill five holes in the top of each pumpkin. Then brake up a stick into five little sticks for each pumpkin and glue them with wood glue into the holes. These act as the stem.
Fifth, use berries, leaves, raffia, and jute string to add that cuteness they need.
Lastly, display and enjoy the fruits of your labor.

Friday, September 3, 2010

Candy Corn

I love this time of year! I think Fall has the best decorations. A few days ago I came across this adorable picture HERE: So cute. I knew I had to have my own wood candy corn. So me and my sister made a small, medium, and large candy corn pattern, traced it on wood and on beadboard and sweetly asked my husband to cut them out for us. I painted the wood and beadboard like a candy corn.


Then distressed both the wood and beadboard.
Next, I covered all pieces in stain to give it a old weathered look.

Display for all to see!!

Instead of using wood glue to attach the two together, I used a nail in each corner. I think it added some real cuteness to them!
I added some raffia and berries to the large candy corn.
I wrapped some jute string around the medium sized candy corn and added one red leaf.