Pumpkin Couture!

 everyone is thinking about Halloween costumes,  

so let's have a little fashion show!

Sweet Sweater Pumpkins on the runway, if you will, 

to show you some ways that you can embellish my pumpkins with some couture costumes...

above, a nubbly sweater pumpkin is embellished with

a mask made from vintage sheet music and a black paper witch hat.

 this tiny little pumpkin is topped with a royal vintage crown that holds a birthday candle! 

the white milk glass shoe was Cinderella's, naturally...

this one is a Princess Pumpkin,  using a rhinestone hoop earring as a crown.

the lace collar on this mini pumpkin is a tiny little doily with a hole in the center.  

i slipped the doily over the stem before wrapping it with the twine.

 the pretty lace collar on this pumpkin is actually a necklace!

i made it from vintage trims, a rhinestone pin, and an old crystal from a chandelier

 and finally, you can really glam it up with a fascinator!

how have you embellished your pumpkins this year?

and you can always purchase my Sweater Pumpkin Tutorial HERE
to make your OWN versions of my pumpkins!

shared online:

Fabulously Creative Friday | Jennifer Rizzo's blog

Inspired by Charm likes Sweet Sweater Pumpkins!

 in the last few weeks of september, i was on a pumpkin-making mission

(i called it pumpkingeddon!) to prepare products for a huge corporate order.

but it was very 'hush-hush' and i couldn't share what it was for.

so i cut and stuffed and tied and tagged a few hundred pumpkins

and bagged them up in sets of three, one from each color palette (Light, Bright, and Neutral)

it was a special package created just for this company...

loaded them into boxes

and then shipped them off to chicago on a wing and a prayer.

from the corporate office, they would be re-boxed individually 

and sent off to customers who had ordered a 'grab bag' sort of offering.

yes, sight unseen!

i was finally given permission to share the news today:

my Original Sweet Sweater Pumpkins are featured

in Michael J. Wurm's 'Inspired by Charm' October offering for 

LOST CRATES !

Michael and i 'met' when we were both contributing writers for FOLK Magazine

[not in person, just in lots of word-y posts, comments, and emails]

and he has been very generous in sharing word of HOMEWARDfound with his fans.

[the man has over TWO MILLION Twitter and Pinterest followers!]

he's a 'style spotter' for Better Homes and Gardens Magazine,

 a contributor to home decor and design websites and resources, 

one of his bffs is Kim Myles (yes, the DesignStar winner!),

so he's truly a design STAR himself...

and I am so honored that he chose my product for his Lost Crate offering. 

Thank you, Michael at Inspired by Charm!

Thank you to Jack at Lost Crates!

VIP Pumpkins!

look what you can do with my sweater pumpkin tutorial!!!

if you'd like to make your own versions of my original Sweet Sweater Pumpkins,

you can get the tutorial here 

this is Big Bear (been in the family for decades, and is very, very well-loved)

holding some VIP (Very Impressive Pumpkins) that i recently made 

for some VIP (Very Important Precious ones) kids in my life...

when i came across some very elusive sweaters with orange stripes, 

i knew i just had to make these with them.

my nephew, nieces, and grandsons will be the happy recipients of these fall treats.

over the years, i have seen so many different and creative versions made using my tutorial...

please share your photos on the HOMEWARDfound facebook page

or leave a link in your comment here so we can all see what you've made!

Pumpkins, Remnants, and A Beautiful Mess

I am so very pleased to announce that my Original Sweet Sweater Pumpkins

are being sold by Kymberley Fraser in her beautiful retail shop, A Beautiful Mess!

Located in Agoura Hills, California, 

this 2-year old retail boutique is a mecca for stylish shoppers

including celebrities, designers, and media decorators.
It's just undergone a refresh for the season, and is loaded with fall bounty!

Kymberley will ALSO have a full harvest of my pumpkins in her always STUNNING booth

at the Remnants of the Past Antique Show in San Luis Obispo, CA in October! 

This show is produced by my friend Judy Watkins, 

and has been featured in many magazines and publications (recently in 'Where Women Create').

Rachel Ashwell named it one of her Top Five Shows to attend, 

and it is host to the very best dealers of antique, vintage, and artisan goods on the West coast.

That's a photo of Kymberley's booth from the June show... see what I mean?

Such inspiring presentation and stylish goods.

[I can't WAIT to see what she has planned for the fall show!]

I am honored that she wants to include my pumpkins in her lovely setting,

and I'll be heading up there with a van FULL of them for her!

I've also volunteered to be her slave during setup for the show, 

and will be in her booth for the event on Friday night and Saturday. (not Sunday, though).

I am looking forward to being at this absolutely wonderful show once again...

A Beautiful Mess

28875 W. Agoura Road Agoura Hills, CA

www.aBeautifulMessAntiques.com

Remnants of the Past Antique Show

October 19 - 21 2012

Alex Madonna Expo Center

San Luis Obispo, California

www.RemnantsofthePast.com

 booth photo courtesy of 'A Beautiful Mess' by Kymberly Fraser

bountiful pumpkin harvest!

many of you have ordered a set of the Original Sweet Sweater Pumpkins from me(thank you thank you thank you!)

and now you might be wondering... "ok.... now what do i DO with 'em?"

here's a quick rundown of ideas for displaying Sweet Sweater Pumpkins, 

with photos from some of the displays i've created over the years in my home and at shows....

As shown in the top photo:

1. pop a glass dome over them!

place a selection of pumpkins on a silver charger, china plate, or glass cake stand,

and as my friend Sue Kirby says, "DOME IT, DARN IT!"

it's a great way to create a simple centerpiece that is easy to move

 2. heap them into an urn!

 this is a simple metal garden urn that i PAINTED to look rusty, crusty, and aged.

it sets off the softness of the pumpkins perfectly.

grand as a dining table centerpiece, on a counter, or on an entryway table.

 3. mix them with natural elements and glassware

this photo shows a glass footed bowl, filled with pumpkins of several types,

bleached leaves, a bird nest, and some dried roses.

there's a lot of texture here to keep it interesting... rough, smooth, natural, man-made.

this is on a sideboard, but it would also work in an entryway on a table or shelf.

 4. go simple: lay a few on a white ironstone tray, or a wood bread board

perfect for display on a tabletop or shelf.

this is the photo that appeared in FOLK Magazine's fall 2011 issue.

 5. mix and match

pumpkins made from several different materials (sweaters, clay, resin) 

are placed together in a small vignette atop a sideboard.

 7. spill them out of harvest baskets

this works great on a porch, a sideboard, a large counter space, or in a retail display.

real fall leaves create a soft bed for them to sit on.

 7. go for the gold!

gather baskets, containers, candleticks, and pedestals... and paint them GOLD.

heap baskets full of pumpkins, lift a pumpkin up on a candlestick,

and bring a bountiful harvest to your table or display.

the photo below is a close-up of the shot above,

and hones in on some of the details of the display:

lace doilies under some of the pumpkins and vintage sheet music tucked into baskets as a liner, 

and the different levels that the pumpkins are displayed on. 

so those are a few of my ideas... not all of them, tho ;0) more to come.

 i ALSO have some posts coming up that show how you can 

ADD details to your pumpkins to personalize them! stay tuned!

All year long, you can use my tutorial, to make some of your own: CLICK HERE

Tutorial: Vintage Sheet Music Fall Leaves!

my last post had a photo of my Sweet Sweater Pumpkins  to announce my giveaway, 

but there was more to the photograph than i used - as you can see above.

i wanted to show the details of the pumpkins and the little crown pin that i found at the flea market

[which fits oh-so-perfectly on the pumpkin]

today, I'm going to focus on another part... the leaves. 

i just had to do something CRAFTY to the setting when I was working on it.

going out and getting real leaves off the tree wasn't working for me

[mostly because the leaves here in SoCal are still green....]

so i decided to make some leaves.

this was a fast project, and is one of my

'Fast, Cheap, & Easy' TM tips that know you love,

so I thought I'd share the how-to with you today!

Supplies:

vintage paper (sheet music, dictionary pages, book pages, sewing patterns)

sharp scissors

a real or fabric leaf (any size or variety) to trace

pencil or pen

thin ruler - metal is best, if possible

a real branch (any kind, any size) with lots of small branches attached

tacky glue or hot glue

a container to hold the real branch

some kind of filler for the container to stabilize the branch

(popcorn kernels, rocks, sand, candy corn, etc.)

1. lay vintage paper flat, and use pen/pencil to trace around the real/fabric leaf.

fit as many on each page as you can, 

and try to place the real leaf in different directions as you go - 

this will keep all of your leaves from having the writing on the paper

going in the same direction.

2. carefully cut out each leaf using scissors.

3. fold each leaf over thin ruler edge, 

creating a sharp crease down the center of every leaf.

4. using the pencil/pen, curl the leaf edges either up or down.

(don't curl them both ways on the same leaf)

this makes the leaves look a little more natural. 

oh, and if a leaf tears while you are doing this?

no worries. real leaves tear and it will just look more realistic ;0)  

5. fill container with filler, then place branch into position.

6. using hot glue or tacky glue, 

place a drop of glue on either side of the center of each leaf - 

but JUST at the BASE of the leaf. 

the glue dots should be the size of the eraser of your pencil.

7. quickly take the leaf and bend it around one of the smaller branches.

hold it there until it sets (just a few seconds)

continue gluing all leaves to the smaller branches.

8. after all leaves have been glued to the branch, and the glue has dried,

go back and GENTLY GENTLY
[is it just me, or does anyone else hear Westley the Farm Boy from 'The Princess Bride' saying that?!]

bend the leaves a bit.  

just 'nudge' them to make their shapes look more individual.

you know me, i love the whole 'pale neutral palette'.

but leaves can be made from any paper at all:

wrapping paper, comic books, old book illustrations, magazine pages...

be creative and if you love color, get some!

what else can you do with paper leaves?

*hang them on monofilament line from a chandelier or curtain rod

so they dance with every little breeze

*sew them into garlands and use to drape windows

*make a 'flower' out of them to adorn a wrapped package or a corsage

*sprinkle them all over a table centerpiece of fall fruits and veggies

and of course...

*use them to enhance a display of Sweet Sweater Pumpkins!

shared online:

Vintage Inspiration Fridays @ Common Ground

Chic & Crafty Party @ the Frugal Girls

Saturday Night Special @ Funky Junk Interiors

Sing a Song of Seasons...

 

Autumn Fires

In the other gardens
And all up the vale,
From the autumn bonfires
See the smoke trail!

Pleasant summer over
And all the summer flowers,
The red fire blazes,
The grey smoke towers.

Sing a song of seasons!
Something bright in all!
Flowers in the summer,
Fires in the fall!

Robert Louis Stevenson

i have always loved this poem.
if allowed, i would add a few of my own lines to the last stanza
and make it appropriate for use all year:

Sing a song of seasons!
Something bright in all:
Flowers in the summer,
Harvest in the fall

Snowflakes in the winter,
Raindrops in the spring...
 Nature offers such delights
that only she can bring.

welcome fall!

FALL is just around the corner!

it's already august, and while we are all enjoying lazy summer days poolside, 

 the stores are putting up Halloween displays and Pinterest is rampant with inspiration for fall decorating! 

(check out my 'september decor: fall harvest' Pinterest board here)

so get ready for a lineup of inspiring FALL content that will help you create some AMAZING fall decor...

no matter what your style is, you'll find ideas to make your OWN!