Tres Chere: October 2011

Friday, October 7, 2011

$5.00 Pet Costume

Meet Oscar the Grouch..oops I mean Tiffany...my 4 year old Brussels Griffon...

Today's post is brought to you by the letter "O" for Oscar the Grouch. I am sharing with you a costume you can create for less than $5.00 for your furry friend.

I used an old basket that my neighbor was throwing out, cut it down to fit and then spray painted it Brilliant Silver by Krylon (on sale at Hobby Lobby for 30% off) to mimic a trash can. Some items I already had on hand, black construction paper, orange ribbon and chalk paint was used to create the pennant flag. I purchased one can of green hair color from Walmart for $2.17 and gently sprayed Tiffany's hair. For her face, I sprayed it on my hands and then rubbed it on the hair near her eyes.

My dogs love being pulled every year in my red wagon through the neighborhood to trick or treat. This basket will fit in the wagon perfectly! So there you have it a pet costume for only $5.00.

Naptime Crafters

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Season 3 Contestant on American Crafter

Yay! We were selected to compete in Season 3 of American Crafters over at Naptime Crafters! Woo Hoo!

Our painted fabric zebra chair secured our spot! In case you missed the post click here.

Round One is Halloween!

Voting for Round 1 will open Friday Morning. Please mark your calendars and head on over to Naptime Crafters to vote for us...pretty please with sugar on top. :-)

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Under $20.00 Front Porch Decor

Today we will show you how to decorate your front porch using what you already have on hand and with items that we found at the curb.

We found this old ladder on the side of the road. It was pretty rough but a coat of creamy white paint cleaned it right up. We added a plastic Halloween candy bucket with a potted plant and a pennant flag we created with fabric scraps and cardboard and the words "Boo" were written with a Sharpie.

We created a wreath using a bag of black beans, some fabric scraps, cardboard and LOTS of glue.

We glued the beans to a piece of round cardboar?d we cut. This was a very time consuming wreath because in terms of weight the beans need to be laid out one layer at a time. We used spray adhesive to glue the beans to the cardboard. Then sprayed over the beans with another coat. Then we used plain old Elmer's glue and poured it all over the beans. We waited a day for it to dry and then repeated the process. On the third day, we cut fabric scraps tied it around the wreath, added a bow and then hung it on our front door. It was time consuming but we didn't have to buy anything to make it since we already had everything on hand.

The black chair was a curbside find. We found it just like this and thought it was perfect the way it was. As the season's change we can easily swap out potted plants or add a pumpkin like we did here to fit the seasons. Who knows? Santa might be sitting there next!

We used a Black Sharpie to add stripes to the white Heirloom pumpkins and the large orange pumpkins.

Some fresh flowers in an old crate fill up the space under the chair.

So there you have it. You can create a space using items found at the curb or by using what you already have on hand. The only items we purchased were the two large pumpkins and some fresh mums. Everything else we had on hand. Overall cost was less than $20.00.