September’s DIY: Acorns & Pumpkins

Well I about jumped the gun in August to share this DIY but with self-control decided an Autumn-inspired post should hold off until at least September and now here we are nearly half way through the month so I need to get this out!! …If y’all haven’t noticed time management is not my strong suit!!

Today we’ll walk through the steps to making plump fabric pumpkins and charming little acorns. Both of these are to be used indoors and next month I’ll feature a post creating DIY outdoor pumpkins.

My favorite part of these crafts is the fact that they’re inexpensive, easy to create, reusable, and customizable.

We’ll start on pumpkins first:

You’ll need—

Fabric (your choice, one color for the pumpkin and a suitable color(s) to use for a leaf or two.

Scissors

Dry beans

Pillow stuffing

Needle

Embroidery thread (required so it’s durable)

A stick for the stem

Craft glue

First you’ll want to trace a circle, at least the size of a 7 inch plate or larger, and then cut it out.

Next you will cut about a 20 inch piece of embroidery thread (depending on the size of your circle) — tie a double or triple knot at the end of the thread and then weave it in and out of the outer edge of the circle. See photo below.

**If your thread seems to short for your circle simply cinch up your threaded circle (as you work your way all the way around) to allow for more thread to work with. Place beans in the bottom once you’ve made it this far.

Fill it generously with pillow stuffing and now you’ll tie off your thread and knot it a few times.

Once it’s knotted that long string can be cut close (but not too close to the knot) …apparently I didn’t get a pic of that!!

You will take a long piece of the thread at this point, knot the end and push the needle and thread through the top of the pumpkin then pull it through the middle of the underneath side. See steps in photos below.

Now you’re going to create the lines that a real pumpkin has so we will evenly space the thread to create those lines and you will basically loop the thread from the underneath of the pumpkin, over the side of it and back through the top..repeating until you have the desired amount of lines that you think looks right. I think I can best explain through photos. Follow along below.

You can tie your thread off at the bottom and push the needle up through the bottom of the pumpkin and out the side and then cut that thread to hide it inside of your pumpkin. A few examples below:

To finish we’ll add a stem and some leaves using glue.

ALL DONE…now if you want to add cute little acorns for some extra Fall flair follow the instructions below!

Acorn supplies:

Fabric

Scissors

Acorn tops (great time to send the kids on a scavenger hunt!)

Wooden ball with hollowed out center (about the size of a quarter)

First trace a circle at 3 1/2 inches across and cut out.

Next center the wooden ball in the center of the fabric and pull up the fabric to cover the ball. You will then poke the fabric through the hole at one end of the wooden ball, working the fabric into the holes in sections helps give a clean look. I used a screw driver to push the fabric in. See photos below:

Now we quickly finish up by beading glue around the inside edge of the acorn top and then lightly pushing it overtop of the tucked in fabric.

That’s it!! Super easy and pairs up great with the fabric pumpkins!

Of course some scripture needs to “fall” into place somewhere in this post so in keeping with the approaching season I want to share a scripture that’s one of my favorites and one of the first ones I memorized.

“The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.” —Luke 10:2

…notice the rhyming there, that’s what makes it an easier one to memorize!

Love this verse because it’s a reminder that those who are believers have work to do…the “harvest” represents unbelievers and the “workers” are Christians which God has called to share His gospel message, His care, and His love with those who don’t know Him for His purpose!!

Are you making a conscious effort to further His kingdom and glorify Him?

How can we as Christians continue to work in the harvesting?

Just Peachy!

Just Peachy: Fruits of the Spirit

I wish we could sit across the table from one another, sipping on crazy amounts of coffee and snacking on freshly sliced peaches, while having this conversation:

I’d ask how you are and when you’d ask me, I’d likely respond, “I’m just peachy!”—LITERALLY!!!A8116F0E-2E9B-4843-9145-A1FB68E3A3E7.jpegIt’s peach season and we have an abundance of peaches growing on our peach tree this year in our backyard. They’ve been ripening at different times over the past few weeks which has been nice because what I consider a “rare delicacy” has lasted just a bit longer than in the years before!

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My girls picking peaches

I absolutely love this tasty fruit, from its sunset shaded color with velvety soft skin—to the benefits of its nutritional value, offering an assortment of vitamins and minerals.

According to dr.axe.com the peach is a high-antioxidant food with anti-inflammatory and anti-fungal properties which makes it a great (additional) resource for fighting disease and promoting a healthy immune system.

I also love that they’re such a versatile food. We’ve been eating them right off the tree for a quick snack or dicing them up over top of vanilla yogurt or hot oatmeal.

We’ve made peach pie, peach crisp, peach smoothies, and we’re fixing to make peach ice cream..we’ve canned them, froze some with a little lemon juice to use year round, and made peach jam in the past as well.

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Mc..someone in our house can bake! Yaaa!!

Last week I even tossed some firmer slices into my salad along with berries and nuts, fresh spinach, and then drizzled Italian dressing over it..that might seem desperate but for any of these peaches to go to waste would be the “pits” (lol) so I do try and get creative, and it was actually really yummy.

Continue reading “Just Peachy!”

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