It’s a fun craft the kids can do while supper is cooking- and it would be super-cute on the kid’s tables, filled with little candies, or even used to hold their napkins. You could even write their names on the “feet” so they know whose is whose!

She’s got the template on her blog, but we thought we’d give you the supply list here:

• A small  pot (Vicki used clay, but we recommend Paper Mache)
• Acrylic paint for the pot in Raw Umber (optional)
• Tacky Glue
• Foam sheets in various colors
• 5mm wiggle eyes

Now get those kids crafting and have FUN!

You’ll need:

• Core’Dinations Cardstock- 8 1/2 X 11″ stack in “Elements”
• Core’Dinations Sand It Gadget
• Darice Falling Leaves Embossing Folder
• Cuttlebug
• Spellbinders Nestibilities dies “Label 4″
• Paper Trimmer
• Sew Easy Fancy Floss in Variegated Primary
• Glue Glider Pro
• Pop-Up Glue Dots
• Distress Stickles in Peeled Paint, Fired Brick, and Tarnished Brass.
• Label maker

First, cut your cardstock:

• 7″ X 10″ piece for the card base (I chose deep green). Fold in half lengthwise to create a 5″ X 7″ card.
• 4 3/4″ X 6 3/4″ piece of brown for the front

Then emboss your brown cardstock with your sanding tool to bring out the image. (I LOVE this folder, and have a bonus version for you at the end.)

Next, use the Distress Stickles to apply the three different colors in a random fashion on the leaves. Set it aside to try and cut the 2 sizes of the Nestabilities labels with the Cuttlebug. Using the Glue Glider, adhere one on top of the other, then create the “Thankful” label. (Alternatively, you could stamp it, use rub-ons, stickers, or even handwrite it.)

When the Stickles have dried, wind some of the floss around the bottom of the card. Use the Glue Glider to keep the ends from unwinding, then add enough adhesive to attach it to the card front.

Attach the “Thankful” embellishment to the card using 3-D Zots to help it stand off of the card front.

Add an additional, larger “label” die cut to the inside to hold your message, if you like.

I love that it’s masculine and has a lot of texture.

Now…remember that I told you I’d share a different version? Well, here you go. Same embossing folder, but this time I used Pearl Cardstock and just a few dots of Fired Brick Distress Stickles to make the winter berries.

Lovely, right? Perfect for a Solstice or Christmas card!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this card, and make some of your own!

Supplies:

• 10” Grapevine Wreath
• Darice Pom Pom Maker Set
• 3-5 Colors of Yarn
• Tapestry Needles
• Craft Wire - I used 26 Gauge Brown
• Assorted Miniature Flocked Deer

Begin by choosing how many colors of yarn – I wouldn’t recommend too many colors.  I chose three pretty colors that were perfect for a fall wreath.

Choose your pom pom size- The Darice pom pom maker set I used came with three tool sizes – small, medium and large.  I used a combination of all three.  (There is a review and a video tutorial on how to use them HERE.) I did feel the medium was the easiest to use.  It was kind of hard to get the fullness I was looking to achieve with the large.   To fill my 10 inch wreath nice and full, I made around 40 pom poms total.  Bonus: this was the perfect time to catch up with my DVR!

The Darice pom pom makers were very easy to use once I got the hang of it.  It only took a couple before I was cranking them out.  Basically, you wind the yarn through the notches on the plastic, then wrap like crazy around the middle.

*Hint* the thicker you wrap = the fuller the pom pom.  Tie off ends that you had notched and use sharp scissors to cut up the side of the plastic. 

Remove and “puff” out.  So easy, I had my 9 year old doing quality pom-poms too.

Attach pom pom’s one section at a time by tying onto the wreath using the longer yarn pieces that you used to tie off the pom pom.  On some of mine, these weren’t long enough so I poked craft wire through the pom pom and attached to the wreath by twisting the wire.

Once the wreath is at your desired fullness, you can add your flocked deer.  I did this by poking the back of them with the tapestry needle threaded with craft wire.  I pulled the wire through and wired them into the desired place on the wreath.

Need some more inspiration?  Here are a couple more wreaths that inspired me:

Nature’s Heirloom Fall Pom Pom Wreath

The Yokoo Soopa Pompom Christmas Wreath by Urban Outfitters

And don’t forget that we also have a tutorial on how to make a Pom Pom Garland, too!

When you’re working with pie dough and the Cricut Cake, a colder temperature and consistency of the pie dough is crucial for nice clean cuts. Luckily this is easily achieved by putting your Cricut Cake Mat, loaded with pie dough, into the refrigerator or freezer for a few minutes before you attempt to cut. If you notice that your cuts literally pop up and off from the mat when you are cutting, you’ve chilled your pie dough a little too much. If you’ve got pie dough moving around and poor cut quality, chances are your pie dough is a little too warm.

Once you’ve cut out your image it’s a good idea to have the right tools to remove any cutouts from your mat. It may also be a good idea to re-chill your cutouts to make them easier to remove from the mat and handle. The Cricut Cake Tool Kit is a really good collection of tools to have, for my little leaves the small spatula slid right under the pie dough and quickly removed it without damaging the quality of my cut out. Once I had cut out and removed all the leaves, I simply adhered them with a little egg wash to the edge of the pie. Taking care to watch the edge while it was baking to make sure it didn’t burn, and also covering the edges with a piece of aluminum foil sprayed with non stick spray just in case you notice some dark spots, will save your decorated edge from burning. I was really happy with how my pie turned out, and even happier that not one speck was left!

Watch the video for the full process:

Materials Needed:

• Martha Stewart Crafts™ 12 x 12 Paper Pad – Nature
• Paper Mache Pot 6 x 6 in
• Liquitex Acrylic Paint
• Provo Craft® Cricut Cartridge – Straight From the Nest
• Small Tiles or Chipboard
• Mod Podge – Glossy
• Fall Floral Picks
• Green Styrofoam
• Hot Glue Gun

Instructions:

1. Begin by gathering the materials that you will need for the project.  First, paint the paper mache pot so that it will be dry by the time you need it.

2. I have some small tiles that complimented the birds and nest Martha Stewart Nature scrapbooking paper.  However, if you do not have tiles, chipboard would work just fine.

3. Using Mod Podge I adhered some of the birds to the tile.  I decoupaged more birds than I needed for this craft but I have plans for the extra tiles in another craft.  – And I wasn’t sure which ones I would like best for my fall floral table arrangement so I decided to make several.

4. Using the Straight From the Nest Cartridge cut out the saying “Welcome to the nest”, some shadows of birds, and a vine border.  Decoupage them onto the painted paper mache pot.

5. Hot glue your tile or chipboard pieces to the front of the pot.

6. Insert Styrofoam into pot and add your favorite fall floral picks.

7. Display your floral arrrangement by your front door to welcome guests.

You will need:

• 3 Glasses – We used a Wine Glass, a Champagne Glass and a Fluted Champagne Glass
• 3 Glass Tea Light Holders
• Orange Acrylic Paint
• Black Viva Décor Pearl Pen or Any Other Type of Paint Marker
• 5/8 inch Green Ribbon
• E-6000 Adhesive
• 3 Black Battery Operated LED Tea Lights

Squirt a generous amount of paint inside the glass – while holding the stem with one hand, hit the bowl of the glass with your other hand to make the paint go up to the rim.  “Swirl” around until glass is completely coated.  Set on paper towels or wire rack until dry.  Tip: You may need to thin paint out with a little water.

Once the orange paint is dry, use the black Viva Décor Pearl Pen to paint /draw jack-o’-lantern faces and dotted lines on each glass. 

By putting both bottoms together, glue the tea light holders to the bottom of the glasses using E-6000 adhesive.  Let dry overnight.

Finish your pumpkins off by adding a small green bow above the faces with glue.  Drop in the black LED tea lights and they’re all set!

Supplies:

• 3 paper machè pumpkins
• Acrylic paing – white, burnt sienna
• Glaze Base – used to thin out paint without diluting the color
• Petaloo Chantilly Collection Mixed Blooms – Browns
• Petaloo Chantilly Mixed Blooms – Purples
• Petaloo Chantilly Collection – Mixed Velvet Hydrangea – Violet
• Petaloo Chantilly Collection – Mixed Velvet Hydrangea – Violet
• Rusted Wire 22 gauge
• Darice Rhinestone Setter Heat Applicator Wand
• Darice® Hot Fix Rhinestone- Peridot- 4mm
• Awl
• Hot Glue Gun
• Gold Buttons – various styles, shapes and sizes
• old cloth

The paper machè pumpkins start out looking like this. Not so glamorous!

Paint them with 2-3 coats of white acrylic paint. Multiple thinner coats work best. A heavy layer of paint may cause the paper machè to bubble and get lumpy.

Mix a little of the glaze with the Burnt Sienna paint and coat a section of the pumpkin making sure to get into all of the nooks and crannies. Wait just a minute or two and then wipe away some of the paint with an old cloth. Continue onto another section of the pumpkin until it is finished.

Repeat until all three pumpkins are finished.

Let dry thoroughly. Over night is best.

To create the rusted wire “vine” simply cut off a piece of rusted wire to 6-8 inches and wrap loosely around  a pen or pencil. Slide the curled wire off the end of the pen or pencil to remove.

Poke a hole into the top of the pumpkin with an awl (or the wire), add a bit of hot glue to the wire and then quickly insert it into the hole.

Add flowers to the tops of the pumpkins with hot glue.

Decorate the pumpkin from the flowers out with the peridot rhinestones.

Display on your table or mantel and enjoy!

Click the picture to see the original by Cathie & Steve.

To make MY version, you’ll need:http://www.craftsunleashed.com/wp-admin/post-new.php

• Battery-operated Paper Lanterns (you get 2 for $5.97, so it’s a bargain!)
• Spiders and Webs
• Hot Glue Gun & Sticks
• Hot Glue Gun Helpers (optional, but desired!)

I was kind of going for a spooky spider egg-sac look…. so a wrapped the gauze around the lantern, using hot glue to hold in in place…and then I just hooked the plastic spiders on the webbing. (PS- the green ones glow in the dark!)

And at night, we can turn on the lantern (it requires 2 AAA batteries) and add to the effect. I can’t wait to string up the rest of the webbing to complete the look!

Make a Thankful Wreath

Materials you need to make a Thankful wreath:

• Fall Accent Autumn Maple Leaves – Reds -100 pc.
• Fall Accent Autumn Maple Leaves – Oranges-100 pc.
• Martha Stewart Crafts Leaf Stamp and Punch
• Hot glue gun and glue
• Newspaper
• Twine
• Scissors
• Black permanent pen
• Cardstock in autumn colors

Instructions to make a Thankful wreath:

Bunch newspaper to make wreath form

Bunch newspaper sheets, overlapping edges and tying in place with twine to form a wreath shape. Make sure to layer a few pieces of paper to create a sturdy form.

Glue leaves on wreath form

Hot glue leaves on front and side of wreath form. Use the low heat setting to prevent burning yourself with glue that seeps through the leaves.

Make thankful message leaves

Using the Marth Stewart Crafts Leaf Stamp and Punch tool, stamp and cut out small leaves. Use different colors of cardstock or color the leaves as you’d like.

Write thankful messages or words on each mini leaf with a permanent black pen. Glue leaves as desired around your wreath.

Adhere thankful leaves to wreath

Hang and enjoy!

Martha Stewart Crafts Leaf Stamp and Punch

Using the Martha Stewart Crafts Leaf Stamp and Punch

When using the stamp and punch together, it’s much easier to stamp first and then punch. Stamp your piece, then place in the punch, turning the punch over so you can line up the stamped art with the cutting edges. I love the possibilities the Martha Stewart Crafts Leaf Stamp and Punch allows. There are so many combinations to create really wonderful leaf accents for all your projects.

Check back tomorrow for a fun Thankful Wreath project featuring this tool.