have a ball with these pumpkins!

do you have a family full of sports fans?

oh, my friends, you're gonna' have a BALL with this idea! 😉

i was killing time before an appointment by walking thru a 'FIVE below' discount store,

and spied a bin filled with small basketballs in bright happy colors...

there was no yellow, but the minty green one caught my eye!

continue reading for tips on this SUPER fast & easy pumpkin decor project!

faux 'jadeite' pumpkin paint tutorial

i don't collect jadeite - real OR faux - but i love it!
the pretty seafoam - mint - jade greens of jadeite dishes and cookware
remind me of the color of our Shasta trailer (see my last post!)
and because of that, i've found these greens combine well with ANY color.

in late August i picked up a ceramic pumpkin mug at Dollar Tree,
and decided to try my hand at re-creating the luminous look of jadeite -
with paint.

and it worked! 
continue reading for my color-matching process and paint tutorial...

fall glamping with Miss Dot!

i'm at a vintage trailer rally at the beach this week,

so i thought i'd share photos of the 'glamping' decor that i created

for Miss Dot at a past rally (2021)...

you've seen a tropical decor theme (from 2022) in a recent post,

now here's a look at how switching out decor elements and a new color addition

creates a whole new vibe - this one's beachy!

(the rally is held in Newport Beach, CA and always has a 'surf' theme)

planning the decor theme for each glamping excursion

reminds me so much of how i played in my grandpa's Shasta trailer as a kid,

spending hours in their backyard decorating and dreaming...

continue reading to see how my yellow obsession extended to our Shasta trailer...

glass pumpkin gumball machine

my mom has owned this glass pumpkin since the 1980's... she bought me one then, too!

she says they were filled with Dunkin' or Winchell's Doughnut holes - 

but i don't recall getting any doughnut holes with mine! LOL

(Target has them for $10.00! not an ad)

i've always loved filling them with candy in the fall

(faves include Kraft caramels, Werther's caramels, and chocolate pumpkins!)

but things took a TURN this year...

i was shifting things around in my studio to photograph new creations

and when i emptied out the seashells from my gumball machine,

i sat the glass globe from it next to this glass pumpkin...

and my brain started asking questions like

 'wait... would the pumpkin fit on.... could it work.... ???'

so i played around and found out!

follow along as i show you how easy this one is...

repurposed crochet hat pumpkin

i'm a hat girl. always have been. i love wearing them
and have a pretty big collection of hats for every season.
i have thick straight hair and on the many days when it won't cooperate,
i just pop a ballcap or sunhat or cloche on my head and fuhgeddaboutit.

the only hats i don't like on my head are beanies. my forehead's too big.
but when i found THIS beanie, i fell in love with it and had to buy it...

because the moment i saw it, i KNEW it had to become a pumpkin!
here i am using things in ways they weren't intended to be used again LOL

continue reading for my tutorial (which is much like my sweet sweater pumpkin tute)...

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...