Happy October

I am one of those people. The people who just love everything. 

I love spring and it's beautiful budding flowers (and my birthday!) 

I love summer and sunsets on the lake. 

I love winter, even the frigid cold and beautiful snowfalls. 

And I love fall. Since it's officially fall, I'm feeling a little festive. Here are a few of my favorite things about this season:

Leaves changing

Candles burning

Football games

Acorns falling on the driveway at home

Pumpkin pie 

Cool runs

Festive wreaths 

Dark nail polish being acceptable

Apple Orchard adventures

Decorations

Pumpkin carving and decorating

What do you love most about fall?

Ready for Tailgating

I have the best brother ever. Seriously. 

He spent hours building a bags set for me. 

(PSA: Ever since I was a little girl, this game has always been around at family get togethers. Bags, is what we called it. When I looked up the proper dimensions, it seems the correct name is Cornhole!? I like bags better.)

He is such a handy man! He has never done anything like this and did an awesome job. Once he built them, I couldn't wait to put a nice paint job on them and begin using them at tailgates this fall! I am so excited for fall to finally be here. It is my favorite season, although I love them all.

I set up shop in my garage and was ready to go! Unfortunately we only have 2 saw horses so I used boards to prop up the other.

I used spackle to fill in the holes of the wood and the screws. Taking a chunk in my fingers and spreading it.

Then wiping away the excess using this tool. I let the spackle sit for about 15 minutes before painting.

Next step: sanding! I cut sheets in half and then folded it in thirds for a better size.

I made sure all edges were smooth to avoid slivers! 

 Now it's time to prime! I used a thin roller and it worked well. I covered the top and sides with the primer and let it dry overnight.

It took me forever to decide on the pattern, but once I finally decided, it was time to used Blue Painter's Tape. I wanted the white strip to be immediately to the right and left of the hole so I measured how far away the tape needed to be from the outside edges and made marks down the board. I connected the marks with a line using the level and put tape directly on the line to ensure it was straight.

Paint colors were another tough decision! I decided to go with a pretty blue and yellow. I picked up a quart of each and have plenty left over - I'm excited to use the extra on another project!

The paint went on very smoothly!

I let them dry for a few hours and then peeled the tape off. It's good to take the tape off before the paint is completely dry. Although I used the chisel to ensure the tape was bubble free, there was still a bit of bleeding with the paint. 

I used a small foam brush to touch up and add a second coat of the primer for the white strip.

Next I propped up the legs to paint them. I used a foam brush to paint these as well.

I let the stripes and legs dry overnight.

My aunt's mother is making me the bean bags to toss - this project was a team effort!
I can't wait to finally be able to use them next weekend as we tailgate.

A DIY Bridal Shower

One of my dear friends is getting married this June and as one of the bridesmaids I have been busy planning the bridal shower and bachelorette party. Since most of us are still in college and on tight budgets, doing things ourselves is much cheaper, and more fun! :)

The theme of the bridal shower was "wine-tasting". We all started collecting wine bottles and corks to use as decorations. Easy and cheap! I used three wine bottles to make this lovely ensemble.

Taking off the labels on the bottles was the hardest part, but with a little goo-be-gone and my mom's help and patience, we got them paint ready!

I laid newspapers over my mother's beautiful granite countertops and started the project! I bought a can of chalkboard paint from Hobby Lobby (craft store) for $9 to use for a few projects and thought the black would look nice on the bottles.

The paint went onto the glass a bit streaky so I had to paint a thick coat. As it was drying, drips appeared but I kept an eye on them and brushed out the drips through the drying process. I used a foam brush to apply the paint to all of the bottles. 

Once they were completely dry, I added the white stickers that I also purchased from Hobby Lobby. Make sure when you're buying stickers to spell something that the package has enough of each letter you need, otherwise you'll need more than one pack. Luckily one pack worked for me!

My next project was creating my own chalkboard signs with pieces of scrap wood. My brother found some pieces for me but they were too big for my liking. I was home alone and couldn't find the power saws so I used a handsaw... for the first time ever! Didn't even cut off a finger. I am proud of myself!

A little sweat, lots of sawing, and 5 minutes later I had 2 perfect pieces to use. I sanded the edges smooth to prepare them for the paint!

My mom brought out the power saw to help me cut the thicker piece of wood. She's a stud!

I started painting one side, again using the foam brush, and let them dry for 2 hours. Then I flipped them over and did the other side, finally painted the edges. 

The paint suggested letting them sit overnight and then use the side of a piece of chalk to rub all over the surface. Wash this off and then they are ready to use!

We used the signs to display quotes about 'wine' for the shower! 

Check back to see how we will use these for the bachelorette party as well! 

Project #3: cute signs for the tables! I bought a pack of 5x7 card stock from Hobby Lobby to cut into triangle shapes. I made a mark at 2.5 inches and made a diagonal line from the corner of the card stock to the mark. 

I used each triangle for a letter to spell out 'gifts' and 'wine tasting' for the tables at the shower. I had these stencils already so I used them to pencil the letters. Then I used black paint to color in the letters.

I three-hole punched two holes at the bottom of the triangle a 1/2 inch from the edge. I ran 'wine' colored ribbon through the holes to string the letters together. They turned out pretty cute, much cheaper than a similar version I saw on Etsy!

We used black paper to drape over the food/wine table. We wrote the types of wine and what food to pair with each wine. It looked so cute!

Overall, the bridal shower was a huge success! My day of crafting paid off and everything looked great. Now the countdown to the bachelorette party begins!

Etched Glasses

Hello, hello!! It's been awhile since I posted; life and school got in my way of DIY-ing. Good to be back crafting.

I was brainstorming what to get my boyfriend for his graduation present (because let's be honest, men are impossible to buy for). I turned to google for ideas, but none of those options were something he would like. Finally, I came to the conclusion of etched beer glasses (anything that has to do with drinking beer will interest him!!)

I picked up an 8 pack of pint sized glasses at Walmart for $7. What a steal! The only other materials I needed were the etching cream ($9 at Hobby Lobby), a paintbrush, and stickers. I was struggling to find a sticker I liked and then my roommate saved the day with this big "B" adhesive sticker (B for his last name). I used an electrical tape border to close in the etching cream.

Then, I put on a thick layer of etching cream onto the glass. Let this dry for 10-15 minutes. Next, use a sponge and warm water to gently rinse off the etching cream. I repeated these steps 2-3 times or until it looked like I wanted it to. I could only do one glass at a time since I only had one 'B' sticker.

They are not perfect, and far from my best DIY job, but I think they'll do the job of holding his beer! :)

A cheap, personalized, and somewhat easy gift, try it out!!