Thankful Napkins

Day of the Doctor is over, so let me squeeze in some Thanksgiving themed stuff here! A few weeks ago was another Craft Night at Crazy Beans. We celebrated by decorating some napkins. I ordered the napkins from Save-on-Crafts and we painted them with some acrylic. To make them look really snazzy I made a bunch of stencils (with my trusty silhouette cameo) for all of our crafterinos to use. The stencil's varied from some birdies, leaves, 'give thanks' text and because it is no-shave november, I made a few mustaches.

Everyone had a lot of fun. I met some new people and enticed them with crafty wonderness! One guy just came in for coffee and looked around with a look on his face that said, "what the heck is going on in this coffee house?" And he left with a fabulous napkin. My friend Matt got a little creative and he made his own sayings. I'm proud of my friend Joe. He is not a big crafts person but he wanted to make one for his grandma so he soldiered on!

Would you like to make your own lovely napkin? Here is how! 

Materials & Tools

• Burlap napkin
• Acrylic paint
• Stencils (optional)  
• Foam brushes 
• Cardboard 
• Iron

Instructions

• Prepare the stencils and paint. Figure out what your design will be and what colors you want to use
• Before you begin painting, place a piece of cardboard underneath the napkin (this helps prevent paint from getting all over your table) 
• Place a stencil down and paint over your stencil gently! Then lift up the stencil. Repeat this step until you are satisfied with how your napkin looks! 
• The next day, after your napkin is completely dry, iron it a little bit. This heat sets the paint and really helps melt it into the fabric. 

Where the leaves at?

Hello there....

This past week has been super boring! Tim was away at a conference and I worked pretty much every night of the week. I was also a little bummed at the weather. I'm ready for Fall, wearing boots and flannel and running through leaves like this little guy! Instead its still really super hot.

Here is what I have been up to.....

Speaking of Fall, busted out all of our Fall stuff. It turns out its pretty much ALL Halloween stuff. Not that theres anything wrong with that, Halloween is my fav. However I do want some fun Autumn decorations. So I broke out the trusty silhouette and made some myself. I came across the quote and I especially love it because its F. Scott Fitzgerald.

I finished my Doctor Who Scarf I told y'all about. It came out pretty awesome. Its huge, but I wanted it to be, DEAL WITH IT!



On Saturday Tim and I were total grown ups and we saw Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2. When I took the first one home on DVD, Tim was like 'pssh....that looks lame' Then when it actually saw it he thought it was the funniest thing ever. Which is pretty typical Tim. Any who, I was looking forward to this one because these movies have just as many adult jokes as kid ones. I especially love Berry.

On Sunday we took a ride out to South Hampton to check out a festival there. We walked around town for a bit and saw some neat things. One of those neat things was at an art center that had an exhibit on the works of Chas Addams. He was a cartoonist with a sick and twisted brand of humor that I found quite enjoyable. He was also the creator of the Adams Family. He had some really cool comics and Tim and I are probably gonna order some prints. 

I really love this picture called Halloween Taxi.

After the exhibit we walked around a bit. I got an awesome lobster roll that is worth mentioning. It was served in a croissant which made it all the more awesome. After walking around we stopped at an antiques shop to see their wares. We found this old time-y camera. I hope its not secretly possessed like some kind of horror movie. I also saw this really silly Hitler pin cushion. The old ladies running the place said its one of their favorites. 

Friday Night Sew In

A while back I came across this on the blogosphere, Friday Night Sew In, run by the blogs Handmade by Heidi and Crafty Vegas Mom. I thought it was a neat idea, its Friday leave me alone and let me work on stuff!

Its no secret that Halloween is one of my favorite times of year! This year I am so thrilled to be able to decorate the house! I have a few ideas already and thought since I had the time why not get some stuff done while I have some time.

Pinterest is chock full of decorating with bunting. For those not familiar bunting are the little flags on string. I decided to get some Halloween bunting going by using some burlap and the freezer paper stencil technique. It comes out looking pretty nice and can be used for other occasions, such as weddings.

Be sure to check back soon and I will have a tutorial posted!

Also if you want your kids to get in on the crafting action I made some bats. This was for a Summer Reading club program I did, Bats at the Library. I loved the bats and thought they were so cute (and easy to make) I decided to make a few for the house. Also they are made with a clothespin so you can clip any old place you want.

I will also have a tutorial for my bat friends. So check back later!