My Recycled Christmas Ornaments Are Featured on Redbook.com!

I was excited to learn that my tutorial on making Christmas Ornaments from Recycled Greeting Cards was included in a holiday craft feature on Redbook.com!  Just in time for the Christmas season.

You can find my tutorial here.  See all the holiday ornaments featured on Redbbok.com here.

{Switching Seasons} Paper Plate Angels: A Great Holiday Craft Project!

I know, we just got past Halloween and it's not even Thanksgiving yet.  I know I'm rushing the seasons a bit, but it's been raining here for what seems like forever, so I just keep making stuff!

And I love the idea of these easy angels (though I can't get any decent photos of them in this dark and dreary weather we're having).  These charming angels are made with a simple paper plate, a lacy doily, and some basic art supplies.  A great project for any age or group, these angels can be used to decorate a mantle, hang on your Christmas tree, or as a tree topper!  You can find all the directions on my Hubpages!

{Fall Decorating} - Putting the Final Touches on My Fall Mantle

I keep thinking I'm done decorating my fall mantle, then I turn around and add a few more details.

The latest are these brown paper leaves I made and painted.  I think they really tie the mantle display and the fall banner together.  I posted the full directions on making these paper leaves on Hometalk.

I might be done decorating for fall.  Or I might have one more craft project in the works.  Stay tuned :)

{Craft Tutorial} Falling for Fall: No Sew Fall Welcome Banner

This year, for some reason, I keep doing more and more fall crafting and decorating.  After dressing up my mantle with my Scrap Fabric Fall Leaves decoration and then building some Stacked Pumpkin Topiaries, I thought my fireplace still needed some autumn cheer.  So over this past (very) rainy weekend, I made this easy No Sew Fall Welcome Banner to hang from my mantle.  I love the festive color it adds to our dark (so far) unused fireplace.

This truly is an easy project that can be done over a weekend.  All you need is some fabric, a bunch of artificial leaves, and some glue!  You can find all the directions on my Hubpages!

I'm Pinning Fall Ideas to Hometalk's Pinterest Board!

I was thrilled to be chosen to be one of the bloggers pinning ideas to Hometalk's Fall Inspiration board!  Hometalk.com is a FREE home, garden, and crafts community website.  It is chuck full of great ideas for your home and yard.  Members post and share the most amazing projects.  I just love visiting this site every day!

If you're looking for some creative decorating or craft ideas for fall and Halloween, check out Hometalk's Fall Inspiration Pinterest board.  I'm having a blast adding new projects and ideas I find on the web.  Check it out!!

Saying "Hello!" to Fall ~ Easy Autumn Pumpkin Decorations

Looking for some easy Halloween or fall decorating projects?  Stacked pumpkin topiaries are easy to make and provide festive color and just the right amount of autumn cheer.

I made a few of these stacked pumpkin decorations last weekend to decorate my porch and my mantle, and to use as a table centerpiece.

They're a lot of fun and easy to make.  Check out my full tutorial on my Hubpages!

How to Fold a Fancy Napkin When You Don't Know How to Fold a Napkin

A few people have asked how I folded my linen napkin in the photos for my Scrap Fabric Leaves and Napkin Ring tutorial, so I decided to post some step-by-step photos here.  I like this folding method because it's easy and gives a nice casual look, but still feels special.  You could create a more formal look by pressing each fold in place.

Step 1:  Start with freshly washed and pressed napkins.  If your napkins are made of a light weight fabric, you may also want to give them a light starch.  My napkins are mid-weight, so I did not starch them before folding.  (They look creased in these photos, because I was unfolding my fancy fold).

Step 2:  Place your pressed napkin face down on your folding surface with one of your four corners pointed toward the 12 o'clock position.  Then take your bottom corner and fold it up toward your top corner but place it about an inch to an inch and a half below your top corner (see photo above).  You may want to press the fold you just created.  I didn't so that my folded napkin had a more casual look.

Step 3:  Fold the bottom section up so that you create a 2 to 3 inch band at the bottom (see photo above).  Again, you may choose to iron this fold.

Step 4:  Now turn your napkin over so that the right side is facing up (see photo above).

Step 5:  Take the right side of your long bottom band and fold it toward the left side.  Place it so it is about 1 inch short of meeting the left edge (see photo above).

Step 6:  Continue to fold your napkin toward the left side, creating a center section of your napkin that is about 3 inches wide and an even point at the top of your napkin (see photo).

Step 7:  Continue to fold your napkin to the left.

Step 8:  Fold the last remaining tab of your napkin over. 

Step 9:  Fold in half lengthwise to slip through a napkin ring if you choose and fan out the top of your napkin to show off your interesting folds.

Step 10:  Then check out my tutorial on how to create your own fall-inspired napkin rings!