Decopauged Chevron Pumpkins

If you are loving the chevron trend, check out these decopauged pumpkins from Tatertots and Jello. She took strips of striped fabic and made them into the chevron pattern around the pumpkins. Looks super trendy and modern!

See the chevron decopauged pumpkins.

Guest Blogger - Frenchknots - Halloween Paint Can Vase

Hello Crafty Friends! I am thrilled to be guest posting while Michelle is enjoying some R & R with her family. Oh, Wow! let me introduce myself: I am Pamela, I blog at

Frenchknots

about quilting, crafting and the yummy things I make in my kitchen. I am lucky enough to live in Utah with my three sons and my creative husband. Right now we are enjoying the most beautiful indian summer; the leaves are about to change and fall harvest is at its peak. Oh, my heck! what's not to love?!?

I wanted to share an easy and dirt cheap Halloween craft. Once you see how easy it is you'll be raiding your neighbor's garages to make more. I know, I've done it!! (Crap, that was a secret) I digress; let's make a :

Halloween Paint Can

Who doesn't have a few of these laying around?!?

Step 1: Find a almost empty paint can. Clean out remaining paint and remove wrapper.

Step 2: Paint Can. I did 3 light coats of paint, letting each dry before applying the next coat. It was a warm afternoon so each coat only needed about 15 mins. Don't forget the inside too!

Step 3: Pick an image. I used an old Susan Branch Calendar. I love her illustrations, and this little vignette of children trick or treating was perfect.

Step 4: Mod Podge the image onto the paint can.

Step 5: Stain over the entire can, image and all to get that fun, aged look.

Step 6: Fill with something festive and enjoy.

Every year I put out my Halloween Cans and fill them with different things: fresh flowers, fake flowers, candy, dollar store decor etc. In the past, I've filled the can with something special and given them away to neighbors, teachers, and friends. This year, I think I'll be giving away cinnamon swirl bread, the opening looks just big enough.

I'd love for you to stop by Frenchknots and say hello. You'll find lots of quilty and crafty goodness. Check out this quilt top I recently finished ~ I am so in love with it! Once you've made the Halloween Paint Can check out these other super cute Halloween crafts: Polka Dot Pumpkins and a Halloween Countdown Calendar for your little trick or treaters.



XOXO, Michelle. Someday Crafts is the best!

THANKS, Pamela! I love it when a person turns garbage and junk into something adorable. These paint cans look so cute with the fun prints and flowers! What a great display for fall and Halloween. Visit French Knots today!

Guest Blogger - The Crafty Scientist - Microbead Pendants

Hi Someday Crafts readers! I'm absolutely thrilled to be guest posting over here for Michelle while she's on bloggy maternity leave!

That's me - I'm Mel (short for Melissa) the Crafty Scientist, a twentysomething girl living in the VERY deep south and trying to finish up my Ph.D. and staying sane by crafting and being creative! I blog over at

The Crafty Scientist

It is about all my creations, favorite things, photographs of my adventures, and collections of resources on a given theme (like making a blog button or taking pictures of fireworks). But mostly, you get to see how I make a variety of things like this Lemonhead candy wreath...

And some paint chip art I created...

As well as these interchangeable ribbon and briolette necklaces (so you can change the ribbon to match your mood, outfit, direction the wind is blowing, whatever)...

Plus, I like to post pictures of my super-cute dogs - Max (on the left) and Bella!

Today, however, I'm going to share a tutorial for my favorite thing to make (and something I've given as a gift to pretty much everyone I know... and if you haven't gotten one yet, ummm, surprise and happy early birthday!) -

microbead pendants

inspired by this project from Amy at Mod Podge Rocks.

This project is super-easy - it might take some trial and error, but if I can do it, you can too! And once you get started, it's super-fun to start making them and see how they all turn out differently and imagine the different possibilities for them!

• Mod Podge Dimensional Magic
  


• Microbeads (mine are from Martha Stewart, but there appear to be some competitors in craft stores these days - check the scrapbook section!)



• Pendant blanks or wells with trays (you can find them on Etsy with about a 100 different names)
  


• Cabachons (or cabs, if desired)



• Straight pin or toothpick (turns out to be very helpful!)

First you want to pick out the color combination, the pendant size and shape you want to use, and any cabachons you want - it's good to have them all handy before you start pouring so you don't have to run around and search while you have a wet pendant which can easily be knocked off a table (I think - obviously I wouldn't have any experience with that)!

Then, you simply grab your pendant and fill it most of the way to the top with Mod Podge Dimensional Magic. You don't want the pendant to overflow or be quite at the top - this is something that comes with practice. You want to make sure that you don't have any bubbles in the Mod Podge and this is where you can use a straight pin or toothpick to pop them. If you have multiple bubbles, make sure to clean the pin/toothpick between them so you can cleanly pop all of them.

Then, grab your microbeads and pour. The color you add last will be on top when it dries so keep that in mind and feel free to go back and forth, alternating colors.

Sometimes I overpour and so I like to just smooth out the top with my finger... (I'm sure that's how Martha does it too.) You will end up with wasted, extras and don't worry about it. Get used to the idea you that you can't use/save all of them. It will make your life much easier.

Then, simply press in your cabachon and let the pendant dry. I like to leave mine overnight just to be safe. This is a pendant where I actually just left it at this point and didn't do anything else...

But you will probably want to come back and add another little layer of Mod Podge to the top of your pendant, working AROUND the cabachon. I like adding more Mod Podge because it all looks glossier and I think that added layer protects the pendant when you sweat, shower, swim, etc. But I'm not sure if it actually does anything other than make me feel better. I put the Mod Podge around the cabachon... unfortunately you can barely see it against the black microbeads here, but that's what the picture should show you!

And just in case, here are some other pendants with the second coat of Mod Podge on it to show you a bit better...

I also experimented with placing the cabachon in first or before I put in microbeads and got really frustrated with trying to stick a straight pin in the petals to get the microbeads out of the crevices. (See the dedication to trying ridiculous things out that I do for my readers? Yup... I'm practically "Man v. Food" for the craft world... or "Mythbusters" maybe?)

But here's the final black microbead pendant with the blue cabochon in it with the second Mod Podge coat all dried.

These are a few of my other finished pendants...

And some round pendants...

The one with the clear microbeads might be my most favorite pendant that I've made so far.

You might have some little errors and don't worry about them - I don't think anyone can tell until you have giant photos where your camera is zoomed in really tight. But, to help you avoid the mistakes I made above, these are my top three tips to perfect pendants!

• I recommend putting the cabochon into the microbeads after all the microbeads are poured. You can also make pendants without any cabochons!
  


• To get rid of air bubbles, use a toothpick or straight pin to pop them while they're still wet.



• To fix uneven layers, you can pour another coat of mod podge on there (and maybe even more microbeads - I tried that and didn't really love the result, but who knows).

And the obligatory shot of me wearing the necklace (you know, the crazy flattering self-neck-and-shoulders-portrait)...

Now you're ready to make your own jewelry! And the awesome part is that once you have the microbeads and mod podge, you can get the pendant pieces fairly inexpensively and make gifts for people in no time at all! Good luck and please tell me how your pendants turn out (and visit me at The Crafty Scientist)!

THANKS, Mel! I found out that Mel is going to Clemson which is one of my favorite universities and towns in the entire world!!!! I love this idea. It's cute and simple! I might have a few microbead necklaces in my future!

Visit The Crafty Scientist to get more awesome ideas!

Fabulous Party Highlights!

I'm taking a few minutes of my vacation to look at the party links and WOW!!! Here are a few that stood out to me. I will have a few more to show tomorrow!

Is it me or is there something totally stunning about these tree stumps painted white and used a coffee table? Thrifty and Chic pulled off this crazy tree stump tables in her entirely too gorgeous house! I wish I could pull off her style!

There are some drop-dead fabulous paper napkins out there to buy! A Mom Not a Professional or a Perfectionist turned some paper napkins into decor balls! I need some of these!

Breakfast For Dinner took two iron garden/planter baskets and turned them into a gorgeous light fixture. It looks like a million bucks (even though it cost her nothing!)

There is something beautiful about silver! I'm loving these Pottery Barn inspired silver seashells in the bathroom at from Gardners to Bergers. Pretty!

In Too Deep turned some Ikea spice racks into these awesome book shelves. What an easy and functional transformation! Hurry and run to Ikea OR look at the spice racks around you to see if they would work!


See more Whatever Goes Wednesday links!

Antiquing A Trunk and Anthro Bag

I wish I had a trunk so I could make it beautiful like Made It Monday, my CWTS partner, did with a trunk she had. I love the way she antiqued it and added a world map to it for the decopauge theme of Crafting With The Stars last week. See how created this World Traveler Trunk (Inside and Out!)

Made It On Monday has also posted the tutorial on this Anthro knock-off bag. You can see the tutorial HERE or you can enter a giveaway to win it HERE (You need to enter tonight because she is announcing the winner tomorrow.)
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It is voting time at Crafting With The Stars again! Check out the cute "BABY" Themed projects at Sew Dang Cute Crafts.

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Unique and fun Party Highlights!

I love to highlight interesting and unique ideas! There were definitely some fun crafts linked up today at the Whatever Goes Wednesday Party! Here are a few!

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I've seen a few different kinds of decoupaged shoes, but I have to say these comic book shoes are my favorite. Check them out at Just A Geek Named Jess.

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Tulle, zippers and feathers together! What a great combination. See this beautiful hairclip at The Peasant Wife.
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This is beyond cool! You've got to see these handmade dodecahedron star lanterns at Mom's Crafty Space! Wow!
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I'm diggin' all the fun framed hearts for Valentine's at today's party. I especially love these framed 3-D hearts at Blooming Homestead! So pretty!

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Check out more links at the Whatever Goes Wednesday Party!

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Burlap Star With Ribbon

Wow! What more can I say about this stunning star from The Douglas Family? Cover a star with burlap and tie a ribbon around it and watch it become something simply magnificent.

See the burlap star with ribbon idea.

Paper Mache Pumpkins

The Hillside Home has a wonderfully messy and fun way to decorate pumpkins! Use your patterned scrapbook paper to paper mache them! So interesting at which to look!

Check out the Paper Mache Pumpkins!

Mini Notebooks

If you love petite or dainty sized items, you will adore these mini notebooks by A Spoonful of Sugar. To learn how to make these, go HERE.