Candy Corn Hoops

Blank wall before:

The cute and festive after:

I love how quickly this project came together AND how it didn't cost me a thing. Luckily I had all the supplies on hand. It is probably easy enough to figure out on your own but I put together a tutorial anyway.

Grab a bunch of embroidery hoops (check thrift stores!) and various white, yellow, and orange fabrics (check your stash, thrift stores, and the remnants section). Lay out the fabrics until you get some combinations you like and cut (or rip like I did) fabric to size.

Iron the fabric (if it needs it... mine obviously did). Layer fabric in desired pattern over the bottom ring. Assemble hoop. Pull fabric taut.

Trim excess fabric (I left about a 1/2 - 1 inch).

Either hot glue (to the inner rim on the back of the hoop) or tape fabric to the back. I chose to tape because I want to reuse these hoops in the future. Yay for cute and noncommittal decor!

I used a few more pieces of tape after I took the picture... but you get the idea

Hang on wall and admire. I seriously love how fun, subtle, and festive this is. Even my husband loved it. To paraphrase him: "It works great for Halloween since it is candy corn but it can be left up for the rest of the fall because of the color scheme." So true! :)

Linked to Craftaholics Anonymous Fall Frenzy party.

WIP

Back when I was still blogging with Floral Showers, I started crocheting granny squares for a someday afghan/blanket. I was using yarn I already had on hand and thought I had enough to make a checked pattern baby blanket. Oh how little I knew about making a blanket from granny squares...

Fast forward to over a year later and I'm still not finished (part of that might be due to the fact that I stopped working on it for months and months). Oh, and I ran out of the pinkish color of yarn that is no longer sold (yeah... it had been in my yarn stash for a looong time before I started making my squares). My solution: change my desired pattern and buy more yarn. Here is basically where I'm at now:

It's progress. Plus, all the squares look really pretty in a basket.

Twiggy Inspiration

Being poor and unemployed, I have been trying to come up with completely free craft/decor projects. It isn't that easy for me but I have come across a few ideas that I love. It seems they all have one thing in common (besides being freeeee): sticks.

The first idea came from V and Co. She doesn't have a tutorial or anything for this bundle of sticks (that I know of) but I think it is adorable. I lurve it. But I also love pretty much everything about this photo.

Shortly after the bundle of sticks idea (very technical term, I know) I came across this Starburst Twig Wreath from The Painted Hive. Such a fun idea for the fall. Good thing I've already got some twine in my stash.

And then today, what popped up in my greader? This amazing Spooky Tree from Delia Creates. Seriously, how awesome is this? I can't wait for Halloween!!

So now that I have some free ideas up my sleeve, I just need to go collect some twigs in the wooded area down from my complex. That might take longer than expected, though. The last time we walked near there we discovered the domicile of a vagrant and now I'm too freaked out to go by myself and my hubby is busy studying for his first ever medical school exam... maybe over the weekend? :)