s September 2014 - The Kim Six Fix
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Candy Corn Tissue Paper Pom Poms

Candy corn pom poms
Can’t believe October is almost here!  I’m slowly transitioning away from my generic fall decor towards more of a Halloween feel.  (If you follow me on Instagram I gave you a little sneak peek of this project.  I realize I do that all the time, so if you want to be ahead of the crowd, you should totally become a follower! #shamelessplug #peerpressure) 

I saw a version of these pom poms at hobby lobby (sorry I can’t find a link on their website) and I knew I could knock them off.  They wanted $9 for 3 poms.. and I thought that was crazy, but I loved the idea.   I hung mine along my front walk, and added last year’s Halloween beadboard sign (i love how the yellow and red colors play off each other)
Halloween front walk
To make these you only need tissue paper and either floral wire or string (I have even used twist ties in a pinch).  That is it.  So my cost for a half dozen various sized pompoms was less than $3 ($1 each for yellow/orange/white tissue):
Candy corn tissue paper puff
Making pom poms is really straight forward.  I’ve made them before, for my daughter’s birthday and school functions, but never shared a tutorial before. They are a go-to craft since they are so easy to make and you only need a few for a big impact.

5 Dollar Store Pumpkin Makeovers (Wood to Washi Tape)

Pumpkin makeovers

It is the last day of Dollar Store Pumpkin Week. Wow!  What a whirlwind!    Today’s pumpkin is the only one that didn’t involve any glue, and it happens to be my kids’ favorite (they like the fact it has a leaf!) Washi Tape Pumpkin
I admit I have been really late to jump on the Washi tape train.  I have NEVER EVEN USED IT!   But today’s project changed all that.

Tufted Orange and Black Tissue Paper Pumpkin

Tufted crepe paper pumpkin

Welcome to Day 5 of “Dollar Store Pumpkin Makeover” Week!

We are in the home stretch of our 6 pumpkin makeovers in 6 days!  Today’s design was inspired by Halloween parade floats.  You know the kind where they make a chicken wire frame and then stuff the openings with tissue paper?  That was the look I was going for.    I think it is pretty spot on.

To make this version I once again only used dollar store supplies.  One foam pumpkin and two rolls of crepe paper streamers (in black and orange):
Crepe paper streamer wrapped pumpkin
To make sure I had the pattern correct the first thing I had to do was sketch out which part of the pumpkin was going to be which color:
Diving pumpkin into stripes
You have to have an even number of segments for it to work out, and I was lucky since there were already an even number of ‘bumps’ on my pumpkin so it was easy to decide on where the divisions of color would be.


Next I had to create my tufts.  I used the same method I used for my crepe paper shamrock artwork

Trick or Treat Pumpkin Topiary

Easy Dollar Store Pumpkin Topiary.. paint them, put them on a skewer and add stick on letters

Welcome to Day 4 of “Dollar Store Pumpkin Makeover” Week!

If you are just joining us, here is the collection of the pumpkins we have featured thus far:

Creepy Crawly Spider Pumpkin

Creepy Crawly Spider Pumpkin

Welcome to Day 3 of “Dollar Store Pumpkin Makeover” Week!


We are just hitting our stride.  Today I thought I would jump a little ahead and share a Halloween style pumpkin makeover: A creepy crawly bug-infested spider pumpkin! 

I recently shared this hilarious wreath I found on the Better Homes and Gardens Facebook page.. and I really wanted to copy it.

Wood Slice Dollar Store Pumpkin

Wood slice pumpkin

Welcome to Day 2 of “Dollar Store Pumpkin Makeover” Week!


Monday I shared my Burlap and Twine Version, and today I’m sharing my Mini Wood Slice Covered Pumpkin.  (Yes, those are hundreds of tiny 1/4 inch wide slices of wood!) 
Wood slices pumpkinThey are actually supposed to be vase filler or table scatter, that I found at Tuesday Morning on clearance.  They ended up being less than $1/bag.  At the time I had no idea what I would do with them, but I bought every single bag.   I have seen tree slice covered decorate balls as vase filler, and so it struck me that a pumpkin would look super cute decked out in these tiny wood slices.

Burlap and Twine Wrapped Dollar Store Pumpkin

Burlap and twine pumpkin made with Mod Podge and a Dollar Store pumpkin
I’m doing something super special this week! A week-long blog series on different variations of Dollar Store Pumpkins.  

Sorta like "Shark Week" only with Pumpkins. 

With the exception of Tuesday, (which will feature the You’re Gonna Love It Linky Party), EVERY DAY this week I am going to share a new way of transforming dollar store pumpkins, so they don’t look like Cheeto-orange styrofoam fake pumpkins.  6 different styles in 6 days.

If you follow me on Instagram, you saw how delighted I was when I saw these babies in the store:
IMG 2530
So many possibilities!

The first version I wanted to make was a burlap wrapped pumpkin (since isn’t everything better with burlap?) I originally saw this version at Hobby Lobby but i didn’t love the weird ruffle thing on the top.  Plus I didn’t love the price tag.. more than $20!  WHA?!

My Favorite Slow Cooker Recipes


For Flashback Friday today I am sharing my favorite slow cooker recipes.  (Actually..I still call it my "Crock Pot" even though I know that is a trademark.. but I also call them "Q-tips" and "Kleenex.") Anyhow.. A Crock Pot is so versatile and makes it so easy to have dinner ready if you aren't actually around to make it.

I like to use my slow cooker in the summer since it helps keep the kitchen cool because you don’t have to turn on the oven. In the summer I mostly do recipes like bar-ba-que and meat entrees.  On the other hand, I also like to use my slow cooker in the fall and winter because the days are so short and I like not wasting any daylight hours preparing dinner.   In the colder months I tend more towards soups and stews.  I've posted quite a few of the recipes I use on the blog and I thought it would be great to round them all up.

So let's get this party started.

Fall Front Porch with Personalized Door Plaque

Front door name plaque
Before I start this post I wanted to say “Thanks” to everyone who stopped by, visited and linked up to my inaugural You’re Gonna Love it Party yesterday.  I was still working out the kinks yesterday, but going forward it should be much smoother.. thanks for bearing with me.

Okay, now for today’s post.  My front porch.  I mentioned on Facebook how I was going to do the big reveal today, but not to expect grand things like this Better Homes and Garden’s feature because my porch just isn’t that dramatic:
BH G porch
But the truth is that we all have to live in reality and decorate the home *we* live in.  My front entry is off to the side of my house and the door is actually located in a corner up against a large wall.  The area is really small, tall and at a funky angle .. so there is no way to get the beautiful symmetry like in the photo above.

You do what you have to do. Don’t think that because you can’t have a space that is magazine worthy, that isn’t worth decorating. 

You're Gonna Love It Tuesday: My First One!! Squeeee!!


Welcome to my first ever You're Gonna Love it Tuesday link-up!  I made the big announcement last week that I was joining with Kathe from Kathe With An E for her Tuesday party, and this if the first one.


A few quick housekeeping items (in case you missed it last week.) This is the one and only time a party-related email will be going out to my entire email list.  If you want to receive an email with a list of features and a link-up reminder, you need to subscribe below:

If you already subscribe to my WEEKLY email, nothing will change.  The party will show up as one extra post in the weekly email on Monday mornings, so you have to do nothing.

If you subscribe DAILY YOU WILL NOT AUTOMATICALLY RECEIVE PARTY EMAILS with your current newsletter subscription.  After today, these posts are 'opt in' and you must sign up to receive the one extra email every week (you can re-enter your email information in the form above and I will send you the link to change your preferences.) 

Alternatively, you can adjust your email settings at any time using this button at the bottom your emails: 



Time for Last Week's Features!!

Dollar Store Fall Leaf Tree (Topiary)

Dollar Store Leaf Tree
Today’s craft is super easy.  Seriously, it is "so easy I can’t believe I am writing a tutorial for this”  easy (maybe I should add that as a blog category.)

Just looking at it you can see it is a tree form covered in leaves, however since I did learn a few small tips for making this little topiary thing (is it is a topiary?) I thought I would share them since they will save you a little trouble if you want to make one.

First, the supplies:  The leaves are from Dollar Tree.  It took me less than a full package to make one 14 inch tree.

Candy Corn M&M's Caramel Apple Bites


This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone.  #CollectiveBias #FlavorOfFallCaramel apple bites 2

Now that the kids are back in school, I’ve been looking for portable snack ideas.  When I pick the girls up at the end of the school day they are STARVING and always looking for a quick treat. I typically pack something like a yogurt or piece of fruit, but occasionally it is fun to pack them something extra special.  So when M&M's asked me to come up with a recipe that featured the flavors of fall, I knew that a caramel apple recipe would be perfect.
Candy coated caramel apples
HOWEVER.. the idea of my kids eating an entire sticky caramel apple in the backseat of my car sounds more like a recipe for disaster, so I knew I had to scale it down. That is where the idea of Caramel Apple Bites was born.  Small, snack size bites that they can pop into their mouths without any messy leftovers like the core.
Candy corn caramel apples
The recipe is pretty straight forward.  You need apples, caramels and sticks.  (In this case I used wooden cake skewers that I cut down.)  Typically caramel apples are coated with chopped peanuts, but since I was bringing these treats onto the school campus, I wanted to steer away from peanuts.

Autumn Harvest Mantel

Autumn mantel
Over the weekend I finally got inspired to put up my autumn mantel.  I still have the back-to-school version up in the playroom, but in the formal living room it was time for fall.

I decided to reuse my Habitat for Humanity wooden window and my large mirror:
Harvest mantel for the Fall
I found this great grapevine star garland on clearance after christmas last year.
Grapevine star garland

Autumn window mantel

Of course, I needed to use my scrap wood bock pumpkins.. I still love them so much! Fall mantel
Fake fruit in a basket is one of the few ‘kid friendly’ things I could leave on the hearth.  The kids have been playing ‘farmers market’ with the apples and carry them around the house.  Pretty funny.
Fall harvest basket

Flashback Friday: Fall, Features and Transformations!

I was looking back at my projects in August, and I’m really REALLY proud of a lot of the posts I worked on this month.  I admit, that sometimes I get really busy and I go through phases where I feel like I’m just ‘calling it in’ and trying to get posts up and out and I'm not passionate about them.  It isn’t that the projects aren’t good or that people may not like them, but they aren’t my favorites.

This month didn’t have any posts like that.  This month I was super excited to press “publish” every time I finished a post.  Maybe it is because it is fall, and I feel like I have a direction to move in, or that I’m finally getting to some larger home projects and reveals.  In any case, here are some of August’s highlights:

Fall and Back to School Projects:


School Supply Organizer Teacher Gift:


Back to School Mantel:


Fall Mantel Roundup:

 

Room Reveals/Tutorials: 

Stairwell Landing Feature Wall:



Powder Room Beadboard Ceiling: 




Powder Room Makeover:


Find your Bathroom Style:



Crafts:

How to Etch Glass:


10 Spray Paint Transformations:


Tie Dye T-Shirt Quilts:


 

Blogging:

Tour through Blogland:



How to Paginate Blogger Posts:
 

5 Ways To Save Money:
I am really excited by some of the big projects and announcements I have in store.  In fact be sure to CHECK BACK ON MONDAY since I'm going to have a huge announcement about a project I've been working on for a while. I've never even dropped hints anywhere, so it should be a big surprise!  

(Or even better.. use the subscribe button below and have my announcement post delivered directly to your mailbox!)
 

Engraved and Illuminated Ornaments (Dremel Video Tutorial)

This is a big day for me! I'm excited (and nervous) to be presenting my first ever VIDEO TUTORIAL!

Yes, a little movie! In it I'll show you how to engrave plastic ornaments so you end up with these amazing creations:
 


And then, once you have them engraved, you can actually LIGHT THEM UP and they get even more amazing: 

Yep, a dollar store plastic ball ornament, a string of lights and a Dremel tool are all you need!

When Dremel asked me to create a project using their new  Dremel Micro™ 8050 tool, which is geared for hobbies and crafts, I decided I wanted to spruce up some ornaments.  

And this project doesn't have to be only Christmas oriented.  You could carve orange balls with jack-o-lantern faces for Halloween, or personalize them for a birthday or special occasion:


So how did I do it?

I originally wanted to take step by step photos, but it was harder to explain in still photos, than it was to just do it.. so the video was created.  Working with the Dremel Micro 8050 is so easy, since it is cordless, lightweight, and is compatible with the other Dremel rotary tool accessories.

If you don't have one yet, you can find dremel multi function tools at Home Depot or Amazon for about $50.  This is a great starter project to get your feet wet.  Check it out:
 
See? I told you it was super easy!  And now you know what I actually sound like! Not sure if it is what you expected. 



FAQs: I've had a lot of people ask about where I found my ornaments and lights.

The lights are easy. You can find similar ones HERE on amazon.  You need the "tiny" size to fit through the opening of the ball.

The ornaments are from the dollar store, but I have noticed that this year the interiors of the same ornaments are grey not white  To check, just remove the gold hanger from the ornament.  The plastic should show there and you can tell if it is white.   I don't have a direct link for ornaments online. 







 
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