Cozy Fall Decor & Upcycling Ideas

I am enjoying these last weeks of summer, but I'm also looking forward to the crisp days of fall. The dusty bins of fall decor were pulled off the garage shelves just the other day. As I opened the bins, the smell of fall poured into the room. It was wonderful. The candles, the cinnamon pine cones, the "Give Thanks" banner, and the decorative pumpkins and leaves brought back some of the best memories of fall - not because decor makes fall what it is, but because of the association.

After sorting through the two bins of decor, I ran upstairs, put on some music, and decorated my whole room. Everything feels so cozy now.

Two of the fall signs in the decor above were a part of my upcycling. My brother built a garden shed and patio cover for us a while ago, so we had some old boards leftover from the projects. I was so excited to find them behind the garden shed a couple weeks ago. Even though most of them had odd holes and stains and were a little on the grungy side, they were perfect for some fall signs. 

I just used a couple coats of various acrylic paints on the best sides of the boards, and also used acrylic paint to stencil words and details on the signs. 

For a couple of the signs, I added strips of burlap or felt details to give some variety. 

To make them even more interesting, I wrapped a couple boards in burlap before painting them. I did this by using hot glue to hold the burlap down. 

Of course you can stencil words directly on the burlap, but I decided that the words would stand out more if there was a coat of paint behind them. It's important to either thin the paint or make sure you have a ton of it (because the burlap soaks up the paint easily) - I ran out of the color I was using and had to mix two colors to match the previous one.

I did the base coat messily and left some edges of burlap showing. The paint on burlap takes quite a while to dry, but I started using stencils on it before it was dry and didn't have any problems. These signs were the most fun to make.

Another part of my upcycling was this small fall wreath. I was inspired by the "Autumn Wreath with Felt Leaves" on Craftionary, but I used a circle cut from a pizza box for a wreath form instead of buying one. Instead of wrapping the wreath in yarn, I used some old burlap (attached using hot glue). I cut out the leaves and stitched them with embroidery floss, then added them to the wreath with hot glue. It was a lot of fun to make use of a pizza box for this.

The last part of my upcycling was putting new labels on dry soda bottles and using them for apple cider. I had been collecting these dry soda bottles for a long time, hoping I could find a use for them since they seem so perfect for projects. It would probably be a good idea to take off all the old labels before making new ones since they do show through the inside, but I knew these wouldn't be for anything formal and decided not to peel off the old labels. 

I hope you enjoyed these upcycled items and fall decor. Have a great Tuesday!

A Trip to the Mall

A trip to the mall... isn't what it used to be. All throughout my childhood, my family and I have gone to the mall* to shop for various things and to simply be with one another. The purchases weren't always what mattered most. Sometimes we would only be window shopping, eating delicious food, or peering at the adorable puppies in the pet shop. What mattered most was the time we spent together.

I can say that the same thing is true today, but many aspects of this have changed. I still go to the mall every once in a while with my mom or other family members. We still get the chance to see cute puppies and bunnies through the pet shop windows. We still get to window shop and eat delicious food. But these things are only a small part of the experience that goes with a trip to the mall today. What takes up the majority of the experience are stores that sell ridiculously immodest clothing, advertisements that promote sex and scandalous situations, kiosks that glamorize smoking (even if it isn't with a normal cigarette), and large pictures of supposedly perfect women.

I cringe at the thought of my nieces and nephews seeing the inappropriate clothing, advertisements, stores, and pictures as they walk through the mall with their families on a nice Saturday afternoon. I don't want them to think that this is normal, or that the mall was always like this. It isn't supposed to be like this.

The mall used to be a place for families. They might currently have a play area for children and an awesome family bathroom, but most of their atmosphere sure isn't family friendly.

Yeah, it's definitely true that I don't need to go to the mall. I can stay at home, or go somewhere else. I can also try covering my eyes every time I see something that offends me in the mall... at that rate, I'd experience part of what it's like to be blind, and would probably run into several posts. But the fact is, no one needs to go to the mall. I shouldn't have to cover my eyes to avoid the disgusting images and stores that can be found throughout the mall today. I shouldn't have to worry about what my younger relatives will see when they're on what should be a perfectly harmless, fun family trip to the mall.

What would you want your children to see and hear about when they go to the mall: sex and drugs, or the importance of healthy relationships? It seems as if we should do our best to restore the original family friendly atmosphere of the mall, at least for the future generations.

*Westfield Vancouver, Washington

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Bonjour Banner

My brother's birthday was coming up a while ago, so I wanted to figure out some fun decorations that would reflect his interests. He has always loved France, and he and his wife dream of travelling there some day. I decided that it would be interesting to somehow incorporate France into the decor, so I began earlier this evening by making a banner that simply says "Bonjour". My brother also enjoys nature and the French countryside, so I chose more natural colors and textures for the banner.
This banner has almost the same layout as the one on my "Spring Banner" post, so I actually used that post as a guide to create this one!
I began by printing the letters on some textured brown paper, and cutting them out. I used a dark brown pastel on the edges of the letters to create more definition, before gluing them down. I found out that this is a lot easier and less messy than using pastel after you have glued the letters down.

Then, I cut the background pages down from 12 x 12 to 10 x 12 rectangles. I glued the leftover 2 inch strips of paper onto the bottom edge of each background.

To give the banner a bit more texture, I added strings from burlap to the center of each 2 inch strip. I simply sat down with a piece of burlap and picked it apart. 

I cut the strings to ten inches long, and glued four strings to each strip of paper, after the strips of paper were glued to the backgrounds.The easiest type of glue to use for both of these things is hot glue. It dries incredibly fast, and isn't too bumpy when you're working with thick pieces of paper. For the burlap strings, I just added one drop of hot glue to each end of the paper and pressed the strings into the glue (wait a bit before pressing them down, because otherwise you'll end up burning your fingers).

Since I wanted green to be the only bright color, I went through our buttons and picked out all of the green ones (hopefully I won't regret this later, when I can't seem to find any green buttons for other projects). I randomly added these to the banner.

Once everything else had been laid out and glued down, I finally glued the letters down. It's easier to add them at the end, because then you can center them according to what you already have on the backgrounds. 

The glue that I originally used for the letters didn't hold very well, so I went back and used hot glue. 

That was pretty much it for the design! All that was left to do was to hole punch the top two corners of each background, and put string through the holes. 

It's finished! Although it took quite a while to complete, this banner was very easy to create. Another great thing about it is the fact that you do not need a bunch of fancy supplies and tools to create it. At first, I had no idea what I was going to use to embellish the banner, but I was able to just use some old things that were leftover or in our craft room (buttons, burlap, scraps of paper)!

Jewelry

Designing jewelry can be one of the most relaxing things to do, especially on a rainy day, while listening to an audio book. I like to sit on the floor with my beads and tools surrounding me, and just put random pieces of jewelry together. Some of the time I end up irritated if I can't figure out a good color combination or a technique to put something together, but most of the time it's a fairly peaceful craft.
I started making jewelry when I was about ten or eleven, but I mainly used heavy string and chunky plastic beads. Fortunately, my family supported me in this by occasionally purchasing a piece of jewelry and encouraging me in my work.
Now, I use high-quality materials and create original pieces of jewelry whenever I'm in the mood. I have had a website of my jewelry up a few different times (called Designs de Cherie), but the cost of it was too much compared to what I was making. Eventually I got discouraged and lost interest in even making jewelry, because I had so few people purchasing from me. But then I realized that, seriously, I'm still young, I haven't advertised much, and I should't care so much about the profit. So, last month I got back into making jewelry, and I'm happy that I have time to do crafts like this! It's a great way to spend free time, and it's also a way of expressing your personality or emotions (just like painting or writing can be a way of expressing emotions). I like to use a lot of colors and patterns that remind me of nature, because I really enjoy spending time in nature. Here are some of the things that I have created.

Tri-Cities Trip

I recently went on a trip with my mom to Tri-Cities, for work purposes. We happened to drive out on the perfect day, because just a day before the snow was too heavy, and just a day after there was a mudslide. And, since the snow hadn't fully melted yet, we got to see some beautiful hills on the way that were covered with snow. The weather was quite fantastic, and I actually felt as if we were driving through a different country! Because it was so beautiful, I decided to take several pictures along the way, and now I want to share them on this post!

Rain

If you live in Washington, how often have you heard people complain about the rain? I've heard more complaints about it than I can possibly count. The problem is, a lot of people don't realize how beautiful (and beneficial) the rain actually is! It can be so incredible, especially when the sun shines on the rain drops. I just wanted to share these pictures that I took a couple days ago when it was raining. Hopefully these pictures will remind everyone (including myself) to appreciate even the rain.

"I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life." -Genesis 9:13-15 (New International Version)

Fort Vancouver - Summer Adventures

It's interesting to think that though I love visiting historical areas, I hadn't ever visited the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site before my week of summer vacation! It's a wonderful historic site that consists of nine buildings, and I would love to visit again when all of the buildings are open. Most of the buildings allow you to enter, but have inner doors with windows that keep you from entering the actual rooms. However, some of the buildings are completely open and can be thoroughly explored. These are the buildings that I enjoyed most, because I was able to touch historic artifacts and imagine the lives of those who used to live inside (though the buildings are actually reconstructed, not the original ones).

Similar to when we visited the Aurora Colony, we took a self-guided tour at Fort Vancouver. Even though I might not learn as much, I've always preferred self-guided tours to group tours, because they allow you to go at your own pace and in whatever order you like. The site also offers audio tours at no additional charge, for those who want to learn a bit more information about Fort Vancouver.
In my opinion, it's definitely a better idea to visit places like Fort Vancouver on days that are likely to be less crowded. I'd happily walk between buildings in the rain if it meant running into less people within the buildings. We happened to go on a really nice day, so the area was a bit more crowded. Unfortunately, we ran into several immature people (like children who had to touch and destroy everything, and a father who left his girl crying at the top of a steep staircase) during our visit, which spoiled some of the atmosphere. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate people, I just prefer to visit places like this on quieter days.

Some of the buildings have reenactors who tell you all about what the building would have been used for, and give you a taste of what it would have been like.

Overall, the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site is a very interesting and beautiful place to visit! The reconstructed buildings are great, and they really allow you to feel as if you've stepped into the past. I would definitely recommend this for everyone, and I can imagine that children would especially appreciate all that they have done to make the site authentic.

I really enjoyed their displays of artifacts!

 This was my favorite view of all, looking out from the tower.

 Here is a link to the website: http://fortvan.org/