I'm a little behind in the blogger world when it comes to fall decor. In my defense, we live in Charlotte, North Carolina where we just had our first fall weather day this past weekend.
And it was magical! You know the kind of day I'm talking about? That first day when it's just cool enough to get away with wearing your boots and not feeling like a lunatic? We had our annual pumpkin carving party at my in-laws' house and the air was so crisp and clean and ahhhhh refreshing.
So when we came home with our freshly carved pumpkins from the party, my giddy-like-a-little-kid hubby didn't waste a second in planning our porch decor. (He's the most fall/holiday spirited person I know.) But while he was at work today, I added a little decor of my own. Ha!
You see all of those funny looking pumpkins? That would be the hubby's handiwork since my main goal was to keep our toddler away from all the shiny, pretty, sharp knives. They're quirky and silly like our family. ;)
And even though they're super cute, they seemed a little lonely. The porch needed...something. I've always wished we had a grand front door with beautiful sidelights, but alas, builder grade strikes again. So a pair of sidelight signs was my answer!
I lugged Olivia into Lowe's and asked the super nice associate (who chuckled and seemed like he'd seen his fair share of Pinterest-crazed mommies) to cut a piece of plywood for my project.
Here are the supplies I used:
- 2 plywood cuts of 12"x70"
- 1 sample pot Valspar Blackstrap
- 10 sheets of cardstock
- Xacto knife
- Masking or packing tape
- White craft paint
- Paint brush
Technically, the plywood piece cost $17, but considering I only used about a third of it for this project, I only counted the two signs cuts as costing $6. I have big plans for the other cuts from the plywood sheet though. ;)
The sample paint pot cost less than $3.
I painted the Blackstrap paint directly onto the plywood pieces. Since it was raw wood, it took hardly any time to dry and soaked the paint right up. I still had plenty of paint leftover too, at least half the pot.
For the wording, I used PicMonkey to format my stencils. I used good ol' Times New Roman. (I think the former English teacher in me is showing.)
Then, I printed each individual letter on the cardstock.
And I cut out the letters to create my stencils using an Xacto knife. (You think Santa will bring me a vinyl cutter this year? It's times like these when I mentally put it on my Christmas list.)
The cardstock sheets were perfect for lining up and spacing out the stencils, so there was no guess work at all. I taped down the sides of the stencils to keep them from sliding around. (Ignore my ridiculous garage clutter back there. I think our junk reproduces all on its own.)
Using white craft paint from my stash, I pounced my brush on the stencils to prevent any smudging under the stencils.
And that was it! I knocked out this project in less than an hour!
They added so much personality to our front porch! And while I was getting the plywood, I picked up a bundle of cornstalks for $5. Amazing what wood, paint, and dead plants can do, right?
I revamped my door wreath too since it was still sporting the spring/summer look until last week. I used two fall garlands from Walmart for about $4 each to wrap around it and secured with floral wire. You can get the gist of how to make it from the DIY Initial Wreath I posted back in January.
I love that I went with traditional fall colors this year. Our front yard doesn't have big trees with pretty falling leaves, so I was dying to put red, orange, and yellow everywhere.
And these are some of the pumpkins from our weekend party. I snapped a bunch of pictures from Saturday, so of course, I have to share them with y'all. ;)
My in-laws have a gorgeous hiking trail behind their house, so we took advantage of the first fall weather. My idea of roughing it is staying in a motel without a hair dryer, but even snake-fearing, bug-swatting, girlified me LOVED our hike.
Does this not melt your heart? There's nothing sweeter than a little girl and her daddy.
My in-laws have this cool old barn behind their house that I would trudge into and start picking if I wasn't terrified of what other critters might be lurking in there. So I just admire the barnwood instead.
Their trail is covered in this lush green moss and it's like walking on carpet! Nature and I don't always get along, but there aren't words to describe how close I feel to God in these woods.
Little miss Olivia loved every second of trudging through the leaves.
I love this child more every day, and every day I'm amazed that's even possible.
So it's official. I'm completely ready for fall! Bring on the trick or treaters! ...if I don't eat all of the Halloween candy first. The big bowl of it in our foyer needs to stop calling me.
Do you have any fall weather in your area yet? What cute Halloween crafts have you seen lately? Is your porch already decorated? I'd love to see!
Blessings,
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