Happy Halloween! More fab Fall decor to share!

Hello friends! I hope you enjoyed your Halloween! We spent our evening with neighborhood friends.  Our host, my good friend Jodi, has a beautiful home and so many fun handmade pieces. I wanted to share a few photos with you that I took this evening.  This little "Jack-O-Lanter" was actually made by my friend Kelley.
Kelley runs an Etsy store called Gongy and Squish.  She is also starting to do local craft shows.  Here are a few more of her creations that Jodi has purchased and proudly displays in her lovely home.

This assemblage is one of my favorites. Aren't I lucky to have such a talented friend to create with sometimes? Here's another cutie pie made by her hands.

Jodi received this next one from Kelley as a birthday gift this year. All the pictures used are from a day we spent thrifting and junking together.  I just love them!  The foursome shot from left to right is: Me, Kim, Jodi and Kelley.

Of course, Jodi has a gift for decorating too which makes everything look just perfect! How about this chippy green shutter all decked out for fall?

And this is her PB knock off tree...Did you see the giant tree branch PB had on a front porch which was decorated with crows and vintage book pages?  Well, we each did our own copy cat version and put them in old nail barrels.  They came out great.  I'm about to redo mine for Thanksgiving and will share that project with you.  For now, here's Jodi's -

I did the best inside photos I could with a house full of kids and husbands!  I just did not want you to miss out on the fun! Speaking of fun, I'll leave you with a shot of my crazy kids. They are getting older now and Halloween costumes now are more for gags. Meet my whoopie cushion and sign spinner -

Yes, I'm so proud! lol  It was a busy weekend but lots of fun. I did work in my little studio this weekend and have some vintage inspired Christmas ornaments to share with you! I'll work on getting some photos up asap!  Take care my friends!

Junkin' Eye Candy - Advent Calendar you must see!

Paula and Deb of One Lucky Day created this unbelievable Advent Calendar project last year.  They offered this as a kit in their Etsy shop this year and are also teaching a class in Arizona in November.  I saw this first on Dawn's blog, The Feathered Nest.  I can only say.. WOW.  I hope you will visit their blog where you will find tutorials on several of the tags made for the calendar.  There is so much inspiration there whether you want to make your own advent calendar or just create some beautiful tags and cards for the holidays. Their Etsy shop can also be reached via their blog.  There, you will find the option of purchasing a CD with instructions on all the tags if you are interested.  I'll share a few photos of the holiday ornaments I'm working on real soon! It has been a long weekend of crafting, homework projects and trick or treating. We are all a little worn out.  Take care!

Friday and Saturday Linky Parties Meet My Friend Dazey

 Dazey and I have been friends for about six months. We hit it off the first time we met! She was hanging out at a local antique store that was going out of business. I walked in and the rest was history. I helped her get all "hootched up" for the party today.  She was looking a little "Plain Jane" until I added the cinnamon sticks. Now she's ready for fall.

It is a pretty busy day around the coop today, but we are not the type of girls to miss a party!  Dazey and I will be joining the following link parties today:

 Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground

Inspiration Friday at Southern in my Heart 

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage
Junkin finds at A La Carte
Saturday Night Special at Funky Junk Interiors 

I hope you'll stop by too. I promise you'll find plenty of vintage goodness, great decorating ideas and good friends. I've got some great ideas for vintage Christmas ornaments to share this weekend. So make sure you stop back by.  If you are visiting from the parties, thank you for stopping by! I hope you know I appreciate your comments and your follows. 

Giveaway Winners and something for each of you!

First, thank you for joining me in my impromptu mini celebration this past weekend! I can't believe I have surpassed 100 followers already! I am blown away by your support and appreciate each and every one of you.  I truly enjoy sharing my passions with you and reading all of your comments. I try to visit each of your blogs and have made some great new friends this past month.  Look for a formal giveaway from me soon...just in time for the holidays. So, if you didn't win tonight...just stay tuned.  Let's announce my three winners!  Each of you will receive one of my altered recipe cards:

Winner #1 is Omi S. from Bender Oak Gifts

That is Bender giving paw. Isn't he sweet?

Winner #2 is Linda from Itsy Bits and Pieces

She has two great Etsy shops and lots of inspiration on her site!

And finally (the girls stare intently at me as they anxiously await the name of the last winner)...
Winner #3 is Wanda Contreras!
Wanda does not appear to have a blog but I am so glad she follows! Accepting for Wanda tonight are Shelby and Zoey.  Don't worry Wanda. They were told no drool on the merchandise. Now, they are not very good at giving things up once they have them, but I'm counting on an old trick.  As soon as I open the lid on the treat container they will forget all about the drawing!...I hope.
Here's a little something for each of you! Just right click on the image. Save to your computer. You can edit this image or simply print to card stock (recommend cream).  You can make your own! Don't you love the red ink and the fact it is a Sugar Cookie recipe? I hope you are inspired to make something sweet. 

Thank you to everyone!  Lots of love and hugs to you all! Winners, please email me your addresses!

More Altered Recipe Cards

I've been busy creating more altered recipe cards.  I posted some previous ones with a holiday theme here. The holiday themed post includes a small giveaway.  So, be sure to take a peek! 

Here 's a little idea of how you could display these. What do you think?

Here's another one that I made. I have it displayed in a pint size mason jar that I have converted to a recipe holder. I love the size of this little guy!  I used coffee beans as a filler.  It is one of my favorites this time of year. I love the deep rich brown color and the smell!

And last but not least...I displayed this one in a simple vintage flower frog. I have these all over my house. They hold pictures, postcards and now my altered vintage recipe cards! 



Which one do you like best?  Do you have any special handwritten recipes from a family member?  I'd love to hear about it. Don't be shy, leave a comment if you have time. Remember that I am giving away three of the holiday themed recipe cards to my followers. See my previous post and link above to enter. I am going to link this post up tonight with White Wednesday over at Faded Charm Cottage.  Stop by and see all the great decorating ideas, thrifty finds and creations! 

Altered Recipe Cards - A little Giveaway too!

My friend Jodi recently purchased a vintage cookbook at an estate sale. Inside the book were some lovely handwritten recipes on index cards. Cookbooks and family recipes would inspire most people to want to make a favorite meal or dessert.  Not me.  I couldn't wait to get home to my scissors and glue!

I tried to use scraps and small pieces so that you could still see a bit of the recipe card.  I used quite a bit of vintage lace so that you could see through the embellishments to the recipe. I also tried not to over think it. When I make a tag or small piece, I have to use something as a base. A handwritten recipe is a lovely choice even if it is very subtle. I love this Santa image and that vintage earring I found at a garage sale. 

I love the contrast of the red on this one. The recipe really shines through and the script is beautiful. The recipe is for Brown Sugar Cookies.  I frosted the card with some fine glitter and added the embellishments.

This Santa image is printed on a lightweight cotton canvas.  It is from my my printer tutorial that I did a few posts back.  The vintage earring is another garage sale find.  These cards are made completely of items I already had from thrifting and garage sales.

In case you are wondering, I made copies of a few vintage recipes and used them over and over. I printed them on card stock, cut and distressed.  You could do the same thing and then embellish.

This one does not have a Christmas theme. Instead I used an old book binding left over from another project, some vintage lace, buttons and a skeleton key!  By now, you must have figured out that I have an obsession for collection of these. Let's just say when I can't sleep, I like to get on Ebay late at night.

So what can you do with these? You can: add a piece of ribbon and make it a tag, hang on a wine bottle, slip under a ribbon on homemade baked goods, frame one, place them in a vintage flower frog or how about in an apothecary jar filled with ever greens and pine cones? The possibilities are endless. They are just like postcards.

I hope you enjoyed these! I just realized I hit 100 followers today! I am blown away by your support -THANK YOU!. I"m going to be spontaneous and giveaway three of these! Three different followers will each receive one of these altered recipe cards!  To be eligible for this impromptu giveaway, please either add yourself as a new follower (one entry) and let me know you did below OR for existing followers, simply leave a comment about the post and just remind me you follow(one entry).  If you link back to this post or mention me on your blog, you get two more chances to win. Make sure you email me to let me know. If you don't have a blog listed in your profile - leave an email address with your comment so I can find you if you win. How about I  pick the three winners on Wednesday, October 27th at 9:00 p.m?  Sounds like fun to me!  Thanks for joining me in this mini celebration! Linking up to the following crafty linky parties:

Beyond the Picket Fence 

Life as Lori 

White Wednesday Assemblage Art Project

Sometimes you have to stretch your creative abilities a bit! Of course, posting them on your blog and sharing with the world wide web is a whole different thing! Gulp...Recently, I've been using all my junk and bits and pieces to make collage and assemblage projects.  The inspiration for this assemblage project was a photograph of this adorable little girl's face. I created the rest of her with spare parts. For example, her dress is a broken china plate and her wings a rusty vintage drawer pull. Her chubby cheeks and huge eyes reminded me so much of my daughter, who is growing by leaps and bounds every day.

As the piece came together, it reminded me so much of a little fairy.  My daughter still has a fairy door in her room and was a fairy expert just a year or so ago. She studied books on fairies for countless numbers of hours. She knew what kinds of fairies there were in the world, where they lived, and what attracted them...something shiny or something sweet. She knew how to draw them near to her.

This sweet little project will be a constant reminder to me of the special time in my young daughter's life when she "believed." 

I'm going to link up this little project to White Wednesday over at Faded Charm Cottage. I have also linked to Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground.  If you are looking for great decorating and project ideas..come visit us there! I am also linking to Three Muses Challenge "Things with Wings".  Thanks for stopping by during your busy day! I love your comments and appreciate your follows.  I'll be sharing some vintage Christmas projects later this week. Hope to see you again soon.

Easy Paperback Pumpkin Tutorial

My daughter and I made these cute paperback pumpkins to share!  This is a very easy tutorial that my friend Kelly shared with me. She thinks she found this on Craft Monkey.  The most important thing you need to know, according to my daughter, is that she made the one on the left!

Here is your supply list:  

Paperback book (better if pages are aged and yellow)
Stick for stem
Leaf (premade, one from scrapbook paper, burlap, etc.)
Ribbon
Black wire
Black scrapbook paper (we used glittered)
Scissors, glue gun, wire cutters, pencil

The most time consuming part is folding your book. Fold each page in half lengthwise going in the same direction through the entire book. Here are some photos so that you can see what it should look like.

When you are done it should look like the above photo.  The larger the book the tighter the page folds. This one took the shape of a cylinder as I folded.  If yours does not, simply fan the pages over and over until the front and back of the book meet.  Cut the excess from front and back cover. Place your "stem" or stick inside the center, then, hot glue the front and back pages together to form your cylinder.  Now it is time to embellish.  Follow our example in the photos provided.

We wrapped the black wire around a pencil, distressed our leaves, cut some ribbon (no photo) and cut out our eyes, noses and mouths. We used black glitter paper for face. These items were drawn on back then cut out. Although this is sticky back paper, we hot glued every item on the pumpkin.  Here is the top all done.

And here is the finished pair of mother and daughter pumpkins!

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to leave a comment or email me directly.  I hope you decide to make one too! If you do, please send me a picture via email. I would love to post yours on my blog.  I hope you enjoyed this tutorial.  If you did, please consider giving the Rusty Rooster a follow. I appreciate you dropping by today! I'm linking this post to the following parties if you'd like to visit for more inspiration:

  Funky Junk Interiors SNS
Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground

Inspiration Friday at Southern in My Heart

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage