No Sew Floral Fabric Pumpkins

Blue Song Creations

I love a quick and easy no sew project. This little pumpkin takes no time at all and you can use whatever beautiful fabric you like. I personally love all things floral so I used every floral fabric in my stash. Let’s get started!

Here is what you will need:

  • Foam pumpkin (size of your choice)
  • Fabric
  • Fabric scissors
  • Glue gun
  • Raffia straw
  • Jewelry, flowers, charm or any adornments you like
  • Paint and paint brush
  • X-acto knife

Now lets begin!

  1. Remove the plastic stem from your foam pumpkin. They usually just pop right out.
  2. Paint the stem whatever color you like. I chose white for a more vintage look but you may want to leave it natural or paint it another color. Set aside to dry.
  3. Measure your pumpkins width. My pumpkin was five inches.
  4. Lay your pumpkin upside down on your fabric and cut a square that is double the size of the width of pumpkin on every side. My pumpkin was five inches wide so my fabric was five inches wide more on each side. Total my square of fabric was 15 inches x 15 inches.
  5. Cut your corners diagonally about three to four inches in. This helps with folding the fabric over the pumpkin.
  6. Starting with one side use your glue gun to glue the fabric to the bottom of the pumpkin. The pull up the opposite side tight as you can and glue. You should then be left with two open sides
  7. Take the first open side and fold it like a present. Pull it up tight and glue to the bottom of the pumpkin. Repeat this step with the other side.
  8. Flip your pumpkin over. Roll the remaining fabric inward until tight and then glue.
  9. Using an X-acto knife cut a small hole in the fabric in the top of the pumpkin for the stem to go back into.
  10. Next, take the raffia grass and tie it tight around the pumpkin as many times as you like to make the sections of the pumpkin. Pull tight and knot off. Make sure the knots are at the top of the pumpkin. You can leave the grass long and flowing for a more shabby look or cut it off for a neater look.
  11. Make sure all the raffia knots are at the top and can be hidden under or close to the stem. Add hot glue to the stem and push back into your pumpkin.
  12. Embellish with whatever you like. Flowers, jewelry, charms – whatever you want. I used keys, flowers and even a few jewelry pieces. Have fun with it!

I hope you will give this a try! If you make one please send me a picture. I love seeing your creations too.

Many blessings to you!

Shabby Chic Fall Garland and Pumpkins

Blue Song Creations

I love fall! Everything about it. Fall especially gets me in a creative mood. Does it do that to you too? It is the beginning of all the best holidays to come so my crafty side goes into hyper drive!

I love fall decor too but not every space in my home looks good with the typical orange, brown, yellow and black fall colors. Some spaces in my home are more pastel, with softer tones and would look better with a touch of shabby chic fall decorations. I decided to use my daughters homeschool crafting time to show her how to make a fall leaf and fabric garland. Now I want to share it with you. With a few leaves from the dollar store, paint, and old fabric remnants we created a sweet little fall leaf garland with all florals. I also made floral shabby chic pumpkins too last year. I will include them in the pictures to give you some inspiration.

Here is what you will need to complete this project:

  • Fabric of your choice
  • Dollar store burlap leaves
  • Paint color of your choice and paint brush
  • Twine, ribbon or string of your choice ( I used jute twine)
  • Scissors
  • Yard stick

The colors and material choices can be changed to what YOU love. This is just what I did for my personal taste but change it up! Get creative and make it your own.

Here are the steps:

  1. The burlap dollar store leaves I chose were a deep green. I thought I would like that color but decided to go with my love of white and just roughly paint them white. I didn’t perfectly paint them but just gave them a good coat using Paint Couture acrylic paint. While your leave are drying, move on to the next steps.
  2. Decide how long you want you garland to be. I chose to use 90″ of twine. I figured if it was too long I could just cut the ends off and make it shorter. But I really love the extra jute twine hanging on the ends. To me it adds to the imperfection of the shabby chic look.
  3. Next, measure out your fabric in 24 to 36 inch lengths by one inch width. I chose 24 inch length for my garland. Once the fabric is tied onto the jute twine – it will be hanging down 12 inches. You may choose to go longer or even have varying lengths.
  4. Cut your fabric roughly. I love the imperfect, frayed and rough cut edges. Again it adds to the shabby chic perfectly imperfect look.
  5. Find the center of your garland string. Once you find the center add a leaf to create the center focal point and begin adding your ribbon pieces moving outward from each side of the leaf. I chose seven different fabric pattern so there are seven fabric pieces in between each of my leaves.
  6. Fold your fabric piece in half and lay the folded portion on the garland string. Pull the fabric ends backward under the garland string, then through the folded end and pull until tight on the string. It will have a cute little neck tie look to it.
  7. Alternate your leave and fabric pieces until you have the desired fullness and look you want.
  8. Hang and enjoy!

I hope you find this inspirational! Use the colors and materials you like and create a fun fall garland for your home. This is such a great project for kids and can be adapted for any season.

Unfortunately, I lost the pictures on how to create the fabric pumpkins but am happy to recreate the steps with a new pumpkin if you all want it. Let me know!

Blessings and Happy Fall crafting!

– Tricia

Pumpkin Spice Sugar Scrub

Blue Song Creations

I am so excited to share this simple yet oh so yummy Pumpkin Spice Sugar Scrub recipe from my kitchen! This scrub is made with all organic ingredients except the pumpkin spice powder. You do not have to use organic ingredients to make it but for our family who deals with some skin sensitivity we chose to use organic. We have tested this recipe out and oh my…our hands and feet are baby skin smooth!

This is such a simple gift idea too! With holiday celebrations coming up this scrub makes a great hostess gift, party prize, teacher’s gift or just “thinking about you” gift. It is a great gift going right into the Christmas season as well. Makes a great stocking stuffer!

So, here we go. This is what you will need…

  • 1/2 a cup of organic coconut oil
  • 1-1/2 cup of organic white sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon of organic ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon of Pumpkin Pie Spice seasoning
  • Jars with lid
  • Ribbon or decorations

How to make the scrub…

  • In a microwave safe bowl, melt the coconut oil down to liquid. This can take anywhere from 30 seconds to a minute. Just stay close to the microwave and watch it.
  • Pour melted coconut oil into a mixing bowl. Slowly stir in sugar, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice. Mix together with a spoon. *Tip – I found that I needed to add just a little bit more sugar to the mix to make it more coarse. This is up to you. If you want a more coarse consistency add sugar to your liking.

  • Transfer to jar and decorate

I hope you like this scrub and will give it a try. We have loved it so far and are planning more batches and other recipes. As always, if you try this out please let me know what you think! I love to see what you create too!

Enjoy!

Tricia

Floral Pumpkin Centerpiece – Step by Step

Blue Song Creations

It is just early September and the bug to decorate my house in all things fall related has already bitten me. It actually bit me in August when I walked into Hobby Lobby and the store was already completely decked out in fall colors and decor bliss. Fall is one of my favorite seasons to decorate! Something about the steamy warmth, the smells of cinnamon and pumpkin, the whipped cream…oh,  wait…that’s a pumpkin spice latte. Sorry, what I meant, to say was something about the warm hues, the smell of cinnamon and pumpkin scented everything and the nip in the air feels like the cozy secure feeling of family, home and memory making times of the year.

My husband Geoff and I have been in the slow process of renovating the entire downstairs of our home. We have transitioned some of the spaces into more neutral color schemes so our usual fall decor is a bit too bold and will look out of place. I decided to DIY a few new items to implement into our fall decorating starting with a floral pumpkin centerpiece. I had so much creative fun making it I thought I would share the step by step process with you all in hopes it will inspire you to create this season. This project is so very easy and you can personalize the florals, decor and colors to fit your home.

What you will need:

  • Foam Pumpkin
  • Box cutter
  • Hot glue gun and glue sticks
  • Floral foam
  • Wire cutters
  • Florals and decor of your choice

Step 1:

Gather all of your materials together. Use the box cutter to cut a hole in the top center of the pumpkin. Make sure your opening is large enough to insert floral foam into the pumpkin while also leaving room around the edges of the foam to work. I find having a little area around the foam helps to manipulate and change the floral stem placements as I am working.

Step 2:

Hot glue the floral foam piece in the bottom of the pumpkin. You want the foam to be stable when you are adding the floral stems. Also, make sure the foam is sticking out above the cut in the top of the pumpkin too. This makes it so much easier to insert the stems and it will give a more full,  lush flower effect in the end.

Step 3:

Cut your floral stems to desired length. I always stand my stems on end beside the pumpkin to gauge the correct length. When in doubt it is best to be conservative – you can always cut more off later.

Step 4:

This is the fun part! Arrange away! Enjoy the process and arrange by what looks pleasing to your eye. I personally love a little height, with some floral stems spilling over. I also love all things blue birdie so I had to add one of those as well. But get creative! Add whatever you like and what fits in with your home’s decor.

Quick tip – as  I am arranging and I feel certain of placement I go ahead and add hot glue to the stem and then push it into the floral foam. This also adds to the stability of the arrangement.

Step 5:

Okay, so this is actually the fun part…display your creation!! And if you think about it send me pictures! I would love to see what you created.

I hope you enjoyed this quick and easy neutral fall floral piece. I hope you are inspired to create something you love!

Blessings to you!!

Tricia

Old Chair Gets A Quick New Look 

Blue Song Creations

I have been sick and stuck in bed for a week now. So to say I am about to go bat crazy just laying in bed day after day is an understatement. But – cruising Pinterest has kept my creative ideas flowing!  I have really been itching to get back to painting, creating and repurposing. 

I finally had some energy today so I decided I wanted to use that energy to do something creative. (I could have cleaned or done some laundry but…um…I’m not THAT well yet. teehee!)  Being stuck in bed, I’ve had the opportunity to stare at this old white chair in the corner of my room for DAYS now.

I really do love how this chair has weathered and chipped perfectly over the years but I wanted to add a little color and fun to it. I didn’t want to paint it and cover up all that beautiful, white chippy goodness so I decided to decoupage it just a little bit. 


I’ve had this gorgeous, shabby chic floral scrapbook paper for a while and I thought I would add it to the chair.


I grabbed my beloved Mod Podge, the scrapbook paper, some water, paint brush, X-acto knife, and sand paper.


I decided to alternate the slats with scrapbook paper and keep some of the chippy white slats as is. I lightly sanded the slats I wanted to cover.


I lined the paper up how I wanted it. I then used a very wet paint brush to soften the paper so I could easily tear it. You are probably wondering why I didn’t use the X-acto knife or scissors. The reason is I wanted a rough torn edge. When the paper is wet it is super easy to tear and it gives me that rough uneven edge I wanted for a used look. It is also easier to control the tear when the paper is wet.



Once I had all my pieces ready I decoupaged them to the sanded slats. 

I gently smoothed each piece down with damp fingers. I had to be very careful to get all the air bubbles out before the Mod Podge dried.



Once all the pieces were on – it looked like this…After the Mod Podge completely dried I sanded all the edges off. This is the fun part! If the paper rips or tears more – that is great! It only adds to the worn, chippy, shabby chic style.


When it was all finished I added another coat of Mod Podge to seal her up! I love how she turned out. The floral pattern added a little more interest and some shabby chic style. 



Thank you for checking out my post! If you decide to do something similar – I would love to see it! Please share! 🙂

Have a beautiful day! ~Tricia

Treasure Hunting Mini Tour

Blue Song Creations

My parents gave me something when I was a little girl. They gave me my first taste of the thrill of the hunt. And boy did it ever stick with me. I truly love searching for antique treasures and have an unstoppable drive to find the coolest dusty, rusty gem.  They really instilled in me a love of the old, the used, the time worn, and the discarded. That love has never ended.

I remember being only ten years old or so and going to the Raleigh, NC Fairgrounds hunting for antique clocks with my dad. He collected antique clocks. Mantle clocks, banjo style, swing style and even little alarm clocks. When we found one he was looking for we loved to talk with the vendor to hear the history and get the story behind the craftsmanship and the style. That was vital to understanding and knowing his new found piece.

My mom on the other hand loved to find antique kitchen items. She had a vintage counter mount meat grinder, old manual coffee grinders and to this day still has one of the first Betty Crocker cookbooks. Those pieces being in her kitchen always gave it such a warm and timeless feeling.


I have spent many a Saturday digging for treasures at flea markets, fair grounds, thrift stores, salvage yards and antique malls. I truly believe items from the past hold such rich character and display a glimpse into much gentler times. There is a purity to the past that needs to be remembered. Things, even ideas, long forgotten that need to be brought back to life. 

I love incorporating old items into my home. I love pieces that make people stop and ask about its history. I really believe old and vintage pieces build story upon story for your home. They give it a unique interest all the while making it super comfortable.

Over the years I have captured some of my favorite pieces and displays and I thought I would take you on a mini photo tour to see some of them. Hope you enjoy! 


This is my daughter Ella and me at a flea market.  I want to teach her the fun and value in loving the old. She is hooked too! She loves vintage toys and cat figurines. 

I absolutey adore anything with blue birds. This sweetie came home with me! 

Incredible doors from Italy! Are they stunning or what?!


I am still grieving leaving this pew behind! I should have grabbed her up! 


I swear…I would have 100 vintage scales if I could! Just a little addicted to these guys. 

I hope you enjoyed this mini tour! I would love if you shared your treasures and stories with me. 🙂

Have a beautiful day!

~Tricia

New Life from Layers

Blue Song Creations

I was recently asked to refinish a little side table that had forty years of use and multiple layers of cracking paint on it. I got really excited to take on a job like this because it was a chance for me to try a stripping product I had been reading about online.


In various blogs and painting forums I have been reading about a great furniture stripping product. Comments like, “little to no odor”, “blew through layers of paint”, “I can use it in my house without obnoxious fumes”.  So, I had to see for myself. Well, let me tell you – this sweet orange scented stripper did just exactly all that and then exceeded my expectations with how easy it is to use. I highly recommend this product.


It is called Citristrip. Many of you already know of it but if you don’t it is a must try! Citristrip is super powerful yet it contains no methylene chloride. It is a gel so it easily clung to all surfaces of this table and it completely blew through three layers of paint in less than thirty minutes. 



It is non-caustic – so it is great for indoor use. It doesn’t really have a smell at all other than a slight orange scent. Citrus is my favorite scent in absolutely anything so it really put me in my happy place. It is also biodegradable. 

To me, the  perfect stripping product. 


Look at that! A little final clean up with mineral spirits and she was ready to be sealed.


Stripping furniture is no fun at all. Messy, sticky and gloppy (gloppy is a word right?) but if you have to strip a piece – CitriStrip is the real deal! So easy to use  – and it leaves the exposed wood in great shape too! But like with all stripping agents you will need the proper clothes protection, gloves and eyewear – so please read the label! 

After sealing this cutie she was ready to go in my clients new study. I love the beautiful wood that is now bringing some rich depth to the room. 


You can purchase Citristrip at Lowe’s, Ace Hardware, Sherwin-Williams, Home Depot – just to name a few. Check out Citristrip’s website for more information and suppliers.  

http://www.citristrip.com/

Thank you for reading! Have a beautiful day.

~ Tricia