{ vintage produce box }

I needed a place to put my decorative gourds! 

What you'll need:

* 1/8" pieces of wood

- 6 at 2.5" x 12"

- 4 at 2.5" x 6" 

* 1" square posts

- 4 at 6 1/2" long

* a piece of 1/8" ply board

* dremel or sander

* paint

* stapler ( not a paper stapler, one for wood)

Start with your 1/8 inch pieces.

Use your Dremel tool to sand the edges.

Now take one of your 1/2 inch posts.

Attach,with staples, one of the 12" planks square and flush to the side top side.

Now attach a 12" plank to the bottom of the same post. 

Allow the plank to over hang 1/8".

Attach a second post to the other side of the planks. Flush

with the top, 1/8" over hang on the bottom. 

Staple a third plank diagonally across the others. 

Repeat to make a second piece like this.

Connect the two sides by stapling a 6" plank on to

the posts.

Repeat on the other side.

Next, attach the last two 6" planks to the bottom ends of the posts.

Remember to leave the 1/8" over hang here as well.

Set the frame on top of an 1/8" piece of ply board and trace the interior

of the frame onto the board. Cut this out.

This piece should fit perfectly in the 1/8" overhang and be flush with

the side planks.

Dab some wood glue  on the bottom of the posts.

Staple the bottom into place.

I painted my box with a water- paint mixture. It looks more worn

and vintage than paint alone.

Allow it to dry and fill with decorative gourds or pumpkins.

{ witch hat door decor }

No Halloween wreath this year. I couldn't think of anything and October 

kind of snuck up on me. When I lived in Utah I had made a very

similar (OK, almost exact) project. I believe my mother-in-law is the 

rightful owner of it now. I really did love it though so I made myself another!

What you'll need:

* 1/8 inch thick sheet of wood

* pencil

*  scroll saw

* dremel (optional)

* sander

* paint

* drill

* wire

Ok, I just free-handed what I wanted out onto the board. I 

have a witches hat, spider, and sign board.

Cut the important pieces out.

I drew on the details with a pencil.

I then used my dremel sander tool to round the edges and also

to add dimension in the detailed parts. 

Now paint.

Before I painted my spider, I drilled 9 holes into it. One a top center,

 and then four on either side. This is where his legs will be so drill 

them where you think they'll look best.

I cut 4 pieces of wire, each about 5 inches long. 

Thread one through the first leg hole and out the hole directly next to it.

Repeat in the next two holes and then on the other side of the spider.

Use a pair of needle nose pliers to 'zigzag' the legs.

Drill holes on each end of the sign board. Then center it  along

the base of the witch hat. Mark on the witch hat directly above the

holes on the sign. Drill these also. Connect with a long piece of wire.

Use a pencil to wrap the excess wire around to create curly-cues.

Drill a hole in point of the witches hat and attach the spider with wire.

Add vinyl or paint your own saying or quote.

Attach a hanger to the back of the hat and hang it on your door.

{ fall leaves art } kids project

I remember as a child, my mother would take my brothers and I into the canyon

and let us pick out all the fall leaves we could carry. They were beautiful reds, 

oranges, and yellows. We would bring them home and glue them onto paper in any

way our hearts desired. 

We don't necessarily have fall here in Hawaii. For the most part, everything

stays nice and green. Fall is definitely different for my kids than it was for me.

My mother sent a box for the kids last week and it was full of fall leaves! I was so 

excited to share a childhood tradition with my own kids. 

What you'll need:

* fall leaves

* white school glue

* white paper

Simply glue the leaves onto the paper!

At first all 3 of my kids were a little sceptical about what they were supposed to do. But

once they got a leaf on the paper, they were ready to do their "project". 

It was a lot of fun. They loved sharing with Daddy when he got home from work as well!

This is a fun family project you can do with the kids over the weekend!

{ halloween burlap banner }

I pulled out my Halloween decorations finally. But, I decided to donate some of my

stuff so I could make room for some new stuff! I wanted a Halloween banner of course!

What you'll need:

* burlap

* pattern paper

* jute 

*sewing machine and thread

Start by cutting out burlap flags. I already had a pattern I made from another

banner project. I cut 16 flags.

I made a smaller scale of the burlap pattern for my paper. 

I had 4 patterns, so I cut 4 flags of each pattern.

Next, center your paper flag on your burlap flag and sew around all

3 sides. 

(Organizing your flags into the order you want them sewn on in advance

will prevent you from sewing on the wrong flag)

Start 1-2 feet from the end of your jute ( you may need this length

for hanging). Start sewing the jute across the top of the flag with a zigzag stitch, 

 continuously adding a new flag once you reach the end of the flag you are sewing, until you

have  added all flags. Cut jute 1-2 feet from the last flag.

You can hang your flag with tape or pins.