Pinterest-Inspired Pumpkin

I am so ready for fall!  We started school this week and were blessed with a day of unseasonably cooler temps.  It's back in the 90s now, but I'm still anxious to start putting out my fall decor.

I got the idea from a pin on Pinterest, but I can't find the exact pin.  I used one of the smaller artificial pumpkins from Michael's.  It was originally $8.99, but I had a coupon and a gift card, so basically it was free--woo hoo!  The vinyl is Paper Studio brand from Hobby Lobby ($7.99 but I had a 40% off coupon.)  The ribbons are scraps from my bow-making days.  I used my Cricut to cut the vinyl (Storybook letter M).  There are actually polka dots all over the pumpkin.

Here's my final product!

Linking up to:

-- Delightfully Inspiring Thursday at Delightful Order
-- Get Your Craft On - Handmade Crafts at Today's Creative Blog

Trash to Treasure Key Holder

Yikes--it's been nearly four months since my last post!  Hopefully things will slow down in the summer...yeah, right!  ;)

I had been looking for a large shelf with hooks on which we could hang our keys.  Last year (on our way to our anniversary dinner to be exact), I spotted this on our neighbor's curb.

Note that I took this picture just before I started to paint it.  It had several broken hooks across the bottom when we found it.

So, it sat in our garage (technically two garages, since we moved in February) until earlier this week when  I finally got the mojo to work on it.  After a little cleaning, some wood putty, a couple of coats of black spray paint, and some new hooks from Wal-Mart, it now looks like this.

I'm very pleased with how it turned out.  I already had the spray paint on hand, so it really only cost around $6 (the cost of the hooks).  Not bad, huh?

Linking up to:
-- Get Your Craft On Tuesday at Today's Creative Blog
-- Delightfully Inspiring Thursday at Delightful Order
-- May Before and After Party at Thrifty Decor Chick

Desk Homeschool Apprentice

Whew!  Nothing like a season of busy-ness to make you neglect your blog!  Let's hear it for the New Year!

I feel like I'm in a constant state of reorganization in our school--I'm not sure if I'm just THAT disorganized or if it's because I love to shop for office products (truthfully, it's probably a little of both!)  I've seen quite a few teachers and homeschoolers use the Desk Apprentice from Staples to organize their stuff, so I put it on my wish list for Christmas...yes, I wish for office products.  :)  Lo and behold, my mother-in-law bought it for me.  Woo hoo!

Here it is in action.  From the front, you can see my daily planner (The Well-Planned Day, if you're wondering) and a pack of Sharpies.  One side holds pencils/pens and the other holds my 3-hole punch.

Top view:  you can see other books around the sides (Life of Fred: Apples, Rod and Staff English 3 books, Classical Conversations Foundations guide, and Prima Latina) and a few other supplies.

The middle section is where I keep a few larger books as well as our daily worksheets.  I've found that it's much easier (for me) to plan a week at a time.  I organized hanging folders by weekday and then inserted tab folders by subject.  I even have a folder for media.  At the end of the week or over the weekend, I make all of my copies and write out our plans for the coming week.

So, there you go!  I love my Desk Apprentice.  It is a little big, but it's a huge help in keeping me organized.