Holiday Projects – A Diamond in the Stuff

Witch’s Scroll and Spooky Porch

Courtney Carmean — Mon, 03 Oct 2016 13:00:33 +0000

October is officially upon us. The past couple years I haven’t been in a “decorate for Halloween” kind of mood, much to my son’s dismay. So this year I PROMISED that we would SPOOKify our front porch. Shortly after said promise I got an email from the good people at PRO WORLD INC asking if I would like to give their HTV (heat transfer vinyl) a try! Well yes I would and I know JUST how I will put it to use! Enter the Witch’s Scroll and Spook Porch!

First of all, they sent me some gorgeous black glitter HTV. Yay. However, I have actually never cut glitter HTV before so I decided right then and there that this was my time to try! For those like me, fairly inexperienced to the HTV world, I broke it down into a few steps:

1: First I cut out some fabric I had lying around. It was a thick cotton canvas, I knew it would hang just how I wanted it to and it was readily available!

2: Then I designed and cut out my “image”, which just so happened to be words. Can anyone place where this quote comes from?

3: Once I had the HTV cut and weeded (might I had, it was a DREAM to weed. A DREAM!) I positioned it onto my cut out fabric.

4: Then I tore off a piece of parchment paper and laid it on top of the HTV and clear carrier sheet.

5: I cranked up my iron as hot as it would go and I pressed each section for 15 seconds each. Once all the HTV had adhered to the fabric, I removed the carrier sheet and did another press just using the parchment paper.

6: To finish it up, I grabbed a small stick and glued it to the top of the fabric. You’re probably asking yourself right about now if this lady has lost her mind. Most definitely. But we’re not getting into that now.

Ah, it’s all coming together now! Pretty fabulous right? Have you guessed the quote by now? It’s from Macbeth, you know with the three witches standing over their cauldron reciting this spell.

I picked a font that I thought looked hand written (shorelines script) like one of the witches scrawled it out. It looks so good with the glitter vinyl too. Well I was absolutely in love with my new Witch’s Scroll at this point, however my porch was certainly not living up to it’s fabulousness and I DID promise the boy that we would have an awesome Halloween porch this year.

So I got busy on creating a porch that was special enough for my new door-hanger! A trip to the local park got me some fabulous dead branches (and free I might add!). The hubby loaded the back of the truck with a bed full of these huge suckers. I also picked up these incredible pumpkins, which just so happen to be called fairytale pumpkins!

Threw a few bats up on the branches and called it FABULOUS! I mean it’s probably not everyone’s cup of tea but I’m just not into the gory, scary, morbid side of Halloween. But this, this I like!

It’s not jump-out-and-make-someone-need-a-fresh-pair-of-undies scary, but it definitely has a spooky feel too it. I’ve already successfully creeped a couple neighbor kids out so I’ve got that going for me!

Alright, so tell me what you think? Are you dying for a Witch’s Scroll for your door and a super Spooky Porch now? I thought you might! Thanks everyone for stopping by and have a great week!!!

I just may be partying with some people this week!

this post contains some paid product, but all thoughts and opinions are my own

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Want more ideas to get your Halloween into gear? How about my Halloween Mantel?

Simple Winter Mantel

Courtney Carmean — Fri, 15 Jan 2016 14:00:46 +0000

After Christmas I am left with a feeling of decorating withdrawal. The house seems so full and warm during Christmas time. Then January comes around and everything goes back into boxes and the house feels sad. One area that instantly seems neglected is my mantel. So I turned some Christmas leftovers and items I had lying around the house into my Simple Winter Mantel.

I knew I didn’t want to jump straight into my Spring Mantel but I didn’t want to go crazy creating a winter one. So I started shopping my house. A walk to the garage produced this old window that I’ve used on several mantel-scapes in the past. Then I remembered a couple tubs I had full of white candles. I’m not sure where all of these candles of different hues and sizes came from, but they occasionally come in handy!

I then spotted my mound of discarded Christmas garland on the floor and saved it from it’s trashcan fate. I’m sure my husband thought I was nuts at this point. I popped the window on the mantel, draped the garland across it, and added the candles throughout. Isn’t the candle glow amazing?

It’s just what I needed. It’s glowing and warm and cozy. Do you decorate your mantel for winter? What do you think of my Simple Winter Mantel?

Linking up to these great link parties!!!

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Decorating above kitchen cabinets can be difficult. Put nothing up there are it looks bare, put too much and it looks cluttered. I found my perfect solution with these DIY Kitchen FOOD Signs.

Vintage Sparkle Christmas Porch

Courtney Carmean — Fri, 18 Dec 2015 14:00:15 +0000

The combination of moving every few years and the inevitable evolution of my own holiday decor, means that there are often areas of my home that I just can’t ever get right. My current front porch is one of those place. Actually I often struggle with my outdoor holiday decor. BUT THIS YEAR I am finally in LOVE with my Vintage Sparkle Christmas Porch!

I decided to call it my “Vintage Sparkle” porch because of the many vintage items I pulled to use and of course, all the awesome sparkle of the lights! The sparkle is one of my favorite parts of Christmas time!

Let’s start with my front door. First off, it’s huge. Which is great however it makes almost any wreath look small and puny. So I decided to go with three wreaths, one for each of the window sections. I bought the pre-lit battery operated wreaths at Home Depot and added my own red ribbon bows. It took three lengths of garland to surround the door and I added some ornaments in my color scheme. That huge door now has decor worthy of it!

One of the vintage items I used was this old wood chair. I popped a wreath and a little barn wood sign in it. I had this little tree on hand for when I do my craft shows. I figured I needed some more sparkle so I brought it in a put it in an old metal bucket.

By the front door I put, yes another old wood chair. They just helped balance the sparkly-ness. Especially next to that vintage inspired metallic tree from Hobby Lobby. Pretty fabulous isn’t it? I popped that sucker in an old metal milk crate.

I’ll let you in on a little secret. The chair and little tree are hiding something. There is an outlet on that wall there but MAN do I HATE visible plugs and cords. I know, that’s kind of a weird thing to have such an aversion to, but I really do hate having to see them. Hate. I do. So I put them in front of the plug, ran the cord along the wall, and then tucked it under the doormat to light the tall tree.

I’m not gonna lie, I did my porch twice. The first go just didn’t do it for me, like happens so many times. Even through the second go around I second guessed every step of the way. Until suddenly I stepped back and fell in love. It is absolutely my favorite porch I’ve ever done!

At night my porch now glows. A beautiful Christmas glow! So what do you think of my Vintage Sparkle Christmas Porch?

Linking up to these great link parties!!!

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Earlier this week I shared my DIY Faux Christmas Chalkboard! If you’re like me, then you’re terrible at making a chalkboard design actually look legible! Give this faux chalkboard a try……

DIY Faux Christmas Chalkboard

Courtney Carmean — Wed, 16 Dec 2015 14:00:49 +0000

In the Fall I created this DIY Faux Framed Chalkboard. Since it was Fall, I went with a Thanksgiving saying for the first chalkboard. Now that Christmas time has rolled around I needed to whip up a DIY Faux Christmas Chalkboard!

If you are looking for my tutorial on how I created my faux chalkboards you can see it HERE. I created mine using my Silhouette Cameo and it’s really a pretty simple project. Simple but beautiful.

I purchased the file from the Silhouette store so that made this one easy peasy! I just popped the faux chalkboard out of the frame, flipped it over, and created the Christmas chalkboard on the back of the Thanksgiving chalkboard. Then I popped it back in the frame.

The DIY Faux Christmas Chalkboard turned out gorgeous! It looks perfect in my entryway and is the perfect addition to my Christmas decor!

Linking up to these great link parties!!!

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While you’re visiting, I’d love if you would come take a look at my Aqua and Red Christmas Tree…….

Aqua and Red Christmas Tree

Courtney Carmean — Tue, 08 Dec 2015 14:00:23 +0000

Last year I made the jump to switch up my Christmas decor completely. A few things carried over, but overall, it was a complete fresh start. I ended up not buying everything I wanted last year because lets face it, that adds up quickly! My tree was one of those things that didn’t get very much attention. So this year I decide to have some fun, and fun I had!!! Let’s take a look at my Aqua and Red Christmas Tree!!!

My big beautiful tree came from Hobby Lobby a few years ago at an after season sale. I love love it.

When I changed up my decor I went with a red, aqua, and white color scheme. It’s fun, it’s colorful, it’s happy! My style is basically modern + vintage + a touch of whimsy.

I really played around with colors, textures, patterns, and finishes. Found some aqua and white stripped ribbon in the floral section, white pom pom fringe, embroidery hoops filled with coordinated fabric, and ornaments. Shiny, flat, see through, opaque, round, long. It’s all random and yet it all came together so wonderfully!

The colors and whimsy look so great with the rest of my Christmas decor including my mantel.

Do you love it? I know I do!!!

What colors are your tree? Do you go all in with every color and ornaments from years past or do you do a themed tree?

Linking up to these great link parties!!!

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Looking for a fun Christmas project to do? Give one of these Glitter Reindeer Silhouette signs a try……..

Decoupaged Pumpkin Door Hanger

Courtney Carmean — Fri, 23 Oct 2015 14:19:29 +0000

My newest door creation in finally up! I really love my Cotton Boll Wreath but I wanted something else to put up at the beginning of the Fall season. I had these wood pumpkin cut outs that I bought awhile ago, just laying around. A little digging around my fabric stash inspired me to create my new Decoupaged Pumpkin Door Hanger.

The supplies I started out with:

Pumpkin cutout

Paint

Fabric

Burlap ribbon

Mod Podge (not pictured here)

First I painted my pumpkin. I went ahead and painted the whole front of it so that the darker coloring of the wood wouldn’t show through the fabric. I used Americana Decor Chalky Finish in Whisper.

Once the paint dried I turned the pumpkin upside down and traced it onto my fabric. I used a sharpie fine point to get a good noticeable line.

I used some of my very sharp scissors to cut the pumpkin shaped fabric out.

Then it was time to attach the fabric to the wood cutout. I used Mod Podge to do this. A very generous layer down on the wood and then I laid the fabric down, smoothing it out immediately. After this dried I put another generous layer of Mod Podge on top of the fabric. Once it was all dry, I cut any excess fabric off the edges of the cutout.

Then it was time to add the wording. I cut some vinyl out with my Silhouette, put it down on the pumpkin, added some Mod Podge, and then added the paint. I had my hubby drill a couple holes near the top that I used to attach the burlap ribbon.

Doesn’t it look so cute up?

I’m so glad I decided to add fabric instead of just painting. The orange and cream fabric is so pretty!

I love love my new door hanger, it’s the perfect way to welcome Fall!!!

Linking up to these great link parties!!!

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Looking for some more Fall inspiration! Here’s my Pumpkins and Pinecones Centerpiece…..

Holiday Projects – A Diamond in the Stuff

Witch’s Scroll and Spooky Porch

*this post contains some paid product, but all thoughts and opinions are my own*

Simple Winter Mantel

Vintage Sparkle Christmas Porch

DIY Faux Christmas Chalkboard

Aqua and Red Christmas Tree

Decoupaged Pumpkin Door Hanger

this post contains some paid product, but all thoughts and opinions are my own