Life: You’ve Got Mail

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…and so do I!  A few weeks ago I joined in on a fun post card swap hosted by the always lovely Jess of Jesstagirl & Her Officer.  When I’m traveling I always look at the fun postcards, but never actually pick one up and send it.  That all changed with this challenge, and it was fun!

I had been traveling in the Orlando area and came home with a nasty cold…that sadly turned into some sort of respiratory infection.  Between the travel and the sickness I hadn’t checked my PO Box in a while, so imagine my surprise when I found this fun little guy from Natalia in DC.   I’ve only been in the DC area once (waaay back in high school) so I’ve been itching to visit again.  However, one of my favorite places was Monticello.  I have photos of the beautiful grounds in my high school scrapbooks…so imagine my delight when I received a fun postcard from there!

Post Card from DC

post card from DC

Thanks Natalia, your post card made my day (especially since it arrived on my birthday…talk about perfect timing!)…and I agree Jefferson really was a Renaissance man.

DIY: Are you ready for some football…straws?

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Today I would like to dedicate some craftiness to one of my all-time favorite fall activities…football!  While I tend to gravitate towards college football, this craft could just as easily apply for the pros.  Regardless of what your favorite tailgate beverage might be, I can assure you it will look much more festive when sipped casually through one of these cuties. 😉

DPPhelmetstraw3
Ready to make some of your very own?

Supplies Needed:

  • Cardstock in your favorite team’s colors
  • Straws, also in your favorite team’s colors
  • Glue or Glue Stick
  • Helmet Punch (or die cuts from your favorite machine, you will need two helmets for each straw)

DPPhelmetstraw9

Instructions:

  1. Punch out your helmets.  For this version of this process I used my Silhouette to quickly cut out my helmets using some cardstock I had left over from another project.   You will need two helmets for each straw you want to make.
  2. Using your glue cover the back of one helmet. I use a glue stick when I want to whip these up really quickly, but choose to use paper glue for the ones I sell in my store).

    3. DPPhelmetstraw10

  3. Carefully layer the second helmet onto the first, taking care to line up the edges all the way around. Make sure you press to seal the pieces together around the straw.DPPhelmetstraw11

    4. DPPhelmetstraw12

  4. Repeat for the remainder of your straws

Wouldn’t these look fun for a sport themed birthday party as well?

DPPhelmetstraw13

Total Cost: $1 and up

See quick, easy…and cute! Will you decorate for your tailgate area this year? Can you guess who my team of choice is based on these colors?

War Eagle!

Like these but have no time to make your own?
Check out my shop and message me about creating a set custom for you!

DIY: Pumpkin Ale Labels

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One last project going on in our household this week is the labeling of my hubby’s home-brewed pumpkin ale.  However these fun labels could look fun over your favorite pumpkin brew or any other fun Halloween beverage.  This could even be fun for other fall festivities or Thanksgiving.

Pumpkin Ale Labels
I printed these out on standard paper and then ran them through my Xyron machine, so these labels won’t stand-up to being iced down.  Then I setup a cut file on my Silhouette (which I’m still learning how to use) and cut them out.  The labels were quickly thrown together, but overall I’m happy with how they turned out.

Don’t have all the fun toys above?  That’s ok too!  You can easily make your own by downloading the printable PDF from below and printing it out onto full sheets of labels and then trimming around them!

Click to Download Printable PDF

Pumpkin Ale Labels

Now that the pumpkin ale labels are finally all attached and ready for a Halloween party this weekend…it’s time to start thinking about fun ideas for the Holiday Ale coming up next!

I hope each of you has a safe & spooky weekend, Happy Halloween Y’all!!

DIY: Halloween Lightpost Decor

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I had almost forgotten about posting this little quick project. Last Halloween my FIL hosted a bit of a Halloween party in his “under renovation” home. The “under renovation” part meant we didn’t even start decorating until a few hours before everything was to start. I learned it’s amazing what you can throw together really quickly…including this fun addition to his street number light post that cost less than $1 to make.

DPP-hallowpost1

Supplies Needed:

DPP-hallowpost3

  • Plastic Table Covering (from your local dollar store)
  • Scissors or Rotary Cutter & Mat
  • Tape (I used painters tape, but scotch would work as well)

Instructions:

  1. Carefully unfold the initial vertical folds of your plastic table covering so that it is still folded vertically. (This will allow you to cut longer strips quicker and more precise).

    2. DPP-hallowpost4

  2. Using your scissors or cutting tool measure over approximately 2 inches and cut up the length of the outside vertical edge of the table covering.

    3. DPP-hallowpost6

  3. Repeat 3 more times so that you have 4 strips.
  4. Carefully open up your strips so that you have one long piece. Hint I keep mine doubled so the color is a bit more pronounced.

Wrapping the Post:

  1. Using your tape attach the bottom of the first strip to the bottom of your post at the angle you wish your strips to run.
  2. Carefully wrap the plastic strips around over the tape and then start carefully wrapping the plastic strip up the length of the post. Make sure to keep the strips pulled just tightly enough to keep it in place.
  3. When you reach the top, use an additional piece of tape to hold it in place. Don’t worry about the tape showing since the bow will cover it up.

Creating & Attaching the Bows:

    DPP-hallowpost10

  1. Take the second strip (again I always use a double layer of the table cover) and hold it in your hand about 6 inches from the end.
  2. Make a loop folding it to meet your fingers in the center.
  3. Repeat on the opposite side. Repeat steps 2 & 3 until you have approximately 7 inches of the strip leftover.
  4. Loop the leftover strip around the center and tie the two ends together.
  5. Pull your loops to make them all uniform in length (it’s ok if it looks a bit flat at this point)
  6. Carefully open up the loops of the bow, pulling apart the two sections to “fluff” up the bow.
  7. Repeat using remaining 2 sets of table covering strips.
  8. Using the 6 inch trailers tie the bows around the top of the light post. By tying them all side by side it the bow will go completely around the top of the post and give a much fuller look.
  9. Either trim the trailers to have pointed ends, or tuck them inside the bows so that they don’t show.

The great thing about this project is I still had about 1/2 of my table covering left…which was a perfect size to either cover the long island in his kitchen (or make a Halloween wreath?). Also, since it’s made from plastic it wasn’t an issue when it started raining a few moments later!

DPP-hallowpost2

Total Cost: $1

You could also use this same approach using any of the plastic table covers found at your local dollar store…I’m thinking a red and white candy-cane look could be fun for Christmas!

Looking for more Fall or Halloween projects? Check out the side bar to the left for a quick listing!

DIY: Batty Cupcake & Food Flags

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Well hello there! I’ve missed you guys while I’ve been toiling away on a huge work project that I wish I was able to share. It ended up being almost 100% DIY and has really tested my abilities to be both crafty, economical, and yet still extremely professional. Now I’m creatively tired. Does that make sense?

So, today lets talk about Halloween and how bats can be cute.
DPPbatstraw17Ready to make some of your very own?

Supplies Needed:

  • Black Paper or Cardstock
  • Glue or Glue Stick
  • Toothpicks
  • Bat Punch (or die cuts from your favorite machine)

DPPbatpicks-1

Instructions:

  1. Punch out your bats. I used a punch I picked up at JoAnn’s with a 50% off coupon. You could also cut them using your favorite die cut machine. You will need two bats for each flag you want to make. (Hint: with this punch I could get roughly 20 individual bats from one 8.5×11 piece of cardstock).DPPbatpicks-2
  2. Using your glue cover the back of one bat. I use a glue stick when I want to whip these up really quickly, but choose to use paper glue for the ones I sell in my store).DPPbatpicks-4
  3. Place your toothpick on the glued bat.

    4. DPPbatpicks-5

  4. Carefully layer the second bat onto the first, taking care to line up the edges all the way around. Make sure you press to seal the pieces together around the toothpick.

    5. DPPbatpicks-6

  5. Repeat & Add to Cupcakes or Other Spooky Snacks

    6. DPPbatstraw15

Want to jazz up your Halloween party a bit more? Repeat this process using straws to use when you serve up your “witches brew”.

DPPbatstraw3

Total Cost: $1 and up

See quick, easy…and cute! How will you decorate for your Halloween festivities this year? And, after you finish a big DIY project do you too find yourself creatively fried?

(Like these but have no time to make your own? Check out my shop for limited quantities available for sale!)


Semi-DIY: Creating Coasters – Part 2

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So yesterday you saw our first re-purposed item coaster attempt, today I”ll show you the latest additions and how they came about.

Back in June, the boy and I celebrated one glorious year of marriage with a fun little trip to Asheville, NC.  We took a couple days off from work, and the hubs planned out the where/when/how and kept it as a surprise destination until the morning we left.  He chose Asheville because 1)I had never been 2) it offered plenty of outdoor activities (which we both enjoy) 3) it offered nice lodging & dining options and 4) being at a high elevation that Atlanta it would be a nice relief from the oppressive heat that has plagued the Atlanta area this summer.

All I can say about reason #4 is HA!   Mother Nature definitely didn’t get that memo, and instead it was a sweltering mess of high temperatures mixed with humidity from the depths of places known for fiery torture.  Any of your familiar with Weddingbee might remember that Mrs. Snow was getting married in Asheville in June…yes, it was the same weekend and she blogged about the crazy weather swing as well.  So, we rearranged several of the things the boy had in his plans so we didn’t melt away in the oppressive heat…and in the midst of wandering around we realized that weekend was also the River District Artists Studio Stroll.

So we drove over and wandered around through several of the studio’s, not really looking for anything in particular.  Then right before turning around to make our way back to the car (and out of the heat) we walked into Michael Hofman’s Studio.  Michael makes beautiful pieces of porcelain pottery using antique lace to make impressions into his pieces.  Some of the lace he uses is centuries old, from things like christening gowns & wedding dresses.  It was quite interesting to meet him, and see part of his process in action.  He was even telling us about someone who brought in their grandmothers wedding dress to use to create their wedding china (incidentally the dress was not harmed in the process).  So we looked around thinking we might pick up a serving platter, but then the boy picked up these small square plates and said “hum? think they could be coasters?”

So, we picked up two of the square tapas plates.  Once home, we again brought out some felt pads from the local dollar store (the thinner of the selection this time) and added one to each corner of the plate.

Instant coasters, that once again provide a useful reminder of our anniversary trip!  Look at the lace details up close…aren’t they stunning?  Those lace details also provide a place for beverage sweat to pool, gotta love it when something is both beautiful and useful. 🙂

Can you tell we tend to purchase only mementos that have an actual use around our house?  We tend to buy art or handmade pieces to commemorate special trips or events…that and I buy magnets (which I still need to figure out what to do with since I’ve picked up magnets from my travels my entire life).  What do you pick up as mementos of special occasions or trips?

Semi-DIY: Creating Coasters – Part 1

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We don’t like coasters.   There…I’ve said it out loud.  That’s not to say that we prefer to place our sweating beverage glasses or bottles directly onto surfaces, I’m just saying  we haven’t found any that we BOTH found aesthetically pleasing.  Then something happened…we stopped shopping for them and instead focused on things we could make into them.  This is the story about how we used these little guys from the local dollar store to solve our coaster dilemmas.

dollar store felt floor protectors

Last year while on a bit of a family vacation with the boy’s family we noticed this fun piece of flattened pottery on a deck side table in the house we were staying in.  It was the perfect size for a couple of glasses and still appealed to both our senses of design.  Interestingly enough we already owned a bowl in a similar pattern from the same pottery studio that the boy uses on his bedside table to store the contents of his pockets each night.  Do you see where I’m going with this?  Yep, we looked around the shops that weekend in search of a plate to use as a coaster on our living room end table. We ended up choosing the small triangular plate from The Good Earth Pottery, their stuff is great in not only is it appealing to the eye, it is also dishwasher and oven safe as well.

Then to keep our fun new find from scratching up our tables we just added one of the little felt pads to each corner.


Instant extra large coaster!  What’s really nice is when I am lazy and fill up a Nalgene bottle with water…it fits on the coaster with no worries as well.  As do ice cream bowls, large coffee mugs…you get the picture. You can see in the next photo how the colors in the plate match our rug, but sadly what you can’t tell is how nice it looks on our end table.

Overall, I’m really pleased with how our initial attempts to use something not originally intended as a coaster worked out.  The benefit we never considered when we initially picked this piece was how any sweat from glasses placed on top would pool in the small groves of the pattern , this means the bottom of the glass stays drier than if the piece were a completely flat surface.  Plus, the coaster also serves as a very useful reminder of our trip to Highlands, NC. 

Come back tomorrow and I’ll show you round 2 of our coaster experiment! 🙂

How have you re-purposed items to create the “thing” that seemed to elude you otherwise?  Was it a success?

Life: Halloween & Etsy

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Well hello there!  I’ve missed you the past week or so…but things have been busy in the Pickled household.  In the midst of everything I finally managed to get the Dill Pickle Picnic Etsy shop open!  Yay!  Right now it’s looking a bit sparse but I’m hoping to fill it up a bit more over the weekend.  So when you have a minute check it and let me know what you think!

It’s finally starting to feel like Fall in Georgia, and it makes me so happy!  I love fall, it means pumpkins, college football, Halloween, and deep colored clothing.  We will once again attend a Halloween party hosted by a family member and since he has me lead the decorating charge I’ve been checking out all the latest Halloween decorations.  And I found these fun little guys…

{image source: PB}

Which reminded me quite a bit of these little guys I whipped up for his party last year:

Check out this post from last year to learn how to whip up your own pumpkin lanterns using a few dollar bin items!

What about you guys?  What are you decorating plans for Halloween?  Any fun, yet cheap suggestions to share?

DIY: Stamped Plant Marker

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This is one of my final “envelope of doom“ projects, but it’s one you could use for many other things.  I’ve been wanting to try my luck at stamping metal objects with my letter punches I picked up a while back with a 50%  off coupon and this gave me the perfect excuse.  I think I still need to work on the pressure I “stamp” or hammer each letter with…but overall I was happy with how it turned out.  Since these items were intended to be gifts, I included this little guy in a SwapBot package (visit this post for more info on swapping).

Project 4 - Stamped Plant MarkersAnd yes, I realize that isn’t Basil.  My basil plant just died so this was my indoor option. 🙂

Supplies Needed:

Project 4 - Stamped Plant Markers

  • Letter Punches, I have the Making Memories Stamping Die Set
  • Metal item to use as plant marker
  • Large piece of floral wire (not pictured)
  • Hammer
  • Solid surface (in my case our sidewalk)
  • Black permanent marker or paint
  • Glue (like E6000) – optional depending on your item

Instructions:

1. Gather your metal item to stamp.  I’m using a metal pendant from my envelope of doom, but metal washers or even flattened spoons also look fun!  Use your imagination.

2. Find a solid surface that won’t scar, but also won’t give when you hammer the letter into the metal.  If you are worried about concrete marring the opposite side of the item and your set didn’t come with the little mat like mine did, you could always put down a thin layer of fabric to protect the item.

3. Measure to determine if your word will fit on the item

4. Start from the top, pick the first letter and align on the item.  Hit with hammer.  (sidebar: I was a bit frustrated with something the afternoon I attempted this project so it was great stress relief to hammer on something…although it might have caused to hit a few letters too hard.

5. Repeat with the letters down the length of the item.  You’ll get the hang of how much pressure you need after a few letters so having a test piece to work on first would be helpful to some.
Project 4 - Stamped Plant Markers

6. Next it’s time to make those stamped letters stand out a bit more.  Using a black permanent marker or paint quickly color in the first letter and then wipe the excess off so that only the groves are painted. Repeat for each of the letters.

Project 4 - Stamped Plant Markers

7. Now it’s time to attach your metal tag to the wire.  If you are using a flattened spoon, you can skip this step since you already have a stake on your tag!  This is also where your version will differ from mine…I had a loop on the top and two pieces on the bottom of each side. So I was able to bend each of these pieces towards the back of my piece.

8. This is also where your version will differ from mine…I had a loop on the top and two pieces on the bottom of each side. So I was able to bend each of these pieces towards the back of my piece.

9. Fold your wire in half and start to attach it to the back of your metal piece.  For a washer open the wire up much like I have below to form an inverted “V” and then glue to the back of the washer.  I was able to feed the wire up through the top loop and then secure it to the back by bending the sides down on top of it.

Project 4 - Stamped Plant Markers

10. Let glue dry, add to plant and enjoy 🙂

Project 4 - Stamped Plant Markers

Do you label your garden plant? We didn’t do such a great job of that this year, but next year I plan to create DIY plant markers.  If you’ve created your own please share your favorite garden marker project links.

PS.  I hope each of you has a wonderful Labor Day Weekend & War Eagle!

Challenge: Craft it Forward Reveal Part 2

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In the last post you saw the fun Craft-it-Forward apron that made it’s way to Lisa (visit this post confused by what Craft-it-Forward is all about).  Today’s post picks up with participant #2’s crafty treat.

Becky is a fun internet friend I “met” while planning our wedding, and she and her mister will tie the knot in a few weeks.  After glancing over Becky’s blog it is apparent she is a fan of  sunflowers…so I decided she needed something with a sunflower on it and intended to make her an apron with a sunflower pin as well.  Until… I was watching Glee one evening and had a fun idea for her based on my girl Emma’s necklace.

(source: Polyvore)

So I decided to attempt to create something similar for Becky, and set off to several local thrift stores in search of the perfect flower.  I found something similar and then posed the following question to her via twitter, “Painted or Gold”…she choose painted and so I painted the gold-tone brooch to be the bright colors of a sunflower.  I then paired the sunflower brooch with three strands of green glass beads to get this:

And finally to help get her started on her own Craft-it-Forward projects I included a little bag of crafty items from my ever growing stash:

I had a blast putting together these two fun Craft-it-Forward packages and I hope they enjoyed receiving them.  Now, tell me…am I the only person obsessed with Emma on Glee?  I wish whoever styles her character would come make-over my wardrobe!  Want your own Emma inspired necklace?  Check back next week for the opening of the Dill Pickle Picnic Shop!!

Oh…and congrats to Becky & her mister as they spend the next few weeks wrapping up their wedding plans and celebrating their marriage!