{ 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.

{ 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.

{ almost sandals } bare foot wear

My sister just got married! I'm so happy for her and

her new husband! They are wonderful together!

Being the oldest sister and all, I was asked to make

some things for the wedding. One thing was to make

some "almost sandals". My sister wanted

the simplicity of bare feet but she wanted it to look put

together at the same time. So, this is what I came

up with!

 

 

My mother went to the store to get yarn and came back

with this stuff. It turned out to work better than I

could have hoped!

 

What you'll need:

* mesh yarn/ netted yarn

* scissors

*string

*pearl bead

 

I started by generally measuring the foot from the

toe webbing to the ankle and then adding another inch.

Double this length. Cut two pieces (one for each foot).

Tie the two ends together in a knot.

 

Cut a length of netted yarn that will wrap

and tie around your ankle.

 ( you will need two of these as well)

Thread it through the loop created in the

original strip.

 

Now you can spread the netting out to create

a triangle.

 

Next to your knot, spread the netting out so

you have a hole.

 

Slip your second toe through this hole. The knot

should comfortably sit in the crevice where

your toes meet the ball of your foot.

 

Spread the netting out

 

 Tie the ankle strap in a bow on the side.

 

Thread a short piece of string through a pearl bead.

 

Tie the string in around the thinnest area

of netting, near the toe.

 

Slide it down. Cut off excess string.

That's it! So simple!