{Handmade Goodie of the Week} Painted Polka Dot Monogram Pumpkin

What a better way to come back to blogging than with a fun fall tutorial!

Today I'll be sharing with you all how to make this super-cute Painted Polka Dot Monogram Pumpkin.

Try and say that 10 times fast!  

It's no secret I love pumpkins.  Well, it might be for those of you who are new to Scraps and Scribbles.  So now you know.  I love pumpkins.  Which is probably why I love fall so much.  Each year I try to make a pumpkin-type craft to add to our Halloween/Fall decor.  This year, both of my littles are old enough to get in on the action, so I wanted something we could do together.  Little Man was really taken with the craft pumpkins at Michaels and they were half off, so I grabbed one for us to decorate.  I'd really been wanting to make a monogrammed pumpkin, so this was perfect.

To make yours, you'll need:

A craft pumpkin in whatever size/color you'd like
Paint-you'll want a background color, a dot color and an outline color
Brushes
Dotting sponge or pencil with unused eraser
Accent Ribbon

What to do:

I started by drawing a large "D" on my pumpkin.  You can either free-hand this, or use a stencil or if you have a crafty cutting machine, cut out some vinyl to use as a stencil-whatever is your style.

Then, using your background color, fill in your letter.  You might need to do more than one coat.  Allow to dry completely before moving onto the next step.

Once your paint is completely dry, it's time to get dotting!

I used the eraser end of a pencil for my dots, swirling it around to make some a little larger.  You can use whatever method works best for you.  Again, let your paint dry completely before moving on to the next step.

Once your dots are dry, take a fine tip brush and your outline color and outline your monogram.  Now, this step is completely optional, of course, so if you feel your monogram looks awesome without an outline, skip to the next step or call it done.

Once your outline has dried, take a piece of your accent ribbon and tie it in a nice bow around the stem of your pumpkin.

And that's it!  An easy, cute DIY project that's great for Halloween AND fall decor!  I'd love to see your take on this-if you make one, post a pic of your finished project on the Facebook page!

{Blast from the Past} Photo Collage Star

This project is one of my faves and one I get asked about A LOT!  So here it is {again} for those of you who might have missed it the first time around.

A dear and super-crafty friend told me about this project back when we were looking for fun, hand-made presents for Christmas a few years' ago and we loved the idea so much, we decided to make ones for ourselves.  She found the idea over at Better Homes and Gardens but I have searched the site over and over again and I cannot for the life of me find it.  Since I couldn't find the original or a tutorial, I've made up one up based on how I did it so you can make your own!

You'll need:

-A large, metal star-preferably one without any embellishments.  You'll need a smooth surface to glue the pictures and paper to.  I found mine at Hobby Lobby, but you can find them at lots of craft stores and/or home decor stores.  (P.S. the red one above is NOT the one I used for my collage.  It's only pictured to give you an idea and it is the exact same size as the one I used.)
*The one that I used to create mine is 22 inches across.*

-Scrapbook paper in 3 coordinating prints (one sheet of each print should be PLENTY.)

-10 pictures-you will probably want to plan ahead which pictures will go where on your star so that you have the right orientation (I recommend black and white pictures if using colored scrapbook paper-it's a little too much with color photos AND color paper)
I used 4x6's for mine, but if you're using a larger star, you'll probably want a larger print.

-Glue stick-make sure it's acid-free and safe to use with photos (think scrapbooking glue)

Mod Podge and brush

-Paper and photo patterns-these fit the size and style star that I used, you may need to adjust them to fit whatever star you are using or if you want less of a border around your picture and paper pieces.  You can click on the picture to make it larger, then right-click it to download/save (print it as a regular letter-size sheet.)

How to make it:

Trace and cut out 10 paper shapes-one small and large from one piece of paper and 2 of each from the other two ("paper front" should be facing you when tracing your shapes on the paper.)

Then do the same with your pictures ("photo front" should be facing you when tracing shapes on photos.)  

Using your glue stick, glue the paper and pictures to each point.  Cover the entire back and make sure they are pressed down very firmly onto the star so that they don't bubble when you Mod Podge them.  The pattern that you cut only one of is the top point of the star and then alternate the remaining patterns on the other 4 points.

There should be a small border around each piece where the star shows through.

Once you have all of your pictures and paper glued on, apply a thin coat of Mod Podge over the entire star.  Make sure you get all the edges.  Allow 20 minutes to dry then apply another coat.

Hang and enjoy!

Easter, Easter

Hope you all had a lovely Easter!  Ours was one jam-packed weekend!  Saturday morning our ward had an Easter activity for all of the primary kids.  They did a little mini service project where they put together hygiene kits for a local shelter, then played fun Easter games and had an egg hunt at the end.

Then it was back home to clean like a madwoman-see, I had the nutty idea the week before to have our ENTIRE family (both sides) over for Easter dinner at our house-and get some homework done.  

Sunday morning came after a long night with our poor little man having bad dreams-he ended up sleeping on a little bed my hubby made up for him on our bedroom floor.  We hid his Easter basket and he had fun looking for it.  He was very happy with the goodies he found.

Then off to church we went-I had my first sharing time this past Sunday and I think it went pretty well, if I do say so myself : )

We snapped a quick family pic of us all in our Easter best before finishing up the last minute tasks around the house before our guests arrived.  I was too busy with everything to remember to get pictures of everyone while they were here, but we had 18 people in our house!  It was our first family gathering in our new place-it was a blast!

Before most everyone left, I hid the little man's eggs (we weren't able to do it earlier because it began to rain) and he had a little mini egg hunt.  

And that's our Easter in a nutshell : )

Before I packed it all up, I thought I'd give you a glimpse at my Easter decor.  We don't have much, but I add to it a little each year.

 My little bicycle bunny-she hides treats in her basket.  And see that little {bare} tree in the background?  I've got a cute Easter/Spring project planned for it, so be watching!

Her basket holds yummy Cadbury eggs.  Most of them are gone now, though : )

This little guy is from WAAAAAY back in the day-I made him at a Relief Society meeting back when I was still a Young Woman.  Talk about old.

These little chicks were a steal-I found the pair of them in the dollar section at Target.  They, of course, came home with me.  I filled each one with a different color of Easter grass and ta-da!  fast, cheap decor.  They're hanging out next to my free canvas (from Canvas People-love it!)

And here's my spring wreath.  If you've been a follower for a while, you may remember my interchangeable wreath.  I whipped up a pretty spring embellishment for it-stay tuned for the tutorial!

{Hand-made Goodie of the Week} Mod Podged Magazine Files

In case you weren't able to make it over to It's A Hodgepodge Life last week to see my guest post, I didn't want you to feel left out.  Here's what I shared with Gay's lovely readers:

Today I've got something to help get you organized.  We recently bought our first house (yay!) and I wanted to start things off clean and organized.

Our magazines needed a home-they were previously living in a cardboard box in our spare room, and never being used (which is why we saved them!)  I found a set of 5 plain magazine files at IKEA for only $1.99!  But I wanted to jazz them up a bit.

Ta-da!

{Who's That} The Craft Monkey

Time to announce the winner of the Thoughts That Stick Giveaway.  If you're
#1, Sarah,
then you're the winner!  Congrats!
Email me your info so I can pass it along to Julie by Friday!

This week's guest on Who's That is the lovely and talented Heidi from The Craft Monkey.  She's got some fun decor to share with you all {You can find me over at The Craft Monkey today!}

Hey Everyone! I'm Heidi from The Craft Monkey.  I'm a craft lovin, decor changin, recipe tryin mama! I LOVE all things paint, paper, mod podge & glitter, but most of my projects look like they were completed by a 1st grader, and I'm OK with that! I'm always looking for new crafting inspiration and ways to keep my hands busy & my fingers covered in glue & paint! I recently opened my very own Etsy Shop, Craft Monkey Designs, where I sell some fun accessories! I'm SUPER excited to be guest posting here at Courtney's place today and really appreciate the opportunity!

I'm currently working on a Make-Over for our Master Bedroom, and I LOVE to create new decor for a space using old decor that I already have!

It's been a while since I've made a beachy themed project! So I thought today was  a good day to create a project for the BIG Master Bedroom Make-Over! Dun Dun DUUUUUN! In a previous post, I painted this frame.

I wasn't really feeling the tissue paper flower, so I pulled it off and decided it needed some seashells!  This whole project cost under $5, gotta LOVE that! I bought the frame for $1, and the 3 bags of seashells for $1 each, all from Michaels.  Pretty Sweet Deal!

Using my deadly hot glue gun, I glued some shells all over the frame. Easy Peasy, just painful on the fingers! {I'm horrible with the glue gun, I burn myself a billion times during a single project}. I didn't take any pictures of me gluing the shells on because I was afraid if I tried to glue with one hand and take a picture with the other, I would be putting my life in danger! bahahaha

Here's a look at where it will rest, which will actually be MUCH cuter after the make over!

It's starting little projects like this frame that get me motivated to complete a whole room make over.  Now to just start painting! UGH! I hate painting!

But OH, it'll be so much prettier once it's completed!

Courtney, thanks again for having me! This has been a blast!

Thanks so much for dropping by today, Heidi!  I hope you all head on over to The Craft Monkey and check out all the other neat things Heidi has over on her cute blog.

Who's That: All Things Thrifty

I am so pleased to introduce you all to the wonderfully talented Brooke from All Things Thrifty.  She is the queen of all things cheap decor-and by cheap, I mean inexpensive.  This woman can decorate and you'd never know it was done for so little!  Her blog is chock full of great decorating tips and projects that'll get those interior decorating juices flowing.  If you've never been over to Brooke's blog, here's a peak at what you're missing:

I'm a sucker for yellow.  It's just so bright and happy, which is probably why I love the flowers on this pillow so much.  Brooke shows you how to make them using this tutorial.

Can you believe that the valance is made out of a table runner and the pillows are made out of a tablecloth?!?!  LOVE it!  Check out how she did it here.

Check out this amazing re-upholstery job!  Can you believe that's the same chair?!  You can see the whole transformation as well as Brooke's top 10 upholstery tips here.

Aren't these PB knock-off signs the cutest?  And they only cost about $5!  

I am absolutely in love with this wall art.  It is just amazing!  The black design is felt!  To see the whole project and how Brooke did it, check out her tutorial.

Those yellow sidetables are to die for!  She snagged those beauties (pre-yellow) at DI.  Jealous!  Check out the before and after and all the steps in between!

Head on over to All Things Thrifty to see all of the other amazing things Brooke has to show you and get inspired!