DIY Fall Burlap Banner

A few days ago, I was browsing Etsy, looking for cute home décor pieces I could use while decorating for fall.  I saw a fall burlap banner that I really loved, but I couldn’t justify spending $25 plus shipping for a few pieces of burlap attached to a piece of twine.  So I decided to try my hand at making one for myself.  I headed off to Hobby Lobby and found a piece of burlap remnant that I got for $2.65, a roll of thin brown velvet ribbon for $1.00, some brown acrylic paint for 99 cents, and a two pack of burlap rosettes for $3.00.  I came home and did a quick Google search for making a burlap banner, which led me to a tutorial at JustSew Sassy.  Unfortunately, I did not have any stencils for letters, and I do not own (nor know how to operate) a sewing machine.  So I got crafty...  

After making a rough template for my pennant shape from a piece of copy paper, I cut out my 4 pieces of burlap pennants.  Next, I used Word to find a typeface that I liked and printed off the letters for FALL in a large print.  (I used plain old Times New Roman font).  Once I was pleased with the size of the letters in ratio to the pennants, I placed the letter underneath my burlap pennant.

 Because the weave of burlap is so loose, I was able to see through the fabric and could “trace” my letter using an old ink pen and my brown acrylic paint.  

 Once I had the shape outlined, I painted in the remainder of my letter using a small paint brush.  Eventually, the pennants looked like this:

Once all four letters were painted, I allowed them to dry for about 30 minutes.  The acrylic paint dries pretty quickly.  Next, I grabbed my hot glue gun to assemble my banner.  I spread my ribbon out on a flat surface (my kitchen counter) and played around with the spacing of the pennants.   

When I was happy with the spacing, I flipped them over (right side down) on the counter.  I put a bead of hot glue across the top of each pennant, and then glued the back of the ribbon (velvet side up) to the pennants. Next, I placed another bead of glue directly beneath the ribbon, then folded the top of each pennant down, creating a semi-hem for the banner.  Once the pennants were secured to the ribbon, I flipped it over and TA-DA... I had a decent looking fall burlap banner! 

To finish it off, I simply glued the burlap rosettes to the ends of the banner.  

 Finally, it was time to enjoy my work. 

I just love my banner!!

Mantel is still in progress :)

I must say I think my DIY banner looks pretty great as a part of my fall mantle.  And considering that it only cost me $7.64 for the supplies, I saved a good bit of money by doing this project myself.  Score!  This project definitely goes in the “winning” file!

Thanks for stopping by!
- Gina

Last Stops: Ketchikan and Victoria, British Columbia

Our last few days on the cruise seemed to just fly by.  The end of vacations always seem that way – the dread of returning to reality slowly creeping in.  Our next stop was Ketchikan, also known as the “Salmon Capital of the World”.

 It was a fairly small town, but it was still pretty interesting to see.  We started our visit with another Duck Tour. 

 To be honest, I would not recommend this tour if you are going to Ketchikan.  There was not much to see and the tour was not worth the money we spent.  They also advertised that it was a 2.5 hour tour, and we were finished in about an hour and a half.  So, we were a bit disappointed in that regard.  After our tour, we wandered around Ketchikan and checked out the local shops.  We saw quite a few totem poles, which were all very impressive. 

Close up of the totem pole - they are so detailed

 We also headed over to Creek Street – an area that once housed nothing but brothels, but has now been converted to trendy shops, art galleries, and restaurants. 

 It was interesting to learn that at one time, the number 1 occupation in Ketchikan was… a lady of the night...  (I don’t really know the best way to phrase that.)  Anyway, THAT business was pretty popular in the era of the gold rush.  After checking out downtown Ketchikan, we headed over to watch the Great American Lumberjack Show.   I have seen this on ESPN before and thought it would be something that my dad and Lee would both enjoy.  The show was entertaining; I think my Dad and Lee enjoyed it a lot.  Mom and I would have probably preferred a few extra hours of shopping time.

   After the Lumberjack Show, it was time to head back on board the ship and set sail for Victoria, British Columbia.  We spent the remainder of the night onboard eating dinner, going to see a Broadway type show, and trying our luck in the casino.  We arrived in British Columbia at 6:00 pm the next day.  We had arranged for a tour of the city since we knew it would be dark during our visit, and we didn’t want to chance getting lost and being left in Canada.  We learned that Victoria is the retirement capital of Canada and their home prices are outrageous: a downtown 2 bedroom bungalow costs anywhere from $700,000 to $900,000.  Crazy! It really was a beautiful city, and I wish we had been able to spend more time there.

 Our tour lead us to the Craigdarroch Castle, a private home built by a coal tycoon for his family.  It was very pretty (but nowhere near as beautiful or big as the Biltmore House).

After leaving the “Castle,” we headed off to downtown Victoria for sights of the Parliament Building and other landmarks, including the Empress Hotel.  This place was gorgeous!  It was built in 1908, and is ranked as one of the top hotel destinations in Canada.  I definitely wouldn’t mind spending a few nights there (hint, hint Lee). 

Parliament Building illuminated at night

Empress Hotel

Another interesting place was Roger’s Chocolates, a chocolate shop that has been in Victoria since the late 19^th century.  Apparently, it was a favorite of former President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and he constantly had chocolates shipped to him in office.  Chocolate is definitely an important part of the US government budget, right?

Unfortunately, they were already closed so we didn’t get to sample their treats, but I found that they do have a website and I am still tempted to order something.  Victoria was such a pretty town, and I would love to go back there some day.

  It was the perfect end to an incredible vacation.   I am so happy we had the chance to see the things we did, and I hope you all enjoyed reading about our experience! 

It's Almost Fall {Printables}

Fall is almost here!  Hooray!!!!  That means good food, pumpkin flavored treats, football, time with friends and family, and cute, festive home decor!  To get inspired for decorating our home for fall, I got creative and made some printables!  You gotta love printables - they are FREE and are a great (cheap) way to add some flair to your holiday decor.  Go ahead and grab these for yourself if you like them!
Enjoy

To enjoy these in your own home, right click on the image.  Select Save Picture As - then save the picture to your computer.  To print the image, I find it best to open up Microsoft Word with a blank document, select insert picture.  Select the printable that you saved.  You can adjust the size of the image  by simply changing the size of the picture.  Make sure you center the image on your page before printing.  I use either photo paper or resume paper to print.  Pop the printable into a favorite frame and enjoy:)

Happy {almost} Fall y'all!
- Gina

Glacier Bay National Park

One of my favorite parts of our vacation was our cruise through Glacier Bay.  It was by far the most beautiful place I have ever seen.   Glacier Bay is a national park in the southern part of Alaska, and is home to some pretty impressive glaciers.  I don’t think it is possible to grasp just how large these glaciers are, and when you consider that you are only seeing about ½ of the ice above ground, their size becomes mind blowing.  Lee and I were so excited to go out on deck and check out the scenery.  We got ready for the day and walked up to the top deck at about 7:00 am.  Neither of us prepared for the cold weather!  It was FREEZING.  (Well almost, 38 degrees with 30 mph winds).  We tried to tough it out and take pictures but my hands starting going numb, so we had to go back into the ship to grab some gloves that my mom packed (Thanks, Mom!) and dress in some warmer clothes.  We were back out in a hurry to watch as we cruised farther into Glacier Bay.  Shortly after breakfast, we arrived at Margerie Glacier, which is 21 miles long.  It was incredible to see.  

 

While we were stopped in front of the glacier, we suddenly heard a loud crack that sounded like muffled thunder.  And right in front of us, a huge chunk of ice broke off the glacier. 

Action shot of the glacier ice breaking away from the body

The remaining ice was such a pretty blue.

 What we saw is called "glacier calving", and it happens at random.  Glaciers change continuously, and we were able to see an awesome example of that.  The ice remaining of the glacier after the piece broke off was the most beautiful blue color.  We spent the majority of the day outside in the cold just taking in the beauty of the area. 

 Our ship cruised through Glacier Bay for about 8 hours, so we had the opportunity to see a lot of amazing sights.  On the way out of Glacier Bay, we got our first glimpses humpback whales.  We saw the spouts of water shooting up from their blow holes in the distance.  Finally, a baby came up right beside the ship and gave us a little show. 

Baby humpback blow hole

Baby Whale's Tail

We also saw several otters and seals, but the whales were my favorite by far!
Once again, there aren’t any words that can really describe the beauty of everything we saw.  So I will just leave you all with some pictures to enjoy.  God’s work is pretty amazing, and I feel so blessed to have been able to experience this place.

 Enjoy your weekend :) and GO COCKS!

-Gina