Tag: cricut

DIY Porch Pumpkin

Kendra

I wanted to do something different to decorate the front porch this year. I’ve always been so disappointed watching pumpkins that I’d spent hours carving, rot away before the holiday is even here! After a few hours of scrolling through Pinterest for inspiration, I decided not to paint my pumpkin at all, but instead only paint on our family last name. You can use stencils or freehand paint, I chose to use my Cricut so I could try an adorable witchy font.

ETC: 1HR

Supplies:
– Pumpkin/gourd
– Paint
– Stencil (optional)

I don’t know why I expected vinyl to easily stick on a pumpkin but I was sorely mistaken! It applies well in small pieces but refuses to stick, especially after one coat of paint. Fortunately, that worked to my advantage since I love the distressed-witchy-antique aesthetic. It took 4 coats of paint over the stencil, and then 1 coat of painting freehand to achieve the opaque black lettering. Another thing I didn’t expect, how difficult it was to actually paint a pumpkin!

Once I was happy with how the paint looked, I used a q-tip dipped in nail polish remover to clean up some of the letters. I thought about adding some spider webs or drips of red paint for dramatic effect; but ended up preferring the simple, welcoming. homey look of the pumpkin just as it was. Since our front porch is covered with an overhang, I didn’t bother sealing the paint.

Processed with VSCO with m5 preset

I adore the vintage look of this pumpkin on our porch! The autumn leaves that are falling from the trees really brought my whole imaginative idea together. If you decide to paint your pumpkin this season, tag me on Instagram or Pinterest @paxtonlanedesign! I’d love to see other versions.

Blessed Samhain,
Kendra

How To: DIY Dishwasher Sign

Kendra

One of the very few inconveniences of a dishwasher, is that not every model has buttons that are visible from the outside of the machine. My boyfriend’s parents recently had their kitchen renovated and one of the beautiful new changes was that the dishwasher totally blended in with their new cabinetry. Perfect, right?

Unfortunately, there is no such thing as perfect. Nobody can tell when the dishwasher is running! Sure, there are mechanical whirs and rushes of water at the beginning of the cycle; but I can’t tell you how many times I’ve opened it wholeheartedly believing it was dirty, only to be splashed with scalding water while I frantically attempt to unpause the cycle and close it.

After this happened to me for the hundredth time this morning, I had burst of inspiration.


ETC: 30M

Supplies:
– Wood pieces, thin and rectangular (or your preference)
– Twine/ribbon/string/etc.
– Paint
– Vinyl or stencil

Load it up!

I bought the wood piece at the dollar store months ago, which were sold in packs of six. I painted both faces and each side of one wooden rectangle in acrylic white. I chose to use stencil vinyl to give the tiny sign a worn, handmade look. I didn’t want it to look perfect. The font I used was the beautiful Chasy by peterdraw. I went back and forth between the idea of using black or an espresso colour for the words and ultimately decided on the dark brown. It reminds me of dark chocolate and makes the sign look less generic!

I recommend using a drill to make a hole for the twine, but I can’t take credit for this handiwork- I asked my boyfriend to drill it for me! He did a great job, and I inevitably had to sand the exit side of the sign to smooth the hole from the pressure. After a quick paint touch up that will dry quickly, choose your length of twine or ribbon of choice and knot it through the sign. I cut the length of my twine so that I could slip the sign through the loop, that way I don’t have to tie the sign the the dishwasher every single time I need to change it.

Since I didn’t want my sign to look too fancy, I didn’t spray varnish or apply Mod Podge before painting the stencils. This led to a few small bleeds into the wood, but I honestly liked the rustic aesthetic. There were 2 ‘major’ bleeds that I easily fixed with a few dabs of white paint. Hopefully, I never have to clean my glasses from dishwasher steam ever again! If you decide to make one, tag me on Instagram or Pinterest @paxtonlanedesign! I’d love to see other versions.

Stay inspired,
Kendra