Decorating a Mantle

Yes that's right, it was time to freshen up around here a bit.  With my ODD (obsessive decorating disorder) I can't handle anything staying the same way for too long.  My mantle, aka dining area shelf, had been the same for almost 2 months.  Must be some record!  :) 

I still love the red and greens from before but added a lot of white to brighten things! The small camera image in the lower right hand corner is a watermark.  I'm trying to decide if I should watermark all of my pictures.

The black frame is the inside of a large picture frame I used in another project.  The S was given to me by a friend of mine.

Flowers from Joann in a Goodwill(GW)  pitcher.

A garden thingy (the technical term) from Hobby Lobby (HL) a few years ago propped up on a cake stand from Home Goods (HG).

Large potpourri from HG mixed in with some red wooden spheres in a large apothecary jar.

On top of the buffet:  a Pottery Barn knock off finial.  It was originally brown from HL.  I spray painted it white and shabbied it up a bit with sandpaper before spraying it with matte finish spray sealer.

A bird from HG, on top of a scale from the flea market on top of a cake stand from Target.

And last but not least, a little lamp from GW.  It needed a little love as it was wobbly and the finish was cracked.  But nothing a little wood glue, sand paper and spray paint couldn't fix.

Here is what the shelf vignette looked like before.  

And here it is now - ready for summer!

Linking up to:  The Lettered Cottage

Teacher gifts part II

For my big kid's teacher's gifts, I did a take on the large chicken wire message boards I recently did in my craft room.

table top chicken wire message boards

I used 8x10 picture frames with chicken wire stapled to the back.

Once the chicken wire was attached, I spray painted the entire thing.

For the white one, the staples from the chicken wire were showing through so I hot glued white ribbon to cover them up.  I love the way it turned out.

On the black one, the sharp wire edges were hanging out so I hot glued ribbon to cover them up.  I think it adds a nice finished touch.

Then I used regular clothespins (with book pages deco-pauged to the top) to hold a gift card.

I bought these easels at Hobby Lobby to hold the message boards.

Hopefully the teachers will like them.  At least they'll like the gift cards anyway!  :)

Linking up to:  Today's Creative Blog, Tip Junkie, Stories of A-Z

Teacher gifts

My littlest guy had his last full day of pre-school for the year today.  He has a teacher and a bunch of helpers in his classroom so I needed something to give to all of them.  I went with the cardstock notebook holder with matching pens.  An oldie but a goodie. 

Here is how I did it.

Supplies used: patterned paper, notebooks (purchased from Walmart, measuring 7 3/4 inches x 5 inches), pens (used Pen-tel pens because the barrel opens to slip the paper in) and cardstock (not pictured)

cut a strip of patterned paper to go across the tear off/holder thingy on the notebook- dimensions of the paper are 3/4 inch x 5 inches

cut down the cardstock to 8 1/2 inches x 11 1/4 inches

score cardstock at 5 1/2 inches and 5 3/4 inches

to make folds to fit notebook

and here is the notebook, glued to the folder of cardstock

(ok I know I took really detailed shots of making the notebook, but I slacked off and didn't take any pictures of this part except the one above- lame) Next I took ink and a cute little $1 stamp from Joann to make the card on front.  I inked the edges too.

for the pen: unscrew the bottom of the pen and take the ink out.  cut patterned paper to 1 inch x 3 1/4 inches, wrap it around a pencil to start the curl, then wrap it really tightly and shove it into the barrel of the pen. reinsert the ink.

And there it is.

I found these darling little notebooks for some of the class assistants and made matching pens for them too. 

Wrapped up with a little cellophane and ribbon, they make cute little gifts.

My son was in the Green Frog class so we handed out these treats to his little friends- small green rubber frogs, a sucker and a tootsie roll.  The cardstock circle says, "Thank you for being my friend in the Green Frog class at Mothers Day Out! I made sure to make one for my son too.  A "to him, from him" gift.  He loved it!

We did something different for my big kid's teachers.  I'll be posting that next.

Linking to:  Shabby Chic Cottage, The Shabby Nest

Chicken wire message boards

I know I just redid my craft room not too long ago, but nothing in my house is ever done done.  The room was a little too busy looking so I've been tweaking. Starting with new message boards. 

Before:  (Look on either side of the window) a star, a magnet board and 2 different cork boards

After:  matching chicken wire message boards

I started with canvas frame stretchers.  They were super cheap and I was able to get the sizes I wanted.  One size was 30x40 and the other was 20x40.  I think I paid less than $25 for both of them.

The corners are already mitered.  They just slide in together.

I put a staple at each junction to reinforce the frame.

Next- the chicken wire.  I bought a roll at Lowes for around $12 and I have about 1/2 of the roll left.

I attached the chicken wire to the frame with a staple gun.

And then cut it to size with wire cutters. 

I forgot to take pictures of the next step but all I did was take the frames outside and give them a few coats of black semi-gloss spray paint.  I painted front and back to cover all of the silver on the wire.

Then I just used a couple of nails in the corners and hung them up.

And then I filled them up.  The larger of the two is for pictures, drawings my kids make me, quotes etc.

The other one is for the business stuff:  calendar, business cards, notes, to do lists, etc.

I just use clothes pins (both large and small) to hang items on the boards.

I am loving the way they turned out.  Even though there is a ton of stuff hanging on them, they look so much cleaner because they are simple and they match. 

linking up to:  Tatertots and Jello, Shabby Nest, Whipperberry, Embellishing Life, Today's Creative Blog, Organize and Decorate Everything, Sweet peas and Bumblebees, Sugar and Dots

a Blog award!

I am so excited...I received a blog award!!  Woo hoo!  It's from Angie at Thrifty like me.  I'm a new follower of her blog and love that she is a Goodwill'er too!

For these awards, the blogger must:

• Thank the person who gave you the award & link back to their site in your original post.
• Tell us seven things about yourself.
• Pass along the award to 5 newly discovered bloggers.
• Contact these bloggers and let them know they got this award.

So...7 things about me:

1.  I love candy and Diet Mountain Dew!  Not together though.   

2.  I love having a clean and organized house.  When I am grumpy or frustrated about something, grabbing the broom or dust cloth and getting to work calms me down. 

3.  I love antique/vintage items with a shabby and loved look. 

4.  Taking pictures makes me happy!

5.  I am a quick decision maker.  Sometimes I have regretted not researching something to death.  Other times I'm just glad to be done. 

6.  I am terrible with confrontation and will do anything to avoid it.  I get panic attacks if I have to confront someone with an issue.  I used to not even make returns at Target just to avoid the situation.  Thankfully, I'm getting better at that.

7.  I love love love decorating my house. 

Now to pass this award on:

I'm am sorry to not do this part.   I read sooo soo so many great blogs I can't choose just 5.  If you are reading this and have a blog, consider yourself tagged. 

Makes me happy!

Some stuff making me happy today:

peanut butter cup cookies!  So yum! Recipe here

this cute flag banner I just finished up- inspired by one my friend made

my blog being "pinned"  It's so exciting!  Do you use Pinterest?  If you need an invitation, let me know. 

my new inspiration boards.  Blog post coming up.

these little cuties.  All I wanted for Mother's Day was a peaceful home.  I didn't get it, but I love them anyway.  I did get a nice necklace and lots of handmade prizes- the best kind!

I love that he wants to wear his big brother's soccer clothes- even though they are falling off his little body.  Love it! 

What is making you happy today?