Halloween Haybale Craft

Halloween is almost here! And I am so excited because I've been super antsy about decorating (remember the fall wreath we created before September had even begun?).

This craft is something I threw together last weekend, combining a bunch of little odds and ends from Michael's and Walmart.

The hay bale itself I got from Michael's for $3.98.  Be aware...you should work with hay bales outside if you have a very close relationship with your rugs! 

The ribbon (40% off $1.99 each at Michael's) I just measured around the width of the bale, cut two pieces of different design and then wrapped them around and secured with tape and thumbtacks.

Next was decorating the top.  The big "Boo" owl and the little scarecrow were each 97 cents at Walmart.  The scarecrow was pre-attached to a dowel so I just stuck him in.  The bigger owl I attached to a straw (with lots of tape to keep it sturdy) and planted him in there as well.  A wooden dowel is a much better option though, especially if you've been having crappy super windy weather by you like we have had over here -______-.  

The little witches hats you see came as unfinished wooden cutouts from Michael's for 29 cents each.  I painted them black and then cut little pieces of ribbon to fit around the brims.  Those I also secured to straws and stuck them in. 

The other top decoration you see there are those pumpkins on a stick.  They were 59 cents each from Michael's and I just stuck them in there to add some sparkle!

Finally, I finished the whole thing off with a bag of mini pumpkins I got from Home Depot for 4 bucks.

Ta-da! Now my patio is looking much more sufficiently Halloween-y!

Tune in tomorrow for my fall themed refinishing of two 50 cent mini shovels my aunt found for me at a garage sale!

In the meantime, how are you all decorating for Halloween?

Spooky New Show

This is not at all of the craft or book nerd nature, but of course my musings are not limited to those subjects! Just largely composed of them...to the point where they usually distract me from what I should be doing...
ANYWAYS!
Anybody tuning in to the new Sleepy Hollow series on Fox? I am a total pansy when it comes to anything horror (a good movie can have me lying awake at night for days!). However, I am totally jonesing for October and Halloween to get here already so what better way to get my fix while I wait?!

You do have to pay attention while watching, which may be a turnoff for some people (tv is supposed to be mindless, right?). And admittedly, I am already slightly confused. Though I did watch the pilot tonight just before the new episode. But that aside, I loved the concept and am looking forward to seeing what they do with it.
One of my favorite childhood memories is of a sleepover at an older cousins house where she let us way-too-youngsters watch the movie version of the tale.  (Cue sigh at Johnny Depp's ability to be dashing in any role) We were scared out of our minds! But of course, isn't that what Halloween is all about?!
Definitely check it out next week!

In the meantime, what awesome shows are you all watching now?

DIY Fall Wreath

My sister and I took a trip to Michael's this past weekend, and as we perused the shelves full of flowers and ribbons in bright oranges and reds and yellows we were inspired to start our fall decorating.  The summer is just about over, it's close enough!

Most of the pre-made decorations were pretty pricey.  So with our "15% off purchase" and "40% off single item" coupons in tow (you gotta love Michael's!) we searched for things on sale to create our own wreath for the front door of the apartment.  What better decoration than a wreath to welcome the season...and to show off our craftiness to the neighbors ;)

We also scoured the dollar store to pick up a couple rolls of pretty fall themed ribbon. When we got home we pulled an old wire hanger (my sister's idea) out of the closet and we were on our way!

We bent the hanger into a circle and cut up the ribbon into tiny strips which we tied around the wire in simple knots.

While my sister was tying ribbon knots...I broke out the bow maker my aunt bought for me from a garage sale ages ago.  This thing is pretty old hahaha...I'm not even sure they make them anymore.  Here it is...

Basically all you do is insert a little plastic pin into the slots at the top of that middle green cylinder and then follow along with the instructions for the type of bow you want to make- making specific folds and pushing those folds on to the little pin which holds it all together in the end.  Perhaps one day when I have a better handle on it, I'll make a tutorial for the different types.

Here's my first attempt...

Not bad if I must say so myself. A little uneven...but pretty damn cute!

Once all the ribbon was tied, the bow was in place at the top (via hot glue), and all the wire covered (no picture for this...sorry!) we began hot gluing the pumpkins and flowers and berries to it.  And here's what we got...

Pretty cute, huh? And so simple anyone could do it! The best part? It only really cost us a little over ten bucks!

In the end, it turned out we bought way more than we needed.  We got way too swept up in the fall-ness haha.

But we did find use for the extras and now our dining room table has a little hint of fall too!

Hope we've inspired you to get ready for the fall! We can't wait...

Thanks always for reading...