Smoky Mountains

Last week we spent some time in the Smoky Mountains.   

The trees were at peak and the colors were fabulous!  

 We drove the Roaring Fork Motor Trail.  We had beautiful weather for a drive.We stopped and hike to Grotto Falls.

 It was a 2.8 round trip hike.  The trail was pretty steep and was full of rocks and roots.  It made the climb a bit tricky,but it was well worth the challenge.

The waterfall wasn't very big.  It was cool because you could walk behind the falls.

 

The next day we hit Laurel Falls. 

 This one was paved all the way to the top.  

 Laurel Falls were much bigger than Grotto Falls.  

We drove past this waterfall on our way through the park.  

 Our last hike for the day was to Mingo Falls.  We climbed 156 steps up to a short trail to the falls.  The falls were trickling down the rocks.  If you come in the spring the falls cover all of the rocks.

Thanks for stopping by!

Next stop the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Fall Pennant Banners

It is fall festival time at my church and I volunteered to help make decorations.  

Any time I can use my crafty talents I am ALL in!  So I thought I would create a little tutorial for you, so you can do some fall decorating too.

 

I went to JoAnns and bought 6 yards of burlap.   I had these stamps in my stash.  I used the triangle pattern left over from when I made a billion banners for a very special wedding, a few years ago.  You can see those banners HERE. 

All you need to do is trace the triangles 

and cut them out with fabric scissors.  

BEWARE, burlap is very rough and itchy!  

I was left with some great scraps that will be used to decorate mason jars.  

Next I used acrylic paints and stamped some of the pennants.

I made some that will welcome guests to the festival.  I used my Cricut to cut out 3 inch letter stencils from paper scraps.

Use a foam brush to "stamp" the letters onto the burlap.  

I used twine an hot glue to make the banner.  It is nice if you have a helper to assist in the process!  

Looking Good!

Thanks for stopping by and have a blessed day!

"As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace." 1 Peter 4:10

Long Time No See

Wow, it has been a long time since I have blogged.  I haven't been up to much around here that is blog worthy.  But I have been busy the last week making things to decorate my house for fall.  
The first items are a couple canvases.  

I just adore fall colors and had great fun painting, layering papers and doodling on these two canvases

 

Next I printed out a fall subway art and placed it in a frame and that made for some instant art! Besides the ink for printing this is a free project. You can find a great selection of Subway ART  HERE

Next up is a Pinterest find.  As I looked at fall decorations, I kept seeing pumpkins made out of wood.  We certainly have a lot of that down in my hubby's workshop. 

 So I grabbed some 2x4 and had my son cut them into three different sizes.  Then we did a bit of sanding, chiseling, and drilling. I went outside to find the perfect stems from our kindling pile. I took them up to the craft room to give the wood a few coats of paint and added raffia and fabric.  This project cost absolutely nothing to make! 

My last project has to be my favorite.  I found the idea on Pinterest.  My daughter-in-law and I created pillows for our homes.  It was easy to make.  If you have fabric scraps you could make this pretty quickly.

I had some scraps in my craft room and we went and bought a few more at Jo Ann's.  Sarah also spotted a wood grain fabric that we HAD to buy for the trunk.

We used Wonder Under (fusible web) on the back of our fabric.  We traced the leaves and trunk onto the back of the web.  Then we cut them all out.  You will need about 40 leaves for the tree.  The size will depend on your pillow size.  My leaves were 2.5 inches. 

Notice the tree pattern fabric!

Cut the top of your pillow one inch bigger than the pillow size.  Lay out your pieces and arrange them how you want them to look.  Then peal off the back of the webbing.  I did this on the floor and then realized I couldn't move it to my ironing board.  So I slid it over and ironed them on the floor.

After you get them ironed on, bring it up to the ironing board and give it a good pressing to make sure they are attached.

Next I took some DMC floss and stitched around all the leaves and trunk.  I did this while watching TV and had it done in a few hours.

I made an envelope pillow case and slipped in a pillow from the couch.  I think it turned out super cute.  I posted a Youtube video I found on how to make the pillow on the post before this one. 

Thanks for stopping by and I hope I gave you some fun and quick fall decorating ideas.  Now go get crafting!

Let's Catch UP!

 Michael and I have been taking advantage of the beautiful weather here  in Virginia. We hopped on our bikes and road for about 12 miles on the C&O canal trail

 This a 184 mile trail.  I enjoy it because it is FLAT!  

The colors are quickly changing and falling.  We rode to the historic town of Harpers Ferry, WV.  

 The town is on the Potomac River.  It is rich in Civil War history.  We parked our bikes and walked over the bridge to grab some lunch.  

The trees were shining in fall glory.   

 Our next activity was our fall festival at church.  We had fun setting up the cake walk.  It was neat to watch the little kids win a cake.  You would have thought they won a million bucks.  Look at all that yumminess we gave away.  

 Matthew and Sarah K joined us at our church to help run the craft table.  I love their hats!  They are great with the kids.  I am excited to see how the Lord works in their lives as children's missionaries.

Finally we capped off the week with the Capital Caring Gala.   We got all dressed up and headed to the National Building Museum.


Michael is so handsome in his tuxedo!  We clean up pretty good.  It was a fantastic evening with friends.  

 I only had my camera phone to record the evening.  The hall was decked out with all the glitz and glamour you would expect of a gala .  This guy on the piano was impersonating Elton John. 
Here are couple more views of the venue.  It was very snazzy.  I loved that fountain right next to our table.  The table was decked out with a sequin tablecloth and pretty glassware.  The room glowed!  

Now we are bracing for Hurricane Sandy.  It looks like it is going to hit a bit north of us right now.  But we will feel all the wind and rain!  We have battened the hatches and will be praying for the others in her path. 

 Have a blessed day!