ANYTHING GOES THURSDAY: Chalkboard Pumpkin How To

I know, I know, I've been completely MIA lately and I am sooooo sorry!  We're finally moving into our new house next week and the last minute details have been taking up all of my time.  But with Halloween just a few days away, I wanted to share a quick and easy DIY project that your kids will love - chalkboard pumpkins!

Gabrielle and Alaina had a blast picking out pumpkins at the pumpkin patch:

And they loved decorating them.  Until..... they were decorated.  Then they wanted to decorate another one but the last thing I wanted to do was buy an endless supply of pumpkins.  And then I remembered seeing chalkboard pumpkins on Pinterest (where else?) and I decided to give it a go.

The process was super simple.  I bought a can of Krylon Chalkboard Spray Paint for $4 (you could also use the kind you brush on):

Then I taped off the stems of two pumpkins (you could spray paint them, too, if you want), laid them on some plastic:

And got to spraying.  After two coats, they looked like this:

I let them dry overnight and surprised the girls with them the next day after school.  They were so excited!

And can't get enough of re-decorating their pumpkins over and over again.

I posted about this project on Facebook last week and one of our readers, Heather, made a great point - be sure to use stick chalk, not chalk pens, or else you'll get "ghosting" and the images won't completely erase.  As you may be able to tell from the pictures above, we used sidewalk chalk on ours since it's what we had on hand.

Hope you liked this little Halloween how-to and I'd love to hear how you decorated your pumpkin this year!  Did you carve it?  Paint it?  Glam it up with glitter?  And for more Halloween crafts and ideas, be sure to check out my Haunted Halloween board on Pinterest!

Linking up here:

TEN THINGS TUESDAY

Here's my round up of a few of my favorite things at this moment.

Cake I'm Loving:  Darla from Bakingdom has blown me away with this rainbow confection, as beautiful inside as it is outside!

Book I'm Loving:  Rules of Civility by Amor Towles.  I read it in 48 hours which is saying something considering I have twin toddlers!

DIY Project I'm Loving:  Kim from A Girl and a Glue Gun used printable vinyl to create this awesome family piece.

Nail Polish I'm Loving:   I think Espresso from OPI is going to be my go-to fall color!

Trainwreck TV I'm Loving:  Bachelor Pad.  I'm embarrassed to admit I'm watching but I just can't stop.  Michelle Money FTW!

Fall Line I'm Loving:  I want one of everything from H&M's new arrivals, but especially these slim plaid pants.

Home Accent I'm Loving:  I'm a sucker for monograms and this adorable pillow from Studio Design Lab must be mine!  With different initials, of course. 

Cute Food I'm Loving:  How cute are these Rice Krispie Treat Birthday Balloons from Hungry Happenings?

Organizing Idea I'm Loving:  I have the worst time keeping our linen closets neat (I'm sure my husband is chuckling right now, asking "Just the linen closets?') so I'm so going to give this idea of using shelf dividers from BHG.com a try.

School Lunch Accessory I'm Loving:  I can't even begin to tell you how great the Sassy Dippin' Dinner Plate Set is!  For $8, you get six pieces - four divided plates and two lids.  The plates have no-slip bottoms  and a separate compartment for dipping sauce (my girls LOVE that!) and best of all - they're dishwasher safe.  This set makes packing Gabrielle and Alaina's lunches a breeze.

Kiddie Craft I'm Loving:  Make-your-own glittery galaxy play dough from Fairy Dust Teaching.  Does that look fab or what?

I would love to hear about the things you're loving right now!  Share the app, movie, book, craft idea, TV show, whatever that's got you giddy in the comments and your picks might be included in next week's TEN ON TUESDAY feature.

Please note that this list is made up of things I actually use, read, watch, try, etc. and truly enjoy.  These opinions are my own and I was not compensated in any way to share them here.

PINSPIRATION SATURDAY: Cool Back-to-School Crafts

Today's Pinteresting picks are all fun projects tied to back-to-school.  

Art Smock Tutorial
My pin from Patterns by Figgy's at Sew, Mama, Sew!

First Day of School Favors

Pin from The Blackberry Vine via Amy Miller Designs

Crayon Wreath

Pin from Mom's Party Cafe via Kerry at A Pop of Pretty

DIY School Hairclips
My pin from A Little Moore

Butterfly Backpack Tutorial

My pin from Taidye Original

Pencil Initial Artwork
Pin from Two Peas in a Bucket via Sarah Lisi

So many cute craft ideas!  I want one of each.

For more school-themed projects and ideas, follow my Back-to-School board on Pinterest, and if you're on Pinterest, post a link to your profile or your user name so I can follow you too!

TEN THINGS TUESDAY

I'm very excited about this new feature on AFOMFT.   There are always so many fun, random things that I want to share with you guys but I never seem to have the right place to do it.  Now I do!

Drink I'm Loving:  Sweet Tea Vodka and Lemonade (aka Alcoholic Arnold Palmer).  I first had this during a girl's trip to New Orleans last year and it's a refreshing drink that's just perfect for summer.  I highly suggest you use Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka if you want to make these at home.

Books I'm Loving:  I've been tearing through books on my iPad Kindle app this summer and some of my favorites so far have been Bossypants by Tina Fey (a must-read for everyone!), Madame Tussaud by Michelle Moran (great historical fiction about the French Revolution) and The Paris Wife by Paula McLean (a fictional account of the life of Ernest Hemingway's first wife).

App I'm Loving:  Speaking of iPads, if you have one you have to try out Zite, a free app that takes your interests and collects relevant articles from around the web to create your own personalized online magazine.  I'm hooked!

Recipe I'm Loving:  Cinnamon Broiled Chicken with Raita from Everyday Food.  I've been making this for a while but it's always a hit and so simple to pull off that it stays on my "love" list.

TV Show I'm Loving:  HGTV's Holmes Inspection.  My husband and I have been fans of Mike Holmes for years (we've seen every episode of Holmes on Homes at least twice) so we never miss his newest series.  Although I have to admit that as new home owners, it always makes me nervous we have hidden water damage somewhere or a faulty foundation!  I wonder if Mike would be up for a trip to Rhode Island to make me feel better?


Website I'm Loving:  Copy Cat Chic is one my favorite reads each day, especially now that I'm on a decorating kick.  Reichel finds less expensive versions of some amazing goodies for your home, like this PBK Boat Bed, which is $1,299:

And this KidKraft Bed, just $149!

Makeup I'm Loving:  Nars Orgasm lip gloss is the world's perfect pink!  It's not a sticky consistency and the color looks natural on everyone.

Kids Toy I'm (or should I say "We're") Loving:  Lately, the girls are obsessed with cars, specifically the ones from Little People.  Our next purchase will definitely be the Little People Racin' Ramps Garage, so they have somewhere to put them all!

Craft Idea I'm Loving:  I can't wait to make some of these stitched leather bracelets from Crafty Nest!

Funny I'm Loving:  This gave me a good giggle.

I'd love to hear about the things you're loving right now!  Share the app, movie, book, craft idea, TV show, whatever that's got you giddy in the comments and your picks might be included in next week's TEN ON TUESDAY feature.

Please note that this list is made up of things I actually use, read, watch, try, etc. and truly enjoy.  These opinions are my own and I was not compensated in any way to share them here.

CRAFTASTIC: More Easy & Inexpensive Father's Day Gift Ideas

Ready for a few more fun and easy Father's Day Gift ideas?  Good, 'cause here are three you're sure to love!

How fun is this Scrabble-tiled photo project from Just Another Day in Paradise? 

Lovely Design has printable templates you can use to transform your child's abstract art into the perfect present for dad:

And grandpa:

You can find the how to for making a DAD photo collage over on Kodak.com.

And don't forget to check out my tutorial for Easy Father's Day Artwork and this post on how to make a Father's Day Fingerprint Key Chain.

We've got more ideas for dad coming your way next week so stay tuned.

Images: Just Another Day in Paradise, Lovely Design & Kodak

CRAFTASTIC: A Simple DIY Father's Day Gift

I've got Dad's Day on the brain this week as you may have noticed from yesterday's post on Easy Father's Day Artwork, and when I spotted this on Pinterest today (have I mentioned I'm totally addicted???), I knew I had to share it.

I know, I know, you're probably wondering what a necklace has to do with Father's Day.  Well, that's actually a DIY finger print pendant, and while a lot of dads probably wouldn't go for sporting it around their necks, it would make a fabulous keychain!   Am I right or am I right?

This is all you'll need to make your own:

Just roll out some oven bake clay and roll your child's finger in it to create the print:

Then bake it, paint it, seal it and attach it to a key ring.  Easy peasy!  

And if you've got more than one child (or want to make one from all of the grand kids for granddad) you could easily include a print from each one.

Talk about a simple, inexpensive and meaningful gift for any pop or grandpop! 

For the full how to, visit Sarah Ortega Photography, and thanks to Jennifer Post for pinning this tutorial.  You can follow me on Pinterest HERE.

Images: Sarah Ortega Photography

CRAFTASTIC: Easy DIY Father's Day Artwork

Psssst!  Father's Day is just a month away.  Have you started thinking about gifts yet?  Yeah, me either.  So I thought I'd share a simple craft project  idea I made last year that was a huge hit with the hubster in case you want to make one too:

I'm sure you've seen similar ideas out there but this is an easy and inexpensive gift that dads and grandfathers will cherish.  Here's how I made mine:

1.  I took a series of pictures of Gabrielle and Alaina holding a blank piece of poster board.  (I knew there was no way to get two one-year-old to sit nicely together holding a letter!)

2.  I picked the four shots I liked best and added the letters and punctuation onto the blank poster board using Photoshop.  If you don't have Photoshop, you can achieve the same effect by using Picnik, which is free.

3.  I printed out the photos, arranged them in a four-windowed frame (I wanted both girls in there twice, hence the exclamation point) and wrapped it up!

My husband loved his gift (and so did my dad who got his own version which is a benefit of using the blank poster board - you can switch up the letters easily) and immediately hung it in his office.  I've decided to do another one this year so eventually we'll have a Dad's Day gallery to look back on.

Here are a few twists on the same idea:

From Brassy Apple

 

Via Brassy Apple

From Giggling Stamper

From Twinkle Toes

From Smashed Peas & Carrots

Stay tuned for more fun DIY Father's Day gift ideas this week and if you have a link to something you made to celebrate dad, be sure to share it in the comments section!