Follow two DIYers as we decorate, redecorate, design, beautify, demo, install, fix, and remodel the interior and exterior of our second home. We've learned a lot from remodeling our first home and now we are applying this know-how to our second home. Hope you enjoy our site!
Look at our lovely leaves falling! I took this quick video from our window during a chilly afternoon to capture the beauty of Fall, especially in my neighborhood with all the big trees.
During this lovely Fall day I had the kids help gather some acorn tops outside to make a cute Fall/or Winter craft. Felted acorn ornaments!
We painted the tops with a paint brush using some metallic paint. You could also use spray paint but we didn't have gold which is the color I wanted to use originally.
At Michaels I picked up 100% wool roving and used my 40% off coupon. It was just a few dollars.
I also picked up some twine in the floral section of Michaels for a few dollars.
In order to make little balls I tore off little bits of the wool and rolled it into a ball and then dipped it in soapy water and then squeezed out the excess. I let the balls dry over night.
I attached the balls inside the acorn caps using my hot glue gun and I attached the twine the same way. Once they were dry I hung them through a longer piece of twine to display.
They made a cute addition to the mantel I think!
When Thanksgiving is over I think they could make cute toppers for gifts or even look great as Christmas tree ornaments.
I decorated the entryway in very cute Thanksgiving printables. All were free from Everythingetsy. All you need is a printer and card stock.
Give Thanks with a Grateful Heart
Gratitude is the Best Attitude
Keep Calm and Gobble On
Goggle till you Wobble
Family, Count your Blessing, Thanksgiving, Pumpkin Pie, Crisp Air, Crunchy Leaves, Grateful, Traditions, Turkey Dinner, Fall (Subway Art)
I also found some sticks from the yard and hung my old turquoise acorns that I made during an old Pinterest Challenge.
I just have a feeling Thanksgiving will be here in no time. It's time to sit back and watch the beautiful leaves fall and snuggle up with a soft blanket and sip on a warm beverage.
The day after Halloween was a rainy and cold Saturday. I spent the morning putting all of the Halloween decorations away and tidied the house. Then Joe pulled our one box of Thanksgiving decorations down from the attic. Once the few things were out, the mantel still felt bare, so I really felt the urge to make something to hang across the fireplace mirror. I got a cute idea from the website Everythingetsy to craft a Thanksgiving banner.
It was pretty simple to print and cut out the letters "Give Thanks. The brown ribbon came from Michaels and I already had the little clothes pins on hand.
My ceramic white acorns were a nice addition from last year and went well with the white background of the banner.
Now our mantel is pretty festive for Thanksgiving and as an added bonus the younger kids can practice recognizing some letters (and practice showing gratitude.)
Well Halloween soared in on bat wings and then quickly went. I think it's time I shared some of our October/Halloween happenings here at the Peahed Pad. One of the highlights of the month was when the grandparents came to visit from Hawaii. They took us to stay in Blowing Rock, NC where we got to visit Tweetsie Railroad. My Frankenstein is pretty cute but look at that Mummy! Yikes!
A group photo was definitely in order when we spotted this 5 monster wooden sign.
We threw a fun Halloween party near the end of the month. The mummy cupcakes turned out so cute. And then they reminded me of Rockwell's Song "I always feel like somebody's watching me."
I wish I got a shot of my sugar cookies when they were fully decorated, but I did manage to take some after the first layer of frosting!
Our family did a Halloween family theme as the Avengers. I was Lady Sif, Joe was Thor and the kids were Captain America, Iron Man, and Spider Man. For details on the costumes see below.
Another picture I should have taken during a different time! This pizza was awesome as an eye-ball. My neighbor Jodie brings two eye ball pizzas every year. They are always a hit.
Our drink this year was "Zombie Blood." It consisted of equal parts cranberry juice, pineapple juice, 7-Up and Coconut Rum. It was very good!
Another drink that turned out yummy was the slow cooker pumpkin latte. You can find the recipe here.
A half eaten pumpkin cookie by my little Iron Man. :)
I was able to snap a pic of the mantel this Halloween. The owl lights were new from last year's Halloween sales. The disco ball is always fun so we left that up from Emmeline's birthday party.
I snatched up this scary Orc from The Goodwill for $20 bones about three years ago. It has become part of the family.
As promised here are the details of my Lady Sif costume.
My headpiece was hand crafted from a piece of white and red foam from Michaels. Joe used an exacto knife and a compass to get the sides even. I hot glued a piece of elastic to hold it in place. I used 3 yards of red velour fabric for the cape and safety pinned it to a white fur wrap I found on Ebay. For my outfit, I bought a red leather corset and skirt combo on ebay for around $15. I used light gray costume fabric to sew the pieces on the skirt and corset. The belt was made using a piece of cardboard wrapped in the red vinyl I used for the arm peices. White hem tape was used for the two belt pieces. I found black leather cording for an additional belt with antique Czechoslovakiann beads I also found on Ebay for $10. The boots were an ebay find for $35. Not pictured is my sword I found on Ebay.
Breakdown for my Lady Sif costume:
Headpiece $1
Red Corset and Skirt - $15
White costume fabric $5
Red Velour Fabric 6 yards $30 (3 yards used for Thor's costume)
Red Vinyl 3/4 yard - $10
White Fur Wrap $10
Leather cording $3
Beads $10
Boots $35
Sword $35.
Total - $144.
For Joe's Thor costume I sewed the cape from the same cut of Velour Fabric. He cut out 6 circles of varying sizes and taped them to a basic black shirt. His wig and Thor mask came from a costume shop. His hammer was constructed from a foam block and stick we had on hand. He painted it with gray paint and some oil rubbed bronze spray paint speckled on top. His costume cost about $40 to assemble.
Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween! Now we have to start planning for next year!