Autumn Jack O' Lantern Garland

The air is crisp and the leaves on the trees are changing into beautiful colors, which means it's time to start making some fall décor. This month is the start of the season of getting everything together for my boutique for the holidays, and I have so much fun coming up with all the new creations. My brain is always in creative mode, but it is especially so during this time. Usually, I think of the best ideas the last minute and scramble to get them done with pure excitement. This is how my creative mind works. I had an idea to put a garland over my wood pantry, and I am so pleased with the way it turned out!

And It wasn't expensive at all. You can use most of what you have from your scraps or leftover crafts, and the pumpkins were plastic ones from the dollar store. This garland is so pretty and rustic, and it really looked like something out of a high-end primitive boutique after I was finished. You can customize it in so many ways with different fabric and assorted accessories or make it in different themes. So grab a nice hot cider and let's make something Spooktacular!

Supplies you will need:

*Mod Podge glue

*Ground cinnamon

*Glitter (I used silver because it's more antique-looking)

*Hemp rope

Assorted fabric (I used a fall one and a muslin)

*Pipe cleaners

*Cinnamon sticks

*Plastic pumpkins from the dollar store

*Coffee grunge stain mix

Mix your Mod Podge with your ground cinnamon. You can also add an acrylic paint color like brown to make it even more rustic, if you like. Take the plastic holder off of the pumpkin. Paint with the mix. Then sprinkle a little cinnamon and paint on more Mod Podge mix. I did this about three times, letting it dry in between, and finished with a little cinnamon. I also painted the bottoms black and sprinkled the cinnamon to finish the pumpkin off.

Cut your pipe cleaner to about 6 inches. Push it into the hole from the outside on each side, concealing the loose ends inside.

Then twist the top to make a loop. Paint the pipe cleaner with your glitter paint.

Make your coffee grunge mix:

Mix instant coffee with some vanilla in a pot and heat it up. Other recipes do say to add cinnamon to this, but I don't usually like this because with fabric it can make it a bit slimly. Get your fabric strips together, cut and fray the edges, and then dip it into the coffee grunge mix. This will make it look toned down and a bit aged. Let dry on paper towels and then iron if needed.

Take cinnamon sticks and drill holes in the middle.

Putting your garland together:

Measure out what size you would like your garland to be, leaving two inches extra for the ends where you will make a loop to hang on the hemp rope. (I did 3 1/2 feet.) Put the loop on one end. Now you can start your garland. Put the hemp through a cinnamon stick. Now we can start the fabric strips. Tie each fabric strip, alternating colors. (I did 8 per group, then added a pumpkin.)

Keep going, doing cinnamon stick, fabric, and than pumpkin till you are finished. End with a cinnamon stick on both sides, then make a loop on the end to finish.

I could have gone a step further and maybe gotten some battery lights to put inside or maybe even tucked something into the pumpkin top, like dried flowers, but I love the simplicity of the garland just the way it is. Primitive and perfect! The creativity of this project is endless. Have fun letting your creative juices flow!!

Happy Harvest, Prairie Peeps, and Prairie Blessings~