DIY flocked acorns

i have a photo of a bunch of green acorns as my screensaver,

and the luscious tones moved me to try and replicate them - in paint.

then i saw a video showing how to make a faux 'flocked' paint finish,

and i just HAD to try it!

continue reading to see how easy this one is...

modern wood bowl mushrooms

yep, i'm stubbornly holding on to the fall season over here!
our triple-digit summer temps didn't drop until Halloween week,
so i am in no rush to hurry autumn along.
(i can actually sit outside now!)

after sourcing a few wood bowls at a local thrift shop,
i wanted to make fall decor from them, and

these incredibly easy mushrooms only took ten minutes to create.
and i love the woodsy vibe they have!

continue reading for a truly simple tutorial...

let's make plate pumpkins!

this project was hatched when i started to throw something away...

and then thought twice about it!

my 'thing' is to embrace the 'trash to treasure' approach

to life, decorating, crafting, etc -

using up stuff from the recycle bin and the waste basket,

stuff like junk mail and empty containers. and sometimes, even bonafide trash. 

why? because it's cheaper, it's easily accessible, it's good for the planet

AND it makes me stretch my creative muscles to use what i have.

that said, you don't HAVE to use 'trashed' plates for this project.

there are many possibilities and permutations - any kind of plate would work!

(check out the ones i made using ceramic plates the end of this post)

continue reading to see them all...