Fall Home Decor with Guest Gloria Stengel

Good morning! I am so happy to be guest designing for the next two months for Gina's Designs! I created a home decor piece as my first project.

This piece is 12" x 12" and fits into a standard glass-less frame or shadow box. I love to decorate for fall and Thanksgiving, and this piece is going directly onto my front entry table! I love the contrast of colors with the "grungy" white of this piece.
Here is a little tutorial on how I made the canvas.

I chose items from the Fall Shape Set and painted them with a few layers of white gesso. Gesso acts like a primer for the chipboard. I do NOT recommend using gesso if you plan to spray your pieces with mists or inks because gesso can act like a resist! Also, make sure to allow each layer to dry before adding the next layer.

I pained the shapes with various acrylic paints, allowing each layer to dry. I used a foam brush and was able to achieve some texture on each shape. For the white banners, I simply added ink to the edges. To add some shimmer to a few of the pieces, I mixed a bit of glimmer mist or metallic paint with the acrylic paints.


I added a few coats of gesso to the Birds and Ivy Collage Frame. This frame is approximately 8" x 8". I decided I did not want the birds, so I used a craft knife to cut them off. {I know, poor birds!}


I rotated the frame and distressed it with brown ink.

To crate the "canvas" I covered a thick piece of 12" x 12" chipboard with paper and sponged the edges with ink. I glued Thanksgiving and fall-themed images and paper to the openings of the frame. (You could change this up by adding photos instead.) Once I was happy with the placement of the images and the orientation of the frame, I glued it to the base piece.

The next step is the fun part! I chose the painted chipboard elements that I wanted to use and searched for other items in my craft stash to go with my theme.

I mounted the November border onto a piece of scrap chipboard before gluing it to the top of the canvas. I then added the flowers and leaves cluster to the left side of the border. The postage images were perfect for my theme!

The painted leaves give extra dimension to the frame, plus they make great holders for bits of decorative paper!

My favorite part of this frame is the decorated rake! It has been over a decade since we had any leaves to rake! Living in southern California sure puts a cramp on your fall leaf piles, that's for sure!

To give interest to the FALL banner, I added decorative paper behind each letter before adhering the letters to the scalloped banners. When I work with other chipboard, it can tend to get "soggy" when too much paint or ink is added. The Gina's Designs chipboard does not! Instead, each element took on the consistency of a thin, wood veneer! The little pumpkins turned out adorable, if I say so myself! I love the vignette that I created.


It is hard to see in the photo, but the yellow wheat shape has a lot of shimmer to it from the metallic paint that I added.  I hope that you enjoyed my project today!

Gloria Stengel

Gina's Designs Product Used:

Fall Shape Set

Collage Frame - Birds and Ivy

Other Products:

acrylic paint, glimmer mist, brown ink, white gesso, decorative paper, floral elements, twine