Behind the glass door

If you follow my blog, you know that we have a new puppy.  I figured I was going to get out of putting up a tree this year and I could use the excuse that Windsor would knock it over.  Hubby had a different option in mind.  He thought we could put the tree up in our new porch.  I hate to admit it but it was a very good idea.  We have a sliding glass door between the dining room and the porch so Windsor can't get to the tree. 

The tricky part was the tree was 9 foot.  Solution, we just didn't put the top part on the tree.  I added a topper so you can't even tell that the tree is missing it's top.  It really was a great idea, because now you can see it if you are in the porch, the dining room or the living room.  My hubby is pretty smart!

I doubt that this will be it's permanent home for the coming years, but it worked out great for this year.  I keep asking how old do you have to be to just put up a table top Christmas tree.  My family doesn't find the humor in that, but they don't have to do all the work. 

One Valance to Two

I love to change my curtains from room to room. This valance was in my dining room but I decided It would look great in my bathroom because it matched the shower curtain that I like to use for Christmas.  The only problem was I only had one valance and I have 2 windows in the bathroom. Not a problem for me thanks to my dear mother I have some pretty great sewing skills. 

I cut the valance in half and finished the side seams.

I used a zig zag stitch so it would look professional.  Here's where it got a little tricky, I didn't finish the end where the curtain rod would go thru.  I left it open.  I finished above and below that part.  (Now don't tell my mother, she wouldn't approve of that edge not being finished.) 

It worked out fine.  I was able to slide the rod in and just turn the seam under and no one will know that it's not finished.

See how it all coordinates.  I had to move those curtains to the bathroom. If you are wondering, I happened to have another valance that I used for my dining room.  It matches better with my color scheme. Stay tuned for that post coming soon. 

If you are lucky enough to live near an Ollies Outlet you can get great deals on curtains. That valance was $2.99. So not bad for two window, right.  I can't seem to go in that store without checking out the curtain section.

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Snowman made from wreaths

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas at my house. I wanted to change up my front door a little this year, so I started checking my favorite blogs and I found this over at East Coast Creative.

 
http://www.eastcoastcreativeblog.com/2012/11/seasonal-front-door-decor-diy-snowman.html

I decided to try my hand at this snowman.  I found two of my wreaths at The Dollar tree and the larger wreath I purchased at a yard sale.  I used an old fleece scarf that I had made when my son was playing high school football.  His name and number are embroidered on the end but I turned it so you couldn't see them.  I found the Santa hat at Walgreens for $2.99. 

I wired the 3 wreaths together.  I did add a little spray snow to the wreaths because Hubby said they were too shiny.  I added the scarf and hat and here is what my version looks like.

Pretty cheap and cute little snowman if I do say so myself. 

can of snow  $1.75

3 wreaths $1.00 each

Santa hat $2.99

Scarf (no charge)

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New swag for my mantle

I've been wanting to change my mantle decorations for the last couple years but didn't want to spend a lot of money.  I found this swag for $5.00 this summer at a yard sale.  It was still in the box.

Here she is on my mantle all light up.

I love it.  This is exactly what I have been wanting for this spot but was to cheap to pay the price.  Most yard sale purchases get flipped for my resale shop but every once in a while something gets to stay in my own house.  This one was a "keeper."

Vanity update

This vanity needed a little clean up and some color and I knew she would be a beauty.  Here's how she started out.





A little paint, new hardware and new fabric on the seat and this is how she looks all dressed up.

I found this retro fabric in my stash and it was the perfect color combination.



BEFORE



AFTER

Isn't she pretty all dressed up?  She is going to the shop for resale. 


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Hometown Candle

A very quick and easy project.  This could make a very unique Christmas gift.   I just cut the title out of our local paper.  I thought this would make a really cute gift for friends and family who moved away.  All I did was modge podge the newspaper directly on to the candle, and brushed on another coat when it was dry.

This would be cute with an engagement or wedding picture too!

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Two of my favorites.......

My hubby and our puppy.

Windsor looks so innocent, but trust me he is not.  So far this week I caught him trying to eat a battery, a penny and I was too late for the blue ink pen.  Can  you see where his coat has a hint of blue on it? After chewing the pen he must have rolled in it too.  Our golden doodle is now our Blue golden doodle.

burlap foot stool

If you follow my blog you know that we just recently remodeled our screened in porch.  After purchasing new furniture minus the ottoman because they wanted $150 just for that piece, I decided to try my hand at making my own ottoman.  I had the perfect oak table that was the exact height that I needed.  This table has a great amount of sentimental value to me because my Dad made it many years ago and I've been saving it for just the right project. 

I purchased a square piece of foam from Walmart.  With some help from my mother we covered the top of the table with burlap. 

I layed the burlap on the floor, centered the foam and added the table upside down.  While my mother held it in place, I stapled it all to the bottom of the table.  This was no easy task because the table was solid oak. 

 I love how it turned out for two reasons.

Reason 1:  My Dad made the table and

Reason 2:  My mother helped me transform it to this.

My husband likes it too! 

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Christmas at the shop

Here are some pictures of my space at the Shop.

Four hours later and I'm all ready for the Holiday shoppers.

sheet music ornaments

I've been wanting to try my hand at some sheet music ornaments.  I didn't want the traditonal round ornaments that I've been seeing around blogland.  Looking around my craft room I found a large number of gingerbread people that were totally unfinished.  Not sure how long they've been buried in my craft room but there were about 30 of them.  

I bought an old book of sheet music a while back at an antique store.  It really was old and yellowed and was sold in a plastic shield because it was falling apart. 

Watch while I breath new life into these hymns.  Next step I traced the gingerbread people on to the sheet of music and cut it out.

One coat of modge podge to glue the sheet music to the gingerbread man and then one coat over the entire top to seal it.  After it dried I took a needle and poked thru the hole in the top of the head. (this hole was covered over with the paper in the previous step.)  Last I tied a little raffia to the top so that I could hang them.  I liked the rafia because it had the same yellowing color as the original sheet music.

The finished product looks like this.......

The two on the right were from different sheet music that I had leftover from another project.  

What do think about my version of the sheet music ornaments?

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