Rustic Wreath December 1, 2009

I had several wreaths that needed a bit of updating but I didn’t want to buy lots of Christmas greenery to dress them up.  I scoured the house and found some of last year’s potpourri that had a winter theme with some frosted pine cones, leaves, etc.  Then I found some twig/vine balls in the closet.  I dug out the burlap flower that I made a few weeks ago that was too huge to do anything with.  Voila!!  My nature inspired rustic wreath!

I liked the look but it needed a little something more.  I grabbed the G off of my fall wreath.

Much better.  Don’t you think?

Linking this up to DIY day over at Kimba’s where I’m finding some other GREAT ideas!!

I’m adding this to Wreath’s on Wednesday at Cottage and Vine!

Getting geared up for Christmas!! November 30, 2009

I’ve been going pillow crazy around here!  I got 2 yards of red felt at Hobby Lobby with my 40% off coupon and have been going pillow mad.  My mom gave me tons of ribbon and trim that she had in her sewing stash when I went home for Thanksgiving and I’ve been putting them to good use.  My front porch chair needed some Christmas pillows but I just couldn’t stop!!  Here are the ones I’ve done so far:

and these:

For this one, I used an old t-shirt that my daughter has outgrown for the tree.   I cut it in strips, made ruffles and attached to the pillow.  I used ribbon for the trunk and star on top.

I have lots more Christmas decorating to share so stay tuned!!

I will be linking this up to  The DIY Show Off:  Christmas and Kimba’s DIY day~~go check it out!!

Cabinet door Christmas Decor! November 20, 2009

I got several cabinet doors from my Habitat Re Store to use for projects.  I finished this nativity scene today and I absolutely adore it!  I just couldn’t wait to share.

I already had everything except for the door so this project cost me a whopping $1.00.  Gotta love it.  I’m thinking about offering these for sale  around here.  What do you think?

door after sanding

Halfway there!

The final product--the bottom says, "Wise men still seek Him"

What do you think?  I’m linking up to Inspired Room’s Holiday Linky Friday!

I’m also linking this up to Kimba’s DIY day.  There are some super cute ideas there!

OK–so I’m a copycat….

Well, I am a copy cat.  I admit it.  I copy all of the other talented bloggers that I stalk follow faithfully.  Sometimes I do it without any problems, other times not so much.  I have started looking at things differently in the stores now though so maybe I”ll start coming up with some new and fresh ideas to inspire others.  Or maybe not.  Who knows?  One thing that I do know is that I love creating things that look nice in my home and don’t cost lots of money.  This week I have made a couple of things I will share.

First up is the moss wreath.  I saw the first one that I loved in the Southern Living at Home catalog.  Then I started searching for more pictures.  Here are some that I just loved.  I love the simplicity of the moss wreath.

blissfullydomestic.com

Martha of course

Neiman Marcus

I purchased a straw wreath from Hobby Lobby at 50% off for $1.00, 2 bags of moss from Wal Mart for $1.99 each and brought them home.  They sat for about 2 weeks before I rediscovered my purchase.  Sad I know.  So I plugged in my hot glue gun and got busy (burning my fingers multiple times.  I hot glued the moss all around–I had just enough.  It sat a few more days while I tried to decide how and if to embellish.  On a trip to the Dollar Tree I found a cute Christmas bell door knob thingy. (Pretty sure that is the technical term)  It had a couple of fake greenery sprigs that I pulled out before I took a simple red satin ribbon and looped the “thingy” onto the wreath.  I stapled it to the top of my china cabinet and I love the simplicity.  It may not live there all holiday season, but for now I like it!

 

These pictures are terrible!  I am so unhappy with my camera.  I had a Kodak for years that took awesome photos and I bought a new one last year.  I hate it!!!  Uggggg!

More projects to come….stay tuned!  I’m adding this post to the Frugal Friday Linky Party over at

DIY challenge–Dare to be Thankful November 16, 2009

Two of the things that I am most thankful for each and every day are my children.  I am so blessed to have two incredible and healthy children that I adore.  I decided to focus my “thankfulness” on them for my project.  I have 2 hanging 12 x 12 frames (that I scored at Goodwill for $1 each years ago).  I change out the frames each month with seasonal scrapbook layouts.  This month is dedicated to Clare and Jack.

I put a simple black and white photo along with the same title on each one:  Why I am thankful for you.

I then typed out a few of the reasons that I am so thankful for them and printed out, cut and put on the page.  Simple.  Quick.  Free.  Meaningful.

These are hanging on a wall that leads from the foyer to the hallway.

Clare's page

Jack's page

The kids haven’t seen it yet.  I can’t wait to see their reaction when they get home from school today!

I am linking this to:

There are some fabulous Thanksgiving ideas there.  Go check it out and post yours too!!

I decided to post this on Kimba’s DIY day as well.  My kids LOVED the pages when they got home from school.  I didn’t say anything about them but let them discover them on their own.  They both came and gave me a big hug–at different times–after they read them.  I’m gonna do one for the hubby today.  We all love to see what we mean to others in print right?

Double Dog Dare taken! November 9, 2009

OK–so I invited myself.  That’s ok isn’t it?  I mean it certainly isn’t the first time I’ve invited myself to party.  I digress.    Kim at Newly Woodwards is hosting a fabulous ongoing DIY party.  She will have a new “Dare to…” theme each week.  It sounds like great fun.  Just the motivation I need to get my project that has been rolling around in my head going.  Go check it out and sign up yourself!!  I”ll see you there!!

I was featured!!!

 

Wow!! I’m so excited. I got my first feature! I have to say that I am so new to this and have absolutely no clue what I am doing so to be featured on one of my favorite sites is a thrill!! Go check it out at

75% off Halloween Costume Party!

We decided to throw a costume party with a twist this year.  We had our party this past Saturday night a week AFTER Halloween.  Everyone is so busy with football games, kids, etc that having one before Halloween just wasn’t going to work.  So, we had the 75% off Halloween Costume Party. That way people could dress up and still be frugal.  We had a great time and there were some great costumes.  I have got to get better about photos though.  As more people arrived, less pictures were taken.  We had Madonna, 80’s rocker guy complete with lovely blonde mullet, Shaggy and Velma, Skeleton and Bone collector, Black eyed peas and cornbread, Sumo Wrestlers, and my husband and I were Talking Woody and Jessie from Toy Story.  I am so proud of our costumes.  I made them and they were quite authentic–even down to the pull string on the back and ANDY written on the bottom of our boots!  I have a great sewing machine that I really have no idea how to use.  I sewed my first piece–after having this for almost 4 years!  I made the vest my husband wore (along with everything else).  This will definitely be an annual tradition for us!!

Talking Jessie and Woody

I sewed the “chaps” onto my jeans by hand after hemming on all sides.  The shirt is just an old one of my husband’s.  I used yellow felt and red cord for the trim.  I could find a flat top red cowboy hat–didn’t really look all that hard.  The had is a hunting or fishing hat?  I sprayed it red and then hot glued Jessie’s braided pony tail on.  For the front of the hair, I just pinned it onto my  hair and put the hat on.  I think I spent about $10 for whole thing.  Not too shabby!!

Woody's pull string. When pulled he yelled, "There's a snake in my boot!". Hysterical!!

Almost full length shot

This was taken by my 13 yr old daughter.  Terrible shot but you can get the general idea.

Shaggy (who is not so shaggy) and Velma

Here are our best friends, Shaggy and Velma.  Is she not the cutest Velma ever????

I’m linking up to Metamorphosis Monday.  Costumes made from jeans and shirts we already had–I think that is a metamorphosis!

Go check it out at Between Naps on the Porch.  There are some great projects there!!

Also linking up with Kimba’s DIY day at A Soft Place to Land.  There are always amazing creations there too so go check it out!

From Cabinet door to Family keepsake!~ November 2, 2009

I have always loved the personalized signs that I see in catalogs and on other blogs.  I have been wanting to make ours for a while.  I bought an old cabinet door at the Re Store a while back that I thought would be perfect for the task.  It sat and sat but I finally got around to making it last week.  I just love how it turned out and it was really easy to do!! Here is a before shot:

Cabinet door in the sanding process

Then I removed the hardware and painted a base coat of ivory with craft paint.

Then I cut the letters with my silhouette (it took me longer to find the perfect font than it did to make the sign!)  I stuck the letters in place on the cabinet door and then painted over with a coat of black craft paint.  I wanted to to look painted on instead of just vinyl letters stuck to a board.  I had never done this before so I wasn’t sure if it would peel the paint up or bleed under the letters.  It worked perfectly!!  I let the paint dry but not too long.  I then used my cutting tool thingy (I’m pretty sure that is the technical word) and peeled the letters off.  I sanded it a bit to look aged and I love how it turned out!!  It is hanging on a wall in my kitchen.  I love that the cabinet door had a groove routed out on each side so when turned horizontally, it created kind of a frame for the lettering.  That doesn’t make much sense.  Too early in the morning.  Oh well–here is the final product!

I will be linking this to Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch and DIY day at Kimba’s Soft Place to Land.

Trick or Treating makes a comeback!!

We haven’t had many trick or treaters for the last several years in our neighborhood.  I thought that maybe trick or treating was a thing of the past.  Not so!!  We had lots of trick or treaters Saturday night and I’m so glad!  That is one thing that I remember about my childhood with such fond memories.  Not just the candy but the whole magical night from the crucial costume decision to walking the neighborhood with my dad.  My mom always made my costume and they were always fabulous!  I can remember having to wear “long johns” under my costumes because it was so cold then.  Neighborhood Halloween parties were always so much fun too.  Actually, I don’t remember much about the candy part.  My memories are full of wonderful PEOPLE who made the holiday special.  Here are some pics of my children in their homemade costumes.  (Not quite as good as my mom made)

I totally copied the bats from Karla at It’s the Little Things that Make a House a Home.  I love them!!  We are having a Clearance Costume Party this weekend (all costumes bought off the clearance racks after Halloween) and I’m going to be adding more bats.  I just used my silhouette to cut them out of black vinyl and stuck them right up.  They have endured both rain and wind and are still sticking strong!!

Native American (complete with cargo shorts for storing arrow heads and crocs–the waterproof mocassin), Ice Princess, and my niece the bat!