6 Things to Look for NOW to Use LATER for Christmas

I know, I mentioned the "C" word...Christmas.  Please don't throw anything at me.  I promise there's a good reason for my mentioning it now, during the heat of July!

We are in the height of yard sale season and NOW is the time to be looking for some items you will want to have on hand this fall.  For, you know, when you get ready to think about that time of year.  When it's chilly outside.  Everything is dressed up with red and green.  The "C" word.

First, and this is not just for later this year but something that can be used anytime...MASON JARS.  Honestly, can you have too many of these?  If you're in my household, you're not allowed to answer that.

Mason jars in all shapes and sizes are great for making snow globes, water-filled or waterless.  They also make great candleholders and baking mix gift containers.

Second, you're gonna need something to put in those snow globes.  Yard sales and thrift stores are the perfect places to pick up miniatures and toys that will fit nicely in mason jars.  Look for animals, small cars or tractors, bicycles, tiny houses, or anything that speaks to you.  It's your snow globe and it can tell whatever story you want it to.

Third, gumball machine.  Seriously?  Yes!  I found one at a thrift store last year and turned it into my all-time-favorite snow globe yet!  Don't pass over a gumball machine with writing on it.  I think mine had "Jelly Belly" on the glass.  I simply removed that before using it for my snow globe.  If it's hard to remove, you can hide or disguise it.

Fourth, ICE SKATES!  How many of you have seen cute decorations in magazines or on Pinterest using ice skates?  How many of you have kicked yourself in November for not picking up that pair you saw during the summer at a yard sale?!  (Me!)

Fifth, old books.  You can probably find some old, non-collectible, non-interesting (think old tax law or something), books at thrift stores or your library's book sale.  Disassembled, the pages are great for all sorts of crafts like this book page wreath.

And, lastly, the sixth item...greenery.  Yes, that's sort of obvious but think outside of the box here.  I picked up a thrown away artificial tree because it was broken.  However, the branches were beautiful.  I use the individual branches to fill my window boxes and to build a foundation in arrangements around the house.  Think about how many broken artificial trees you've seen at thrift stores and yard sales.  Yep, lots of cheap greenery right there!

Ok, that's my last mention of the "C" word.  Until at least next month.  You may return to your summer break now ;)

Thanks for stopping by and God bless!

Angie

5 Simple Updates to the Family Room

With the laidback, lazy days of summer here, now is your opportunity to freshen up the family room.  Who am I kidding?  Our summer schedules can sometimes be just as busy as the rest of the year.  However, that doesn't mean you can't tackle a little decorating too.  With these 5 simple updates, you can quickly and inexpensively add new life to your family room.

Make a Snow Globe Picture

I love snow globes and making your own is really easy.  I made several years ago using old mason jars and found objects.  You can see that post HERE.

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They are kind of addicting to make.  So after having made several with jars, I decided to try something new this year.  I came across a plastic shadow box frame at the thrift store and thought it would be cool to make into a snow globe picture!  It worked!  

Here's the things you'll need to make your own:  a shadow box frame with glass, a few small found objects for your snow globe scene, scrapbook paper for the background, glue, loose plastic snow (found mine at Hobby Lobby), and some tape to seal the back.

My found objects are 2 triangle pieces from an old building blocks set, a small plastic moose from the dime store, and vintage punch out letters that spell S-N-O-W.  You could use anything from small Christmas village trees and people, children's toys, gumball machine toys, whatever :)

Arrange your objects in the box and glue them in place once you're happy with it.

After you have everything glued in place and the glue has dried, attach the back of the frame leaving one side slightly open.  Pour a small amount of the loose plastic snow into the opening, checking often to see when you have added enough.

Finish securing the frame back and then seal with washi (or other light tack) tape.  This is just in case some of the smaller particles of snow slip out of the back.

That's it!  You're finished!  Easy peesy and would make a cute gift for teachers, co-workers, etc.  Think about what you could put in them...the possibilities are endless!

This would be an easy and inexpensive craft to do with your kids or grandkids!  I'm going to be hunting down more shadow box frames.  How about you?

Thanks for stopping by and God bless!!
Angie

I'm linking here:
THE STYLE SISTERS
JENNIFER RIZZO
HOME STORIES A TO Z
FROM MY FRONT PORCH TO YOURS

COMMON GROUND

HAVE A DAILY CUP OF MRS. OLSON
COASTAL CHARM'S NIFTY THRIFTY TUESDAY

FRIDAYS UNFOLDED

FEATHERED NEST FRIDAY

ONE MORE TIME EVENTS

TWIRL AND TAKE A BOW 
SAVVY SOUTHERN STYLE

STONEGABLE
UNDER THE TABLE AND DREAMING

A DELIGHTSOME LIFE
ART IS BEAUTY

CLEVER CHICKS BLOG HOP DIY SHOWOFF IT'S OVERFLOWING

THREE MANGO SEEDS

ELIZABETH JOAN DESIGNS

WEEKEND CRAFTS

PRETTY PINTASTIC PARTY
THOUGHTS FROM ALICE
HYMNS AND VERSES
MISS MUSTARD SEED
CONFESSIONS OF A PLATE ADDICT

A Gift FROM The Hostess

This year we're hosting my husband's family for Thanksgiving.  During my pre-turkey day planning, I've been thinking through the flow of the day.  We always have lots of fun as there are usually 25-30 of us.  From the preparing of food, eating (of course!), shooting skeet, playing games, and just sitting around talking, the plans for all of these activities are coming together.  One thing I thought would be nice this year is a gift to give those sweet guests that always help with the clean up.

So, when Royal Design Studio offered a chance to promote their Fall and Thanksgiving line of stencils, I jumped at the chance.  The gift I'm giving my clean up helpers this year is an apron and gloves, so a stencil was the perfect way to beautify them.

I chose the Petal Play Floral Damask Fall Stencil from Royal Design Studio, a basic plain apron from the craft store, and aqua/white rubber gloves from Home Depot for this project.

Using the stencil is very simple...even one of this size.  Royal Design's stencils come with registration marks, making it easy to repeat the pattern seamlessly.  I used acrylic craft paint in Robin's Egg Blue for the apron and Krylon's Ocean Breeze spray paint for the rubber gloves.  NOTE:  The spray paint will peel if the rubber if stretched tightly but the top of most gloves are plenty big and do not need to stretch in order to put on.  Since I brushed on the acrylic paint, there was no need to tape off exposed areas.  I did however use Frog Tape when spraying the cuff of the gloves.  Clean up of Royal Design Studio stencils was easy for both methods as well!

So here they are finished!  (Modeled by my youngest!)  

Of course, I can't just hand my helpers the apron and gloves.  They need cute packaging.  Mason jars...always great for s-o-o-o many uses.

I laid the apron flat and then folded it up into a rectangle, making sure the string are tucked inside the fold.  Next, I laid the gloves on the rectangle of the apron and rolled everything up together.

Tuck them inside the mason jar, add a burlap ribbon and wood slice tag (see tutorial here).  

Well, that marks one more thing off the Thanksgiving prep list!  This is a quick and inexpensive project.  Easy to squeeze in before turkey day!  

Thanks for stopping by and God bless!!

Angie

I was given a free stencil to review in exchange for this post but all opinions are mine!

I'm linking here:
THE STYLE SISTERS
JENNIFER RIZZO
HOME STORIES A TO Z
FROM MY FRONT PORCH TO YOURS

COMMON GROUND

HAVE A DAILY CUP OF MRS. OLSON
COASTAL CHARM'S NIFTY THRIFTY TUESDAY

FRIDAYS UNFOLDED

FEATHERED NEST FRIDAY

ONE MORE TIME EVENTS

TWIRL AND TAKE A BOW 
SAVVY SOUTHERN STYLE

STONEGABLE
UNDER THE TABLE AND DREAMING

A DELIGHTSOME LIFE
ART IS BEAUTY

CLEVER CHICKS BLOG HOP DIY SHOWOFF IT'S OVERFLOWING

THREE MANGO SEEDS

ELIZABETH JOAN DESIGNS

WEEKEND CRAFTS

PRETTY PINTASTIC PARTY
THOUGHTS FROM ALICE
HYMNS AND VERSES
MISS MUSTARD SEED
CONFESSIONS OF A PLATE ADDICT

DIY Business Cards

I told you that I recently attended my first blogging conference, Haven.  What I didn't share were my business cards that I made prior to Haven.

I didn't make the actual business card.  I ordered those but what I did make were the business card holders and swag that I attached to each card.  So here's how I did it:

Ordered some snazzy business cards with all my perts.

Dug through my stashes of old handwritten recipe cards

Located one awesome Martha Stewart paper punch.

This paper punch doesn't punch all the way through.  Some of the flower image is still attached, allowing it to make a 3D effect.  See? Awesome.

I punched the card in opposite corners which made the perfect slot to hold my business card.  But, just to be sure my card didn't slip out, I added a piece of washi tape :)

Now, the card was looking great but I needed to add a little something to hold some swag.  I found this!  A small manila coin envelope.  Perfect size to add to the card.

However, the little envelope was just a (yawn) plain...cute but plain.  So, I pulled out my rubber stamps and found just the right one.  I carved this bee stamp a few years ago and have become somewhat addicted to carving rubber stamps.  (I'll be creating a video soon so that you can carve you very own too!)

Under the bee, I wrote "yourself"...get it "bee yourself!"  

  

Time to finish it off and add a little goody to the envelope.  I hole punched the envelope after enclosing a small individually wrapped mint that I picked up from the wedding section of Michaels.  Threaded some twine through the opening in the top flower punch on the card and the hole in the envelope to tie everything together.  Now, they're ready to start handing out!  Oh, wait...

Because we DIYers are never satisfied, I had to create another stamp with another saying.  In this one, I carved a Ball mason jar because don't all home/lifestyle bloggers love mason jars?!  The message here was "Have a Ball" at the conference, at home, at life...whatever you do.  

I hope this sparked some ideas for you.  I enjoyed sharing these cards at Haven...all 50+ of them.  The greatest part was that in exchange, I received 50+ cards from all the great bloggers that I met.

Now, I have to interrupt our post to mention this.  The first Ball jar stamp that I carved was totally awesome.  That is until I inked it up and stamped my first envelope.  Do you know the first rule in stamping words or lettering??  Yep, it has to be mirror image.  It actually took me a third try to get the lettering and a jar shape that I was happy with.  See, we all have those less than perfect attempts at doing things.  Kind of like Babe Ruth, the Sultan of Swat.  Did you know he was also once known as the King of Strikeouts?  Yep.  Michelangelo said, "If people only knew how hard I work to gain my mastery, it wouldn't seem so wonderful at all."  No one gets it right the first time, everytime.  It does take work but it also takes allowing yourself to fail in the attempt.  So, even though I love sharing beautiful projects, I also want you to see that they don't just happen.  There are a lot of "fails" beforehand.  Beginning this Friday, I am going to begin a regular post entitled "Reality Check".  Believe me when I say, I have lots to share in this area.

Thanks for stopping by and God bless!!

Angie

I'm linking here:
THE STYLE SISTERS
JENNIFER RIZZO
HOME STORIES A TO Z
FROM MY FRONT PORCH TO YOURS

COMMON GROUND

HAVE A DAILY CUP OF MRS. OLSON
COASTAL CHARM'S NIFTY THRIFTY TUESDAY

FRIDAYS UNFOLDED

FEATHERED NEST FRIDAY

ONE MORE TIME EVENTS

TWIRL AND TAKE A BOW 
SAVVY SOUTHERN STYLE

STONEGABLE
UNDER THE TABLE AND DREAMING

A DELIGHTSOME LIFE
ART IS BEAUTY

CLEVER CHICKS BLOG HOP DIY SHOWOFF IT'S OVERFLOWING

THREE MANGO SEEDS

ELIZABETH JOAN DESIGNS

WEEKEND CRAFTS

PRETTY PINTASTIC PARTY
THOUGHTS FROM ALICE

Memorial Day Tablescape

I love anything red, white, and blue.  Make it a holiday where I get to decorate using those colors and it's just the icing on the cake for me.  I store my linens and decor in totes based on holiday or color themes.  So, yesterday afternoon, I pulled out my red, white, and blue tote and put together this Memorial Day tablescape.

I began by layering Ralph Lauren's "Dylan's Grove" sheet and a simple piece of gardening burlap on my patio table.  I picked up this sheet at the thrift store and I would love to complete the set but the queen set on eBay goes for $350!  I'll keep checking the thrift stores, thank you.

Gosh, it's pretty ;)

I guess I'm still in a beach frame of mind since our vacation so I pulled out my enamelware lobster plates for the place settings.  

Added a blue and white cloth napkin and the mason jars that I painted (idea found here) and the table was set.

I purchased the buntings from Old Time Pottery many years ago.  I dreamed of using them on my front porch.  I didn't quite think it through when I bought them because our front porch has arches and hanging the buntings in the arches just looked wonky. More like pathetic.  No matter because I found another use for them yesterday.  

My youngest made these rustic benches using scrap boards and cedar logs.  I love them!  The buntings fit perfectly across the back.  

The last thing I added were some flowers to my metal tool box.  Did you know red geraniums are the most popular color?  I didn't either.  I took me going to three stores to find red.  I was obviously behind the holiday-weekend-planting-crowd.  I used two red geraniums, two white wave petunias, and one blue lobelia.  One lobelia because it was the ONLY blue plant left.  Yep, behind the crowd.

I hope you enjoy your Memorial Day weekend.  Please don't forget it's about remembering and honoring those that have served for our freedom and our rights.  They sacrifice so much and something receive so little in return.  Thank you to all who are serving or have served our country!  Thank you to the families of those heroes too!

Thanks for stopping by and God bless!
Angie


I'm linking here:
THE STYLE SISTERS

JENNIFER RIZZO

FROM MY FRONT PORCH TO YOURS

COMMON GROUND

HAVE A DAILY CUP OF MRS. OLSON

COASTAL CHARM'S NIFTY THRIFTY TUESDAY

FRIDAYS UNFOLDED

FEATHERED NEST FRIDAY

ONE MORE TIME EVENTS

TWIRL AND TAKE A BOW

SAVVY SOUTHERN STYLE

STONEGABLE

UNDER THE TABLE AND DREAMING

A DELIGHTSOME LIFE

ART IS BEAUTY

  CLEVER CHICKS BLOG HOP DIY SHOWOFF IT'S OVERFLOWING

THREE MANGO SEEDS

ELIZABETH JOAN DESIGNS

Shamrocks and Daffodils

I don't know if it's because I'm so o-v-e-r winter or what but I'm just loving these colors right now.  I began my spring decorating with some of my blue and white dishes as you remember from this post.  Yesterday, we went for a walk to the old farm next door and collected these beautiful, bright yellow daffodils.  Add those to the blue and white and it's gorgeous.  Now, with St. Patrick's Day approaching, I picked up a pot of shamrocks at Kroger.  The vibrant green just makes the whole thing over the top WOW!  

The Latin name for shamrock is oxalis acetosella.  

This plant family also includes sorrel.  If you're a Seven Brides for Seven Brothers fan, you'll know that sorrel makes "real nourishing soup."  :)

Look at that yellow and green!  

I always thought a shamrock had 4 leaves...you know, a four leaf clover, luck o' the Irish kinda thing. Nope.  Shamrocks have 3 leaves.  Clover can have 4 or more.  Yeah, I googled that.

Vibrant yellow daffodils against the shamrock green.  

Did you know you can dry daffodils?  You can!  Just like hydrangeas, they will slowly over time become paper like but will retain some of their yellow color.  And like hydrangeas, they will be somewhat fragile.  Once mine are dried, I remove their stems and just used the blooms as a bowl filler or even carefully added to potpourri.  (Does anyone still use potpourri?)

Since it's St. Patrick's Day, I pulled out my old Atlas "Good Luck" jar for the daffodils.  

It's a little hard to see but this jar has a four leaf clover and the words good luck on it.  I can't remember where I found this jar but it was more than likely a thrift store or yard sale years ago.

Thanks for stopping by and God bless!
Angie

I'm linking here:

THE STYLE SISTERS

JENNIFER RIZZO

FROM MY FRONT PORCH TO YOURS

COMMON GROUND

HAVE A DAILY CUP OF MRS. OLSON

COASTAL CHARM'S NIFTY THRIFTY TUESDAY

FRIDAYS UNFOLDED

FEATHERED NEST FRIDAY

ONE MORE TIME EVENTS

TWIRL AND TAKE A BOW

SAVVY SOUTHERN STYLE

STONEGABLE 

UNDER THE TABLE AND DREAMING

ART IS BEAUTY