Dryer Vent Pumpkins!

My BFF was in town this weekend and you know when she's around there's going to be some crafting going on!  She brought this totally fabulous project with her, courtesy of some of her crafty relatives (I just wanna make sure I am giving credit where credit is due here!) and we went to work making a peck of our own!

Yes, that's the burlap candy corn bunting Sheep and I made a couple of years ago.  If you're interested, you can get all the details here, but let's get back to pumpkins, shall we?

Here's what you will need:
Dryer vent
Wire cutters
Scissors
Glue gun and/or flexible wire
Stems
Spray paint
BLING!

Dryer vents come in different sizes, but the standard vent will make approximately 7 medium pumpkins.  Our medium pumpkins measure about 9" in diameter.  We cut our dryer vents every 32 rings, using scissors to slice through the aluminum and wire cutters to snip the wire form.  They are very Slinky-esque, so just imagine cutting a Slinky every so often and you've got the idea.

I wired some together, threading a fine gauge wire through a large needle (needs to have a large eye) and just whip stitching it closed around the wires on both ends.  My BFF preferred the glue gun method, and although I think it might have burned her fingerprints off, it did seem to go faster, so I switched to glue too.  But take your pick, it will work either way.

Once your glue is dry, they are ready to paint!  We started with a can of bright orange and a can of harvest orange, but we quickly decided to raid the paint shelf and did some other fun colors as well!  The bright orange seems more Halloween-y to me while the fall orange seems like it would work well all the way through to Christmas, but having both is even better!

I started out pretty simple on my decorations, and tried to stick to decorations that I already had in my craft room - but we both knew it wouldn't last!

What can I say?  I am a chronic over-embellisher!
But aren't they adorable?!?!
I am sooo happy with how they turned out!

Most of the bright orange I decided looked best with Halloween decorations.  By this time, my BFF was getting upset with her pumpkin decorating skills and it was threatening to start raining again,so she decided to leave me to it and go paint the rest in hopes that we could make a little moo-lah for the holidays!

Simple or deluxe, I think they look great!  And I must say they are even cuter in person!

And I am working on more this afternoon!  Leave me a note and tell me which one is your favorite. I'd love to hear from you!

Sharing this sassy project at some or all of these great parties: Under the Table and Dreaming, Totally Overflowing with Creativity, Three Mango Seeds, Classy Cutter, Serenity You, House of Hepworth, Skip to my Lou, LadyBug Blessings, Nap Time Creations, The Style Sisters, Polkadots on Pararde, Rae Gun Ramblings,Costal Charm, Not Just a Housewife, Domestically Speaking, The Shabby Creek Cottage, Sumos Sweet Stuff, The Gunny Sack, Gingersnap Crafts, Southern Lovely, Lil Luna, Someday Crafts, The NY Melrose Family, The DIY Dreamer, The Blackberry Vine, Homeworks, The Rustic Pig, Cornerstone Confessions, Kathe with an E, House on the Way, PJH Desgin, Glued to my Crafts, The Crafty Blog Stalker, Seven Alive, Made in a Day, Live Laugh and Love, A Creative Place, Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson, Home and Gardens, It Happens In a Blink, I Gotta Create, Domestic Super Hero, All Pretty Things, Katie's Nesting Spot, 52 Mantels, Truly Lovely, Twinkle in the Eye, Happy Hour Projects, Six Sisters Stuff, Tutus and Tea Parties, Mop It Up Monday, Saturday Show and Tell, Moonlight and Mason Jars, The Scoop, Wow Us Wednesdays, Take-A-Look Tuesday

If you enjoyed this pumpkin decorating idea, check out these other great Halloween idea posts!
 

Pumpkin Primpin'

Meet Mumpkin!

Footprint Turkey Napkin Rings

Good morning and Happy Friday everyone!

 

I have been one busy little elf this week with Christmas t-shirt orders (Yes, it's that time of year again!!  Yippee!!), but I didn't want you (my adoring fans - ha!) to think I had forgotten about you, so I thought I would share this quick Turkey Day craft from last year!  The kiddos will be out all next week, so there's plenty of time to make these - Enjoy!!

 

 

_______________________________________________________________ 

Footprint Turkey Napkin Rings

Supplies:

Toilet paper rolls, cut in half

Brown, red and yellow or orange construction paper

1 small, clean foot

Googly eyes

Good ol' Elmer's glue

You probably have most, if not all, of these items around your house already! So get everything together and do a lil' cipherin' to figure out how many napkin rings you're gonna need. Then add one more because you're going to want to make sure you have one to keep for yourself - those little feet grow fast!!

If you don't save toilet paper rolls like we do, well then you are MISSING OUT! There are just tons of things you can do with those things and you know you're not remembering to put them in your recycle bin anyway - ha!! Around here, we have much more trouble finding a small CLEAN foot than an empty toilet paper roll. In fact, it seems like there's an empty roll on the holder whenever I sit down. I don't know how it is in your house, but I am apparently the only one who knows how to change the toilet paper . . . but I digress!! If a clean foot's not possible, I recommend chasing down a dirty one with a wipey and proceeding!

Step 1:

Trace around your small, clean foot on brown construction paper to create a template for your turkeys (Let's face it, that foot's not gonna stick around to do a dozen, so just trace once and then set Snacks, I mean the foot, free.) Use template to create the number of turkeys you need for dinner.

Step 2:

Glue your feet to your toilet paper rolls, using the heel of the foot as the head and the toes as the body of your turkeys. Glue The rolls closer to the toes than the head, especially if you want your turkeys to stand up on your place settings. Let dry.

Step 3:

Cut out small diamonds in yellow construction paper and small wavy red shapes for waddles. Embellish your feet. Remember to use the heel of the foot as the head and the toes at the body. They sort of look like feathers now don't they?! Fold diamonds in half to make beaks and glue over or next to your waddles - your call. Add your eyes as well and let it all dry. Sheep is 6 and did a great job with this while I played 'Oh my Gosh, He Has the Scissors/Sharpie/Glue' with Snacks. This game is played in rounds!!!

Aren't they looking cute?!?!!

 

Step 4:

Take your napkins and lay them flat. Fold your napkins into pleasts, back and forth accordian-style. Once it has been pleated, fold in half lengthwise, the same way you used to to make paper fans when you were a kid! Sorry I didn't take a picture of this step, but hopefully you get the idea. Sheep got pretty good at this too, but I'm not sure anyone younger (she's almost 7) would be able to do this part. You also have to decide how much 'imperfection' you're willing to have at your Turkey Day Feast, so I will leave that up to you. I will tell you that sometimes, after she's moved on, I have been known to redo straighten things a bit, but I would NEVER tell her that!!!

Step 5:

Stuff that turkey!! In this case, with your pleated napkin, folded side down so that the napkin fans out behind the turkey foot- voila!!

I was having trouble getting my pleats to stay together at the top, because I did not iron (much less starch) my napkins beforehand, but I would recommend adding that step if you like the look of them standing up. Sheep seemed to think they looked better laying down so - problem solved!!

 

 Sharing this sassy idea at Mop it Up Mondays, Meet Me Monday, Debbie Doo's Newbie Party, Take-A-Look Tuesday, Wow Us Wednesdays, Cowgirl Up, Whimsy Wednesdays, Show and Share, Overflowing with Creativity, Creative Me, Made U Look, It's a Hodgepodge Friday

 

 

 

'Handy' Thankful Tree

 

I've seen these projects all over Pinterest this year, but my twist on the Thankful Tree was actually part of our holiday decor last year.  It's very simple to do and it's something everyone in the house can get in on too!

 

 

I simply taped together two big pieces of package wrap that I had left over upstairs, temporarily taped in on the door to our pantry and drew the shape of a tree that would fit in the space.  Then I cut out my tree and taped it right back up there!

 

 

My 'handy' twist on this quick craft is that I traced Sheep's handprint onto colored construction paper and cut those out to use for our leaves.  We traced some of Snack's hands too, but his little paws didn't leave much room to write.  We ended up using Sam's feet for another project I will be (re)sharing with you soon!

 

 

I also added a quick 'Give Thanks' banner across the top using the leftover paper, ribbons and markers.  Sometime simple crafts are the best!  And we enjoyed this project for weeks.  The kids really liked showing it off and asking guests to add to the tree.  In fact, it got so popular that we had to trace a few more leaves before it was all said and done!

 

 

I hope you have fun with this project, and enjoy your own Handy Thankful tree this year!

Sharing this sassy idea at Mop it Up Mondays, Meet Me Monday, Debbie Doo's Newbie Party, Take-A-Look Tuesday, Wow Us Wednesdays, Cowgirl Up, Whimsy Wednesdays, Show and Share, Overflowing with Creativity, Creative Me, Made U Look, It's a Hodgepodge Friday

What are you thankful for?

Last week was truly crazy around here.  A week off school (yay!), family heading south to celebrate with us (yay!) and a quick trip east planned for the weekend.  I had lots of fun crafts for the kids planned as well, but it looked like all of that was heading down the toilet instead - Sunday and Monday were spent saying goodbye to our beloved Otto and Tuesday Snacks woke up with a fever and croupy cough - no fun!!  Needless to say, the Thanksgiving decorating ideas went by the wayside until the very last minute.  Luckily, I do some of my BEST work at the very last minute, and for that I am VERY thankful!  (Incidentally,  I am also very thankful for my God, my family, my friends, my country, my health, my Aggies AND my wine)

So even though the Christmas season has officially begun, here is an idea for your next Thanksgiving get together.  It's simple, cheap and best of all, it keeps the little hands in your house occupied while you're prepping for the feast!

Footprint Turkey Napkin Rings

Supplies:

Toilet paper rolls, cut in half

Brown, red and yellow or orange construction paper

1 small, clean foot

Googly eyes

Good ole Elmer's glue

You probably have most, if not all, of these items around your house already!  So get everything together and do a lil' cipherin' to figure out how many napkin rings you're gonna need.  Then add one more because you're going to want to make sure you have one to keep for yourself - those little feet grow fast!!

If you don't save toilet paper rolls like we do, well then you are MISSING OUT!  There are just tons of things you can do with those things and you know you're not remembering to put them in your recycle bin anyway - ha!!  Around here, we have much more trouble finding a small CLEAN foot than an empty toilet paper roll.  In fact, it seems like there's an empty roll on the holder whenever I sit down.  I don't know how it is in your house, but I am apparently the only one who knows how to change the toilet paper . . . but I digress!!  If a clean foot's not possible, I recommend chasing down a dirty one with a wipey and proceeding!

Step 1:

Trace around your small, clean foot on brown construction paper to create a template for your turkeys (Let's face it, that foot's not gonna stick around to do a dozen, so just trace once and then set Snacks, I mean the foot, free.)  Use template to create the number of turkeys you need for dinner.

Step 2:

Glue your feet to your toilet paper rolls, using the heel of the foot as the head and the toes as the body of your turkeys.  Glue The rolls closer to the toes than the head, especially if you want your turkeys to stand up on your place settings.  Let dry.

Step 3:

Cut out small diamonds in yellow construction paper and small wavy red shapes for waddles.  Embellish your feet.  Remember to use the heel of the foot as the head and the toes at the body.  They sort of look like feathers now don't they?!  Fold diamonds in half to make beaks and glue over or next to your waddles - your call.  Add your eyes as well and let it all dry.  Sheep is 6 and did a great job with this while I played 'Oh my Gosh, He Has the Scissors/Sharpie/Glue' with Snacks.  This game is played in rounds!!!

Aren't they looking cute?!?!!

Step 4:

Take your napkins and lay them flat.  Fold your napkins into pleasts, back and forth accordian-style.  Once it has been pleated, fold in half lengthwise, the same way you used to to make paper fans when you were a kid!  Sorry I didn't take a picture of this step, but  hopefully you get the idea.  Sheep got pretty good at this too, but I'm not sure anyone younger (she's almost 7) would be able to do this part.  You also have to decide how much 'imperfection' you're willing to have at your Turkey Day Feast, so I will leave that up to you.  I will tell you that sometimes, after she's moved on, I have been known to redo straighten things a bit, but I would NEVER tell her that!!!

Step 5:

Stuff that turkey!!  In this case, with your pleated napkin, folded side down so that the napkin fans out behind the turkey foot- voila!!

I was having trouble getting my pleats to stay together at the top, because I did not iron (much less starch) my napkins beforehand, but I would recommend adding that step if you like the look of them standing up.  Sheep seemed to think they looked better laying down so - problem solved!!