Girls Night: September

K hosted Girls Night this month and decided to make....drum roll, please....PUMPKIN decor.

She was inspired by the lit grapevine pumpkins she saw in Grandinroad. (I love their fall and Halloween decor. They have the best decorations I've seen, and Martha Stewart has partnered with them too.)

*from Grandinroad.com

I have to give K props. I would have thought this craft was too hard to do and wouldn't have bothered (especially with having her hands full with two little ones, working, and taking care of the house. Go K!) Anyway, you need a rolled up grapevine, gardening gloves, 2 small strands of lights, scissors, grapevine twine, and regular green wire. After soaking the grapevine (K filled up her washer to soak all of them), head out to a porch or somewhere where you can get messy, throw on your gloves so you don't hurt your hands, and start making loops around a "stem" that you've made with one end of the grapevine.

With each loop you need to use green twine to secure it in the middle. The gloves come in handy when you remove each of the little metal closures found all along the vine. When you're done looping, start fanning out the vine, and then add lights. We only used one grapevine strand, but using two or more will give you a fuller effect like the ones from the magazine.

I had a serious case of pumpkin envy when I checked out P and K's pumpkins. Mine didn't look so hot in comparison. Um, that might have had something to do with the large amounts of Pinot Grigio I consumed. (Boy, did I pay for that later, too!) Thankfully, P tried to help my sorry-looking pumpkin out.



I'm going to add some faux leaves to the top. This will look perfect on my front patio, nestled in between a real pumpkin or two, and some colorful mums. K has two black urns on her front steps; she's going to put the two she made on top of each urn.

It was a great craft and fun night with the girls. The kiddos were well-behaved, and the food and wine were too too good. I'm up next for hosting. I'm thinking about some more fabric stencils (these really are addictive). Halloween shirts, anyone?