Last week, my close friend from college and recently-moved-in neighbor K, threw a pumpkin painting party*. She invited spouses from her husband’s squadron and extended an invitation to some of the wives from my husband’s group. I was thrilled at the prospect of crafting with a group of women and possibly making some new friends.

But I hadn’t painted or carved a pumpkin in years. To be honest, I can’t remember the last time I did either. Which is terrible because I pride myself on being the Martha Stewart of Air Force Spouses. (Haha, just kidding! I will never reach such great heights!)

After some sleuthing, I found some great ideas for decorating pumpkins without carving. 1. Plaid and striped painted pumpkins. 2. Graphic, almost folksy free-handed designs. 3. Patchwork white-on-white. 4. Doily as stencil. My favorite is the white-on-white patchwork. It looks like a Denyse Schmidt quilt, but in pumpkin form! All of these came from the Better Homes and Gardens’ Quick and Easy Painted Pumpkins for Halloween photo gallery.

Photos from Better Homes and Gardens.

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One of the nice things about having a house is the fact that we have the space and are able to have friends and family come and stay with us.  But as of late, and especially after the wedding,  our guest bedroom had really become a no-man’s land full of things that didn’t really have a home.  It certainly didn’t reflect a welcoming feeling.  With 3 sets of visitors coming to visit and stay with us this fall, I decided that it was high time to do something about it.

But here’s the thing:  with budget being a huge issue, I needed to re-use and re-purpose what I already had and make it work.

Armed with 2 gallons of paint (that I got on sale over Labor Day!), I got to work.

Here’s an embarrassing view of what it looked like before:

It wasn’t pretty!

I decided on a wall color, thanks in part to Mrs. Limestone and her own guest bedroom, and also decided to paint all the furniture an antique/off white so that it would look less mis-matched.

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Stencils used in design are everywhere - and I’m not talking about rooster borders around the tops of kitchens. Stencils can be simple or dramatic, and can embellish anything that you can paint on!  What’s wonderful about them is that stenciling is something that you can do yourself at home for very little money.
Here are some beautiful examples of stenciled work:

These next images come from a great blog called Designamour.  Melanie has a beautiful blog filled with beautiful images of all kinds of decoration, especially surface decoration!  You should go and check her out - she gives wonderful tips and has great ideas.

*image #1 from Domino

*images#2 and #3 from MyHomeIdeas.com

*images #4 and #5 from House Beautiful

*images #6 #7 and #8 from Designamour

Sarah at Thrifty Decor Chic is always sharing creative ways to spruce up a home without spending too much cash.  She recently posted a neat tutorial about how to make a sofa table for less than $20.  Check it out!

P.S. Don’t you love how her cats like to get in the pictures?  So cute!

In a fit of vow renewal-related DIY craziness, I considered and then discarded the idea of making some milk glass containers.  But in the midst of that, I found an awesome article here with instructions.

Apparently, creating your own milk glass just involves a little paint and two weeks to dry.  Genius!

E.