Rustic Christmas Centerpiece

Christmas decorating is well underway at my house...here's a look at my "new" dining room centerpiece.

One of my favorite blogs, Inspired by Charm, was the inspiration (hee hee) for this centerpiece. I noticed in a recent post that Michael had what looks like an old wooden tool box on his dining room table. I thought it was such a good idea, I decided to try it myself. And lucky for me, I just happen to have an antique tool box laying around the house, too! 

We picked this up at a flea market last year, and it has been sitting on my dining room floor as a "shelf" ever since. I started with the tool box and a few of my favorite decorating accessories...my tree branch candlesticks (complete with battery-operated votives.) These seem to be incorporated with just about every holiday decoration at my house!

I added some garland, glitter pinecones (from a craft LAST Christmas!) and red balls...so easy! The one drawback is that it doesn't leave much room for eating. But luckily that's something we don't do too often in the dining room! (I know, weird!)

By the way, this tool box weighs A TON. As the flea market guy pointed out, whoever carried this thing around (full of tools!) must have had some killer biceps!

I think it turned out pretty well...even the husband commented on how cool it looked! :)

You can see the post that was the inspiration for my centerpiece here on Inspired by Charm. (Which is awesome, by the way!)

Happy Decorating, everyone!!

Halloween Home Tour

Since It is almost that time, I thought I would share a few pictures of Halloween at our house. I don't do a ton of decorating, but we do have few things on the front step, and a little display inside the front door.

Here's the front doorstep (yesterday I finally switched out the Hawkeye team colors wreath for the BOO! wreath - at least until Halloween. Not too happy with those Hawkeyes lately!)

This ghost is made from an upside-down tomato cage. It also lights up at night, but I haven't been able to get a very good picture yet...

And look at this spooky ghost-dog checking out the scenery!

Onto the inside of the house. Here's a little display inside the front door. Notice my wine bottles from last year? You can find the how-to link here.

One of my favorite decorations on the front step is a little gargoyle I found at Target a few years ago. I've always thought gargoyles were cool. Maybe it's just the word "gargoyle" is fun to say!

And here's a "new" favorite (I'm calling it a Halloween decoration, but my son thinks we should keep it up year-round! Yay Harry!)

First we have to start out with the far-away shot. It will make sense very soon...

And the close-up...

Last but not least, a BIG thank you to Kim at Made in a Day, Claire at The Rustic Pig AND T'onna at Navy Wifey Peters for featuring my new Halloween Wreath! How exciting!

If you hadn't noticed, I am having a lot of fun with the new PicMonkey Halloween effects!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!

Team Colors Wreath (Hawkeye Version!)

Welcome back! (I'm not really sure if I'm saying that to everyone reading...or to myself!) I think I have finally come to the realization that I'm not cut out to be one of those big-time bloggers. I just don't have the time, which for me is probably a good thing! So I will no longer fret over the huge gaps between posts :) Anyway....

I have been wanting to make a black & gold wreath for a while. Mainly because:

A) It's Hawkeye football season;

B) It's too early for Halloween decorating;

and 

C) It has definitely been SUMMER until just today! So it's not quite time for a fall wreath.

(Yesterday 91 degrees, today 68!) NO ONE has really been in the "fall" mood just yet!

So here's what I came up with:

It all started with a styrofoam wreath, some bandanas & silk flowers (mums to be exact, there's a little history behind those. More about that later) I had 2 yellow bandanas & 1 patterned. As it turns out, you probably only need one of each color.

I started by tearing a yellow bandana into strips about 2 inches wide:

After hot-gluing down the end, I started wrapping the strips around the wreath

This was to make sure all the white was covered up before doing the second layer

The next layer was more strips with knots tied every few inches. I was looking for a way to add some texture, and I think this did the trick...

Next I made some strips with the polka dot fabric, and wound it through the spaces between the yellow knots:

The last step was adding some yellow silk flowers (mums!)

And the finished wreath...I still feel like it might need something else, so look for an update next week.

And now, if you're still curious, the mums...these are an old Hawkeye football tradition. It's not something you see much anymore, but back in the day, REAL mums with a little black cardboard letter "I" in the middle were all the rage. I remember my dad would get one for my mom every year to wear to the game. Haven't seen them for a while - I'm not even sure the florists sell them anymore. But if Dad is reading this (ok, Mom, you may have to pass on the hint...tell him to go out and get you a mum this year!)

And oh by the way...GO HAWKS!

UPDATE - OCTOBER 6TH:

I did find something to add to the wreath! The "I" was just what I needed for a finishing touch. I actually put it on shortly after this post back in September, but have just now gotten around to adding the picture. Here it is:

Linking this post to:

Alderberry Hill

Craft-O-Maniac

Destination: Craft

DIY Home Sweet Home

The Blackberry Vine

Stringtown Home

Keeping it Simple

The Winthrop Chronicles

DIY By Design

The Stuff of Success

The Crafty Blog Stalker

Navy Wifey Peters

One Artsy Mama

The Taylor House

Made in a Day

Spring Banner

As promised, here is the Spring Banner I made recently. It didn't turn out exactly how I pictured (I originally thought I would put fabric between each letter, until I realized I'd have a 10-foot long banner!) It was very easy, probably my last project using Picnik! I started out using PicMonkey, but Picnik has the cool polka-dot font that I liked, so I switched over there to finish it up.

So, here's the quick & easy tutorial...Letters....

....plus scrapbook paper....

....and a little fabric....notched at the edge and then torn into strips....

....then stitch two loose seams down the center and gathered it to make it ruffly....

....attach the letters to fabric (hot glue works great!)....

....now hang up your new cutey-pie banner!....

And from the bunny collection underneath the banner, here is one handpainted by Yours Truly (before the blog!)

And the vase filled with green plastic Easter grass (isn't that stuff a requirement at Easter time? Better in a vase than out in the open where single strands of it will hide away until Christmas!)

And of course no springtime or Easter display would be complete without CHOCOLATE! Ghirardelli, YUM!

Linking this post to:

The Kurtz Corner: Tuesday Tutorials
How to Nest for Less: Party with my Peeps
homework: The Inspiration Board
DIY By Design: Swing Into Spring
The Stuff of Success: Success U
Two Yellow Birds Decor: Thursday's Temptation
The Crafty Blog Stalker: Blog Stalking Thursday
Too Much Time On My Hands: Get Schooled Saturday
The Taylor House: Taylor House Thursday

Valentine Collage

Over the weekend, I made the finishing touches to my Valentine mantel display. Sooooo last minute! I had been thinking about these for more than a week, but just didn't quite have the full idea until Friday.  I do think they turned out pretty well, and were so simple to make. I'm definitely keeping this in mind for other holidays. They would also be a great gift idea!

I started with a two-pack of 8x10 canvases from Hobby Lobby. (Promotional special for $3.99 - SCORE!)

Then I placed a heart shape I cut out from scrapbook paper on the canvas, along with a strip of red & pink scrapbook paper that I had stuck some "Thickers" on (remember those from my Christmas Monogram Art?)

Here's the other one:

Then I got out the good old Mod Podge and put a layer over the whole thing. 

Once it dried, it needed a little something extra, so I painted over everything with a coat of "Metallic Champagne" acrylic paint. Champagne for Valentine's Day - how appropriate!

Extreme close-up:

Next time I might look for a little lighter color paint, I wish the red background for the letters stood out more.  But overall, I really liked how they turned out, and they were such a thrifty project, too!

Here they are on the mantel:

(See what I mean about that orange wall? What was I thinking??)

And here they are alongside some of my favorite Valentine decorations - "sculptures" that my kids made in preschool!

I have one more Valentine's post coming up tomorrow.  And don't forget to check back for my giveaway winner!! Tomorrow is the big day!! You can still enter tonight, just click here.

Linking to:

The Blackberry Vine: Tuesday To Do Party

DebbieDoo's: Newbie Party

Sew Can Do: Craftastic Link Party

Alderberry Hill: Make the Scene Monday

Craft-O-Maniac: Monday Link Party

Michelle Paige: Rockin' Valentine Link Party