Make My Original Sweet Sweater Pumpkins + Succulents!

every autumn, i get a huge uptick in blog traffic
searching for my Original Sweet Sweater Pumpkin tutorial.

they're a fun bit of seasonal decor that i am proud of creating back in 2007,
they've been published in major shelter magazines a few times,
and i love that people want to make their own versions of my babies!

every year i make new versions of them, and create a new post

just to make it easier for the tutorial to be found.

and yes, this year, i have green pumpkins!

but i didn't make them this year... i RE-made them.

because they weren't originally pumpkins...

back in 2019, i created my Original Sweet Sweater Succulents,

using my 2007 Original Sweet Sweater Pumpkin method...

this year, i've made two simple changes to them
to turn them into pumpkins!

continue reading to see how easy this was...
and for links to both tutorials. 

Published! Farmhouse Style Magazine Fall Issue

after a prolonged summer break, i'm back to share some happy news:

a new version of my original 'glass globe pumpkins' has been published!

you'll find the new versions above in the Fall 2024 Issue

of Country Sampler's Farmhouse Style Magazine

continue reading for a peek at the magazine
and an easy tutorial for making your own versions...

NEW! 'Sweet Sweater Nest' for Spring

springtime is time for a NEW 'Sweet Sweater' Original creation!

 i've created various versions of nests over the years

from all different kinds of material (posts linked below) - 

this year, i hatched an idea for one made from sweater scraps!

(does that surprise anyone at all? i bet not!)

i love the more natural, rustic look that resulted from my new method,

and have created a tutorial to help you get the same results...

...continue reading for my 'Sweet Sweater Nest' tutorial

welcome, winter...

my personal word for this next year is light 

along with the many meanings that word encompasses.

 i often hear people talk about how dark winters are -

yet after we remove the holiday decor, our homes feel lighter. cleaner.
(and yes, some say emptier.) 

but do we really want to fill them up again with a lot of stuff? 
why not welcome the new year with the lightness of a refreshed home?

i'm embracing the aesthetic of lightness and simplicity this year,

as well as a renewed focus on the beauty of nature in every season.

that's going to affect the way i approach my own home decor

and by extension the content i share here to inspire you.

as i plan and create new projects for the upcoming season,
i'm asking myself questions about how i want my home to feel,
how i want to feel IN my home, and how i can inspire you
to create a home you love to live in.

continue reading to see where i'm heading...

a NEW LOOK for my Original Sweet Sweater Pumpkins!

september is here, and you know what THAT means...
it's time for sweater weather AND sweater pumpkins!!!

i've been making + selling my Original Sweet Sweater Pumpkins TM since 2007,

and while i haven't sold any since i had my little hwf shop in 2017,

i occasionally still make new versions!

in 2021 i made a batch of new yellow 'sweeties' for myself, 

and this year after creating a huge new multicolor batch for my daughter Bethany,

i've made a revision to the way i finish them...

continue reading for a quick addition to my original tutorial...

NEW: beach towel pumpkins!

as August comes to a close in the weirdest way possible

(a hurricane in Southern California? AND an earthquake? okay....)

i am still stretching 'summer' to the very last moment

with this new original pumpkin design...

dare i say 'it's time for beach blanket bingo'??!!

i've noodled the idea of creating pumpkins using colorful beach towels for awhile... 

first i tried to make them the same way i do my famous sweater pumpkins

but towels just don't *squish* like sweaters do - even thin ones.

 i tried a kind of 'gathered' approach - nope. still too bulky.

then one day i was scrolling Instagram,

and right there in front of me was a fantastical, incredible, creative,

 ORIGINAL and colorful new form of art that just blew my mind -

AND solved my pumpkin problem!

continue reading to see what i saw, and how i translated that into pumpkins!

fall favorites: ALL of the pumpkins!

well, here we are in August already...
a month that i always think of as 'summer's golden hour'.
and fall is just around the corner. 
i LOVE summertime and am always sad to see the season go,
and usually i keep creating + sharing 'summer' content this month...

but i know everyone out there is ready for fall and all that comes with it.
and that means PUMPKINS!!!!

have you heard the voice clip on Instagram that goes 
"Do *I* like pumpkins??? Yeah. Yeah, I like pumpkins!!!!"
not only does it describe me, but the voice actually SOUNDS like me!
(it isn't me, but it's a bit eerie hearing it all over social media every fall!)
so yeah, i like pumpkins. i've collected them all of my life,
and i REALLY i like making pumpkins
out of just about any element + material i can find...

from painted tin cans to silvery trays, rusty metal junk, and copper kitchen scrubbies
to sweaters and yarn and lace and macrame' and even balloons,
from faux painted concrete, terra cotta, kintsugi, and Pyrex + china patterns,
to ping pong paddles, plant pots, wire waste baskets, picture frames, books, and paper,
i've made DOZENS of pumpkins over the past three decades...
and i'm sharing a link to ALLLLL of them!

click to see every pumpkin i've ever created!

i hope these projects inspire you to try a few new DIY pumpkin projects this fall!

diy pumpkins,pumpkins,fall,DIY,diy decorating,up-cycling,re-purposing,painting,home decor,colorful home,original designs,trash to treasure,tutorial,fall home decor,fall decorating,fall decor,pumpkin decor,pumpkin decorating,Sweet Sweater Pumpkins,glass globe pumpkins,Original Sweet Sweater Pumpkins,fall pumpkins.

published in Farmhouse Style Magazine!

my friends, i'm absolutely THRILLED to finally be able to share this news
that i've been keeping a secret for several months now...

my original design of a salvaged galvanized bucket fountain

has been published! 

it appears on page 86 in the new Summer 2023 issue of

Country Sampler's Farmhouse Style magazine

available on news stands now!

if you're visiting my blog via the magazine, welcome!

for those of you who have been reading homeward found for awhile,

you'll remember seeing this project in one of my all-time top posts.

my homeward found decor projects are all about using what i have on hand,

and coming up with new ways to use everyday items
as i create 'home decor that's not from a store'.

continue reading to see the details of my fountain project -

and others with farmhouse flair!

NEW! sweet sweater 'gingerbread' cakes!

deb used to bake. uh huh. but now if deb bakes, deb eats.
getting older with a slowing metabolism sucks!
so now my approach to 'holiday treats' takes a different form...

i just make sweet things out of other things... like SWEATERS!

for the finishing touch on my Gingerbread Holiday theme this year,
i've created two all-new Sweet SweaterTM originals to inspire you:

an oh-so-trendy 'tall cake' and a lil' mini 'cake buddy'
all trimmed out with gingerbread houses, men, candy canes, snowflakes,
and some 'frosting' that couldn't be easier!

continue reading to see how these sweet treats came together - 
without a calorie in sight ;) 

the daffodil queen

it's my birthday week ;) 

and if there's ever a day that a girl deserves to wear a crown,
it's on her birthday / week / month. no matter her age!

a tiny wire crown (that i made over a decade ago)
has been embellished with tiny faux daffodils... my favorite flower...
and though i am not nor have ever been a bona fide 'daffodil queen',

i think maybe for today, i shall proclaim myself one!

continue reading for the simple transformation...

miniature wire nest charm

a search through some boxes unearthed a relic from my past
that's been in hiding for years...
when i saw it, i was inspired to make a larger nest using wire,
and i love how that turned out.

these miniature wire nest charms were an item i previously made and sold at vintage shows,
and this one is the original!
you can make one of your own, or as the perfect springtime gift!

continue reading for an easy tutorial...

spring forward with a wire nest

let's spring forward! (pun intended - sorry, i couldn't resist!)

 
recently, i played with a new material to see if it would work as well as i thought it would
to create a new kind of bird nest for spring decorating.
(the fact that it literally LOOKS like a spring evaded me until i was typing this post!)
i have to say, i LOVE the result! 

 can't you just see this nest as a decor accent in rustic, farmhouse, and boho style rooms?!
it's an easy project that i think you'll want to try...

continue reading for my easy tutorial!

sweater + pool noodle faux cacti tutorial

the inspiration for these fun and funky faux cacti

began last fall with the design and creation of my Original Sweet Sweater Succulents.

when i recently decided to create new decor with a boho modern vibe, 

succulents were definitely a big part of the design... faux succulents, that is.

so i came up with yet another way to use my bottomless supply of sweater remnants:

pair a sweater sleeve with a simple pool noodle, and you've got taller cacti!

i used the new version in this basket under the side table in the recent guest room makeover,

paired with some of the previous versions (made like my Original Sweet Sweater Pumpkins!).

this is a really 'fast, cheap & easy' craft project to complete using scraps -

continue reading for a simple tutorial to help you make your own...

NEW! Sweet Sweater Pops!

so a funny thing happened while i was creating my last blog post...

i was typing in additional ideas for accessories that one might use

on one's own versions of my Sweet Sweater Sandbabies.

things like ball caps popped into my mind. and THAT led me down a rabbit hole...

it went something like this:

"yeah! ball caps! ball caps?! baseball! hot dogs! beer! popcorn! 

POPCORN??!! waaaaaiiiiiiiit a minute... i have...."

at which point i ran out of my studio to the garage, to the party supply bins,

where i found the paper and plastic popcorn containers i knew were in there.

i returned to my studio and dragged out the box with sweater remnants,

and there was a bag filled with wonky fuzzy yarn that is the color of UNbuttered popcorn.

my crazy brain puts two and two together and the result is those guys up above:
Sweet Sweater Pops!

Red, White, and Blue PATRIOTIC Pops.

and then the ideas REALLY started poppin'... continue reading to see!

seed packet-inspired decor

spring is here, and things are starting to bloom!

looking for a fresh addition to our spring decor after removing the Easter eggs,
i found inspiration in one of my own past projects...

about seven years ago, i shared a project here on the blog that i called 'Posie Pails'.

basically, i combined a colorful floral seed packet, some twine, and a recycled tin can

and the result was garden-theme decor accents on the cheap:

well, i just figured out how to make an even cheaper 'quarantine crafts' version of them:

because it isn't essential to leave the house for craft supplies,
 i found a way to use floral images clipped from magazines to create my OWN 'seed packets'!
.

continue reading to see how i turned actual trash into a springtime treasure....

NEW! Sweet Sweater Bunny Tails!

just when you thought i had made everything possible with upcycled sweaters...
introducing the springtime creation that has evaded me for years:
Sweet Sweater Bunny Tails! 

this happy spring project made use of some sweater remnants found in a bin in the garage -
including a pink sweater Santa hat!
using the same method as my famous Sweet Sweater Pumpkins, it all came together fast.
i actually spent more time snapping photos and editing them than making the bunny tails!

continue reading to see just how quickly you can make these for Easter...

paint chip easter eggs - over easy!

if you've been around here any length of time, 

you know that i like my decorating projects 'fast, cheap, & easy'TM. my trademark phrase.

in this case, the project is 'over easy'! 

yeah, it's a pun, but it's also true - because this is a super-fast craft idea for spring & Easter.

.

continue reading for the easy how-to and how i've used them...

greenhouse from salvaged windows

 going through an old journal, i stumbled across these photos... from 1995.

(that's so long ago that i used an old-school film-loaded camera and had them printed!)

they show a very sweet birthday surprise that my late husband created for me:
a small backyard greenhouse, made from vintage windows.

he covertly collected vintage windows and a door (free off of Craigslist!)

then built the frame and inserted the windows to make this charming little place for me...

it was one of the nicest birthday gifts he ever gave me.

(i just wish i had been a better photographer back then!)

continue reading for more photos, and details about how he built it...

L.O.V.E. letter... tiles

way back in 2009, i had a wild idea to make a supersized version of wood Scrabble tiles.
i made them - a LOT of them, actually - and sold them (a LOT of them!) for several years.
at that point, no one else was making them or sharing them online.
a few years later, in 2013, i shared them here on the homewardFOUND blog.

since this is the season for putting our hearts on our sleeves, (or, erm, walls?!)
i thought i'd share my super easy tutorial again!

continue reading for a very easy DIY project that you're sure to L.O.V.E.!

nativitiki - times two!

my thinking is: if you're going to do a Christmas theme, do it all the way.
the TIKI tree in my last post was just the beginning of our 'happy HULA days' theme...

i also created TWO incredibly cute nativity scenes with a tiki vibe.

(oh, and that name? well, as i was painting them, 

i thought to myself 'a tiki nativity. wait! nativi-tiki!' ... and it stuck!) 

i laugh out loud every time i look at this nativiTIKI in our living room! it's so happy!

grab a handful of macadamia nuts and continue reading to see all the tropical details...