4 Ways to Decorate a Mini Pumpkin

There’s a lot of ways you can decorate the average mini pumpkin and here’s just a few fun ways I’ve compiled if you are wanting a fun project to entertain yourself or the kiddos for a crafty afternoon project.  If it’s not easy, I generally don’t do it, so you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to make these (but if you are, that’s pretty cool…I’ve never met a crafty rocket scientist).  OK, here we go!

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Easy Typography Pumpkins

Here’s a little fun inspiration for all those type lovers out there!  Why not turn your passion for all things font into some cool typographic pumpkins?  The reason I like this project is that is is quite possibly the easiest way to make a statement without having to try at all.  This is pretty much my life motto too…do as little work possible and get big results is what I say!

So all you have to do for these orange fellas is randomly apply vinyl stickers that you get on a sheet from your arts and craft store.  You could try scrapbooking stickers as well if you are going for a little bit more whimsy and less Helvetica.  For the mini pumpkin, I simply cut up a black and white measuring tape I got at JoAnn and added applied it with some of my favorite go-to glue…Aleene’s Tacky Glue. I snipped it to contour up with the stem of the pumpkin.

And BOOYAH!  There you have it, some fun, cheap pumpkins that will make a bold addition to your porch or mantel. I love that it’s the classic Halloween colors mixed with letters. Maybe I should call these FONT-O-LANTERNS?  Hmm, whatcha think?

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

Swirly Gold Gilded Pumpkin DIY

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I’ve always loved swirly things, especially at Halloween time!  Swirls remind me of Halloween whimsy and Tim Burton movies.  I’ve done a few Halloween projects in the past including this swirly doily purse and this Halloween swirl vase. This year, I was once again inspired by all things swirly and created this elegantly distressed pumpkin covered in swirls. Here’s how you make it…so easy and fun, just requires patience while waiting for the glue to dry!
What you need for this project:
– Pumpkin (real or faux)
– Black paint (I used Tulip Soft paint)
– Soft cloth
– foam brush
The first step in this process is to paint the swirls on with your Aleene’s Fast Grab Tacky Glue.  I did this in sections and set it aside with the swirls facing up for a couple hours to dry before I moved onto another section.  This glue is the best, cause it doesn’t run down the pumpkin like other glues might!

After I covered my entire pumpkin with glue swirls, this is what it looked like! Yes, the glue does dry clear

Now I painted over my pumpkin with black paint using a foam brush.  I had to put on a first coat, let it dry, then add a second coat.

Once my black paint was dry, I squeezed out some Rub ‘n Buff on my finger and also onto my pumpkin.  This stuff is cool, cause it’s a paste rather than a paint.

I wasn’t super strategic when it came to rubbing this stuff on, but my best advice is to rub it on with a soft cloth in circular motion for best results. Let me just say this, once you rub it on, it does not come off, so if you want to just do the swirl areas and leave the rest black, you need to be more accurate than I did.

And here’s the finished result and some detail shots!
Woohoo! Finally got to use my Anthropologie napkins for something!  I’m not organized to use them actually for napkins! LOL.
As you can see, only a little of the black is still showing, but I still love how it turned out!
I also rubbed the Rub ‘N Buff on another little pumpkin I picked up for a dollat at Dollar Tree.
It added a nice sheen to it, that made it look less plastic-y and more upscale.
Check out my other fun DIY pumpkin ideas! I’d love it if you stayed awhile and got inspired by all the spooky ideas!
Until next time Swellions!
Alexa

4 pumpkin crafts not from real pumpkins

Today I wanted to bring to you a handful of fun pumpkin ideas that were created out of pure cleverness and ingenuity using common everyday materials!  I love when people get innovative with materials they have on hand, don’t you? It’s especially great, since it’s not that easy to find real pumpkins in stores yet!  And Foam pumpkins from the craft stcan get expensive, y’all!

Learn how to make yarn ball pumpkins with the DIY Showoff. This is probably one of the easiest and great-looking pumpkin projects you can make on the fly.

A Diamond in the Stuff used dryer vents to make this pretty pumpkin.  So cool and imaginative!

Who knew Mason Jar lids could make such a pretty, rustic pumpkin. What a perfect solution from Simply Klassic Home.

A styrofoam ball and folded felt make for an adorable pumpkin design from Clean and Scentsible.

Seeing these innovations makes me wanna think beyond the traditional pumpkin, doesn’t it you?

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

Pin It

Let’s hear it for lasagna and weekends!

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You’ll get the title if you read on. In the meantime, check out the cute decorations I scored for 10¢ each this past weekend at an estate sale!

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On another Halloween note, check out the pumpkins grew for me. I picked out the seeds several months back. Yeah, he has a green thumb!

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I made new Fresno buttons. I guess they don’t make sense to people who live here, but locals appreciate them. The Bubba, Oz, and Zara ones are local celebrity buttons and the Madera one is for Fresno’s nearby city/subarb.

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I enjoyed polishing my nails and sitting by the koi pond at William’s house.

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Back to the estate sale. The lady was super crafty and had tons of needlepoint supplies, ribbon,books, and patterns. I also found her paint stash. Inside was wom vintage Tulip® packaging from my work (iLoveToCreate). Love the kitsch of old packaging!

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Here’s a tray I bought too!

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Here’s something I didn’t buy but rings oh so true to me! I figured it would just add to the clutter of my desk!

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Here’s a pennant I bought for my friend Silvia. I hope she likes it! I think she will 🙂


I also spent time with my little poodle friend, Frankie. Here’s a video of him, just to show you what a beast he truly is!
If you can’t see it, try viewing it here.

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

Pumpkin Painting Idea Center

The pumpkin bunch

Hello all. I don’t don’t know if I officially told you about this, but I wanted to direct you over to my work’s web site to check out the bevy of fun and inspiring pumpkin painting ideas! This is a little graphic I whipped up for the home page. Our designers are super talented and come up with the best ideas for transforming painted pumpkins, so it’s never hard for me to create a graphic with a lot of personality!

The site features over 40 pumpkin painting ideas as well as other fun Halloween craft projects, from wearables to accessories to décor! There really is a style of pumpkin or craft for everyone! Also on the site is a section of tips and techniques, telling you exactly how to prepare your pumpkin. Other sections are “How to throw a pumpkin painting party” and “how to display your painted pumpkins”. The creative departments really worked hard to bring you these fun ideas, so check it out today!

Click here to check out the site! Please stop by and paint a spell, won’t you?

Do you have a fun painted pumpkin idea? I’d love to see it. Leave a link in my comment box and I’d love to share!

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

A long slumber

I just woke up. Meaning I just woke up from a long slumber where I forgot to post all about my Terrorific Tuesday and all that goodness. Oh well. Such is life. I didn’t have the most terrific day yesterday and you know the kind…you just want to go to sleep and wake up anew.

In other news, check out something I helped work on at work…the DecoArt Pumpkin Painting Idea Center. There are ALOT of really great ideas for pumpkin painting. It is the most extensive resource on the net for such ideas. There’s so much on there, you’ll just have to see for yourself!

Until next time Swellions! Gotta go check on the bath water, it may have ran over in the amount of time it took to write this (but I really doubt it).

Alexa

The lack of Thursday puns, car issues, & shoutouts

I was trying to title my post and I was thinking something along the lines of Thursday, but there’s no catchy phrase like “Manic Monday” or “Saturday Night’s all right for Dancing” or even a “It’s Friday Night and there’s a party here on the west side”. OK, so that last one is a stretch, but it really just makes me think that I either need to getter better at my song puns or expand my vocabulary.

Anyway….

I wanted to share this photo my friend Chris took a few weeks back during one of our flickr walks. He’s so talented. It’s very Wisteria Lane, huh?

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So today I got a nail in my tire and had to stop by Wal-mart on my way home to get it fixed. Grrr…I hate when that kinda thing happens. Ya know, my brain is just not geared to notice car issues. My friend Diane was the one to point it out to me that my tire was flat in the first place (don’t worry, I got someone to air it up and spray some fix a flat inside before I made my venture home – it is 40 miles after all). I always found that my dad took care of such things when I was home. It’s like he enjoyed taking care of that kinda stuff and almost took pride in it. I guess I’m usually off in goo goo ga ga land when it comes to suchthings and just want my car to start as soon as I hop in.

Ha. Just thinking about car issues reminds me of my dad trying to teach me how to change my oil as a first time driver. He had this huge ramp that he crafted out of sturdy wood in the back of his workshop. I had to drive around the yard and onto the ramp. There was about 4 feet seperating the oil from the ground. He painstakingly showed me all the parts and components and proceeded to empty the oil into the pan. I’m sure I had do some part of the whole procedure (I do remember pouring in the Valvoline oil and dumping the old oil into a bucket). The thing is that I can’t remember a single part of what he taught me. It just didn’t sink in at all. It was like in school when I was science, math or whatever subject I perceived as agonizing – it just went in one ear and out the other. I didn’t retain it one bit. I hate to say this is the woman stereotypical response to knowing about cars and machinery, but I think that in most cases, it is. That’s awful, isn’t it?

Gotta give a crafty shout out to One Pretty Thing for featuring my vintage cat pendant. She has a great site and is offering up Halloween goodness every week until Halloween so check it out.

Oh and I bought a couple of these tonight while waiting on my tire repair. I mean, “Come on!” They’re only a buck. I have several friends that detest Wal-mart with a passion and I understand why they feel that way, but they do have quite the deals + some really cute shoes. Have you seen them? Their No Boundaries brand is always on trend and super cute.

Only a buck!

Oh, and I guess this is my way of giving you a hint for my Terrorific project for next Tuesday. I’m started on it tonight and I’m really pysched!

Until next time Swellions! HAve a happy night. Or should I say morning…it’s 12:00 am on the dot according to my computer. Geez, I gotta get to bed earlier.

Alexa