A snowy day project

I purchased this little set of glass bottles at The Christmas Tree Shop a couple years ago. The have done their time sitting on the kitchen windowsill holding stems of various flowers. I decided it was time to make something better out of it.



I gave them a (much needed) washing, used some heavy gauge wire, burlap and my Cricut (my wonderful hubby bought me for Christmas) and turned that sad little set of jars into this too-cute-for-words photo holder!

It's hard to see in the photo, but there just happened to be 6 jars - and 6 letters in the word "FAMILY". Coincidence? I think not! I'm looking around the house for something to put inside the jars so the letters "pop" a little more - any suggestions? I'm linking up to

Merry Christmas!

Before...

After.

I'm linking up to:

My favorite ornament

My Dad passed away in November, 2004. He was the best Dad anyone could ask for and I miss him every day. Besides being a great story teller, he was an accomplished pianist. I have great memories of him playing piano and of his quartet practicing at my house. Last year I found some treble clef ornaments at JoAnns and make one of these for myself, my sister and all 3 of our kids.



Sorry the picture isn't great. I somply found some picture frame charms in the jewelry section of the craft store and added a photo of Dad. I used a jump ring to attach it to the ornament.



I also finally got around to taking down the autumn decorations from the top of my cabinets. I replaced them with some snowy berry garland I had been using on my tree but didn't this year. A couple strands of white lights finishes it off. The enamel ware teapots and scales are always up there. :)






I linked up to Show and Tell and Blue Cricket designs - check it out!

Christmas centerpiece revamp

I finally got around to decorating the kitchen/dining area over the weekend. I wanted to do something new and more creative than the poinsettas I usually use. I remembered the cupcake stand my hubby had made for my DDs birthday and had him go dig it up from the garage for me. (Thanks hubby!) It was black, so I sprayed it silver. I found the cute green, red and silver balls at Dollar Tree (3/$1) along with the mirrored cone tree that I have been seeing all over blogland. I wanted to carry on the snowy theme I started on the main tree, so I also picked up some epsom salt. I used a glue stick to attach the strip of paper to the edges of the tiers and poured some of the salts in each one. I stole the votive cups from another cande display I have and removed the candles and filled those with epsom salt too. Each cup them got a shiny ornament. I used silver and black paint to attempt the faux mercury glass effect on the mirrored tree. On each side is a candle made by attaching a glass vase to a candle stick - both also from Dollar Tree. I think I'll spray the candle stickes silver too. What do you think?





I'm linking up to:

The stockings are hung

I had a request for a stocking for a co-worker's new baby niece. She wanted something that she can use every year. I found this pattern (McCalls, I believe) and fell in love! The ruffle at the top and the big bow are perfect for a little girl. I think I will make some more of these - it went together quickly and was fun to make.

The fabric is from JoAnns - I loved the little touch of pink. I linked up the Funky Junk Interiors for the Saturday Night Special - come check out the great projects!

Oh Christmas Tree!

I wanted to do something different with my Christmas tree this year. Both of my girls will be living on their own this year so I decided to let them go through and take any ornaments they want for their own trees. I needed a new theme - and it had to be inexpensive. I decided to go with a snow and cardinal tree. I started by putting artificial snow on all of the branches. Then I added some plaster snowflake ornaments I bought on sale at JoAnn's and glittered myself. I also made snowballs using stryofoam balls and more glue and artificial snowflakes. White sparkly bows and plain white candy canes from the Dollar Tree, white and silver glass balls and some felt cardinals finish the theme. I love how it turned out - what do you think?



I'm linking up to:

More before and after

On a trip to the thrift store a few weeks back I found this lovely pair. They were priced at $1.00 each so I grabbed them. As you can see from the photo -I almost forgot to take a "before" shot - but stopped myself in time! I sprayed them black, found 2 frames and some burlap and...

TA-DAA!

Sorry for the icky pictures. I'm linking up to:

Let it snow!

I found this completely addicting little gadget online where you can cut out your own virtual snowflakes. Go check it out - but only if you don't have anything else you need to get done today!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Candlestick gets a makeover

I was in the Salvation Army the other day and found this rather ugly candlestick. But, I could see how some paint could bring out this diamond in the rough so into my basket it went. A little farther down the aisle the big glass vase caught my eye. It just so happened that the bottom of the vase was the exact same size as the top of the candlestick. Well, waddaya know! So, a little black spraypaint and epoxy was all I needed to take this...

To THIS...

I love how the ridges in the vase create the reflections on the wall when the candle is lit. The breakdown on this little beauty is:

Candlestick...$2.00

Vase...$1.80

Candle...$1.00

Not too shabby!!

Now, head over to It's So Very Cheri , Between Naps on the Porch and A Soft Place to Land to see all of the other fantastic things posted by the talented people in blogland!

I've been featured!

I'm so excited! Cheri picked my painted floors as one of her favorite projects for her "It's so Very Creative" Monday Makeover party! Go on over and check out her blog - and while you're there make sure you take a look at all of the other great projects posted.

Thanks, Cheri!

Wonky Log Cabin Pillow

I saw the tutorial by Jacquie at tallgrassprairiestudio for these pillows and had to make one in the christmas fabrics I've been collecting. I love how it turned out - I think I have enough left to make it a friend!

I painted my floor!

Funky Junk Interiors is hosting a "My Favorite Project Ever" party. This is by far my favorite project ever! It turned out better than I had imagined it would. Make sure to go over and check out all of the other favorite projects too!






Here is the original post from last year when I painted my dining room floors...

I linked up to "Metamorphosis Monday" over at Between Naps on the Porch and to "It's so very creative" at It's So Very Cheri- go over and check out all of the fantastic projects posted by the talented people in blogland!


My floors are in desperate need of refinishing. Rather than go through the hassle (and expense) of that, I painted a rug on my dining room floor. I had painted one several years ago right after we bought the house as a "temporary" fix. That was 11 years ago. That rug had pretty much all worn off, so this weekend I decided it needed to be freshened up. As usual, I was too excited to get started to take any before photos. Here is an after I took last night right after applying the poly and then a couple from today when I put all of the furniture back.

I love how it turned out! The only problem I see is that all of the animal fur really shows up on this glossy finish (and if you look very closely you can see pieces of fur stuck in the finish). I guess when you live with animals like I do hair is something you just have to accept as a part of your daily life!