Painted Glass Pumpkin

I am still decorating for fall…making progress, slowly but surely. I am not doing a lot of decorating this year and trying to use what I have. I’ve sorted through some things and have a get rid of pile, a use this year pile, and a put up for another year pile. I also have a few things that are in the “undecided” category. I don’t really want to get rid of them, but I’m not sure what to do with them. One of them is a glass canister shaped  like a pumpkin.

Although I love apothecaries and glass jars in general, I’ve never bonded with the glass pumpkin. I like it’s shape, but it was just kind of there…blah….So I started thinking about what I could do to dress it up and give it some more personality. The first thing that usually comes to my mind for giving anything a makeover is spray paint! I spray painted the inside of a glass thingy that I used for a knob on my solar light.

I really like the glassy “finish” that you get when you paint the inside of something glass. So I decided to try and paint my pumpkin…what color? Why
Pumpkin Orange (by Krylon) of course!

I started with a light coat of primer and this time I used a primer for plastic from Valspar and it seemed to work well. It dried quickly and gave  the glass a slightly “rough” surface for the pain to adhere to, but the roughness disappeared once I painted it.

 

I learned from my son, to spray lightly….so lightly that it seems as though you are hardly getting any paint on and to do many coats! So I did about six or seven.

First Coat:

Third Coat:

About the Fifth:

Done!

I couldn’t really get down inside of the edge of the jar, but the lighter color there ended up looking like a natural color variation.  Works for me!

I had planned to paint the stem green, but since I couldn’t do it from the inside, I changed my mind. After painting the rest orange, I like the stem clear, picking up hints of the orange in the light.

I like it much better after it’s spray paint makeover, so I think I will move it to the “Keep” pile!

Happy Fall…again!

Since my glass pumpkin is all dressed up now, I will find it some places to go….

How about here:

 

     

  

Plus many of the fun linky parties in my sidebar!

On-the-Go Christmas Planner

This year I am bound and determined to be prepared for the Holidays! If you know me in real life….NO LAUGHING!…at least out loud. :-) Ummm..I tend to say this every year. Last year I found a great Christmas planning site: The problem is that I discovered it in December and their planning started back in October and some in August! I felt so far behind just looking at the planners that I gave up and flew-by–the seat of my pants again! This year I searched for another planner and came across  a sister site to Organized Home Christmas, Christmas Planner.com. My eyes were immediately drawn to the title: Dollar Store Delight. As soon as I saw it I knew that I had to make one of these:

Photo Album Holiday Organizer

Created by Janelle at Arizona Families Blog. She has a great tutorial there, so check it out!

I borrowed her awesome idea and customized it to fit my needs. I started with a 4x6 dollar store photo album with removable front and back cover inserts. I have  a couple of these albums that I bought on clearance for .50 each at Dollar General. I knew they would come in handy someday! They still have them again, for $1 and without the handy little snap flap. :-(

I cut out some Christmas paper for the new cover, that I already had, using the cover inserts for a template.  I have to admit that I didn’t take any pictures ‘til I was almost finished, so you are seeing the finished product here.

I also cut out a piece of cardstock in a coordinating color to give it a little more stability. I slipped this in behind the cover paper. 

Since I was having so much fun…these are easy to make… I made one for my daughter at the same time, so that’s why you are seeing pictures of two different planners! :-) I learned a few things making the first one and tweaked them on the second. Like not making the tabs so BIG! Compare the red tabs above to the green tabs below.

 

I only used 4 tabs: Notes, Calendar, Events and Gifts. Janelle suggested typing labels for the tabs, but I just hand wrote mine. She also used a circle cutter for the tabs, but I don’t have one. I used my Craft Robo vinyl cutter. A large circle punch would work too.

Since this is an on-the-go planner you don’t need all your Holiday info here, just what you might need to refer to when you are out and about. There is a glare in the picture  but that is a lined 4x6 index card for my note paper.

I put notes in the front so that I didn’t have to wade through everything else just to jot something down. 

The next tab is for the calendar and I borrowed the calendar pages from Organized Home Christmas . They are laid out for a typical pocket planner which is longer and narrower than the photo book, so I tweaked those a bit to make them fit.

There is  a calendar for October, November and December. The third tab is for Events. These pages are also from Organized Home Christmas and tweaked by me to fit this size planner.

The heading on these pages is Menu, with Event and Date underneath, but since almost every event over the Holidays includes eating, I used these for my event pages! The larger section is for the menu and the grey section on the bottom is labeled notes.

The last section is for the really fun stuff…gifts!! These pages I actually made myself!

You will probably want one card for every 2 people you will be buying gifts for. So when counting out pages in between tabs, be sure to leave enough for the gifts section! In the very back, I  put in a stocking stuffers card…also made by me…see I can be original once in a while! ;-)

Once I got going I couldn’t stop! I made a few more pages, one for Holiday baking (Who could use a plate of baked goods as a thank-you for service during the year?), stocking the pantry (Jot down spices and specialty baking items needed  for holiday cooking as you go through recipes.) and ministry/service opportunities (If you see a  need or place you or your family can be of service, jot it down as you see it and you will be more likely to remember to act on it.) These are other things that you might need to access “on-the-go”. I’m going to have to make more for tabs for my planner now! :-)

If you would like to make a similar planner and use the pages I’ve tweaked or created, you can find them here:

On-the-Go Christmas Planner Pages

I hope that having this in my purse will help me be able to remember ideas that I come across when I’m out as well as take lists and ideas with me from home!

Happy Planning!

Linking up to many of the fantastic parties in my side bar like: TheDIYShowoff, Met Monday @BNOTP,

A Good Deal for Bath and Body Works!!

Yesterday I was inspired by my blog friend BA to start thinking about teacher’s gifts for Christmas. She found these

at Bath and Body Works and posted about her score here!

It got me thinking about what great gifts these would be, especially if paired with one of the travel size hand lotions. Today I received an email with a notice of free shipping on orders over $25 so I clicked on over and started shopping. I know BA fell in love with the cupcake scents, but since I was shopping online and couldn’t sniff, I had to go with something I already knew:

Peppermint Twist

 

and

Vanilla Bean Noel   

 

 

 

 

 

I put 5 each in my shopping bag @ $1each and then added 10 of these:

 

 

 

 

 

at $3.33 each for a total of $43.30. I started wondering if there might be a coupon for a discount on the total out there so I looked around and found one at http://www.couponcabin.com/coupons/bath-body-works/ for 20% off your whole order!! You use the code: SEPTHX. Since the shipping discount was automatically applied, it let me use the code for the discount! So my grand total for the whole order including tax and shipping was $34.64!! Not bad for 10 teacher gifts! I’ll add appropriate candy like mints and kisses and put them in a plastic bag like BA had, only I’ll have to get mine at Dollar Tree!

I think the free shipping was only for today so GO SHOPPING!!

Help! Please!!

I have not been able to view my friends/followers box or anyone else’s either….for about a week, this is what I get after the page loads:

But when I click the diagnose button, I don’t get anything other than the possible problems but no solutions.

Hey, it’s bad when you can’t tell who your friends are! ;-)So, help please?!?!?!?

Thanks…in advance!

Sharon

Warm ‘n Wonderful Wheat Bread and a Great Deal on Taste of Home Magazine!

I love to bake bread, especially in the fall! There’s just enough of a chill in the air to really appreciate the warmth of the oven and the aroma of fresh baked bread…mmmm…

I think I have found a new favorite recipe! It’s easy, makes two loaves and comes out light and airy with a wonderful wheaty flavor. Here’s the recipe.

Honey Wheat Bread

2-1/2 to 3 cups all-purpose flour (I used bread flour)

3-1/2 cups whole wheat flour, divided (fresh ground is best)

2 packages (1/4 ounce each) or 5 tsps. active dry yeast

1 cup milk

1-1/4 cups water

1/4 cup honey

3 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon salt

 

In a bowl, combine 2 cups all-purpose flour, 2 cups whole wheat flour and yeast. In a saucepan, heat milk, water, honey, butter and salt to 120°-130°; add to flour mixture. Blend on low speed until moistened; beat on medium for 3 minutes. Gradually stir in remaining whole wheat flour and enough of the remaining all-purpose flour to form a soft dough.

Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

Punch dough down. Shape into two loaves; place in a greased 8-in. x 4-in. loaf pans. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour. Bake at 375° for 40-45 minutes. Remove from pans to cool on wire racks.

This is how it looked 5 minutes after it came out of the oven!  

Yes, we were burning our mouths, but it was sooo worth it!

I found this recipe at Taste of Home online. I love their searchable recipe database! I also love their magazine! Right now there is a great deal on a  Taste of Home subscription. It’s only $3.99 for a year! You can read more about how to get it at that price by clicking here:

There are offers on a couple of other good magazines too!

Cook up something warm and wonderful!

Winners! Winners! Winners!

Good Monday Morning!!! When I posted the closing date of the giveaway, I had no idea that the following weekend would be so busy and that I would have to wait until Monday to announce the winner. So without any further waiting…..
The WINNER is:

Comment #17, as generated by random.org, Heidi Wendland!

Congratulations Heidi! We think alike on the fall decorating…I love the “smells” of fall too!
Thank you everyone for entering and giving me some awesome ideas for fall table decorating and the input on what to do with my gate-leg table. I’ll be sharing more on that soon.
There were some other winners on Friday, not through my blog, but over at The CSI Project. I love it over there! The challenges over there provide me with a lot of inspiration! On the weeks that they are hosting something that I want to participate in, I stay on top of getting a project finished because of the deadline to enter. It’s not a month long project that I will tend to think that I “still have time” I know that I only have from Tuesday ‘til Thursday or I’ve missed it…and I have …more than once! I work so much better with a deadline…even if it’s getting cleaned up for company coming! :-) I also get so excited when I see all the other projects…I usually end up wanting to try several.
I love these from Nine to Midnight Designs.

and I want to try something like this from Infarrantly Creative for my laundry room which is a work in progress.

My friend Nikki from Nikki’s Nifty Knacks and I both made the Top 10! Woo-Hoo!!

Here are Nikki’s Ballard Boxes:

Lori’s comment: “I am a sucker for silhouettes and the fact that you can hide stuff in these storage boxes is such a plus!  I am all about hiding the ugly inside something cute!”
And my Ballard Birds:

Lori’s Comment:”The birds in this project were so great.  SO cute!  But it is really the sticks that they are standing on that I love!  I actually have some ideas on how I am going to implement them into some holiday decor!!  So excited to have such a great tutorial on how to make them!”
Thank you Lori for liking my little birds and your kind words!
Lori from Be Different, Act Normal was the guest judge this week. She has a link party on Saturdays that I can’t wait to join!

Here is the Calendar for the upcoming challenges at The CSI Project:

I also had a small but winning (at least in my book! ) project this past week. I found this wooden basket at the thrift store time ago. It was looking a little tired.
After wiping it down with some Murphy’s Oil Soap. I dry brushed some opaque black acrylic paint over it     
and was amazed at the transformation!

Instead of old and worn out, I have aged with detail

and warmth…

I love it when a little project like this turns out so amazingly wonderful! It took me all of about ten minutes to do this!  I filled it with some ummm…filler…
and now I just need to find the right spot for it! :-)
So, it’s been a winning weekend!
Sharing my wonderful new wooden basket at:


and some of the parties listed in my sidebar like


Come along and check out some very inspiring projects! I found a new link party here: