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Denise Breimeir
My mom has been making ghost suckers for Halloween since I was a little girl in the 1970s. She hands them out to trick-or-treaters in little goody bags with other fun candy and trinkets. These spooky-cute lollipops are a quick and frugal craft. You can fill a haunted house with them in no time at all! Use them for: Halloween party favors Candy for trick-or-treaters Halloween treats for kids, classrooms, neighbors Boo bags Supplies: Round lollipops (Tootsie Roll pops work best) Flat (rectangular) box of Kleenex Black rug yarn Black cardstock Craft glue Standard…
Just 20 miles west of downtown Indianapolis, the small town of Danville, Indiana puts on a festive fall display of scarecrows each year from October 1-31. This year is their 10th annual display of creative scarecrows designed by local businesses and civic groups. My mom and I strolled around the square on a lovely warm Friday evening just before sunset. We’d stopped there on our way home from the Parke County Covered Bridge Festival. I’ll be blogging about our trip to the Covered Bridge Festival this week. Thirty-one scarecrows are displayed on all four…
Washi you doing for the next five minutes? I have a quick, easy and inexpensive DIY project to share that uses washi tape to dress up boring office supplies. There’s something so satisfying about a super simple DIY to jumpstart your creativity when you’re short on time and inspiration! You can use any office supplies that have a plain, smooth surface. Plastic, metal, wood or paperboard surfaces work well. Washi tape can be found at any craft store in the paper crafting section or office supply store near the post-it notes. You can even get…
October 14 UPDATE! We have a winner! Barbara Shreve won the set of three cards! Thank you to everyone who entered! *** World Card Making Day is celebrated each year on the first Saturday in October. It started in 2006 as a way to encourage crafters to get a jump on crafting for the holiday season. What better way to celebrate than with Gnome Décor’s handmade card set giveaway? We’re celebrating the site’s launch with this freebie. You can enter to win this set of three cards three different ways. Choose one, two or all three methods…
Artificial fairy gardens can be just as fun as fairy gardens made with real plants and flowers. They’re a fun accent for your home all year round. And during the colder months, you’re limited to indoor fairy gardens or artificial gardens anyway (fauxry gardens?), so that’s the perfect time to try one. In past years, I’ve enjoyed making fairy gardens for Christmas and Valentine’s Day using artificial snow. This is my first year bringing my Halloween fairy garden indoors. The last couple of years, I’ve had one outside. As long as they’re…
In September I shared my farmers market fall fairy garden. This week I finished transforming the rest of my fairy gardens for fall. Fall fairy gardening is especially fun because there’s no planting required! I get to focus on decorating, my favorite part. You can pull out any dead growth caused by summer heat spells or early fall chill, and fill in those areas with figures. Likewise you can trim back and pull out overgrown plants to make room for your decorations. My main problem is overgrowth, so the layout of my fall gardens is determined by the choice…
Hi, hey, hello! Today I’m launching Gnome Décor and I hope you’ll take a peek around the site. This is a blog about crafts, easy home and seasonal décor, fairy gardens, interesting places, and more. I’ll be sharing handmade cards, crafts, and fairy garden inspiration and have more ideas in store. I’d love for you to leave me some feedback on what you’d like to see more of by leaving a comment. If you would like to receive an email newsletter, sign up using the Subscribe form. You…
Stamp-a-faire is a free annual online crafting event hosted by Papertrey Ink, my favorite manufacturer of clear stamps, dies, and other paper crafting accessories. I’m obsessed with their products and blog, where the challenge was hosted by members of their design team August 25-27. I had never participated before, but I actually had the weekend of the challenge free this year, so I had time to watch the instructional videos, follow the challenges as they were posted, gather supplies, be inspired and create my own projects. I managed to finish six of the challenges by…
I have a bit of a fairy garden addiction. Okay, more than a bit. I started making them four years ago, and have expanded my tiny kingdom from one in 2013 to six outdoor fairy gardens in 2017. There are two main reasons I’m hooked on fairy gardens. One is that you can plant and design an entire mini garden in under an hour, which is highly satisfying. There’s no way you can whip your yard into shape that quickly! The second is that they are absolutely adorable, and you get to shop for the cutest…
I’ve always had an affinity for Coca-Cola history & collectibles. I talked my parents into going to the original location of the World of Coca-Cola museum in Atlanta when it opened in 1990 at the height of my Coke obsession. Even though I’ve since stopped drinking soft drinks, I’m still fascinated by the story of Coke. I’ve also been a fan of Art Deco architecture since high school, so when I heard Indiana Landmarks was hosting a one-time tour of the old Coca-Cola bottling plant on Massachusetts Avenue…
It’s hard to believe I’m celebrating five years in my house this month. I’ve accomplished no more than 2% of the things I thought I would have on my home to do list by now. Luckily my house was move-in ready and I didn’t have to worry about things like painting or investing a lot of money up front. Still, it’s amazing how much can happen in five years. The water softener has been repaired twice, the gutters are constantly needing to be cleaned because of nearby trees, the new built-in microwave has…