I've never been afraid of mixing different decor ideas for one party. Our wedding was a little bit Spring and a little bit Summer with yellow calla lilies, hydrangea and lemon centerpieces, and a beach themed cake! 

My pumpkin craft night is next week and I wanted to have fun with the same idea and mix fall and Halloween decor ideas together for the party.  The inspiration for my party decor started with this incredibly awesome spiderweb garland Jen of 100 Directions created for the Cricut Design Space Star Challenge.

{Source}

Jen made a downloadable SVG file of the spiderweb and since my boss Monica of East Coast Creative blog is part of the Cricut Design Space Star challenge as well, I already knew how to use the new Cricut Design Space. 

However, that's when I found out the hard way that my Cricut Expression is not compatible with the new technology that the new Cricut Explore machine uses. Therefore I was unable to download and use Jen's awesome spiderweb in the design space. 

So I went through the cartridges I had on hand and luckily I found a few fall images, like the pumpkin seen below, that I could work with.   

I have a lot of scrapbook paper in my craft collection and found the perfect colors for this project. 

Items Needed for DIY Pumpkin Garland: 

Cricut Cutting Machine

Cricut Mat

Cricut Cartridge: Stretch Your Imagination 

Scrapbook Paper

String, Ribbon, or Tape 

Hole Punch

Zots (glue dots)

Step 1: Lay your paper on the Cricut Mat and load it into the Cricut machine. Determine what size you would like your pumpkins, mine are 4'', then on the Cricut Expression machine you will hit the "blackout" button then the pumpkin symbol, and hit cut.

Step 2: Once you have enough pumpkins cut, I printed 24 of them, punch out a hole on the edge of each pumpkin. Next string them onto your ribbon. (Note: If you don't have a hole punch or ribbon you can just use glue to hang them up in a line like Jen did with her spiderweb garland, easy peasy!)

Step 3: You can leave it as is and tie the ends of the string so the pumpkins hang with space between them. Or if you want your garland to look like mine, use zots or craft glue to connect each pumpkin together. I overlapped mine so the hole from the punch wouldn't show. 

Step 4: Hang your garland and enjoy the beauty of your work! 

After I hung my garland I stood back and felt like I needed more decor on the wall (the garland came first then the owls and leaves!). I went back to my craft room/office and grabbed my Hoot 'n' Holler cartridge to look for an owl image to cut. 

I just couldn't host a fall party without a few owls on the wall! Look how cute this little owl family is. Why haven't I been using my Cricut machine more?! 

I now had the fall decor look I was going for, but still needed more Halloween decorations to go with the spooky signs I had. 

So I went back to look through my cartridges for a third time and couldn't believe the Halloween images I discovered on the Paper Doll Dress Up cartridge. There was a witch hat, a bat, a mummy and a skeleton, a ghost, and wait for it....a spiderweb! Can you believe that I found a spiderweb image right in my own cartridge collection, who knew it would be hiding among the paper dolls?!  

I used tape instead of stringing them together since the web was so delicate, a few of them actually ripped as I was trying to hang them up!

The paper doll cartridge was hiding these awesome skulls as well! 

Have you started decorating for Halloween yet? Or do you keep your October decor strictly fall themed? 

Thanks for stopping by, have a great day! 

Linking up with Sarah at Sarah Halstead for her new link party...

DIY Fall Mason Jar Decor

Happy first day of fall...y'all! The weather is breezy, the leaves are golden, and I'm rockin' my favorite hoodie, which means it's the perfect day to share my fall mason jar decor with you! 

If you don't have the Rhonna Designs photo app, you need to get it. After seeing an inspiring fall photo from Just a Girl on Instagram, I used the photo app to transform my own fall leaf photo into a masterpiece. Every time I look at it I have images of Thanksgiving dinner, colorful fall walking paths, Steelers football games, and tons of pumpkin recipe goodness dancing in my head! 

Fall is my favorite season to decorate for, I love the way the warm tones make our home feel so cozy and inviting. This year I created DIY fall mason jar decor that matches perfectly with the other items I already had stored in my closet from last year. I really enjoyed making these and may even put together a DIY mason jar craft night for my women's group for the holidays...what do you think ladies?! 

Last week I posted the DIY spray painted mason jars I made for my sisters and gave a little hint of how crazy I went with the gold! But, I'm not sure you were ready for how much gold you were going to see! 

My little craft crate was painted yellow a few weeks ago, but after I sprayed my mason jars gold I just couldn't stop and wanted more of this bold metallic color. Plus, the yellow didn't match my mason jars! My husband was getting a little worried and asked, "Are you going to spray everything in the house gold?!" Well, is there anything else that needs a makeover?! 

This adorable basket didn't need any gold, but the little mason jar did! When you're a Steelers fan and have black and gold spray paint handy, this is a must.

The mixture of colors I spray painted the jars looks great with my fall decor and with the zinnias that are still blooming in my garden. Now to create a set that matches my Christmas decor!

I can't believe all of my mason jars are now painted, it was just a few months ago that I posted craft ideas for them! I guess I'll have to restock, who wants to take a trip to the craft store?!

Have you started decorating for fall yet? I can't wait to pick up a few pumpkins to decorate, have you seen this DIY ombre pumpkin from Funkytime....

{source}

Thinking this is what we'll make for our little craft ladies' night in instead of the mason jars, hmm decisions, decisions?!

Thanks for stopping by today, have a great #firstdayoffall! 

Linking up with Marvelous Mommy and friends, and for the Weekend Retreat at Aka Designs! 

Creative Ways to Decorate for Spring

It seems that Mother Nature is confused because we are supposed to get a few inches of snow today, but I'm pushing forward and still on the look for creative ways to decorate for Spring! I don't have many decorations for this time of year, heck I don't even have a Spring wreath! Plus, the only decor I have around the house doesn't really shout, "It's Springtime"; a few plants, my cherished teddies, owls (of course!), and a huge smiling rustic sun that I hang outside to greet our guests isn't going to cut it! I want get more creative and really brighten things up after the long winter we've experienced this year. Here are a few ideas I discovered by searching Pinterest that I'm obsessing over...

Is it too late to make my own Spring wreath? If not, then here are a few wreath ideas I'm inspired by...

1/ 2 / 3 / 4

So, I showed this garden hose wreath from Create. Craft. Love to the hubby and he wasn't seeing the same unique and quirky Spring wreath idea I was seeing! What do you think? Is it too out of the box or is it just right? 

I love the fabric flower wreath from Digital Designs Scrapbooking with the little blue wooden bird and picture frame, it's cheerful and perfect for Spring and Summer. Do you think it has too much going on, or would you leave it just as is?

I have seen these fabric ball wreaths trending during the winter holiday season, but haven't really seen too many for Spring and Summer until I stumbled upon this one from The Love Nerds. This color combination is one of my favorites, it was actually our wedding colors and they have since been my favorite colors for Spring. 

How can you not love this amazing succulent wreath from Garden Therapy, am I right? It looks like a lot of time was put into creating this beauty. I had a succulent plant my mom purchased one year at the Philadelphia Flower Show, but sadly it didn't last. Any tips on taking care of succulents?! 

From wreaths to planters, there are just so many creative ways to decorate for Spring...

1/ 2 / 3

It's really amazing what a little spray paint, a few stencils, and rope can do to change the look of a boring planter! 

This southwest painted tiered planter DIY is from last year, but arrows are still trending so you can't go wrong with going the southern route with this idea from East Coast Creative. 

I recently wrote a post for AWS about DIY rope decor ideas, still waiting for it to go live and will update you with that link! But, who knew rope could be so much fun and bring new life to a simple planter?! I love that blogger April from House by Hoff  painted her rope to give it even more character.

If you are looking for a pop of color and you are obsessed with pink or bright neon colors, then this last idea from The Proper Pinwheel is just for you! Grab your favorite can of spray paint and get creative! 

Sometimes a table runner is all you need to bring new life to a boring tablescape....

1/ 2

I had a really cute table runner for the holiday season, but currently my table only has a single plant sitting on it...not very creative! 

This first table runner was created using paint stinks....the ideas people come up with are just mind blowing! I love the herringbone pattern that was created, by Amanda over on Ruffled it gives it more of a creative design element then just gluing them side by side for the table runner. 

How adorable is this paper pinwheel table runner from Green Wedding Shoes? I'm not sure how long it would last in a household full of children, but if you are looking for a table runner for the Spring holidays that would really impress your guests, this would be a great one! 

So, there you have it a few of my favorite creative ways to decorate for Spring...now let's go execute them! 

Thanks for stopping by, have a great day! 

PS.... have you checked out my blog Facebook page yet?! I'm running a fun giveaway when I hit 100 likes, co-hosting with my friend Katie over at Busy Bee Kate, give her a sweet hello! 

Christmas Decorations!

Holiday Weekend!

What a wonderful Holiday weekend we had. My fiance cooked a delicious Thanksgiving feast...with two of my favorite sides...his pineapple stuffing and marshmallow yams!! I'm the only one who eats the yams...but he is that great that he goes through the trouble to make them for me. I am a lucky gal. I just cherish the holidays. We have hung our stockings and put our decorations all in a row in hopes that St. Nick will find our apartment on Christmas Eve! I can't wait to share the beautiful pictures...this year I got a little creative...well in my eyes I did!

Any how...the girls and I took it upon ourselves to have some fun with the video feature on my digital camera! I recorded some Christmas songs like, "Santa's Coming to Town" and "Rocking Around the Christmas Tree", on my cell phone and started to play them while we were decorating. That's when I got the idea to start lip-syncing to the songs and told the girls to join in!!! The videos are so funny...I laugh every time I watch them! They will def be one of my favorite holiday memories! It's so funny when the part of Santa's Coming to Town comes on because the girls look like they are screaming at the top of their lungs...but they are only mouthing the words! I'm very excited to see what fun Christmas weekend brings along!