It's almost fall, y'all!

While it's not officially fall in the US yet, today's weather is letting us know that it won't be long.  Seems the wind and rain from Harvey decided to bring colder temperatures with them. Today was a dreary, cold, rainy day, but I'm counting my blessings that it could be much worse.  My heart aches for all those who have lost loved ones, homes, and possessions to this.  I'm praying that sunny days and plenty of help are heading to Texas!

On a totally unrelated topic, I had always thought that as my kids got older, I would have more free time to create and that once I had my own room for crafting, everything would just fall into place. HA!  It's funny how even though I'm doing less running with my kids, I still don't have a lot of 'free' time, and I am still trying to sort through boxes of craft and art supplies.  I'm hoping that the long weekend will afford at least one day to organize a little bit more and maybe even allow for some creative time.

I did take a few evenings to work on a little project for my mantle (which still is not in place...) and I'm pretty happy with the results.  I found the set of MDF letters unfinished at Hobby Lobby and they were 40% off! Of course, since I didn't have all of my supplies unpacked, I HAD to buy some new fall papers and some wonderful burlap flowers to dress those naked letters!

I started with a taupe colored acrylic paint and painted the sides and backs of the letters.  The next evening,  I traced and cut out the patterned paper, glued it on and let it dry overnight.  The next day, I trimmed and sanded the edges of the paper, added some ink to cover any white paper peeking through, and added a nice layer of crackle medium.

The next day I was a bit disappointed to see that the crackle wasn't at all what I wanted it to be. I could barely see the crack lines... I'm thinking the MDF absorbed more than I expected, and I really didn't want to add another layer, so I got out my sponge and a crumb cake ink pad and grunged up the edges.  It wasn't the look I originally planned, but it turned out ok.

My final step was to glue on some fall colored silk leaves from my stash and top them with the adorable burlap flowers.  I think they turned out pretty good and with my bargain shopping, they were actually cheaper than if I would have bought something similar!

I hope you enjoyed my project and just  maybe I inspired you to create your own seasonal decoration!  If so, I would love to see what you created!  Thanks so much for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend!