pretty pumpkin projects

October is one of my favorite months… and it seems to be the case for a lot of people I know (and follow online). In honor of one of the best things about this month — PUMPKIN EVERYTHING — here are some fun decorating ideas! I’ve really been drawn to painting my pumpkins this year, but I really love the shiny thumbtacks used to create funky patterns.

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Country Living

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Woman’s Day

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Better Homes & Gardens

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Neon Fresh

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Country Living

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Madigan Made

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Martha Stewart 

 

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Thistlewood Farms

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Country Living

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Kelli Trontel

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The Swede Records

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Funkytime

one of my favorite fall activities

I love it when fall rolls around… so many great outdoor festivals and events that allow us to enjoy the nice cool weather. One of my favorites is the Scarecrows in the Garden at the Atlanta Botanical Garden. This was the 3rd year in a row that I’ve gone, and it’s something that’s not to be missed in Atlanta. Every October, the Garden is decorated with more than 100 scarecrows handcrafted by businesses, individuals, schools and organizations. This year, the Center for Puppetry Arts made our first scarecrow, Mr. Jon von Hinespyder! He was the creation of several of my coworkers, and they did a fantastic job.

And every Thursday in October, you can celebrate the harvest season with seasonal brews and live music at the Fest-of-Ale. Our friend David Stephens and his band, Banjolicious, perform each week. Some fun favorites include “Banana Pudding,” “Krispy Kreme,” and “Wal-Mart Song.” Be sure to check him out for some good old fashioned banjo tunes!

Meet Mr. Jon von Hinespyder::

Some of my other favorites::


We also enjoyed the interactive scarecrows::

Although we went on this little field trip a few weeks ago, I have to give Karen a shout out today — it’s her 30th birthday!! Happy happy birthday to one of my very first friends from college!

And I’m really looking forward to going back to the ABG for Garden Lights, Holiday Lights when my parents are in town for Thanksgiving or Christmas. We went for the first time last year, and although it was FREEZING, it was really neat… sort of like Christmas lights on steroids. It’s supposed to be even bigger and better this year, so I’m excited to turn this into a fun family tradition!

DIY project:: sparkly pumpkins

It’s officially fall!!! I don’t know about everyone else, but I can feel it in the air in Georgia, and it’s glorious! I am quite enjoying the cooler weather, especially in the morning, and not getting sweaty walking 20 or 30 feet to my car after work. To help get into the fall spirit, I decided pumpkins needed to be purchased. Not real ones just yet since it is still September…. so plastic ones would have to do the trick. But I wanted something a bit less “pumpkiny” than these guys below. So, enter the spray paint.

I had the hardest time deciding on colors…. I must have spent 15 minutes staring at different bottles and color combinations at Michael’s. I ended up deciding on some super glittery spray in both gold and silver and got the “sparkling canyon” in satin to round out the metallics.

Craig was sweet and set out a big drop cloth for me to work on in the garage. I set them all out in groups so that I could divide them up among my 3 color choices. The large pumpkins were fairly easy to spray, but it was a bit difficult to control clumping where the spray rolled around to the bottom side of each pumpkin. The little mini pumpkins were almost impossible to cover! Every time I sprayed one, it would go flying across the drop cloth. I don’t know the best way to remedy that problem…. buy heavier pumpkins, I guess.

After a couple light coats on each  pumpkin, it was clear that the awesome glittery spray paint was just not cutting it for this job. The silver spray bottle got stuck in the “on” position and proceeded to just spray tons and tons of glitter everywhere…. everywhere except for the pumpkins. The gold did something similar. So it was on to Plan B with those sets…. this time, I went to Home Depot — and was AMAZED at the assortment of spray paint they have!! I chose non-glittery metallics in gold and silver to cover up the crazy, half-glittered pumpkins. These cans are great — easy to spray and they don’t stick like the others did.

And here’s the finished product! Lots of sparkly pumplins in various shapes and sizes… some a little more glittery than others, thanks to the first round of painting-gone-wrong. I tossed them (meaning I actually very carefully placed them so you can’t see the dried clumps of paint here and there) in a big glass bowl on our dining room table.

And then I accented them on each side with two of these guys!! Our family friend Leslie had gotten several of these gems at the local Dollar Tree in Arcadia, and I just loved them, so I had to get some of my own. Next time, I’ll stick to the pre-made glittery items. Happy Fall, y’all!