DIY Snowman Kit

Welcome Fall! 

These are my favorite Fall things:

Now that it's officially Fall and that means it's time to start thinking about Christmas presents and hot chocolate and SNOW!

Ok, I know it's a few months away, but thinking ahead gives you plenty of time to get DIY projects done before the hustle and bustle of the holiday season begins.

I've seen a few DIY Snowman Kits on Pinterest and since I am a kid at heart and love building snowmen, I wanted to put my own spin on it. 

 

 

 

 

For this project you'll need:

foam or plastic black hat (available at Hobby Lobby or Target) OR black felt to make a hat

ribbon (for a band around the hat)

felt (optional)(my felt flower instructions found here)

hot glue gun and glue

white styrofoam balls (optional)

large googly eyes (optional)

orange felt (for carrot)

polyfil stuffing

wooden skewers

black clay (for the mouth and if you choose, for the eyes and buttons as well)

scissors (strong enough to cut through skewers)

fleece (for a scarf)

 

As you can see by the list, this is a bit time-consuming and is actually several projects in one. If you ♥ this kit, but don't want to make it yourself - you can buy one at my Etsy Shop. I have a Snowman Kit currently available!

 

 

 

 

 The Hat

I like using a pre-made one (the foam hat is from Hobby Lobby and the plastic hat is from Target), because it can get wet and will wipe dry - to me fabric and snow don't exactly go together.

Hot glue the ribbon around the bottom of the hat.  If you choose, use the instructions here to make a felt flower or two and glue them to the ribbon.

 

 

 

The Eyes

Take your Styrofoam balls and stick a skewer into each, until the point goes all the way to the opposite side, but doesn't poke out.  Then cut the skewer down to a few inches.  Then hot glue the googly eyes onto the front of the balls.  Or if you can use the black clay to make eyes, described below under The Mouth.

 

 

The Carrot Nose

 http://www.whimsy-love.com/2012/12/diy-build-your-own-snowman-kit.html.

This was a great tutorial that I used to make my carrots - they're actually pretty easy!

 

 

 

The Mouth

Form black clay into small balls with about a half inch to an inch diameter, then stick a skewer into each.  Then cut the skewer down to a few inches.  Let clay dry according to instructions (or bake according to instructions).

 

 

 

The Buttons

I tried a few different ideas for making buttons, but I wasn't happy with my prototypes, so when I found oversized wooden buttons at Hobby Lobby I decided to use them. 

 

 

 

The Scarf

Easy - just a strip of fleece, about 6-7 inches wide x 50 in long, then cut fringe on each end.

 

 

 

online poll by Opinion Stage

ABC Photo Book

 

I made this book as a Christmas gift for Hadley, but as it is unlikely that she will read my blog, I thought it was safe to share it with you!  I'm pretty excited about it.  I designed it as an introduction to the alphabet, using pictures of things she is familiar with.  The font is Verdana size 200 and I used Artscow.com to order it from and used their design program (which is not overly user-friendly).  The whole process has been very fun - I started with a list of ideas and got opinions from my family on what photos to include, then I gathered pics that I already had and scheduled a photo shoot with an apple, orange, cow, markers, crayons and umbrella!  It was pretty time consuming overall - even just adding two letters to each page, changing the font, size and color took some time, so that is why I'm giving you plenty of time, in case you want to make a similar book for a little one for Christmas!  I won't post all the pages, but just some of my favorites to give you the idea. 

 

apple

 

flower, fish, Gibbie, grass

 



horse, Hadley, hat, Henry, ice cream

 

Lyndi, Laura, love, Mama, markers

 

Pop Pop, Penguin, pumpkins, quilt

zoo

 

The book should get in next week - then hopefully I can wait until Christmas to give it to her! 



Iron-on Camera Tote Bag

A long time ago, I bought a pack of plain white tote bags and I sewed ruffles on one (see here) but I still had a bunch more to do something with.  Then wandering through Hobby Lobby (a favorite pastime) I found this camera iron-on on sale for $2 so I thought it would be fun to try out! 

(the heart iron-on will be revealed in a future blog!)

 

Pretty easy instructions!

 

And it was pretty exciting peeling off the paper, although kind of scary wondering if I ironed it correctly and hoping part of the camera wasn't going to pull up with the backing.

 

It turned out great - very graphic and very inexpensive!!

Fall Chalkboard

 

Fall upcycled chalkboard!

 

I took a picture frame from Goodwill, painted it pumpkin orange and made the glass into a chalkboard.

 

 

You can find instructions on how I made this chalkboard here but if you love this one and don't want the work of going to Goodwill, finding the perfect frame, cleaning it, painting it, chalkboard painting the glass with two coats and seasoning the chalkboard - then you can buy this one HERE at my Etsy shop TheBurlapFlower!

 

There are so many ideas of what to write on a fall chalkboard:

 

Boo!

 

I♥Fall

 

I'm thankful for ___________

 

Give Thanks

 

O give thanks to the Lord,

for He is good;

For His lovingkindness is everlasting.

1 Chronicles 16:34

 

I will praise the name of God with song

And magnify Him with thanksgiving.

Psalm 69:30

 

Or you could put a different Psalm every day!

 

What would you write on your fall chalkboard?

Fall Nesting Bowls

Labor Day signifies the end of summer and is the perfect time to start thinking about Fall crafts and décor!

 

 

This is my first paper mache project as an adult!  It's pretty fun and it's amazing I started out with a newspaper and ended with cute bowls - I recommend trying it

 

For this project you'll need:

3 balloons

newspaper

mod podge

paint

foam brush

 

(lottery ticket was not a winner, boo, it's not necessary to use chalkboard paint - black spray paint or acrylic paint works fine, a Sonic vanilla diet coke [or insert drink of your choice] is necessary)

 

Before you start, cut your newspaper into small strips.  Blow up your balloons in graduated sizes.

 

First brush a layer of mod podge over half the balloon.

 

 

Add a layer of newspaper strips over the mod podge, then top the strips with more mod podge.  I believe you need 5-6 layers.

 

 

Then let dry for about 24 hours.

 

 

Next, let the air out of the balloon and gently pull it away from the bowl.

 

 

Trim the edge of the bowl with scissors if you want.  I did trim mine, but just to get rid of some thin spots, I wanted to keep the "live edge" look.

 

 

Then paint the inside of the bowls.  I considered using three different metallic paints for my bowls, but didn't like the look of the two gold paints, as well as I did the copper.

 

 

Then paint the outside of the bowls.  I wanted a soft, flat black, so I sprayed them with chalkboard paint and liked the results, but there were a few places that I missed, so I touched them up with acrylic black paint.

 

 

Then enjoy your very own one of a kind, handmade, upcycled fall nesting bowls!!

 

 

I love the texture and metallic look they add to any room!