It's the Great Pumpkin, Ya'll!

I feel certain this is my final fall tutorial. ;S For 2010, that is. I started in August, after all. I have 2 tutorials below. They are easy peasy!

Fall Candlescapes that I will use through Thanksgiving...

I simply took what I already had and threw it together. This project used (3) 7.5" cylinder vases from Dollar Tree (these were used in our wedding as well as a baby shower I co-hosted this month for a dear friend), (3) LED 6" pillar candles. These were a gift from a dear friend for our wedding {even better that they are vanilla scented}, fall leaves (I think I purchased a bunch at Publix for $3, which you can also find at the craft stores), fabric fall leaves that I double-side taped onto the LED pillars. No worries, it will come off like a charm. Once inside the vase, I inserted 3 of the fall leaves from the bunch. I used LED pillars because I won't have to worry about the leaves catching on fire and I can simply pull each pillar out to turn it on. Piece of cake! Below are Candles 1, 2, and 3. The final reveal is after the pumpkin tutorial as I took pix of both together on our mantel.





Now for the Pumpkins... I'm not big into Halloween Decor so I mainly decorate for fall and Thanksgiving. However, for those of you out there who decorate for both, this tutorial is still applicable. I bought (3) pumpkins from Dollar Tree. They were ugly, and I mean ugly. I originally wanted to prime them and paint them Heirloom White so they would resemble all those white pumpkins I've been crushing on since last year. Well, I just did not have it in me to do all that spray painting before or after the shower I co-hosted earlier this month. I had sprayed one as a test with Oil Rubbed Bronze (ORB) but it was too black for what I wanted. I started painting another one in a cream acrylic paint. Not feelin' the love... Then it hit me ~ I love my Metallics acrylic paint in Rich Espresso Brown. Why not paint them with that? To get a good base, I painted them first with Patio Paint in Chocolate Brown. Below are the pix with the 3rd pumpkin being the only one that had just the Patio Paint and Metallic Paint on it. The others had ORB & cream acrylic paint on them first.





And now for the reveal... No, I don't plan on leaving the pumpkins here as they don't really fit but it works for the sake of snapping a photo. Nice streak on the bottom of our mirror that I need to wipe down again. :) The only thing I don't like about how they turned out is you can see a line in the middle of each one where it was in its mold. I'm thinking some ribbon will take care of camouflaging. You get what you pay for, but they are cute nonetheless. You cannot tell the candles are on since it is daytime but they are cute, too.



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I'm linking up to Hope Studio's Tutorial Tuesday! You can view this and other fabulous tutorials on their blog.


I'm also linking up to Sugar Bee's Take a Look Tuesday, too. Check out all the other bloggers on her site, too.


I'm also linking up to "Toot Your Horn Tuesday" at The Silly Little Sparrow's blog.

I'm linking to "The Halloween Pumpkin Parade Party" at the Fabulous Under The Table & Dreaming blog.




Also linking to the Fall Festival at The DIY Show Off. Another fabulous blog with so many creative bloggers.


And finally... Sister Sister Sunday @ Kuzak's Closet So many delicious things on this blog.

Sister Sister Sunday

Remember... Keep it simple, keep it crafty, keep it frugal, keep it fabulous, & keep it fun!

A Shower of Blessings...

A few weeks back, I posted 2 tutorials related to a baby shower a couple of us threw for our dear friend, Emily. She is having a boy. We kept it simple and even made the food ourselves {OK, Suzi made most of the food as that is where her giftedness is ~ she is a gourmet goddess in my eyes ;)}. I made the decor and Denise made sure we had the clubhouse secured and helped us both with the set-up. So fun!

Here are some follow-up pictures related to this post , "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star...Do You Know How Loved You Are?" Here are the altered canvases I made with sweet Noah's monogram and nursery colors...






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Here are the vase wraps and "B-a-b-y B-o-y Lollipops" in the vases with greenery...









Special thanks to my sister, Kathi, for letting me borrow her tiered server. It was originally gold as she bought it in the 90s, but I sprayed it Titanium Silver for her and for the shower, just wrapped blue ribbon around it and added the white bow. The tablecloths were queen size Ralph Lauren bed sheets in chambray and chambray and white stripe that hubby had on hand from his bachelor days. They look fresh ironed on on the tables. All of the serving pieces were items Suzi and I had on hand. Blue plates were from my wedding so of course, they work for a boy's baby shower. :)

We had a yard sign printed for the entrance to the clubhouse on the left side...



And on the right side, "Lollipops" that spell out Noah's name with scripture stickers on the bottom of each letter...



Vases that were on the drink table holding lemons and sweetener for the coffee spelling out "b-a-b-y". I also had 2 square candles infront of the centerpiece on the food table with the same design but on blue vellum and they spelled, "n-o-a-h".



I found this idea out in blogland on How Does She. The guest blogger is Heidi and the Tutorial is featured on this link. These paper pom-poms are made from mini and standard cupcake liners. They reminded me of some of the lamps at IKEA and Anthropologie...



Here is one pictured here:


and another one pictured here:


Thanks for spending time with me reminiscing about the shower and fun DIY projects. All photos, unless linked elsewhere, are mine. I don't mind you linking or referencing to them, but please give credit where credit is due. Thanks!

Remember, keep it simple, keep it crafty, keep it lovely, and keep it fun!

Cozying Up To Fall

I've been featured as a guest blogger on Jess's blog ~ Frugal Flourish. Thank you, Jess! Hop on over and check out her fabulous blog & my tutorial on making a great fall centerpiece.



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Here's the link to type into your browser window or you can click on the title of this post (Cozying Up To Fall) at the top and it will take you to Jess's blog. http://frugalflourish.blogspot.com/2010/09/guest-blogger-kimberly-from-extra-extra.html

Have you visited Starbucks for their Pumpkin Spice Latte yet? They're back...

Have a fabulous day!

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star...Do You Know How Loved You Are?

Sorry for my absence in blogging. My dear hubby and I just went away on a 1-year anniversary vacation so I spent some time guest blogging and getting ready for the launch of small group, our trip, and doing some writing. Below are 2 Tutorials I hope you enjoy!

My dear friends, Randy and Emily, were married in the Spring of 2007, and I had the privilege of being the person who prayed for them {officially as I know others were praying, too} at their wedding. I just love it when God pens a great love story and theirs was/is one that was/is sweet to witness from their meet and greet to their nuptials through today. Emily is expecting their first baby this December. Noah is an answer to many prayers and I cannot wait to personally meet this sweet one. In the meantime, a celebration is in order so two friends and I are co-hosting a shower for Emily and Baby Noah. No particular theme in mind (no, we aren't going with the ark theme ~ lest it taunt him down the road:). I do know the comforter is from Pottery Barn Kids and has blue and white gingham and that got me thinking...

I have 6 cylinder vases left from my wedding so with those in mind, my brain started spinning. I still have to go get blue gingham scrapbook paper, which I will cut into (4) 3 inch sections to wrap around the vases and I took cute nametags and altered them with Baby Noah's name on one and monogram on the remaining 6. These will stick to the gingham wraps. I have a taller cylinder vase that I will use for his name as that one will probably be the center. I'm assuming we'll have a 6 or 8 foot table to display food to place these on {decorate first, plan later:)} Unfortunately, the full finished product won't be viewed until the shower since I don't have the gingham paper just yet. The idea came from a wrap I made for a couple of wine bottles that hold taper candles using leftover scraps and the monogram I designed from our wedding. Below is the process on these cylinder vase wraps. I'm putting sea glass in the bottom and some lovely greenery ~ fern leaves and other leaves will go inside each cylinder.

This is the project that got me thinking about cylinder vase wraps. The white specks at the bottom of the wine bottle are pieces of the candle that is placed in the bottle opening.


I took some scrapbooking letters from Rusty Pickle that I had and painted them light blue with acrylic paint since they are black. This font fit on the nametag stickers I purchased unopened at Goodwill for $1.





I then used Mod Podge after the paint dried and laid out 6 monograms and the letters for Noah's name on one tag. I coated with one coat of Mod Podge, hence the rough edges. The edges will be clean when I peel the stickers off to place on the blue gingham cylinder vase wraps.



They will be sooo cute! How's that for a humble opinion?

From there, I began sorting through all my scrapbook supplies and papers. I found a cute design and some circle coasters I had purchased last year at Michael's $1 spot with the idea to alter them. For this next project, I needed 14 of the 20 coasters. Why 14? I counted out the letters in "Baby Boy". Yes, I can add. ;) I want these "lollipops" to be double-sided. Mod Podge? Check. Scrapbook Paper (12 x 12 ~ 2 sheets of same design)? Check. 14 Coasters? Check. I had a package of Bamboo Skewers so those will be the "sticks". You can make this same type thing for a wedding shower, baby shower, graduation, birthday, etc. You can place them in individual vases with flowers or cover a styrofoam block with a coordinating paper and place as decor on the gift table. Be creative ~ there is no wrong or right. Even though I envision an event with decor in mind beforehand, I have been known to change as I decorate along the way. Blessed are the flexible...



By the way, these coasters are the very thin paper ones and not the thicker ones I've seen in the craft stores.



For the cute paper, I chose (2) sheets of a 12x12 size, make sure it is a thicker paper that will stand up to glue or mod podge. Use whatever you have on hand, if you can.



I scored this pack of Bamboo Skewers at Kroger for $1 over the 4th of July holiday as I had an idea for them but ran out of time and steam.






I painted chipboard letters with the blue acrylic paint I purchased and it matched the paper (sigh of relief!). While you don't see two sets of the word "Baby", I did make two.

Pictured below are the first set of coasters Mod Podged onto the back side of the paper.





Here are 2 coasters that I cut out with my cuttle bug detail scissors. Once you Mod Podge the coasters to the back side of the paper, I flip it over where I'm looking at the pretty side (aka: face up or right side up). I used a bakery rolling pin that you'd roll out dough with that I use to keep papers glued down nice and tight. Hence, edges are glued down and no air bubbles. Once dry, I cut out each circle perfectly with my cuttle bug scissors. I then used an emery board and sanded down the rough edges. Next came a coat of Mod Podge over each coaster face, the appropriate letter on each one, another coat of Mod Podge and dry time. I dried these overnight.



I don't have pictures of these next steps and my sincerest apologies for that (camera batteries died). I lined up the letters fronts and backs as for "BABY BOY" I should have 2 sets of each. I took out my e6000 glue and ran a ring around the back side of one corresponding coaster for each letter, ran a bead on the tip of the bamboo skewer and placed the coasters back-to-back with the skewer inside. I clipped each double-sided letter with skewer inside with clothes pins until dry. Once dry, I took out the blue acrylic paint and carefully painted around the edge of each coaster now "lollipop" as the raw cardboard and paper edges showed. You could also glue a cute coordinating corded ribbon around each. I wanted to keep it simple. Below are pics of the finished products. I just showed the word "baby" in the photos. I won't lie, this one took time, but I think they will enjoy them at the shower. I had fun making them.







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Keep it simple, keep it crafty, keep it lovely, and keep it fun!

For All My Single Friends {Part 2}...

"The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit." ~ Psalm 34:18


Walking in wisdom is what helps us avoid the enemy's snares, the counterfeits that slip into our lives and hold us captive because of our desires. The rearview mirror is always crystal clear. When we look back, we see all the little red flags: Friends and family said things we did not want to hear, but should have taken note of. We chose to ignore their admonition, but now have to admit that what they warned us about was true. Some will quietly hang their heads in shame and admit they knew they had no business with the likes of this man or woman. You had hoped by your good example they would change. However, he or she did not ~ "it's hard for a zebra to change its stripes", my mom used to tell me. Upon their exit from your life, this person wreaked havoc on your heart, your spirit, and your emotions.

Unfortunately, you will hurt again if the process of healing is not allowed to do its work. Take the necessary time to learn the lesson so that you do not have to repeat it again. Lessons get harder and harder every time. When I found myself going through a divorce in 2002, I finally realized the biggest mistake I could make {& almost did make} was to sweep my tears under a rug and move on stumbling blindly over my disappointments and heartache only to find myself staring them in the face at a later date down the road. For every lesson you and I refuse to learn, every heartache we refuse to process, the backlash is worse than the original occurance. Healing takes work and it usually hurts in the beginning and feels extremely uncomfortable. It will only hurt for as long as we fight the medicine. Take responsibility for your heart and get it right this time. Get ready to exhale everything that will impede your progress and inhale life. Pain can be a powerful teacher. It exposes the secrets that harbor defeat. It is a wonderful indicator that we are human and that we possess an incredible capacity for joy. Our level of joy is as great or as deep as our ability to register pain.

I have no idea where my mother found the following prayer, but I at least have a name to give proper credit. It was written by a lady named Carolyn Van Winkle. It is a prayer of release. It is imperative that when we go through a break up of any type that we have a clean break and cut ties with that person for a period of time; otherwise, our emotions stay clouded and we are more influenced by those than the wisdom the Holy Spirit provides. My advice is do not call them, take calls from them, Facebook message them, text them, answer FB messages or texts. Walk away or let them walk away. Forget about them for a moment and allow God to heal your heart.

PRAYER OF RELEASE
By Carolyn Van Winkle
"Because Jesus Christ is my Lord, I free ____________ from my anxiety, fears, and control. I trust the Holy Spirit to draw you and show you the way that is right for you - the way of peace, joy, and love that includes all the fruit of the Spirit. I place you on God's throne of Grace. I have given you to God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. You are a very special person. As much as I love you, I cannot live your life for you or entangle mine with yours. Your life is completely in His hands and I trust Him with it. I give you my blessing and unbind you and let you go, In Jesus' name."

Let the healing begin!

GIVEAWAY Winner!!!

And the winner is...Peggy Lawrence! :) I know, it was by default. Lesson learned not to post a giveaway to gain followers, but I really wanted to do this giveaway and I'm so glad it's to a former classmate.

Peggy, I'll send you a message on FB to get some info for the candle creation.

GIVEAWAY!

In honor of my new blog, I'm having a GIVEAWAY! I custom print candles and sell them on my website (SerendipityBathElixirs.com). For this giveaway, I will custom print a 6" Pillar Candle (your choice of white or ivory) with text or photo (you will have to e-mail it to me once you are notified that you are the winner). This is a $35.00 value. To view: Go to my site: www.serendipitybathelixirs.com ~ At the Menu on the LEFT, go to PRODUCTS under Home Page ~ scroll halfway down the page to view the candles. At the bottom of the page will be a couple of sample candles I have printed.



This is a different type of Giveaway. While I have readers of my blog, it is so new there are no "official FOLLOWERS". This giveaway is to generate "official FOLLOWERS". Giveaway Ends: Midnight EST Friday, August 20, 2010. Winner will be chosen by random.org. Winner will be contacted & posted on this blog Saturday, August 21, 2010.

You Have 4 Ways To Win:
1. Become an "Official Follower" and post a comment stating you are.
2. If you have a blog, post this giveaway on your blog and leave me a comment stating you did so.
3. Post this giveaway on your FACEBOOK profile and leave a comment with the link so I can see it.
4. If you enlist your friends or followers of your blog to FOLLOW my blog, have them leave a comment with your name and link to your blog stating they were referred by you (more chances for you to win).
NOTE: If you just leave 1 comment including the above, that counts as only 1 way to win.

Thanks & Best Wishes!