Give Thanks Banner-Free Printable

I thought some of you would be interested in a free printable for the banner hanging on my mantel. 

It is super easy to make. I made mine in about 20 minutes and if you're like me you have all the supplies on hand, making this a free project. 

Step One- print the letters: click on the links below and print

*make sure you print the letters on the landscape paper setting.

letters G and I

letters V and E

letters T and H

letters A and N

letters K and S

I printed on brown paper but you could use off white, orange, yellow, or what ever you have that you think will look good. 

Step Two - cut out your letters. I left a small border. 

Step Three - cut slits in the top corners. You could also use a hole punch. 

 Step Four - Thread your ribbon through the openings. 

That's it, you're ready to hang and enjoy.

Let me know if you have any problems or questions.

CHECK OUT THESE PARTIES I LINK TO.

Thanksgiving mantel and other decor

I've tried to give Thanksgiving the credit it deserves.  I'm sure that if I didn't have a few things for Thanksgiving that I loved, I'd probably skip it and decorate for Christmas early. I won't lie it's a huge temptation. I love our home at Christmas. 

Our Thanksgiving decor started several years ago with these blocks, I truly love them, and look forward to pulling them out. 

I tied a few ears of indian corn to the hurricanes that line my windows. 

The candles were already wrapped in fallish paper thanks to my friend Cha Cha. I think I paid 50 cents for the ears of corn and all my leaves are from the dollar store. 

The piano top decor hasn't changed much from last year. 

Do you like my cornucopia? It was one of my first tutorials.  You can find it HERE. I would still like to get some gourds for it next time I'm a the store. 

The following items are also very important to me. 

 These pots and leaves were made by my kids at school.  I love and cherish them.  I'm praying that my other kids get the same teacher so we can add to our collection. 

And finally, I was happy to pull out the leaf table runner again.  It didn't work with our Halloween decor. You can find the tutorial for this one HERE. 

I have so many fun things to try for Thanksgiving.  I hope can find some time to do a few. My month is looking crazier than ever. You may see lots of posts on what I want to do, instead of what I've actually done. 

Here is a list of parties I link to.  

on my mind

The minute it starts to feel like fall I start to crave pumpkin.  Growing up, pumpkin pie was my favorite dessert. I'm writing this post in hopes that maybe I can get the following recipes out of my head.  Seriously, they are haunting me. 

Check out these Pumpkin Muffins with cream cheese frosting from Bee in our Bonnet. They make my mouth water. 

The pumpkin pie lover in me wants to try these Cinnamon Toasted Pumpkin Pie Tarts from Picky Palate. Waring- don't visit her site while hungry.

I've had pumpkin pancakes before, but I saw these Pumpkin Spice Pancakes and Buttermilk Syrup at That's So Cuegly a year ago and haven't stopped thinking about them yet.  I have to try this buttermilk syrup.  Why can't I ever remember to buy buttermilk? 

Do you have a favorite Pumpkin recipe? Please share. 

This week Jess at Craftiness is not Optional is teaching everyone how to make her Sadie Shirt. None of my girls need another shirt, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to learn how to make this cute shirt. Visit her blog for a list of supplies and a free sewing lesson.  

Free Halloween Decor!

I've been painting a few things for Halloween.  While I had my black craft paint out I thought, why not paint on some of the picture around the house?  You know- add a little Halloween flair. 

I'm sure Grandpa Barrus doesn't mind dressing up in a mask.

I couldn't believe the impact I got when I added some doodles to these paintings.  Just a little paint created a Halloween spirit in our staircase. 

Of course, while I was at it, I had to dress up one of our pictures. The kids LOVE it. 

I painted onto the glass protecting the pictures.  It wipes right off with windex or water. Simple and Free. I love it. 

p.s. I wouldn't try this on any original artwork not covered with glass. 

Here is a list of Parties I link to. 

Halloween Rosette Pillow

I have been dying to decorate for Halloween.  It is seriously killing me to read other bloggers post about pulling out there halloween stuff. I wish I could join you all, but I have to wait two more days.  I'm throwing a birthday party for my son here on Saturday and I think it would be a little confusing to have Halloween all over the place.  

Until then I threw together this fun pillow to tide me over. 

It's made from a bright orange corduroy skirt and some scrap black fabric.

Since it's an envelope pillow I was able to cover my normal pillows. 

I love orange and black together.  It really gets me in the halloween spirit. I thought about adding a stem and some leaves to make it a pumpkin.  I decided that I liked this chic version better.  I think it still gives the feeling of a pumpkin without being so literal. 

I was going to give a tutorial in a few days but I just found one that is basically the same. Why reinvent the wheel? Here is the link if you want to make one too. 

I also added a few friends to my wreath.  I made my wreath last year with some leaves form the dollar store.  I was thrilled when I found these crows there today. 

They even have wire already attached. 

I could only find two, but I would love to visit another store and see if I can find more for inside. You have to love the dollar store. 

Wish me luck for the party on Saturday.  I hope I don't turn into the crazy stressed out mom I usually do.

I'm linking to THESE parties.

faux leather leaves

There's nothing like scattered leaves to bring in the fall.

I found this really great faux leather at a warehouse this week. I bought a half a yard for $2. I had a million things in my head I wanted to do with it. But then it hit me, I really wanted to make a table runner of big leaves.

You see I've been wanting to make a table runner like this forever but didn't want to figure out how to finish the edges. This was the perfect material.

I liked how the texture was kinda leafy.

I googled leaf silhouettes, and drew a couple of shapes out on paper. Than I traced then onto the back of the leather.

This was the most time consuming job. It took me about 45 minute to sew on all the veins. I used yellow thread but I think tan or off white would work well too.

When the veins were done, I lined them up in an order I liked. I made sure each leaf touched the another in two spots on both side. Then I marked the touching points with a small sharpie.

I used a brown thread to tack the touching points together.

I'm not ready to bring out Halloween, but I'm enjoying a touch of fall.

I'll be linking Here.

Fall Wreath Redo

I did a redo to my old wreath. I made it about five years ago and have been wanting to do something new for years but didn't want to spend the money on new foliage.

Last week I found these great crepe paper leaves from the Dollar Store. When I saw them I knew instantly what I wanted to do with them. They had three colors so I bought one of each color. They have wires running through the paper so they are perfect for wreath making.

First thing I did was lay out some pieces of paper and traced my wreath so I knew the size.

Then I layed my leaves out on the paper drawing, so I knew how to evenly space the leaves that I had.

After placing a few leaves I could place the wreath down to see if I was placing my leaves at the right distance.

After placing all my leaves I bent the wire to fluff them and make them more life like.

And that's it, super easy. It took me about 20 minutes start to finish and only cost $3.

I hung the wreath using The Nesters tips here.