Fall Decor & More

I'm slowly but surely trying to get back into the blogging swing of things. It's an easy habit to let slide when you haven't done it months, but I'm working on it.

It's been in the high 90's for temperatures around here lately, but with it being mid-September and all, we have to start thinking about Fall. My yard is trying to prepare me by already requiring a raking of the leaves. Since we live in a clearing in the middle of the woods, this is an all season endeavor until the yard is then covered in a blanket of white (if we're lucky).

Since I have started selling my re-designed items out of my home now, I have to try to be prepared for all the seasons & more holidays than before when all I did was just 3 Christmas time craft shows. 

This isn't my first fall project this year. I've started quite a few, and moving along at what feels like a snails pace, I'm getting them done, one by one.

If you want to see what is listed so far, you can click on my Rustique & Chic Facebook link located in my sidebar at the right. Once there, everything is sorted into Albums. If you like what you see & want to be kept updated on any new listings, be sure to click the "Like" button. 95% of my items are one of a kind and don't have multiples of.

If you look at the upper left-hand corner of the photo at the beginning of this post, you'll see a hint of a wreath I made that's listed on my selling page.

Sorry about the shameless plug for my "shop", now to get back to the subject.

Sorry about the poor photo quality...

I found the nice foam pumpkin at a sale & it already had a small bouquet of yellow carnation-like flowers in it. I added the sunflowers, cat tails, spikes, orange pip sprays, leaves & some different little pom-pom looking things to make it look fuller & more proportional.

It still looked kind of plain & uninteresting to me, so I added the quote on the front with a matte finish brown vinyl. The grooves in the pumpkin made applying the vinyl a bit, shall we say....interesting?

The font I used was Exmouth, except for the "B", which is Edwardian Script. I wanted something that was more elegant looking, since I had Thanksgiving in mind when I started this project.

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If you're lucky, more posts with Fall & Halloween themed projects will be following soon!  Want to see these, and many more wonderful ideas for making your home Fall cozy and inviting? Then you need to head on over to Reveal: Fantastic Fall Decorating DIY Ideas for inspiration overload!




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My Beach Theme Suitcase

That's BEACH, not the other nasty word. hee hee!

Now that we actually seem to be in full Spring mode here in northern Indiana, it has me thinking of the things I want to do this summer. Going to the beach might be one of those things!
 
But...beach season is quite a ways off, so in the meantime, if I want to feel a bit beachy, I decided to create this piece of decor.

I was inspired by seeing a vintage suitcase that had the word BEACH roughly painted it & an arrow. I don't even remember many of the details, because right away, my mind was dreaming up this design even before I had the suitcase.

This suitcase was purchased at a thrift shop and originally was all blue, like the trim color. You can imagine my excitement when I seen it sitting in the shop!

But there were set-backs. There's always set-backs.
 
First, I had issues with getting the design to cut for me on my Silhouette Cameo, until I eventually ruined the blade on the last attempt. I found a decent blade deal on Ebay and now have 1 with an additional 1 as a back up.  

New blade is in & I get the design to cut b-e-a-u-tifully, but because I used contact paper, it didn't want to stick to the surface of the suitcase at all. Ugh! Yes, I cleaned the surface of the suitcase well. There were scuff marks that had to be scrubbed off first.
  
So then I had to go over the back of each contact paper piece with some repositionable glue, and that helped, but apparently not enough. My first coat of creamy ivory paint seemed to do well. A false sense of relief came over me. But when I went over it with the 2nd coat, I could tell the contact paper was starting to lift and I knew the paint was seeping underneath.  Sure enough, every single image had major paint seepage. Crying.

This is the part that people don't want to pay you for. The part of your time it takes to make something sellable, but doesn't make you enough money for what you had to do to get it to that point. Follow me?
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I had to take wet Q-tips & go over each letter and image by hand and rub off the excess paint. It's not perfect and the edges aren't clean & smooth, but I think it gives it a rustic, beach worn look, yet looks pretty good, even from a short distance. It's just when you look at it real closely that you notice the quality.

AND, just to toot my own horn a little bit. I created this design all by myself. As much as I loved my Cricut Expression (and still do) I didn't have much creative freedom with it like I do on my new Cameo.


 
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Reduse, ReUse, Recycle

I think more & more people are making the conscious decision these days to try to reduce, reuse and recycle as much as they can.

I also think a lot of it has played over into the crafting world with lots of help from Pinterest. There's that name again...it's a good site to go to for ideas, if you actually use what you see on there and IF they work out.

I seen the idea to make plant markers on Pinterest via In My Own Style blog, but that blogger used a marker. However, she had much prettier hand writing than I have, so she could get away with that & it looked nicer than I could do by hand. She also gave them a bit of a Wow Factor when she blinged it up with jewels! Pretty!

I, on the other hand, wanted something with a little bit of a Wow factor also, but without the jewels. The squirrels or coons would probably take off with them, so I needed something that still gave me that factor without the "wasted" work to make it pretty.  I'm not always successful in achieving that, but I try. (disclaimer) If I didn't have critter problems, there would definitely be jewels on mine too!

I also wanted to use another object that so many people are wanting to throw away these days because they're kind of worthless after a short while.

I present to you the vintage cardboard tube & wire hanger. Please ignore my awful 1970's kitchen cabinets that desperately need refinished.

Once you remove the cardboard tube at the bottom of the hanger, you're left with the perfect end to use as a hanger. 

 

Just snip each side off below the curved hanger portion at the top. If you want, you can take a pair of pliers and crimp the curved tip closed once you've added your labeled lid.

Then you need the metal discs to create your label. I use crescent rolls or this.
 

On a side note, I love these Seamless Crescent Roll sheets for making the raw veggie pizzas and Sopapilla desserts. I have to purchase them from our local Kroger grocery stores because Walmart doesn't carry this variety here.

Once you get your metal disc removed from the cans, one end will have some print on it that can be removed with nail polish remover, then you need to wash all of them with warm soapy water to get the dough residue off.


I used yellow and green outdoor vinyl to cut out my designs with my Cricut. I don't remember what cartridge I used for the design, but I used the Botanicals cartridge for the font.

I don't have these herbs planted yet because it's just too cold right now, but I want to give them a try this year! So all I got is some daffodils and Hyacinths popping up.
 

 
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A Crackle Painted Rolling Pin

I told myself that I was done with this. That I was not going to do this crackle painting thing anymore. And yet, here I am doing even more. What is my problem?

Part of my problem is Pinterest and seeing all the people that are pinning my crackle painted projects with the stars on them. THAT'S what my problem is. Someone had pinned this little number I did last year.

And you know what they put in their comments? They said they would love to see what this design would look like on a rolling pin. Well, that was all I needed to get me going. So, you know I had to make a rolling pin in this design, don't you? 

Oh yes. I did.

I keep saying that I'm not doing crackle painting anymore. It's not really a good seller for me, but for some reason, it draws quite a bit of attention without creating a desire to buy it. It's kind of a nuisance to do, with little financial reward. LOL! Maybe I should try selling this stuff on Ebay. It seems to be a hot ticket on there, at least for now.

 
I still have several rolling pins sitting around waiting to have something done with them. Some are old, some not. I'm getting them done, slowly but surely.
 
I sort of have an interesting story with this one. Ok, maybe it's not all that interesting - to you guys.

This rolling pin was my first choice to do the crackle paint & star design on. But then I noticed that stamped word "Foley" on the end. I didn't remember seeing it when I bought it. I'm sure it came from either a thrift store or a garage sale for no more than a couple of bucks.

I'm not a rolling pin expert (or any other kind of expert for that matter) so I did a little research on the name. It seems as though it was a well made rolling pin that was produced from the 1920's-1960's before going out of business. It must be a somewhat highly collectible piece because they go for pretty good money (for a rolling pin, that is) on Ebay & Etsy, not to mention the $10+ for shipping! It is quite a heavy rolling pin made from maple wood and the roller portion is larger than normal. It even has ball bearings in the pin mechanism. Mine doesn't even look like it's been used much!

So this little number isn't going to get anything done to it. It's just going to be sold as a vintage collectible, but not for the ridiculous price that they're going for online.

It's been a crazy couple of days around here lately. On a spur of the moment, we drove just over the state line into Michigan last night to look at a smaller enclosed trailer we found for sale. I have to say that unlike campers, those suckers hold their value. I don't understand. They're just an empty box with a couple of doors and a wood floor on 2 wheels. We got a better deal than the asking price and we put some cash down to hold it until we can go get it this weekend. It's going to store my 8 ft. tables and be used to haul my stuff around to the craft shows I do.  I was hoping for a smooth sided one, so I could do my Rustique & Chic logo on the side. However, it has lots of rows of rivets all along the sides. Oh well, I just have to work around that, I guess. 

Oh, and that was after I got up at 5 a.m. to help my 20 year old son make a New York Style cheesecake for a coworker that he lost a bet to (pssst...it was a girl he's kind of sweet on). Mind you, neither he nor I have ever made one of those before. I've eaten plenty, never made any. 

The winner wanted chocolate covered strawberries on top. I have to say that Walmart carries some dipping stuff called Chocolate Lava, or something like that, and it is very good on the strawberries!! Oh my!

No, I didn't get any of the cheesecake, but the reviews were off the charts, I guess. He decided he wanted to make a Vanilla Wafer crumb crust instead of the standard graham cracker crust for his. I guess that got him some bonus points with the winner. ;) We used the crustless cheesecake recipe I found on Pinterest (is there anywhere else to look?) The crustless cheesecake recipe can be found on What2Cook.net. I plan on making one for us when I get a 10" spring form pan. My largest one is 9" and it ain't gonna cut it with this recipe. It definitely needs a 10" pan. I also have to wait until after Alan has his bi-annual blood work done. I'll give my take on how it good it is after that.






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To Post or NOT To Post

THAT is the question.

I tend to start quite a few of my posts with a bit of mystery in hopes of catching your attention and drawing you in. I'm not sure it's working for me, but it's how I do some things - in a cloud of secrecy.

Secrecy. Kind of like the projects I make. I could post all kinds of projects that I work on here on my blog. Trust me, it PAINS me not to. I'm a Leo, so I love attention. But I have run into a bit of a problem with the wonderful world of the web. I find that it's a double edged sword. While it can be an amazing place for inspiration, and don't think for one minute I don't get a ton of my own inspiration from it, it's also a place where millions of others get theirs and perhaps, even from YOU. I guess if I was making a living from my blog and thousands of followers were hanging onto every word I wrote, and every project I did while getting compensated from companies just for making those projects, it might be quite different. But I don't make a living from my blog. It's been a year since I signed up for AdSense and it will most likely be another 4 years before I see my first check from them. 

So, where I make my money in the meantime, is from selling my projects that I make at local craft shows, and to family & friends. Since the world of Pinterest has taken off like a bat outta....well, you know (LOVE Pinterest, by the way) it's anybody's game. I don't mind others getting inspiration from what I made. In fact, I find it VERY flattering & rewarding! But when I'm selling MY idea at a craft show only to discover someone else at that same show is selling my idea too, I question my decision for posting it too soon. Especially after they tell me they found the idea on someone's blog or Pinterest. E'hem. yeah. 

I actually had that happen one year, even before Pinterest was a ".com" in someone's eye. I guess I never had the forethought that something like that could happen, especially at a small town craft show. Know what? It does.

I guess the point I'm trying to make here is that I struggle with deciding if I should post my projects on here for fear of losing sales to others that might be beating me at my own game because of factors I may or may not be able to control. I know it can draw traffic to my blog and it does to a certain extent, so don't think I will ever, ever, ever stop posting stuff I make on here. Eventually I do put them on here.  It just might be out of season, you know, when no one else cares about Christmas stuff in July. LOL-jk, but I had done that last year if you check out this post.

IF I was really motivated, I would make something to show and something to sell at the same time so that I'm happy both ways. Nah, I don't see that happening either. LOL! 

So as not to make this a totally boring text-only post today, I've decided TO POST this project.  I mean, if you've stuck with me this long, y'all deserve something for your endurance!

I think this green bucket would be pretty sitting on a spring porch with a huge bouquet of white daisies in it or pink gerbera ones, don't you think? 

It's probably been about a year ago that I purchased this bucket thinking I was going to do something amazing with it. Instead, it just took up space this whole time in my dining room. Well, I did paint the plain wooden handle and the inside of the bucket (including the rolled edge) black, as it was all green.

I had good intentions on cutting something out in vinyl for the front with my Cricut, but I couldn't seem to find a design to fit the look I was going for in all those cartridges I own (75+?). Well guess what? My sweetheart of a son bought me a Silhouette Cameo for Christmas! It also came with the Design Studio software that is usually extra. I whole heartedly recommend making that purchase if you want to try doing any of your own design work or even just making changes to existing designs & no, I'm not getting paid to make that recommendation either. I just took a couple of the designs from the massive Silhouette online catalog and combined some of the elements together to create this one and added Welcome. I'm still learning on how to make words curve correctly on tapered curved surfaces. There's a knack to it that I haven't quite mastered just yet, but I'll get there. 

 

So thanks for sticking it out through more of my babbling and such a small amount of inspiration.



 
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Pretty Plate Decor

It's a beautiful & sunny, yet moderately cool, fall day here in northern Indiana today. As my deadline for my first craft show of the season quickly approaches, I'm in overload to get as many things done for this show as I possibly can, while also preparing to go camping at a festival in the southern part of the state, so I'm losing 3 days of creating time there. Only to be hitting the ground running when we get back from that to prepare for our trip to Disney World. Losing NINE days (minimum) there. That will leave me with one week to finish up any lose ends on the crafts, work on my inventory list and pack everything up for the show. Stress? No stress.....PANIC!!!

My house is a total wreck right now and could very well be a prime candidate for hoarding therapy. Seriously. I would simply die if anyone who knew me came to my door right now. 

Not only is my house a hoarding mess, we're in the process of installing new windows (finally!) that are leaving some areas of open stud walls, raw drywall, spray foam & incomplete electrical boxes, etc. Oh, and no curtains in the meantime on ANY of the windows in my house. Thanks goodness we live in the middle of the woods or all that wouldn't be happening - BUT deer season starts real soon. yikes!

Enough about all that.

I have had a Cricut Expression machine for a number of years now and for the most part, I really like the machine. I have to admit that it has increased my creativity 10x, in spite of it's short comings. I couldn't imagine creating without some type of cutting machine of it's kind anymore. I wish I had a Silhouette machine so that I actually could be even more creative, but that's a ways off. I wish they'd offer me one to try out and get my honest opinion of.

Over the past few years, I have picked up quite the collection of plates to decorate and sell as home decor. (notice, I didn't say hoard)  I have more plates to decorate than I actually have in my cabinet to use!

I picked up a very pretty plate rack before I even had a Cricut, because I just knew I could figure out a way to sell it someday. It's only taken me about 6 or 7 years to get that accomplished and I get to use up 3 of those plates! YAY!!!

I literally had no decent place to hang this in my home to take pictures, so I had to settle for laying it down on a shutter door that's on my family room floor & I'm also working on it too, so the plates look a little wonky. Ya know? I think it actually looks pretty good on that shutter door (section). I'm using the shutter door to hang things on at the craft show, so I will see if this will stay upright to display the plates like this. Sometimes I think if it weren't for serendipity, I'd be a terrible crafter. LOL! I like to think of it as God's hands guiding me in a direction I couldn't see on my own. 

 

 

 

Now I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that I won't be bringing this back home from the show. 

 
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How I Fixed My Broken Glass Faux Pas

I hope to be able to get out and take advantage of the 70 degree day we're having today. But I wanted to share this with you right away.

Just in case some of you are not familiar with how the story of my picture frame turned dry erase board really began, you may want to go read HERE first. 

This is what my dilemma was.

 And I was so happy with how it was turning out before this

And I want to THANK all of you that offered some really good advice on how to recreate the look like the existing glass. Tammy, from One Year of Books blog suggested I use clear contact paper to give it the slightly frosted look. What a great idea! I knew this, but it hadn't occurred to me to to do that, although, I'm not sure if there is 24 inch wide contact paper available & I didn't want a seam, but I will remember that for future smaller versions of this! Oh yea.

And Stacey from Flickerwhips shared her story of some Oops! moments she experienced. It's kind of comforting to know that I'm in really good company here. LOL!

I also received this bit of advise from Julieta from 4 Goofballs about tying some ribbon bows around the corners to cover it up. And even though I didn't use her exact idea, I did find something to cover up the boo-boo, and I think it really sets off the board even more than before!

Are you ready for the big reveal??
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Ta-Da!

Whaddayathink?
 
I have had the wooden corner pieces for-evah! Probably around 15 years or so. I never figured out what to use them on up to now. I debated about distress painting them to match the frame, but ya know? I REALLY like the look of the wood-tone against the rest of the white, so I just waxed it with clear furniture paste wax and I'm calling it good!

Then, after looking around on Pinterest last night, I was looking through some of my boards and came across this pin I had and LOVE! I just really want to do that framed quote. I noticed that the frame on my dry erase board would have been perfect or this! Oh well, what's done is done and I love it as a dry erase board.

 {source} 
please be kind and pin from the original "source"

I will carry on the hunt for another frame to do this for myself. I usually find something even better than the original thought, so I'm holding out for that. LOL!

Until next time...
Hope you have a creative day!

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