DIY Pumpkin Succulent Planter

pumpkin-succulent-planters

Our love for succulents has never faded. We love them, year-round! So, recently when we took a trip to find pumpkins at a garden center and saw pumpkin planters with succulents, we were head-over-heels in love. We made our own versions of the pumpkin planter {we bought the one with the skeleton}. This no-carve Halloween arrangement can be made for friends and family this Halloween and Thanksgiving season, and when pumpkin season is over, transfer the arrangement to a more festive winter holiday base.

halloween-fall-pumpkin-succulent-planter

Materials:

  • Mini pumpkins, faux or real
  • Succulents, mini
  • Hot glue
  • Skulls and other fairy-size decorations
  • Moss, Spanish Moss
  • Glitter hairspray

Directions:

Step 1: Gather supplies.

pumpkin-plants-succulent-moss

Step 2: Glue a handful Spanish Moss to the top of the pumpkin.

pumpkin-glue

pumpkin-planter-with-moss

Step 3: Insert the small succulents into the moss. Use a little hot glue if you have to keep them in place.

pumpkin-planter-succulent

Step 4: Add any other types of moss and mini stems to the top of the pumpkin. Finally, glue a skull or fairy-garden accessory on top.

succulent-planter-skull-pumpkin

Step 5: Spray hair glitter on the arrangement. This can be wiped off later, but the sparkle is so cute!

glitter-spray-pumpkin

You’re done. To keep the succulents alive, spray them with water.

succulent-planters-pumpkin-arrangements-skull

pumpkin-succulent-planter-halloween

succulent-pumpkin-planter

pumpkin-succulent-planter

succulent-planter-pumpkin-halloween-centerpiece-diy

DIY No-Carve Pumpkin with Customized Jean Pocket

diy-jean-pocket-pumpkin-green-bandana-country-cowboy-boots

We can hardly believe the watermelons and pool bags are being replaced with pumpkins and scarves. But, the fall season is upon us, so we dove right in with a good ‘ole DIY country pumpkin. Maybe it’s our Colorado roots, but there is something nostalgic about farms this time of year for us. The beautiful changing leaves, campfires, pumpkin patches with the kids, corn fields, bales of hay, rustic farm houses and apple picking.

As we were going through our kids closets, we found old jeans with holes in the front. So, why not upcycle an old pair of jeans for a DIY pumpkin with a customized jean pocket? And, wait, the best part was that it didn’t entail any cutting or gut removal of the pumpkin. We’ll do that closer to Halloween, but for now this no-carve pumpkin was stress and mess free, which made us happy.

We tried our new Silhouette CAMEO 3 for this project, and we are so in love with the capabilities of it. This is just a blimp on its cutting radar. But, it’s a cute blimp, and a great way to welcome fall, that’s for sure!

This customized jean pocket pumpkin is so easy, you can do it within 30 minutes. If you really get into it, add a belt through the belt loops.

white-pumpkin-happy-fall-y'all-jean-pocket

Materials:

  • White pumpkin, faux {use a fake pumpkin for this, so you can re-use it year after year}
  • Silhouette Heat Transfer, yellow
  • Old pair of jeans
  • Scissors
  • Hot glue and glue gun
  • Bandana
  • Silhouette CAMEO 3 electronic cutting machine

Directions:

Step 1: Cut the pockets and belt loops from an old pair of jeans, or the kids jeans.

Step 2: Design a fall phrase on your Silhouette software. We bought the adorable Happy Fall Y’all for a whopping .99 cents. Cut the design according to Heat Transfer instructions on the packaging. Remove the yellow ’empty space’ from one side of the heat transfer material.

yellow heat transfer craft project

happy fall y'all

Step 3Press the design onto the jean pocket.

happy fall y'all-jean pocket

Step 4: Place a cloth over the pocket with the design, and use an iron to set it. We counted to 30, and then peeled up just a corner of the design to make sure it was set onto the pocket before removing the plastic entirely. Once the design is set, remove the plastic.

happy-fall-y'all-heat-iron-transfer

Step 5: Use a hot glue gun to glue the pocket onto the pumpkin. Glue the belt loops, too.

hot-glue-gun-pumpkin-fall-craft

Step 6: Insert a bandana, wheat, cotton or whatever ‘accessory’ you want into the pocket.

diy-punpkin-with-a-jean-pocket-bandana

Step 7: Use the Silhouette CAMEO 3 to cut colorful leaves you can stick to the wall. Dust off your cowboy boots, and a hat, and you have a lovely country fall scene.

Happy Fall Y’all!

fall-bench-with-cowboy-boots-hat-pumpkin-jean-pocket-leaves

happy-fall-y'all-pumpkin-with-jean-pockets

jean-pocket-happy-fall-y'all-diy-white-pumpkin

diy-white-pumpkin-happy-fall-y'all-custom-jean-pocket

Thanks to Silhouette America for making this post possible. We loved Silhouette America since the inception of our blog, and would love them even if we didn’t receive product from them. All opinions expressed are our own. Thanks for supporting the companies that support j. sorelle. 

{free printable} I Spy Game for Thanksgiving

ispywithmylittleeye_jsorelle

One of our kid’s favorite games to play at the dinner table is I Spy. So this year, we’re happy to bring the tradition of I spy with my little eye to the Thanksgiving table. And, we’re also going retro with the use of a disposable camera. We can’t believe how ‘old school’ that seems with all the high-tech electronics nowadays. But for the kiddos, they can use and abuse the camera, and feel like a professional photographer for the evening, and you don’t have to worry about the state of your expensive phone. And, the best part of all – you can really see Thanksgiving through your children’s eyes. Don’t we all wish we could see the world through the eyes of our children on a daily basis – what a beautiful gift that would be?!

thanksgiving i spy with my little eye

Fleur de Lis created a cute and FREE printable for you that you can download here.

If you’re up for a DIY, we made the little DIY pumpkin napkin ring from a shower curtain ring. We wrapped the shower curtain ring in yarn, used a hot glue gun to keep the ends of the yarn in place, and topped it with a small branch and raffia bow. It took about 5 minutes!

thanksgiving i spy

thanksgiving i spy and diy pumpkin napkin ring

{images via j. sorelle}

Fall in a Basket Ideas

fall in a basket_silhouette letters_jsorelle

When a Silhouette America Portrait electronic cutting machine arrived at our door step, we literally leaped with joy! We know, who seriously reacts in such a way when an electronic cutting machine arrives? US! And, for good reason – the Silhouette is amazing. It takes our projects to a whole new level of creativity and endless possibility, and it’s a major time saver since it so perfectly cuts everything for us! It’s been a dream come true for us. Honestly, it was on Jessica’s Christmas list – and she will argue it was a NEED, but it was a WANT, a desperate want.

We have found it to be very user-friendly, and we love it. We don’t know what we ever did without it. We’ve made thank you cards, and some other fun projects we will reveal soon, but with the changing colors and the crisp air, a Fall in a Basket seemed appropriate…and too cute not to do.

fall in a basket_silhouette_jsorelle

Fall in A Basket Ingredients
A fall-inspired basket
Pumpkin Mason Jar {spray paint a vintage green mason jar orange, buy green lids designed for mason jars, find a small branch, cut and glue, then add a raffia ribbon}
Starbucks Via Pumpkin Spice Latte individual packet
Essie “she’s pampered” nail polish
Apple, caramel and a stick – the essentials to make a delicious caramel apple
A cinnamon stick garland {tie cinnamon sticks to twine to create the cutest garland ever}

And, of course, buy or use your Silhouette to print letters, “Happy Fall Y’all,” then use a hot glue gun to glue tiny clothes pins and the letters to the basket handle.

fall in a basket_silhouette_jsorelle

fall in a basket_silhouette_jsorelle

fallin a basket_silhouette_jsorellefall in a basket_silhouette_jsorelle

Happy Fall Y’all!

j. sorelle received products for this post from Silhouette, however we love would Silhouette even if they didn’t send us product, and all opinions are ours, we promise. View all of Silhouette’s amazing products here

{images via j. sorelle}

thanksgiving inspiration

Please accept our apology for a non-complete post that accidentally went ‘live’ yesterday. 

We’ve searched high and low for our favorite Thanksgiving inspiration from the blogosphere, and here are our faves so far this year…

We love the colors, gold confetti, feathers, natural touch of the cotton centerpiece and the salad plates in this gorgeous table setting by A Place for Us, with accessories by West Elm. You have to see the rest of it here.

There is no better time to reflect on the people around us, family and friends, things or people we are grateful for and even past family traditions or past Thanksgivings…and I think the best way to do that at the dinner table is to create a photo table runner. We saw the beautiful one featured on Ruffled Blog, so why not recreate for your Thanksgiving table? It’s on my to-do list.

Kids Thanksgiving Placemat, My Sister’s Suitcase
The kids will be fully entertained with this adorable and FREE printable.

This Thanksgiving, think about Paying Gratefulness Forward. We love this idea by Small Fry. Read more about it here.

We love this simple place mat idea for adults or kids by Skies of Parchment that can be easily made with Kraft paper. It’s a great activity for guests too.

We LOVE these customizable Word Search Placecards. So adorable, and a fun activity. Read this full tutorial at My So Called Crafty Life.
 This Pumpkin Spice Hot Chocolate by Good Life Eats looks amazing! Find the recipe here.

Think about adding a mini treat to this year’s dessert table with these Apple Pie Cheesecake Bites by Baked by Rachel. OMG delish!

{images via A Place for UsMy Sister’s SuitcaseRuffled Blog, Small Fry, Good Life Eats, Skies of ParchmentMy So Called Crafty Life and Baked by Rachel}