No Sew Popcorn Costume for Baby

Update:  Voting is now open at Create Craft Love!!  So do me a favor, head on over HERE & vote for this adorable Baby Bag of Popcorn!  Lucky #47!  I'd love you for ever!

I'm not much of a seamstress (yet).  Which is why I love felt so, so much.  You can cut it and it won't fray, you can hot glue it, and it'll stay for (almost) ever!

I threw together this halloween costume for my little man in about 15 minutes.   The most annoying part of the whole process was waiting for my hot glue gun to get hot enough!  The entire thing is made from felt except for two pieces of ribbon that I looped through slits I cut in the felt which I used to tie onto the baby carrier.

I bought the felt by the yard at Jo-Ann's and was able to use a single sheet of white to wrap around the front of me & the baby carrier.  I then cut (imperfect) straight strips in red.  This is a 15 minute project, no yard sticks required for straight lines!  Nobody will notice, anyway!  I finished it all off with a little label that just says "Popcorn".  Just incase anybody gets confused ;)

I used this costume last year and it's going to be hard to resist shoving my little man back into that carrier for this Begger's Night... Oh wait, his 30 pounds of heft should deter me from that, thankfully!

Have you started on Halloween costumes for your munchkins yet this year?  I am tossing around so many different ideas for my two gremlins.  I just need to decide soon and get a move on!

Janice

P.S.  I entered this costume in a contest over at Crazy Little Projects!  You should go check out all of the other wonderful ideas if you're looking for more inspiration.  

I linked up to these fabulous parties:  

Tatertots and Jello

                                                                    A Glimpse Inside

Crafty Bats

I explained yesterday that I am all about super quick crafts these days.  Well, this one was probably more cheating than the banner I threw together.  But I can't resist sharing this because these bats are just too cute!

You can find the outlines for the bats here!

I used the smallest bats at one corner and progressively had them grow larger by the last window.

An Explanation & a Simple Thankful Banner

Maybe it's the days that are getting shorter that is truly sucking the time out of my days.  I have never felt stretched as thin as I have in the last couple of weeks.  Hence, the lack of posts.  Gosh... I'm sorry.  Really.  I've let you down.

I really have been working on projects here and there... although, all of them are only half done.  The kid's bathroom is still a work in progress.  Although, they are both finally back in there and out of our tub!  Small victories!

The husband and I are still "training" for the Columbus marathon this upcoming Sunday.  We are both struggling with crazy knee injuries.  In other words, we're getting old... we've had too many kids... and there's just not enough time in the day!  This marathon is not going to be a pretty performance.  But we're okay with that.  I'm just so happy that we'll be out there (miserable) together.

The days are not only getting shorter, but they're getting colder too.  So any days that are nice enough to be outside when shoes are optional, we try to be out there!  We've been spending a lot of time out on the swing set.  And we also found some time to pick a bunch of apples.  Now, to find time to make some pie filling before those apples spoil!  Yes, it's on my to-do list.

I've only had time for ridiculously simple projects lately, but I feel like banners are the best way to pack a punch!  My mom gave me a stack of letters that were already cut out of amazing craft paper but just needed to be hung up.  Here's my mom's banner in her home:

Rustic Fall Wreath

Hello! And Happy October!  Today I'm sharing my Fall Wreath I recently put up.  It seems like time is just flying by and we've been super busy around here!  I'm looking forward to posting more often the next several weeks!

This is probably the most "traditional" fall wreath I have ever had on my door.  I have to say, I'm kinda loving the muted fall colors, though.  I like being able to buy stems of flowers and cutting them down keeping enough stem to tuck into the grapevine wreath.  That means, there was no glueing required at all!  Even the bow is just held on with a twist tie! 

Maple Leaves, Grapevine Wreath, Raspberry Stem, Green Ribbon, Hydrangeas

This is the first time I've used a "messy" grapevine wreath, too!  It definitely gave the illusion of a much fuller wreath.

If you're in the midwest, I hope you're enjoying this amazing fall weather!  How's the Fall so far where you are?

Janice

2013 Fall Mantles

I have not one fall mantle, but two for you today!  Although one is basically how I like to decorate a mantle that has a giant TV hung above it leaving just a few inches on either side to add a touch of fall.

I was so inspired by Ella Claire's Autumn Sign that I knew I wanted to make that the center of my Fall mantle in the kitchen.  It seems perfect for our area since Lynd Fruit Farm is practically just around the corner and all of those things couldn't scream Fall more than that!

Besides the DIY Chalkboard, my favorite part of this mantle is the giant burlap leaves.  I found this garland at Hobby Lobby and when I saw it, I so badly wanted to make it myself.  This could definitely be a do it yourself kinda garland, but I was realistic and knew that by the time I got around to making it, there would be snow flying.

I struggled figuring out how I would hang the garland but finally realized that I need to find my stocking holders from Christmas time!

Free Printable: Autumn's Smile

Happy Friday! I made this free printable for my lovely readers (that's you!)  I've always loved this quote and it couldn't be more true.

You can get this free printable HERE!

Now that you have this printable, what are you going to do with it?  The go-to is to just frame it.  But something I like to do with some printables is to resize it to a piece of scrap wood that I have laying around.  Then, you can mod podge it on to the wood.  Bonus points if you take the time to paint it a pretty color first.  This piece of wood is 7x7.

Autumn Cinnamon Apple French Toast

This might be the wrong thing to say to everybody.  But, I'm just not all that into "pumpkin".  It's everywhere you turn right now.  You just can't escape it!  If you're a pumpkin fanatic like (everyone) else, this is the best time of year!  But, I have a secret to share with you.  Pumpkin isn't the only fall flavor out there!  Say what?!  Yup... it's true.  Turns out, apple & cinnamon seems to be widely overlooked in the last couple of years (largely due to this pumpkin craze, I'd imagine).