Fall Porch...for now

Here is the compilation of my last two posts fully displayed on my front porch. The stalks I found at my local farmer's market Chesapeake Bounty, along with the little pumpkins and massive mums. Turns out candy corn and the elements don't mix well so the candy corn wreath is now inside. No worries I am already working on a replacement. Since my kiddos are dieing to put out the Halloween decorations the new wreath will most likely have a hint of ghoul! Oh, and the mums are in full bloom and look awesome! We are very fortunate here in somd to have local farms where you can pick your mums right out of the ground. This year, I promise to replant, pinky promise!

Monogrammed Door Mat

Lately I've been looking for a doormat for my front door. Yes, I have to admit that we've been in our house for over a year and I've yet to put a doormat on my front porch. I am the polar opposite of a compulsive shopper and therefore don't but anything unless I absolutely LOVE it. Plus, I'm a cheapskate ;) I don't buy anything unless I get the absolute best price. Well, maybe not everything...excluding shoes, purses and designer jeans ;) Back to the door mat.... Here are some I've been eyeing

I really like the monogrammed look but then I saw the price tag!! Starting prices of $29.99?? Seriously, we're wiping our feet on it! After a little research... aka a trip to walmart, I realized this is something I could make for about a 1/3 the cost. Below is the tutorial for my monogrammed mat.

Monogrammed doormat tutorial:
supplies-
$6.97 doormat from walmart
Capital D stencil (found in my craft armoire)
Frog tape(or any painting tape)
$1.97 black acrylic paint
large and small paint brushes(raided the kids' paint bucket)

 

Once you've centered your stencil, tape it down to
secure it. Press the center of the stencil down as you paint around. The paint does not bleed past the edges so stencil bond isn't needed. After you've painted your first coat, remove the stencil. Apply a 2nd and 3rd coat of paint with the small brush, applying a thick coat of paint and finishing your edges.



The Final Product!



Candy Corn Wreath

Fall is here and this weekend my goal is to get my front porch decorated. The candy corn wreath was my first project for my porch. The inspiration for this wreath came from here.  However, I opted to have all my candy corn head in the same direction( I'm a little too OCD for opposite directions) LOL.
 Here is my finished wreath

It's supposed to cool down a bit this weekend so I'll be able to actually hang this outside my front door!

Surfer Poncho

Two of my kiddos are on a summer swim team. While checking out one of my favorite blogs I came across a tutorial for a surfer poncho.  My kids are too big for most hooded towels, which don't stay on anyway. This makes the perfect towel and cover up all in one!

 The tutorial can be found HERE to make your own. I made one from a green and white striped towel for my son (not pictured) and this yellow and white striped poncho for my daughter.

Game table

Almost two years ago I found an old side table for $5 and two ladder back chairs for $1 each at a yard sale. They were too good of a deal to pass up. These items have sat first in the basement of my rental and then the basement of our new home. I finally decided what I wanted to do with these little treasures....

I painted the chairs and table a sandy color and distressed them. I added padding to the chairs and covered them in the paisley fabric I used in my dining room. I love how they turned out.

Since my house has a beachy/FL style I went with blue/white instead of black/white. The exterior edges are "perfect" with the interior lines done free hand. Being that it's a distressed peice I though perfectly straight lines would take away from the "perfectly imperfect" table.

Build Your Own Fire Pit

 We recently hit the one year mark of living in our new home. On our list of projects has been a backyard patio and fire pit. We recently had a 300sq ft cement patio poured and decided to build our own fire pit. This idea was born from a local nursery trying to sell us a fire pit kit for a cool $900!! What ?? They sell the same bricks at walmart for $2 each. A little old school math skills, a shovel, good old elbow grease and we successfully built our own for less than $150!

 My hunky hubby had plenty of leftover dirt from our patio to create our fire pit area. We used a stick, string, and a little shovel to mark the circle.

Spray paint to mark our circle.

Next, we went round and round the circle offsetting the bricks until it was three levels high. The bricks are pretty darn heavy so we decided not to use any mortar or adhesives.

 The finished product!

Decoupage Map Trash Can

The kids bath has a map theme and the boring white plastic trash can was really getting on my nerves. Since we now live in the DMV area I thought covering the trash can with a map of D.C would be fun.  I'd never worked with decoupage before so this is my inaugural project!

Here's what you need...



I cut out specific landmarks such as the national monuments that I wanted to be clearly displayed and adhered them first...


The next step is sort of like doing a puzzle where you actually cut the peices to fit. The "Roseanne" puzzle. If you never saw that episode it's a hoot!

Here is the final product after filling in all the gaps and giving it three coats of decoupage...

**Tip- Inbetween coats of decoupage, wrap your paint brush in plastic wrap. This will prevent the glue from drying and the brush from getting hard.**