Fall Luminaires

Our front steps are not lit very well.  So, on each Halloween night, I like to find ways to keep them safe for the Trick-or-Treaters.  A couple of years ago, not having planned ahead, I just lined up a few flash lights and called it good. That didn't work very well, as some of the little-tyke Trick-or-Treaters grabbed a flashlight for their travels...  Last year, I used large canning jars filled with candy corn and tea lights.   I made them early and kept them inside for a few weeks -smelled yummy!  This year, I wanted to see what would be the more festive!  The inspiration idea came from My Chic Life and her Boooo-minaries. I wish I would have thought of that name!




Here are all 4 that I experimented with~  Each has a submersible LED tea light

1.  Cold water, orange food coloring. (1/2 drop red, if you can, to about 30 yellow drops.)
2.  Cold water, neon green food coloring.
3.  Orange Glow Stick bracelet.

4.  Neon yellow Glow Stick tube, bend to activate, cut open and drizzle into the jar.

I was in the back yard, so they are lined up on the deck steps.  They will actually be placed on the front steps and walkway, where the porch light will be on.  I am looking more for atmosphere here, and a little hint that you are going up a step.  The jars without water were the brightest,  but the least interesting.


Orange colored water

It is more orange than this picture shows.  Just take a look at the first pic, #1.

I like the green best.  It looks murky here -a good effect to know about -but it won't last.  It looks better clear, but I accidentally added warm water when I was topping it up and didn't want to wait for it to cool.  I was figuring all this out while I was cooking dinner!  You know how it is!

No water in this one.  The fabulous LED light took all of the glow away from the stick.  This would not do the trick at all.

No water in this one either.  I cut off the end of a green/yellow glow stick and emptied it into the jar, rolling the jar around to coat the inside.  I had not thought about cutting the stick open, and when I saw it here, it seemed like something fun to try.  [It worked really well for Christina -not so well for me.  Even when I took the LED light out.]

My favorite is the green.  Which one do you like?  I think I will try purple too -like the Booo-minaries!

Update:  Well, sort of.  I actually just saw a really fun Halloween Luminaire project.  Less of the "glitzy-spooky" I was going for, and more of the goofy-fun type.  You really need to go take a look.  After, that is, you spend a bunch of time looking around here.  I know you really can't help yourself.  I can tell.  Go take a look at Condo Blues' Solar Milk Jugs. Tell Lisa that I sent you! :)

Partying at:

Whatever Goes Wednesday

Crafty Scrappy Happy

~Shelly

Free Fall Recipe Cards

Do you write or type out your recipes?  Like to give them as gifts?  Set them out on a stand like Martha Stewart while you are creating your masterpiece?  You never know when someone will stop by in the middle of your preparation, and admire your kitchen recipe decor.

HP (Hewlett-Packard) is here to help you out.   Each project, uses their software backgrounds, your words and photos.  Adding a photo is not required.  Some projects high lighted are:  Fall Inspired Recipe Cards; Autumn Word Scramble (use view to enlarge and check it out); Family Newsletter (not really a Fall theme); and, Creative Studio for the Home to see ALL of their choices.  You can sort by Project Type, Project By Brand, Themes and Occasions and Tips, Learn & Share.

This is what MS does in her spare time... Martha Stewart Egg Cozies!

I tried out the Fall recipe card.  Really simple, since I already had this recipe in a word doc.  I just used cut-n-paste, easy-peasy.  And since I did not have a tempting aromatic cup of cocoa to enjoy a photo shoot with, I relied on Google and found a photo here.  Mine would have looked just as tempting -don't you think?

I think the Fall colors go perfectly with a steaming cup of Mexican Hot Cocoa... Yum!

Tell me about your creations, what did you come up with?  To see my other HP projects go HERE.

Linking up to:  Somewhat Simple, Crafty, Scrappy, Happy, Gluesticks, Fireflies & Jellybeans, While He Was Napping, Polly Want A Crafter, Tales From Bloggeritaville, Delightful Order, Finding Fabulous, Creation Corner, Fun To Craft, French Country Cottage, Stuff and Nonsense, Fingerprints on the Fridge


Enjoy!
~Shelly

October Is On It's Way~ Let's make some cards!

Since I haven't done anything Fall-ish around the house... yet, I dug out the ole card making supplies and came up with a couple of  Halloween themed cards.

After I cut and scored the cardstock,  I punched out a circle for the moon in orange and colored it with a yellow chalk marker.  I placed the front of the card in the embossing folder, gently closing it and moving the moon around until I decided where I liked it best and lightly glued it to the front. Some beginners might not realize... what to do with that pesky back side of the card when you are embossing?  Just fold it around the back side of the folder, and slide it on through your machine. Really.  I used to be a beginner, I should know.

Inking up the raised/embossed tree, makes the moon look like it is behind it. Magic.  My original idea, I am sure of it.


I had intended to use my spider web embossing folder, like this one...

however, it has gone missing -jumped right out of my binder.  Hence the tree!


Some close ups of my first try~

You get extra points if you noticed the piece of lint on my owl.  How on earth did that get there?

Just a tiny peak of the inside too.  I should probably add a sentiment. 



Supplies used:
Stampin Up!:  Dark and Dreary cling stamp set (2010) and Crumb Cake cardstock
Sycamore embossing folder, Craft Concepts
Chalk Ink, Wet Wipe marker, yellow (color name not specified on marker)   
Ribbon from Michael's Crafts
Circle punch, 1.25 inch; Xyron -Create-a-Sticker; Crop-A-Dile corner rounder; Score Pal
Ink:  Memories Chalk Ink, Creamy Coffee
        Brilliance, Graphite Black
        Versafine, Vintage Sepia

And this is what I came up with on my second try:

Supplies used:
Stampin Up!: Howl-o-ween Creeps & Spooky Bingo Bits cling Stamp sets (2011); Crumb Cake cardstock
Sycamore embossing folder, Craft Concepts
Chalk Ink -Wet Wipe marker, yellow (color name not specified on marker)
Ribbon from Michael's Crafts
Circle punch, 1.5 inch; Xyron -Create-a-Sticker; Crop-A-Dile corner rounder; Scor-Pal
Ink:  Memories Chalk Ink, Creamy Coffee
        Brillance, Graphite Black
        Versafine, Vintage Sepia



If you would like one of these cards -just send me your address and I will pop it (mailing envelope included) in the mail to you -just let me know which one you would like.  I only made 2, so supplies are scary! (You know I mean scarce, right? :)

Thanks for stoppin' by!
~Shelly

Halloween Decor, DIY Vinyl and Cbsession with Crows~

I've been really thinking about stenciling, lately -checking out my blank wall space, wondering... Then I began thinking about vinyl, maybe some branches, and birds -crows in particular. Then I wandered over to Kimberly's interesting post using contact paper, and the rest is history!

I found an inspirational picture from the newspaper, of all places. (I have some ideas for a moon, but haven't gotten to that yet.)



You will need some standard black contact paper, pencil, permanent marker, repositional glue (I used Scotch 3M repositional glue stick), tape, scissors and any desired silhouette shape. I Googled "crow silhouette" to find the shape I used.

Print out your shape on standard printer paper, and glue it to the colored/non-sticky side and cut around it. Of course for the image to face the opposite way, just place on the backing side. :) If you are going to use your silhouette a lot, maybe use cardstock instead.

Since I wasn't sure how close I could come drawing out the tree I had in mind, I started off with pencil and traced over that with the marker.


I taped the tree to the wall and kept moving the branches around until it was "just right" then peeled the backing off a bit at a time. Because the color is solid black, I had no problems adding to the length of some of the branches and the too narrow parts of the trunk. I even made the trunk longer -sorry not pics of these developmental fixes!

A few leaves for the finishing touches, and that's it. My tree is so inviting, but I guess not tall enough to entice my crow over to it!


I let the light fade too much and had to lighten the first photo a bit, then added leaves to the tree and tried the flash.
And here he is around the corner, sitting on another picture.


Have you tried this before? Let me know what you come up with! I'm off to write to Magic Cover (contact paper company) and ask them to make more solid colors to choose from...

UPDATE:
I couldn't leave well-enough alone, and had to try some more silhouettes! All of the shapes or patterns I found were via Google. If you have any problems, I would be happy to help you out. I added a Skull, a pair of Witch's Boots (stockings included), and a Witch Flying Past the Moon. ~




For the Witch, I drew a circle on clear contact paper and colored it with a sponge and alcohol inks. I cut it out at set it aside. I added the Witch directly onto the moon. If you look closely, you can see that I added the broom handle separately. I should have just extended it from her body instead of setting her over it -she has a line-bump! Oh well.





I am linking to:
The Thrifty Home
Someday Crafts
Frou Frou Decor

Bringing Nature Indoors

We have a flowering cherry tree growing through our deck in the back yard and each year it sends up new branches. And, if you do not get around to trimming them, they get a little bigger! We had a few of those, and I managed to find enough beauties to make this bunch for our master bedroom. I could definitely use a larger bucket, but haven't run across one yet.


My favorite price for this decor item? Free! We have quite a few small pine cones too, just haven't done anything with them lately. (I remember painting some gold, but am not sure what I did after that....) Jess, at Frugal with a Flourish, has posted some inspirational pics for Decorating with Leaves and Branches. Makes me want to go shopping out in the yard again! :)