A Walk Around the House

Just some pics of what I've done around the house for fall....


Here's some pics of the white pumpkins added to my mantel garland.
On the black shelving in my living room....
This arrangement is actually in the kids bathroom, thought it would add a fall touch.


Dining table centerpiece

And you can't forget the Bath & Body Works yummy cinnamon pumpkin hand soap!
Once I get the outside fun up I will post some more!

Hutch envy

I've always thought it would be fun to have a hutch but I never had room in my kitchen.  But now I do AND my grandma gave me hers so double blessing!  Now it's very old and dark and I planned on staining it or painting it or something.  However, when I started sanding I realized just how much work it would take, so I took the lazy way out.  I took off the doors, cleaned it and slapped on a little stain and called it good.
However, I really hated how dark it felt and wanted something on the back of the shelves but couldn't figure out what to do.  I thought about sheet metal - expensive!!  Fake sheet metal that they use for back splashes at Home Depot - more expensive!! So I'm wandering around Hobby Lobby wondering what to do when I see this wonderful embossed scrap paper!!
Could it work?!?!  I didn't know but I had to try, so I bought my paper and headed home.  Now I will say this, I have major issues with perfectionism-  like it can take over when I'm doing a project.  So I was very proud of myself that I did this and love it without worrying about a seam possibly showing or it not fitting perfectly.  So here is the turnout:
We can just keep the paper part to ourselves! :)

Fall is finally here!!!!

So I've been waiting and counting days and I finally felt it was time to get out the fall decorations!  Not quite time for the outside pumpkins and all that good stuff.  It's still too hot here but the inside is fall fun!  One thing I wanted to do was have a garland on the hutch my grandma just gave me (which I will post about later)
So out came all the pics and flowers and berries and good fall stuff!

Add and wrap and add and wrap....grab the wire and wrap some more...
Now it's time to put it on the hutch!!
Yay for fall!!!

You crackle me up!

So I recently discovered Crackle Medium at Hobby Lobby after reading about it online.  I love the crackle look anyway and now I want to crackle everything in my house!  But I settled for some fall pumpkins.  I had these in a garland last year and wanted some white pumpkins without spending alot, so I got some craft paint and crackle medium and went to work!
Here is what I started with (sorry the pics are a little blurry)





I added a coat of brown paint to the pumpkins and let it dry.  Then applied a coat crackle medium and let dry.  Lastly I added a coat of off white paint and as it dried they looked like this:
Love it!  Now I can add them to my mantel garland!  Happy crackling!

Movie night snackin'

Our PTA sponsors two movie nights a year at my son's school.  It's really alot of fun.  We show a movie on the projector, have a concession stand and the kids bring blankets and pillows to lay down and watch the film.  I always volunteer to bring some baked goods for the concession stand.  (Actually I think you have to if you're the president, lol)  Anyway, I really wanted an excuse to make these popcorn cupcakes I saw in a book and this was the perfect oppurtunity.  They turned out pretty cute, although my "butter" was a liitle too orangey for my taste but my husband said I could call it cheddar popcorn!  :)  He's supportive like that!  Here's how I did it.....
First grab a bag of mini marshmallows and cut one diagonally.
This is what you end up with
Then cut one of the pieces diagonally again like this.  You end up with three pieces.  Stick then together with the stickiness from the inside of the marshmallow and they look something like this:

Now you have your little "popcorn' pieces you can stick them on your cupcakes
I frosted mine with vanilla frosting, putting quite a bit so the marshmallows would stick.  Put them all over the top and they look like this!
Now for the "butter", add water to yellow food coloring and dab on with a pastry brush or clean paint brush.  Like I said mine was a little too orange so I should've added more water. 
So when you're done you have a perfect movie night snack!  I've seen some put in little popcorn containers or add red and white striped paper on the baking cup to look like a box of popcorn.  All very cute but I didn't have time for that.  I will say it took me a long time to cut all those marshmallows!!  I planned on doing a couple dozen but after an hour and a half I decided 6 would be plenty!

Two Great Loves......

My son and football...Bring on the season!!!

We're gonna party likes it's September 1...

My bloggin' friend Amy over at Keepin' the Sunny Side is having a fall wreath party today.  I love wreaths!!  All kinds of wreaths for every season.  They are one of my favorite decorations, so of course I want to join in!!  Here are my two wreaths, for now, I will be making more before I put up all my fall stuff!! yay!
This one has obviously not been hung yet but I love wreaths where the are not perfectly round but kind of stick out everywhere.  This one is just those huge piks from Hobby Lobby wrapped around a grapevine wreath!  Super easy!
I had to add this one because it is one of my favorites (sorry I'm not a great photographer)  It hangs above my front door on the inside of the house. The best part?  I got it at a garage sale for $1!!  Woo hoo