Easy DIY Pumpkin Vase

FALL IS HERE! Well... officially tomorrow, but in preparation, I headed to the Farmers' Market yesterday to start decorating.

Here's an easy way to use a pumpkin for indoor or outdoor decorating this autumn! AND it fits in the $5 DIY category!!!

You Need:

• a pumpkin
• a plastic cup
• a marker
• cutting/scooper implements for the pumpkin
• flowers!

Cut your plastic cup to the depth of the pumpkin, and then trace the rim of the cup on your pumpkin.

Cut and scoop! Save those seeds to bake and eat. (yummmmm)

Place your cup into the pumpkin, fill with water, and trim flowers down to the correct height...

TA-DA! Ten minute autumnal centerpiece!

DIY $5 Dessert Stand

Hi there! Welcome to the first edition of $5 DIY!
And by "edition", I mean, this project only costs $5, and maybe I'll post more $5 projects at some point. ;]

My most recent project was this easy-peasy three tiered dessert stand:

Supplies for this project are:
Two glass candle sticks (I found mine at the Dollar Tree)
Three glass plates of different sizes ($.99 each at thrift store)
Glass glue (I used E6000 because I already had it from prior crafts)

Make sure you clean your plates and candle sticks well before you start because 1. whatever is on there will be on there forever once they're glued and 2. dust/dirt affects adhesion.

I started by spreading the glue with a toothpick on both the plate and the edge of the candlestick, and gluing the two candle sticks to the tops of of two bigger plates.

I initially tried using a compass and paper and tracing and finding centers and such... but then I just decided to eyeball it. =]

Glue them wide side up so that you have more usable surface area on your stand.

Let dry fully. (Dry time varies by glue.)

Glue them in succession of largest to smallest, allow to dry again, and then serve dessert on your beautiful new tiered dessert stand!

Raindrops on Roses and Foxes on Mason Jars

I’m STILL finding uses for all of those mason jars from our wedding décor. Last weekend, I decided to top some with plastic animals.

My husband’s first response was to question the functionality, but I’m afraid there is none…

They’re just cute.

They function as jars, so you can fill them with your craft supplies, like beads and crayons, or bathrom good, like qtips and bath salts, or with your sewing notions, like pins and buttons, or office supplies, like pushpins and paper clips, or fill them with delicious treats to give to your friends. I’m sure they’ll say, “my, what a cute animal lid!” and not, “what purpose does this animal serve?”

ANYWAY…

Supplies:
Mason jars
Lids that fit your jars- these can be upcycled salsa or pasta sauce or jam lids, or new canning lids.
Figurines for on top- animals, toy cars, action figures, etc
Super glue/gorilla glue/ any glue that bonds both surfaces
Spray paint (I used Rustoleum Painter’s Touch Spray in Jade.)

Instructions seem a bit silly, as this is quite self-explanatory. But I will share my pictures as well as the mistakes I made so that you don’t make them too.

Starting out…

Animals successfully glued to lids.

Tom’s creation- some sort of flying deer hybrid creature.

Painted! This one was more successful than my first attempt, where I sprayed too close and too thick, causing bubbling during drying. Lesson learned: obey the spray paint can instructions.

I’m going to use these for crafty bits and bobs.

Voila! Quick and fun project. =]