They're Here . . .

Finally! I think they all turned out so cute! I will say, the ones filled with beans are my favorite. Darlene even suggested buckwheat hulls - I'll have to remember that for next time. I have to apologize for the picture quality. I have to work this morning and couldn't wait for the best light, but wanted to get this post out there.

The real stems make all the difference in the world! I stopped by my "neighborhood" pumpkin patch, Filasky's Market, to collect dismembered stems. That generated some strange looks at first, but after a detailed explanation - and the promise of a finished pumpkin! - they were happy to oblige. They even offered to save the stems from the discarded pumpkins as they rot and are tossed in the compost heap.

When I got home with the stems, because some where still damp and mushy, I put them in a 200 degree oven for, well, all darn day, to dry them out. Once they were totally dry, I sprayed them with clear acrylic spray. Then they were just hot-glued on to the finished pumpkins along with a cute little leaf.

This was a super-easy project. The hardest part was picking out the fabrics at JoAnn's!

I have to share these cute little ornaments I picked up when I was at WalMart the other day buying beans for the pumpkins. I have such a hard time staying focused in WalMart. I'll go in for food stuffs, and find myself wandering all the way to the other side of the store in home goods or the garden section or the craft section or hardware . . .

Of course, I had the check out what was coming in for C'mas. I could hardly contain myself when I walked down the partially stocked aisle of C'mas ornaments. Glitter everywhere! And cheap!!! There was a whole section of glittered lovelies all for only a $1.00! I wanted to grab up one of each, but I was very good at restraining myself. I only grabbed these two for a buck a piece.

But then! . . . as I walked further down the aisle with glazed eyes, I found these multi-packs of the cutest, little mini ornaments. They were two bucks a piece, but you get six!!! A bargain for sure!

I thought the mini words would be terrific to adorn packages or gift bags, or even some handmade ornaments I've got planned. They came in gold, silver, red, pink! (I do a pink tree in my craft room - and I mean "pink tree". The tree itself is pink!), bright green, C'mas green!

Oh look! One has a broken tip on the bottom. Didn't even notice that till now.

I'm planning on using some of these ornaments to jazz up these paper ornaments I started on. I bought these packs, oh, two years ago and never started them. I was inspired by Kara Ward at Studio Pink when she posted all these gorgeously adorned paper ornaments on her blog a couple years ago.

I think I'm going to be doing a lot of folding and gluing if I want to get these babies done in time for tree-trimming! Mmm, one pack has 88 and the other 52. Not sure I'll accomplish this goal.

No ring sightings yet. I think I've resolved myself to it being gone for ever. So sad.

Edited to add: Regarding the pumpkins . . . I know I gave credit in a previous post, but I feel I should do the same in this post as well. The pumpkins above were inspired by Olive Juice and Company. Unfortunately, I "found" them after they were totally sold out. But feeling that need of having to have them, I replicated their gorgeous design. Their's are much more superior to mine - hand-dyed velvets, vintage velvet leaves, properly preserved stems. As a good "craft-lifter" I wanted to make sure I gave credit where credit was due!