Can you believe 2013 has come and gone? Where does the time go? Lets take a look at a few favorite posts. In January I painted an old armoire.

Merry Christmas

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

Love to you all, see you in the new year.

A Winter Wonderland

This Christmas I wanted my home to reflect Winter. I really tried to create a Winter Wonderland. I didn't count on it being so hard to photograph lol.

 The cream and silver Christmas pillow was bought at Target last year and I just wrapped a burlap bow around my everyday pillow and added a brooch that looks like a snowflake to the center.

A Dollar Store Christmas House

I've always wanted a to make a giant gingerbread house. I don't have an oven big enough to accommodate such a task, so I decided to build a giant Christmas house from foam board that I bought from the Dollar Store.

 I cut four 15 inch squares and glued them together to make the front, back and sides.

Dollar Store Christmas Napkin Rings

This year I decided Christmas place settings and napkin rings would be a nice change. I went out looking and needless to say the sticker shock set me on the diy path. There are a lot of beautiful place settings and napkin rings geared toward Christmas but I'm trying to save money for a new fence and I just cant justify spending a ton of money on things I'll only use once a year... so I started my diy with napkin rings.

 I made the napkin rings from the cardboard tube from a roll of aluminum foil, cocktail napkins, and Dollar Store snow flakes. I had everything but the snowflakes, so I only spent a dollar.

My Thanksgiving Table

This year I decided to set our table using my white and gold dishes along with natural fall colors.

I've had the dishes for years, they were a gift from my mom. She also gave me the gold flatware.

It's My Blogaversary

 It's my blog anniversary! In a few day's it will be three years since I started this little ole blog. I hope you don't mind taking a little stroll down memory lane with me. This wreath is from one of my very first post.

I have to say that after three years it's still a lot of fun. It's been a great creative outlet for me. These Pottery Barn hurricane  knockoffs were another early project.

Painted Wood Burner and Tile

Ever since I moved into my home 17 years ago I've had a love hate relationship with my wood burner. I like using it for heating, it saves tons on the gas bill, but it was so dark and the tile wall behind it was dark and dreary. My living room is dark because of the big oak tree in the front of my house. The dark wood burner and tile made it even more dreary. I hated it. So I painted it. Finally!

 I thought that I had before pictures saved in my web album, however the pictures were on my other computer saved on the dead hard drive.  I'm sorry to say I have no befores. Imagine dark brown tile from floor to ceiling and the black wood burner in front of that. Here is a picture of the tile color before.

Spooky Bride and Groom

It's not been an easy task decorating for Halloween this year. I took a few items from my stash earlier in the month and went back for more a few days ago. I ran into a slight problem. Someone, who will remain nameless moved things around in the shed and totally blocked my boxes.Unfortunately some of the blockage is heavy furniture waiting for yours truly to give it a makeover.I cant move it. So I made do with what I had in the house.

 I had this holographic picture of a spooky bride and groom, so I worked around that. I put the picture in a dollar store frame sprayed it white and dusted it with a little black glitter.

A Warning

There is a blogger who seems to think its okay to take others photos and work and pass them off as her own. I was informed by another blogger who was also ripped off by this person that she had posted my images as her own. She went so far as to watermark MY pictures with her blog name. In her post there is a vague reference to my blog for materials and no credit or link back to me. I have asked her to remove my images from her post but so far she hasn't complied. You might want to check this person out to make sure she hasn't pirated your work. Click Here if  would like to make sure you haven't had your work stolen.

This face expresses exactly how I feel about this, GRRR!!

A Fall Table

This Fall is the Fall of not spending a dime.  For decor it's all about using what I have and making what I don't. This table was pulled together with things I have on hand and some burlap and canvas roses that I made loosely  following  this tutorial.

A Soft and Romantic Fall Mantle

I know I've said it a million times, but I don't really have a mantle, I just pretend my buffet is my mantle and change it with the seasons. Here is my first Fall vignette,

It's soft and neutral and coordinates well with my raggedy wreath. But it will probably change as the season goes along.

Fall Wreath

It was my intention to make one of those really full rag wreaths for fall. Until I started tearing strips of fabric and tying then to my pool noodle turned wreath form. It was then that I realized that it was going to take about a million strips of fabric to make it full and fluffy....huh! aint nobody got time for that! I revised my plan  when I saw Lucy's gorgeous burlap and canvas wreath.  Lucy's is much more beautiful, so if you want to see the original stunning version visit Craftberry Bush.

Determined not to spend any money this fall I used things I had on hand. I tore a long strip of  canvas and wrapped it around a pool noodle that I had left over from  this project. Then I started tying strips of burlap, drop cloth canvas, twine and lace to the wreath.

Shabby Pumpkins and Ornamental Cabbage

I really like all all of the fabric pumpkins I've been seeing around blog land. I wanted to make some that were quick and easy and involved no sewing. I found this great tutorial at Lucy's beautiful blog  Craftberry Bush. It was right up my alley, quick, cute and no sew. So I made a few.

In addition to making the pumpkins I tried to make an ornamental cabbage from leftover drop cloth fabric. This was my first attempt and while I think it's kinda cute it needs some tweaking.

Book Page Wreath Again?

I made two folded book page wreaths, the first one was for Halloween. I also wanted to make an everyday wreath using the same method. I wanted it to be romantic and pretty, one that could be used in farmhouse, cottage or shabby chic decor. Here's what I came up with.

The pages were fan folded and then folded in half and stapled on the folded edge, then they were glued to a paper cake circle.

Thank You Michelle

I was fortunate enough to win  a beautiful Giveaway from Michelle who writes the gorgeous blog Petite Michelle Louise. After a small snafu with our postal system, I received these beautiful bracelets.

Michelle's talent is immeasurable and her kindness and generosity well known. I am so proud and honored to be the recipient of this gorgeous handcrafted jewelry.

Too Soon?

Well that's what I  thought when fall items started appearing in stores. Then seeing all of the pretty fall colors got me in the mood to do a fall craft. I know everybody and their Aunt Minnie has made a book page wreath but that didn't stop me from plunging right in and doing another one.

As you can see I skipped right to Halloween. I've been wanting to make a wreath like this for a while now, what was stopping me?

Altered Bottles

It's my goal to have a few things for sale in my Etsy shop for the holidays. So I've been working on a few things that have been rattling around in my head for a while now. I figure if I make what I like someone else may like it too, or at least I hope so. Inspired by the beautiful altered bottles that I've seen around I tried my hand at a few.

 I had these really pretty rain glass bottles that I thought would be pretty altered. This is how they looked naked.

Garden Arrangement

Hydrangeas, Roses, Liatris and Balloon flowers are blooming, but the heat is really beating everything up. I figured I'd better hurry up and make an arrangement using all of these things before they all dry up! I snipped a few blooms, totally at the wrong time of the day, don't do that.

Flowers should be cut early in the morning not late afternoon. Oh well it's too dang hot for me
 early in the day. I have to wait for the sun to move around to the back of the house to do my gardening. The back isn't planted yet, just grass back there, totally my husbands job.

In The Garden

Although I'm still planting, weeding and working on designing flower beds the garden is waking up. Here are a few random shots.

A Box For The Remotes and A Tulipiere

I don't know about you guys, but at my house one of the most commonly heard phrases is, wheres the remote?

I decided to corral them in a box. Keeping them in one place will make it easier for us to keep up with them (hopefully). I bought a bunch of cigar boxes at goodwill and transformed  one to hold the remotes. Here is a picture of the box before,

Dollar Store Flour Sack Pillows

I've needed new pillows for quite a while now. The dogs did a number on the ones I made a couple of years ago. When Debbie put out the word that she was having a fun Dollar store party I was excited, and stumped. I took a walk through the Dollar store for inspiration and then I spied the flour sack towels! Hmm, these are perfect for pillow covers thought I and  grabbed eight and got to work.

I used two flour sack towels for each pillow and made envelope closures for the back so they can be removed  to wash. So a stack of these,

Happy Mothers Day

Wishing all moms and moms to be a Happy Mothers Day.

We Have A Floor

I know everyone around blog land has been sick, well the ick has visited our house now. I was already quite ill and just as I was recovering from one thing this nasty cold/ flu bug hit three out of four of us. Thankfully we are all on the mend. In other news our home reno is  moving at a snails pace.  Remember my inspiration board?

Well this is as far as we have gotten,

Bathroom Mirror Frame

Since we're redoing the bathroom I thought I might put a mirror over the sink instead of the medicine cabinet. I've been looking in thrift stores and found nothing, then I remembered an unfinished frame that I bought a looooong time ago that was just hanging around in my closet.

Stamped and Painted Books

I like old books, however I haven't come across those really beautiful vintage leather bound books.Feeling crafty one day I decided to paint, stamp and distress a few Dollar Store and thrift store books.

The books were random hard backs, I tried to stick with the ones that had a dark cover  because I could use that to help distress the books. This is a sample of the books in their original condition.

Adding Spring

All of my seasonal decorations are buried in my shed, behind home reno stuff and an entire dining room set that I have to re do. I didn't want to be left out of the spring celebrations in blog land so I used a few items that I had in the house and cobbled together a spring wreath and a little vignette.

I couldn't get to my grapevine wreath forms either, they are also behind the great reno wall, so I used a 10" cardboard cake circle to make the wreath. I added moss and silk flowers and eggs that I made a couple of years ago. I put a nest under a cloche and added faux tulips to  galvanized buckets purchased recently at Marshalls.

Pickle Jars and Bubble Bowls

After Christmas I usually start to feel the winter doldrums. so to add a little green to the house and remind myself that spring is near I made a couple of terrariums.

I used an old pickle jar and a bubble bowl that I bought from Walmart.  I wanted the bubble bowl to look like a vintage fish bowl so I glued a candle holder to the bottom to act as a pedestal.

Hunting and Gathering

We are in the process of prepping for a few major projects, so  I have  been measuring and shopping and tearing things apart. I bought a new sink and faucet for the kitchen from Ikea. I have something like this in mind for my kitchen makeover,

source

       I bought this sink,

Armoire Redo

 I bought this armoire unfinished from Sears in 1989. During the mid to late 80's I was heavily into country decor. I never liked the goose and duck look, however I did like mauve and Williamsburg blue. My living room had floral Bishop sleeve curtains in shades of mauve, cream and Williamsburg blue with lace panels in between and matching floral slipcovers,(whew that's a lot of flowers).Those colors led me to believe it was a good idea to assault the armoire with a mauve pickling stain! What was I thinking? Then I decided on a whim one day to paint it brown, I hated it right away and halfway through aborted that mission, so it sat like that for years! 

Dollar Store Romantic Valentine Place Settings

Valentines Day is not without tons of decor items to choose from, the Dollar Tree is no exception. The problem for me is I am not a fan of most of it. Since Valentines Day is about romance and love I figured I would just go with that and create a Valentines table for two,now how to do that using romantic elements that aren't so typically Valentines Day related.