Week of Projects: Mantel Re-do

(For the Fifth time!) Yeah, so I have decorated and redecorated my mantel a million, billion times (so it feels) and I think I might finally like it.
If you remember last week I was busy doing projects and still have a couple that I want to finish by Thanksgiving.

Here is one I finished:
I wanted topiaries on the mantel, flanking the pictures but I didn't want to spend $50 dollars on one! So after looking it over, it looked like it would be something that I could easily (and cheaply) do!


I bought these pots for $1.95 each. Should I get cuter pots? Probably. But I painted and glazed these so they'll work for now.

Added some floral foam.

And stuck a dowel in as the "trunk" that I would then wrap with twigs I collected from outside.

Used twine to hide the floral wire.


I added some rocks to the pot so it wouldn't be so top heavy.


Then I added these cute nests I got at home decor store. I really think they add the much needed dimension.



These are 7-8" moss balls. I drilled holes in them and stuck it on top of the dowels.
Then tied my some fabric scraps around the top. You know me!




For the mantel I decided what it really needed was some texture but I really could only achieve that by layers. So I put these empty black frames up to create a panel look.


Then I added a bunch of frames that I got at a thrift store and painted them white and added family pics. Lastly flanking the whole display with my homemade topiaries!



Link up!

Mad Hatter 'Tea Time' Finale!

Hello there! Like promised I have completed my Mad Hatter 'Tea Time' and I'm ready to share with you!


Some of my inspirations!

Anthropologie Tea Kettle lights. LOVE!!

TA-Da!


HOW I BUILT MY TEA TIME TABLE:
I had a big clock on the wall, and small buffet underneath. I wanted to make the buffet longer, so I took this door I found at IKEA in their AS-Is section and put it on top.



Next, I had these wood scrolls. They're suppose to sit on a dresser and then a mirror would go in the middle creating a vanity. I painted them white and decided to do it on the buffet and replace the mirror with the with the clock.!


This is what I ended with! I like it.


I love torn fabric lately so I put some on the top.


Next I thought outside corners could use something.


So I added some ceramic birds!




I found this super tall apothocary jar at DI for $5, score!

Filled it with Tea Cups.

I had this cute chalk board.

Ok, so this is how I made my towers. I had this bowl and bought this crystal candle holder at D.I. I decided to hot glue everything so they'd stay but I could still reheat and peel apart if I wanted.

Added a plate that I spray painted blue.

Added more stuff until I liked!

Another one. This is crystal my husband brought home from Sweden like 10 years ago and sat in a box. This seems like a better use!

I love this tea pot!

LOVE!!

The finishing touch. It needed a pop of yellow because really, what doesn't!
Added some flowers to the pot.

And made this label and wrapped in twine.

took out the shelves and put in the pot.

This is an updated photo of what it looks like now. To see the Chalk Board Wall post go HERE. Tea time anyone?

An early start...

Somewhere in blogland I came across this tree.  I love the color scheme. 

My tree last year was nice.... but I'm more than a little tired of the red color scheme I had going on.   I looked at Wally World and their glass ornaments are $4 for a pack of 4 big glass ball ornaments, or $15 for a bunch of small ones.  I guess they're not terribly expensive, but that would be AT LEAST $19 if I ONLY got 2 packs. Certainly not enough to fill up my 9 ft tree.  

So I decided to do a little recycling, with this: 

and lots of these from my basement:

I left the gold ones alone, but after I sprayed the light and dark red ornaments, I was quite pleased and surprised with the results.

I love that the dark red ones turned out light purple, so I only did a light coat on those.  I did 2 coats on the light red to make them very pink.  They dried really quickly too, I only waited 5 min in between coats, long enough to roll them over and make sure the whole thing was painted.  

Then there were these 2 emerald green ornaments I never liked, but I'm glad I didn't throw them away last year.

And you, Hawaiian Santa,

you're perfect just the way you are...

Total Cost: $4.34 for spray paint.

This is just the first of many ideas for my tree this year.  I'm glad I was able to get them painted before the hustle and bustle of the holidays gets in full swing.   I'll be working on a few Christmas projects before Thanksgiving, so I can actually enjoy them and be ready to bust out the decorations December 1st!

Place Mattes for Pillows?

Hello there, I am still knee deep in projects all over the house. I'm trying to get them done by the end of the week. My 3 year even came into my office and said "look at this house!" Hmmm...I wonder where he's heard that?!
I knew I needed to post so I went through my files of pictures to find something that I hadn't posted yet. I found this!

So I wanted to try to find some pillows that would match the wall paper behind the sofa but I knew that would be time consuming! As much as I love a could decor hunt I decided to look around my house and see what I alread had!

(these pics were taken at night so the color is a little off.



I found these blue table place mattes that I had bought on clearance a couple years ago with the plan of making them pillows but never did. They matched blue perfect!



Next, I took a stencil and a fabric pen and painted the design on the place matter. It was so perfect that it matches the same pattern on the wall paper perfectly too!





For the back of the pillow I wanted a color that matched the walls of the office. I had this mis-match curtain panel I bought at Target on clearance for $4, sitting in my pile of fabric waiting to be used and it worked out great!


There you go, my love of symmetry on display!