Simple Fall Crafts with a Tutorial....or Two!

Well, I am relaxing this weekend and just enjoying being home with my family. I have so many projects that I am impatient to do, but here are 2 easy ones that I got done and were quite simple.
The first one is one that I do every year for fall....glitter pumpkins! These aren't very primitive at all, but they get so neat and sparkly that everyone always loves them. The kids like to do the more bright colors....green, purple, red, but I love to do the fall hues....golds, browns, nutmeg colors. These pictures do not do them justice at all....they are so glitterie especially in the light at night....they absolutely sparkle! They are very easy to make and I have made them now for 2 fall weddings that were used for table centerpieces.



Glitter Pumpkin Tutorial:
Here is what you need:
*Tiny orange pumpkins ("boo" size)
*All purpose (cheap)white glue that dries clear
*Foam brushes
*Wax paper
*Very fine glitter (I use the Martha Stewart glitter available at Michael's)

*First brush glue over 1/2 of your pumpkin (as in if you were cutting your pumpkin in half down the middle and be sure to get the bottom well too).

*Now over top of your wax paper, sprinkle the glitter on the glued half pumpkin and let dry a few minutes.

*Now, holding on to the pumpkin by the stem, paint the other half of the pumpkin with glue and cover that half with glitter. Try not to touch the glitterd pumpkin....this glitter is so fine that it will brush off! And that's it! I told you they were simple, and they are just so beautiful! I personally don't spray them with a top coat because the force of the spray could easily push away some of the glitter, I basically use them to just display around the house and I don't pick them up or move them around.





Now the second project that I wanted to do was to make some sweet potato garland. This is a much more primitive decoration that is sure to bring some great kitchenie smells to an area. Well, I finally got some made last night! This is also super easy and requires very little time.



Sweet Potato Garland Tutorial
What you need:
*Instant Coffee
*Water
*Sweet potatoes
*Cotton string/thread
*Spices such as nutmeg, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and cloves (only need about 2 or 3 of them....not all)

Ok, first you cut up your potatoes into larger chunks, these will shrink down so make them bigger, atleast 1 inch.
Next boil about 1 cup of water, and add about 3 Tbsp of instant coffe....stir and let sit for a few minutes. Add your potatoes to the coffee and let them steep in that mixture for another few minutes...stirring them into the coffee really well.
Next, you want to get a ziploc baggie and just dump your spices in the bag and mix them up a little bit, using whatever smells good to you. I used a slotted spoon to get the potato pieces out of the coffee and put them in the baggie and shook them up really well to get them good and coated. I then put mine in the oven at 170 degrees and let them bake in there for a few hours, or you can just set them near a stove to dry out real well. They will shrink down quite a bit. I then strung them onto a dark brown piece of thick thread. If you don't have brown, you can use white or whatever you have,and you can just soak your thread in the coffee to stain that as well, just make sure the thread dries really well before you use it. I just tied small loops into the ends to hang. I am not sure where I will put it, but I just put it in my pantry for now so you could see it hanging.



Oh, it felt so good to craft today and it just so happened that it's a very rainy weekend here in Central Pa....some good weather to be crafting! ;)

Thanks, for all your thoughts and comments about making it through this difficult time....still not sure where the road is leading for me, but it is always good to know that I have support no matter what!