Disclosure: I received this Sizzix machine and die cuts for free, but all feelings and opinions are my own. This post does include affiliate links.
Holidays and seasonal things are the perfect time to break out some fun and invest in having your children build memories they will remember for a lifetime.
I have some fun neighbors and I smiled brightly when our house got boo’d last week. Have you heard of this neighborhood game before? The idea is that you put together a little bag of goodies and you leave it with a note on a neighbor’s door knob as a surprise. This is being boo’d. Once you have been boo’d, you do it for two neighbors that have not been boo’d yet. Once you have been boo’d, you are supposed to post your little ghost picture in a window, so all the neighbors know you have already been boo’d.
The kids love it. Although it’s supposed to be anonymous, the kids excitedly ask one another if they got their bag. We got boo’d last week, and we had two days to boo other neighbors. I quickly whipped up our boo bags, and I will show you how, so you can do the same. If you aren’t into Halloween stuff and the idea of being boo’d, you might still like this tutorial so you can create bags for other holidays or gift bags for any occasion. There are lots of possibilities for this craft.
I turned to my Sizzix immediately. You might remember how I used it to create my Felt Flower Initial for my new niece (who is amazing and I will hopefully post pictures of soon). Sizzix has all kinds of amazing holiday die cuts that will save you so much time and stress on cutting out the perfect images for your crafts. I was excited to try out a few of their fall/Halloween die cuts.
I started by gathering some felt and sparkly paper with colors that would work for my die cuts. I then used my Sizzix to cut out my shapes. Once the shapes were cut, I simply pushed them out of their design and I was ready to craft with them.
I laid each of my die cuts on a coordinating piece of felt folded in half. I made sure I liked the placement and colors working together.
I then either stitched on my design or hot glued it. I played around with both ways, and they both worked great. I then stitched up the bottom and side of my felt (which I had folded over) to create a bag. I ended up stitching the other side as well (even though the fold closed that side off) just so it looked more symmetrical. I sewed either some ribbon or rope into the crease at the top of each bag to create handles and they were done.
They were so quick and cheap. Plus, they are cute! I love how if you change out the colors and die cuts this bag idea could be used for so many different occasions.
They would make great gift bags. You could probably even use the idea, but instead of folding your felt in half, just sew two pieces of felt together to make a larger bag for a trick or treat goodie bag. Wouldn’t they be cute to hold birthday party favors as well? So many ideas if you use your imagination!
Once our bags were created, we added some goodies and our signs. I, of course, had to find a cute helper to help me stuff the bags.
The final step was hanging our Boo bags secretly out on our neighbors’ doors. The kids were all too excited to act like spies and hurry up and down the street.
Have you ever been Boo’d before!? If not, you could start this idea on your street. Print out a little ghost Boo sign and type up some simple instructions for your neighbors to read, attach them to your goody bag and you are ready to play!
I hope you are all having a great week and are able to create some fun memories with your kids!
My fingers took one for creativity with this project. There were moments I am sure they were screaming at me to stop and be kind, but I kept telling them this project was worth it. I do believe it was!
I’ve been on a yarn kick with my 
This was a thick dense cover and my fingers felt it as I pulled yarn through it. I learned the hard way, and I have a few ideas that can help you take this idea and make it easier for your fingers.
I drew an arrow on my burlap and then picked one color of yarn to sew around the border. I sewed the arrow like I would embroider a hoop. The difference was a thick, strong, sharp needle rather than a smaller needle with embroidery floss.
After my arrow was outlined, it was time for the fun part. I looked at my huge basket of colorful yarn and started sewing stripes one color at a time.
A few tips to help you:
After I finished sewing my arrow, I made an envelope back like I did on my 
I absolutely love all the color and different pops of textures! It is such a fun element that can brighten up any space. I also love how this project didn’t cost me a thing. I had everything on hand. Recycling an old object can give new life and lengthen the enjoyment of something. That old pillow has never looked better.
Right now I am carrying this pillow with me around the house and playing with it in different rooms. I like it in every single one. I might need to make some more yarn embellished pillows.
What do you think!? Do you recycle your old pillows too!? Would you add yarn embellishments to a pillow like me?
This is the best time of year to be outside in my book. I literally find myself wanting to take a picture every day of the clouds. You know I love fall, so I won’t gush too much. Something key to enjoying the outdoors is having a comfortable space to watch the kids, relax, sit, and just be.
Pretty plain right? Not a mess, but definitely not inviting. We have had amazing feedback on our house. If there is a complaint it is the size of the backyard. I am hoping this little makeover helps it sell.
, and did it in about 8 hours off and on.
I had an old bench and chair sitting in my basement gifted from a friend who knew I could do something with them. I used a beautiful color of Rustoleum spray paint and went to town on them. It took less than two cans of paint with a few light layers drying complete between each coat.
Please forgive me for not wearing a mask, we were outside and it was quick light coats, but you should wear a mask. Let’s not even mention that I’m doing this in my PJ’s… thanks!
I had a log that I had taken from my parents’ wood pile sitting in the garage. My initial idea was to create a little wood log end table with it, like the one I did for 
I bought a few plain boring planters, primed them, and then spray painted the bottom half hot pink. I intended to go back and paint the tops black, but I forgot about that until seeing these pictures. 🙂 Opps!
Mums do a lot to make a space feel happy and friendly. I love the color they add as well! Next, I bought a few hanging plants on clearance at Wal-mart for $2.50 each. Matt rigged up an old yellow chain, and we hung them up from our deck. If you are wanting some fun white lights for outdoors, run to Wal-mart. I bought four boxes for $5.00 each. They are fun, white lights that can be used indoors or outdoors. I want to go back and get more. They are in the Christmas section. I’m not being paid to say this at all. What a great deal though, right!? My last set of white lights I bought for 
I found this cute kitchen rug at Wal-Mart as well. You might remember I bought a few when I made 
I’ve made a lot of wreath’s, but this cute one for $3.00 at Target got me. It was cheap, cute, and I don’t care if it gets rained on and ruined. It didn’t take me any time.
We are loving our new area. It is so bright and cheerful. It’s a much better seat to enjoy looking out at the woods and watching my kids play.
Of course this makeover got me thinking bigger. I’d love to put a big wall art to hang above the bench and some metal sheets to cover the under deck to make it waterproof. Hopefully though someone else will fall in love with this house (including this area) and I will be blessed to not have to keep creating at this house.
We were pretty sad that no one at the open house fell in love with this space and gave us an offer. I know God has a plan, and we are trying to persevere until we know it. What is the craziest thing you have ever done to sell a house? Did you ever makeover a space quickly too!?
I hope I can keep these flowers alive until the house sells. Otherwise everything else created here, can go with us to Indiana. I did this in a about 8 hours with four kids in tow. You can do so much more than you think, if you just go for it.
The pictures in our 
Here is how this little dream has gone.
We committed to selling this shirt for September and I can’t believe we are already at the end of the month. I don’t know yet, if we will sell these particular shirts again. It might be a one time project or we may be at the start of something new. We have not processed it yet.