Pumpkin Candy Dish

 Here's a super easy - seriously, less than ten minutes - craft and seasonal decoration!

I found this awesome pumpkin-shaped jar at Michael's. It was in the candle making section, but as soon as I saw it, I knew exactly what I would do with it... 
I walked over to the floral section and found green coil wire, spotted a bag of candy corn near the checkouts, and got in line.

Once I was home, I washed the jar, then wrapped the wire around the top a couple times, leaving several inches on each end. I used a pencil to wrap the ends of the wire around and create spirals - now I had a pumpkin jar to fill with candy! 

I know some of you are judging me right now because, "candy corn is gross." I'll admit though, I enjoy a little sometimes; even if you don't eat candy corn, it's still a cute dish for autumn!
Perhaps, you'd like to fill it with acorns, colored rice or [un-popped] popcorn, or Reese's pieces - any of those are great for fall decorating! If you feel like being more crafty, paint the outside of the jar; then hide whatever you like inside. 

I love how mine looks and would love to see yours, if you make one! 

Plaid & Lace Scarf

Fall is for scarves and boots... yep.

Although, I like knitting a good fall/winter scarf, this year I was inspired by some plaid/lace and plaid/polka dot scarves I found while browsing Pinterest.

Here's how my first one turned out!

I started out by visiting my area thrift stores, hoping to find some good flannel shirts for cheap and maybe some old lacy shirts, too. While I didn't find any flannel plaid, I didn't leave disappointed.

Just check out these fashionable shirts! (Ok, I honestly, kind of like the second one in... maybe because is actually fits. I might not cut it up after all...)

These prints are gonna be great for fall! 

(Can you see the detail on the navy blue one? It's got little stitched in dots.)

After having finished the first scarf, I know that I definitely want to make the next ones bigger. The shirts might have enough material, but I think I'll check out Joann's for some real flannel and more lace!

Still, from 80's shirts to today's scarf... I'm happy with it!

Autumn Wreath

I know I've proclaimed my love for the fall season numerous times, but every year I just get so excited for it! This year, the warm weather seems to be holding out... still, today it's officially fall and I was ready to get some decorations out.

A couple years ago, I made my first wreath and blogged about it here.   [In fact, it was two years ago, yesterday, and my first blog post! Happy two year anniversary saruthdesigns!]   Well, that wreath got me through two fall seasons, but when I took it down last year, it was definitely weathered.

This year, I got to make a new wreath and I was super excited about it! I don't remember where I found it (a thrift store, probably), but I had this huge grapevine wreath (you could always purchase them at Joann's) that I couldn't wait to decorate with silk leaves and sunflowers. I went out to my local Joann store and bought a few more silk sunflowers and the beautiful burlap ribbon to make a bow with.

The wreath was so gorgeous with just the leaves and sunflowers tied in!

I debated for a bit whether to add a bow or not, but in the end, I loved the ribbon so much that I had to make one.
I tried several different ways of making a bow before I realized that it's really so much easier to just cut the pieces and glue them - you get the perfect bow every time.
  

I was pleased with how the bow turned out, definitely adding to the eye appeal of the wreath as a whole. I added in a few more strands of ribbon to bring it all together.

Happy Fall Y'all!