Source: tumblr.com via The Real Housewives on Pinterest
Is it just the English teacher in me, or is this funny? I seriously laugh every single time I see it. Perhaps this picture is what inspired me to shoot for a non-traditional fall mantle this year. I'm usually a warm colors, traditional fall mantle girl. Not this year. I wanted something with cooler tones and some personality. Enter the Poe Inspired Mantle.
The black & white pumpkin and the raven are both from Hobby Lobby. (My daughter claims it's a crow, but it's a raven to me, heck it even squaked"Nevermore" the other day!) I was thinking of getting sticks for the vase, but I saw these peacock feathers and they just screamed"AWESOME" so I went with them and some spoooky branches. The owl is adorable and will become a permanent part of my decor somewhere.
I still really struggle with having the TV above the fireplace because it cramps my decorating style, but it's definitely the most practical. Sorry, for the BTR promo… when you have 4 kids, sometimes you gotta let them watch tv so mommy can take blog pics. Who knows, maybe BTR will want to be featured on our blog? Ha! (If you don't know BTR, then you clearly don't have an 9yr old)
In addition to finishing my fall mantle, the babies and I (perhaps at 2 and 4 they're not babies, but we call 'em that) did a little fall craftin' with some scrap particle board.
DIY Scrap Fall Sign Nothing fancy about this wood; I think the builder left it. It's really poor quality particle board, but I saw its inner beauty! Well…actually… I was just glad it was free.
My famous paint can shot (can something be famous just because I declared it so?) I just used some leftover paint that Nate left here. Oh, who's Nate you ask?? Umm, just my pal Nate Berkus. We're tight. (hahah!) This paint did come in the Nate Crate though.
Did you know that Jess and I like to paint topless? KIDDING!! I let my kiddos do the painting… you thought I was a hoochie for a second there didn't you?
We did a very rough base coat. I didn't want it 100% covered. Then it was time to stencil the letters and I needed to get it straight, so rather than take 2 minutes to find a ruler, I just used a scrap piece of paper and a piece of chalk to make some guide lines.
The stencil I used was the Helvetica font and I got it for $7.99 at HobLob.
I love these little bracket symbols. Jess and I probably over use them, but we can't help it. They're cool.
Some of the letters require a little work. First, stencil in the shape as is…
Then, you need to fill in where the plastic was for support. I just used two little pieces of painter's tape. It fills in nicely as you'll see in the finished product.
DARN my lack of planning. LEAF PILE was too long… I had 2 options… pretend"AF PILE" is a cool, family inside joke, or come up with a plan B…
I went with plan B. I painted over the AF…
and decided that a visual would work. Kaden ran outside and picked out two leaves that he liked the most. I pressed them on the wood and did a light stencil around the edges to create the shape of the leaf
I'll be the first to admit: 1. This is not a fancy-schmancy masterpiece 2. It's really hard to read. (Fall sorta looks like"fail"… The hubs was confused why I wrote the word"pile" until I explained it… and yes, there is a P missing from"pumpkins" for the sake of space)
However, even with all its quirkiness, after a final light sanding, I was really happy with the finished product.
I think it's a fun, personal addition to our front porch.
Sure, it's no crazy-cool subway art, but for $7.99 it's cute and kept me and my kids busy making it for at least an hour. That scores one in my book!
So, do you have any junky wood sitting around that you can make a cool family sign with? Give it a try and let us know how it turns out.
P.S. I have to confess, there are many things I wanted on this sign that didn't fit… Starbucks and Pumpkin Spice Latte just to name a few!
Linked up to: Stories of A to Z