Monday, November 22, 2010

Getting our Attitude of Gratitude on


Hello friends!  Here in the US preparations are happening for Thanksgiving.  On a personal note, how on earth is it November 22nd, 2010 already?!!??  Anyway, I digress.  Before we pull down the boxes of Christmas decorations and I get all excited about my vintage glass ball ornament collection, I wanted to share a couple fun fall projects. 

First up is this pumpkin floral arrangement.  Inspired by piles of gorgeous pumpkins from my aunt and uncle's field, I set about to create an arrangement not only for our family table but in a form that I could teach to my daughters' 4-H arts and crafts group.  Sooooo yesterday we spent an hour pumpkin scooping, arranging and adorning these pumpkins with 11 of our closest 4-H friends. 

Here are my homegrown floral designers!  Ranging in ages from 5-15 yesterday, all 13 girls went home with gorgeous silk flower arrangements. (Although this arrangement can be done with real flowers, silk flowers with their wire stems are alot easier to handle!)  So proud of all the girls yesterday!
Next up is a simple gift....these would be great as a hostess gift, or in this case, I made a bag of these decorated mini jar candles (pumpkin spice...my fave scent of the season!) for a birthday gathering I attended with my aunt, cousin and friends.

I used the Autumn Leaves cut file by Kelleigh Ratzlaff.  Using her file + Cricut + SCAL I was able to cut several of the same leaf on my 6x12 inch sheet of paper.  I used Scotch Quick dry adhesive to quickly outline half of the leaves and then poured on the Martha Stewert glitter in Brownstone.
The other half of the leaves got the wire treatment!  I wanted my leaves to have a wire stem so I could use them like a floral pick from the craft store.  To do this is as simple as liquid glue + craft wire sandwiched between 2 leaf layers.

Each leaf wire was threaded with a jingle bell and a single ribbon bow.  I then curled the wire inside the jar candle and held it in place by closing the jar lid down over the wire stem to hold my leaf in place.  Simple!  I also like adding a circle punched and stamped image to the top of the jar candle.

One more note on gratitude.....I am grateful for these two and all they accomplished......
Traci and Jaycee made an excellent team on saturday!  Here's my girl  finishing her first 5K race!...
You go girl!  Your mama is sooooo proud of you!

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6 comments:

Kathryn B said...

Love your center pieces you made they look fantastic! Your 4-H group is lucky to have such a crafty teacher! LOL! Looks like your daughter did a fine job on her first 5k race! Way to Go!!!!

Traci Van Patten said...

Jaycee was amazing at the race! She's an athlete, and there's not a single bit of complaining... either time we ran together. I couldn't have been happier! But, as seen in the last picture, Z doesn't sprint ;) Well, maybe she would IF she could.

Karen said...

Looks like the perfect harvest accent! And very cool to create & teach it with a bunch of 4-H girls! :>

And your girl!!!! I'm smiling for her AND you!! And I think I can see you beaming from up here, proud Mama. You most definitely are raising them so wonderfully!!

Kelleigh @ Kelleigh Ratzlaff Designs said...

Gorgeous centerpieces, and I LOVE what you did with my cutting file!! {squeal!!}

Congrats to your daughter! What an awesome accomplishment!!

Elise said...

SOOOOOOOO much to drool, applaud and SHOUT about in this celebratory post! Yeah, GIRRRRRLS! Way to go lil' miss and AMAZING "Z"! {What a terrific team!} YOUR guys - YEAHOOOOO! Such a great accomplishment and SO much inspiration: thanks, girls!

Meanwhile, we are ALSO lovin' that great centerpiece and plan to share ours with Nanny, for TG! Cannot wait to hear the oooows & ahhhhhs! You are ONE terrific project leader, in addition to your intoxicating craft skills! You are the gifter with the MOST glitter and kindest thoughts! I love it ALL, baby! Yee Haw!

Robbie said...

Congratulations on your daughter's first 5k!! Great accomplishment! Do you run, too? I'm a runner/stamper. Love all your projects. You do beautiful work!