A little inspiration...

        The Holidays are approaching! Are you getting ready? Or waiting a few more weeks?

     We are doing things a little different this year. We typically are not completely done with shopping and/or decorating before Christmas Eve. Sincerely. I couldn't really tell you why. It is just how it has been. Our "style" you could say. This year we are in new territory! Our shopping is very nearly done, and I have a jump start on our decorations! I must say.... It is kind of nice! This lull, the quiet before the holiday storm. Taking advantage of this slow time has been most productive! Now ordinarily crazy time will be spent snuggled up in a blanket downstairs with my cute family. Christmas lights glowing on the tree.... Yes! We even have one of two trees up!

    Last Saturday while the hubs was pheasant hunting my gals and I headed into town. Our little valley is the newest to welcome Tai Pan Trading. Really exciting! I did not want to leave. I was completely enamored  by the hanging Christmas wreaths they had displayed. As I quickly began formulating a plan to duplicate the wreath, the total started to creep upwards. Although completely head over heels with the store and their wholesale pricing, I could not bring myself to spend the nearly sixty dollars it would have been to purchase all the supplies.... and really, sixty is not bad, but cursed am I with a frugal mind.

 
    A simple Christmas garland can be purchased for less than a traditional wreath. I wrapped a tree garland around an old grapevine I already had. Then secured it with wire. I used white string to attach silver snowflakes at different lengths to the grapevine on the outer edge. My old reliable friend jute was used to hang the ornaments from the ceiling first then through the middle of the wreath after it was hung.  I literally only spent $10 on this wreath! Hobby Lobby is having a fantastic 50% off sale on all of their Christmas items. I bought 5 large ornaments. Everything else I had from previous years! The cute deer? Dollar store!

  Inspiration and creativity are endless. It is really what we do as bloggers. Inspire one another. Make our own special touches and contributions. I really love Tai Pans wreath. Like, love it! I really love mine too! Maybe a little more. Something rewarding about creating for my family.

    How have you been inspired this Holiday season?

Out with the old! In with the.... Old?!

    Good old Tuesday! One day down in the week. I'm in a bit if a rush today. Ever notice how incredibly slow Blogger is when you just want to post! Its probably not Blogger, but my impatient, antsy old self.

     My to do list is brimming. My want to do list growing. Today I get to take not one, but two Iphones to the Apple store. Insert: frown. Teens and pre teens are tough on things! Good grief! After that the lil one and I will hit a few stores for a jump on Christmas shopping. Insert:... I'm not sure how I feel about this yet. Somewhere in there I get to grab supplies for my newest beloved piece of furniture. Has that ever happened to you? You just know even before the first stroke of sandpaper you are going to fall in love! This UEA weekend we were visiting family. My mother in law sent me home with a true treasure.

    My sweet husband does not understand this old soul that lives deep inside, and normally probably would not have loaded said treasure into the trailer and dragged her home, BUT... we need another dresser. After seven years of marriage you would not think that I am still trying to piece our bedroom together.... I am. We have never had matching furniture in there. That bothers me some. Like teens in a dorm room sort of bother. Styles change. Tastes change. When we got married we were trying to combine two households into one. Now we have accumulated seven more years worth of stuff. We could afford a new set, but just simply have not gotten around to it, and I don't mind. I love to create for my family!  Last month when the hubby was deer hunting (when I do my best work) I tackled our existing dresser:

    Not to shabby! I replaced some of the missing handles sanded here and there, slapped some primer plus paint on and voila! So are you ready?! Here is the newest addition!

 Wah Wah Wah!

 Can't you see the possibilities though! Ugh! Im so excited! Nerd alert! The first place my eye was drawn, was to the lovely "brass" handles. No worries! After a quick removal, and I mean quick! I cleaned them up good with a baking soda paste and lightly sanded them with a 220 grit sandpaper. have you ever used Rust-Oleum's Metallic paint and primer?  Oil rubbed bronze is the bomb! The stuff is a God send! I have updated fixtures like a mad woman around the house!

    The cost of all new hardware can get a little pricey. I am still planning on purchasing a few different handles so this dresser matches the other dresser, but my cost for a simple update using what is already available is right around $10, for the paint and sandpaper!

Now I'm really excited! Happy Tuesday!

Fall Feelings!

    I am antsy to get my Fall fingers busy! Unfortunately life has been a little too crazy lately! My patience will have to remain intact until next week! My final race of the season is Saturday! It is bittersweet! I have had a triumphant year, but I am ready for a break! My hometown beckons with its annual celebration, and family will join together on Saturday to pay tribute to our amazing legacy!

Next week its so on!

   Until then enjoy this post from the archives!

    After a weekend of sight seeing I had to get home and create! I was feeling a little burned out and not looking forward to the tasks at hand! A trip to the city set me straight! I received so many curious emails and a comment or two asking about the original picture I posted showing the Fall leaf mobile I had created. I am flattered and feel sort of silly because it was so very easy and cost me nada...

Anthropology! 

One word for love! I immediately fell in love with their display! How clever! I came home from our trip craving a new project! My husband, who is a geologist was not as enthused as I hoped he might be about hanging a rock mobile from our ceiling?! Men! 

So many things I would love to tackle!

While it is not rocks...

The leaves add just the right touch!

    I found some old white string and dismantled an old garland I had stashed, the challenge was trying to figure out how to hang the leaves above the stairs to create the cascading look....Last year for my Coke can Snow flakes.. 

    I used handfuls of thumbtacks to hold them to the ceiling....

  Facing that prospect again, and possibly sudden death as I leaned out over the banister?! I looked around until I found this old wire basket we used for Baby K's socks! It was perfect! I think this would look amazing with real leaves...I was just to antsy to go get some:) I also love the look of the string! It creates a great contrast! So there it is ladies!

Easy Peasy! I want to see your creations!

You will Have good luck....In the tub!

  
  I am not spoiled just loved! My Kindle Fire HD is amazing! I love it so much! I have done everything but read on it! We have added so many movies, games and MP3's to our family account! While I was happy to hand down my old Kindle Fire, I still have a soft spot for my paper white 3G Kindle! It comes in handy all the time! So if you are not yet convinced E readers are for you....you gottta try one! I love to use it in the kitchen! Anyway.....

   Fortune cookies! 

This really is the good idea of our kids I am just the baker! Fortune cookie Valentines! I had to do a test bake so that on February 13th I sorta knew what I was doing with over sixty cookies! I found a great recipe and tutorial Fortune Cookies I had to of course add my own twist.. With a recipe that uses what you already have around the house it is a truly great, inexpensive idea!

With food coloring, sprinkles and a toothpick I was able to create a more Valentine looking cookie! I used two sided paper to write love notes....Then my creative juices were really going!

    There are so many awesome ways to give these cute little Valentines! Both these glass pieces were only a dollar! Perfect for teachers, grandparents, friends!

 

Peppermint log candles...

     I have had these logs kicking around for awhile now. The intent was to turn them into pumpkins. The pumpkin logs I have already made have been holding up real good. Sooo these logs have sat in the backyard making my husband irritable for some time:)

     I cleaned them up. Brought them in and painted them white. I was relieved when the spray paint did not stick to the oil treated logs because it was chilly outside! I painted them with a latex semi gloss instead whilst keeping warm!

     While the paint dried I gathered some random items still not positive what I was doing. I used some old bulbs we had laying around, some jute, and a few bamboo sticks to fashion my wick and flame.

     When the paint was almost there...I am low on patience:) I used red ribbon and a matching red acrylic paint for my peppermint striping effect.

I really like them! They turned out just like I imagined! Good luck!

Coke can snowflakes...

   I love to find ideas that suite any budget and ability!  

    Cut your can in half...don't throw the top away just yet! Carefully cut and bend the can into strips. Fold the strips in half to begin your snowflake design! Have fun! I used a white spray paint and iridescent glitter to finish...

 

Hang anywhere using fishing line! Love that stuff!

I am working on something fun with this old window.

    Save the tops of your cans to make a lighted snowflake garland! Carefully snip the pop top off and place light through opening. Use the remaining portion of the tab to secure:)

Weekend Warriors...

Great Halloween table runner!

By one of my budding artists!

White punkins are all the rage!

Getting our Fall on! I had been wanting to try a lace stencil! 

Baby K's first Punkin!

We are so excited!

The great debate...

   
There is an inner debate going on in my head right now! As we work to piece our bedroom together one questions seems to loom! Keep the Chevron stripes...or not?! I love mixing vintage with modern and that is how the striped accent wall came to be. Once we mounted the headboard it took me a good week to find a bed set I liked! Do you know how hard it is to find a solid one color bed set? I love being girly....but all the comforters in the world are Fancy Nancy! I just wanted something simple!

     I finally found this solid Grey set. I had these green pillows and threw them in for contrast...but they did not look quite right! Wrong shade O Green! Enter Pinterest! I am officially addicted! There are literally hundreds of thousands of ideas for deco pillows! It of course seemed genius! I mean it is just so hard to match shades bleh! Using the same green I used on the headboard had to be the way to go to pull it together.....

 I also added a little color to the Grey throw pilows....

What do you think?

The curse of a creative mind...

I found this headboard on Pinterest and fell truly, madly, deeply in love.....I have this brain that will not leave well enough alone until I try something... whatever idea that may be in mind. It is like that itch you cannot scratch! I will drive myself nutty and think of nothing else until I have had the opportunity to scratch my crafty itch! SOOO... It was going to be epic! Grand! I had an idea for my own twist...

I think that I will leave it to the pro's on this one and keep looking for my old door headboard!

Note: No curtains were harmed in this experiment:)