My Go-To Pumpkin Decor

I love fall.
Winter is too cold which means my knee hurts all the time.
Spring allergies have me scratching my eyes out.
Summer gets too hot and mosquitoes treat me like a buffet.
Fall, better yet, Autumn is my favorite season.

That being said it probably comes as no surprise that I have an over abundance of autumnal decor.
I don't want to overwhelm you with all the cool stuff I have around right now, so I'll share just one of my favorites.

Toilet Paper Pumpkins.

That's right. You heard me. (Well, not technically since you're reading this...) You read me!

Here's what you need:
Toilet paper
A square of fabric roughly 14x14
A scrap of green fabric (mine are 2"x3.5")
Something brown (a scrap of a brown paper bag, a toilet paper roll, brown cardstock...)

Place the fabric right side down
Put the tp on the fabric

Pull a corner of the fabric up and tuck it into the tp roll.
(Here is where I stop and think, "Maybe I should have done this on the table so my legs and adorable socks wouldn't be making a cameo in these pictures.)

Repeat with all the corners
Tuck extra fabric until you think it looks pretty

Center your green scrap over the top and tuck it in part way, these are your leaves

Roll up your small piece of brown whatever and place it in the top as your stem

My favorite part of this project is the amount of space I need to store it when the season is over. I put the TP back in the linen closet and I am left with a few scraps of fabric and paper. Woo Hoo!

I like that I get to use those irresistible fall fabrics without having to sew anything!
This same idea can be used for apples in September, snowmen in January, don't get me started on Paper towels!

I hope you love this idea as much as I do!

Spring Wreath

 Some friends and I were totally inspired when we saw this wreath on The Magic of Ordinary Things.

We had already taken care of St. Patty's day decor so we decided to use this idea for a new spring wreath. 

I had no idea how much fabric it would take so I went to see TMJ. We dove into her endless stash of scrap fabric and got a couple yards out just to be safe. 

Using my rotary cutter I cut strips that were roughly 3" by 1". I got bored so I only cut one yard of fabric. Using a metal hanger we made a circle shape and I set out to tie knots around the hanger. 

During this process I learned a couple of things. 

1. It's okay if your strips aren't all exactly the same; in fact it's good.

2. The next time I did this I cut the strips a little longer and a little thinner. Roughly 4" by 3/4." Next time I will cut them even thinner. 

3. A small wreath only took about 3/4 of a yard. 

I had used all red fabric on our practice wreath. So when I was done I jokingly bent it in the middle. I wanted TMJ to know how much I <3 her.

So, armed with this new knowledge I headed off to the fabric store. I found a really cute piece of scrapbook paper that felt very springy to me. I used it as my color inspiration. I got five fabrics.

I sat down in front of the TV that night and cut all five into strips. I divided them as best I could into five different bags. Then, the girls came over and we started tying.

Here's my wreath at the end of tying. I didn't like how big the circle was so I waited for inspiration to strike. 

Andrea and TMJ with their works-in-progress.

The always brilliant, Michelle, with her Easter Egg wreath. Now I feel inspired.

Michelle and I tied some of our strips together and then tied them to the wreath to create stripes. Can you believe that four women started out with the exact same materials and ended up with four completely different creations?!

I'll make sure to post a picture once it goes on the door!

Last Minute Decor

So, last month I tried my hand at a project I saw on Thrifty Decorating. I failed at it. I really need Nikki to come sit with me or something while I do it. At any rate, it involved cutting a piece of foam board into a rectangular frame shape. So I had this foam board sitting around and a big, empty space on my wall. We've invited people over for a little party on Saturday and I really wanted to have something up. Out of desperation I took some scrap fabric that I love, my trusty mod podge, and my foam board. Here the result:

My supplies:

I cut the fabric into random sizes and mod podged it on to the board. I would recommend going around the edges first and then covering the rest to create a random pattern. I would also warn that the mod podge you put under the fabric is more important that the mod podge on top. The under layer acts as the glue and will keep the raw edges down.

Mid-way through:

Drying:

Ta-Da!

This project was essentially free because I already owned all the supplies. It only took an hour and that it because I was on the phone the whole time I worked on it!

Since it's St. Patrick's Day I'd like to leave you with an Irish Blessing:

May your blessings outnumber the shamrocks that grow,

and my trouble avoid you wherever you go. 

I'm linking up to Thrifty Decorating's linky party Thrifty Thursday.