Valentine Mantle

I thought I would show you all today the simple Valentines mantle I put together. Now usually I am not one to decorate for a small holiday like Valentines day. My husband and I don't even usually celebrate it, or if we do, we celebrate it on a different day that week to avoid all the craziness. So needless to say when I got the hankerin' (yes that's totally a word) to do something crafty I decided to dress up my somewhat sad looking mantle. This was quite the challenge for me seeing as how I don't own any pink or red decor, and nothing with hearts! I was also determined to do this without spending any money. gulp.

 

So my little mind went to work and I started scouring Pinterest for DIY ideas. I knew from the beginning I didn't want to go too Valentiney (I have a tendency to make up my own words) with the all pink and little cupids, especially since I didn't have any red or pink decor to start with. So I started on the heart garland.

 

 

I hand cut all the hearts from some red and pink scrapbook paper as well as some old book pages. The book pages totally gives it a more vintage/neutral look. It was pretty time consuming but ended up being my favorite part of the whole mantle!

 

I had some left over hearts so I used those on my candles for my "height" section of the vignette. I cut out slightly larger hearts from book pages to outline the red hearts and to add a little more of my vintage love. I taped them to each other and then to the candle. Then secure them with a little bit of jute twine.

 

 

Next I started working on the XOXO canvas. I took a blank canvas I had in my stash and started covering it with more book pages. I then used my Cricut to cut out the X's and O's and taped them on. I wrapped some coordinating twine to match the candles.

 

 

A few nights previously my husband went to Michaels to get some craft paint and he spotted some little wooden signs. So he bought me a few of them, one being this little Love sign. If that isn't love I don't know what is!! So I painted it red, and put it front and center. I stacked it on a craft paper covered book and the only little pink book I had that just so happens to be about cupcakes. That's Valentiney right?

 

 

 

I might add a few things here and there as the week goes on. My Camellia bush is just starting to bloom in the front yard so hopefully I can add of few of its white blooms soon. But overall I'm pretty happy with it, especially since I used only what I had around the house. That's the beauty though of being a DIYer at heart, your up for the challenge of making things out of nothing!

 

 

 I added a few more things to the coffee table and brought out my pink pillow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 I fell in love with this pillow from TJ Maxx a while ago and bought it even though it doesn't match anything else I own. he he Maybe it will be useful down the road if we have a little girl in the house, but for now it fits right in with the Valentines Decor. :)

 

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Thanksgiving 2012

I know this post comes waaaay late, but I thought it couldn't hurt to share it anyway :) Just to forewarn you this post is going to be pretty picture heavy, because well I'd rather let the pictures do all the talking! I got most of my inspiration from Pinterest (no big surprise there) so if you would like to see some of my inspiration pins, you are welcome to visit my fall board here.

I was so excited to host our very first Thanksgiving at our house this year, and I wanted to keep the decorations very simple and natural. I am not a huge fan of traditional Thanksgiving decor and colors so I put my own spin on it. I went with aqua pumpkins, white plates, tan linens, and natural tree branches for that pop of fall color. Hope you enjoy!

  

 

 

 

 

 

Each person had a cloth napkin, paper napkin, and personalized leaf place holder.

 

 

Mmmmm you cant forget the sweet tea.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Sorry for the crazy eyes, Britna caught me off guard, but yay for homemade Pumpkin Cheesecake!

 

 

Britna did such an amazing job with all the arrangements around the house. She is also responsible for all of these beautiful photos!

 

 

 

 

Evan had the most important job of all, entertaining the little man. But they enjoyed themselves thoroughly on the wooden ramp Evan made that morning.

 

 

Overall I would say it was a very successful first Thanksgiving. Thanks to a wonderful family that helped me out and made it so much fun and memorable.

 

If the host is smiling at the end of the Thanksgiving, you know its been a good day. :)

 

Its Finally Fall

Yes, Fall is here, well not actually here. Its still 101 here, but my calender says its here so out goes the summer decor and in comes the Autumn goodies.  I decided to take a break from working on stuff for the shop and actually make something for myself. Boy am I glad I did! I followed this amazing picture from Pinterest to a blog called Ella Claire, where she gives a full tutorial on how to make this beauty...

 

To see her tutorial go here.

 

So I started following her steps, only I had to tweak them a bit.

 

I measured my mantle and decided how big I wanted my sign to be, since I had to make it from scratch. I decided 24"x30" would look best. So I started digging through our scrap pile and cutting my pieces.

 

 

Then I made up some cream chalk paint and painted on one coat, then some streaks of a minty green, then one more coat of cream. (the last coat didn't make the picture)

 

 

 

Then sanded her down, and started tracing the words. Now this could have been a fairly quick process, but our printer was out of ink, so... I ended up having to trace the letters onto paper by taping them onto my computer screen. This slowed things down quite a bit, but where there is a will there's a way!

 

I didn't get picture of the last steps, but i traced my letters onto the wood, then traced those in paint then filled them in. My camera doesn't really do this project justice. In person you can see a little aqua showing through, and the nice worn antiqued look to it.

 

 

 I added some spray painted candle stick holders, and some pumpkins I got last year from the Target dollar bin, and now I have a cheap, and simple Fall mantle. Now if only it would start cooling down around here so I can start enjoying all my favorite fall foods!

Vintage Cabinet

This little vintage beauty has turned into one of my all time favorite pieces. When my lovely cousin pointed it out to me, I knew I had to have it. It was pretty the way it was, but I just couldn't resist painting it up a bit.

 

 

The tag called it a "Spice Cabinet" but I loved the thought of it being a bathroom cabinet.

 

 

So once I spray painted it Antique White, touched up the metal with some bronze spray paint, and distressed it a little it looked like this....

 

I just love the country feel it has! I wish it had a twin I could keep for myself :)

 

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Small Grey Table

I am so appreciative to those who have supported me through this new journey. It's been so much fun, and so rewarding. I have had several people offer me advice or even give me old furniture for free to help me achieve my new dream. I cant say thank you enough to everyone.

This little table was given to me by a wonderful couple (thanks again!). It was in great condition and very well built, but it was ready for a makeover.

Instead of having a color in mind I waited until a color came to me. As I browsed the mistake pile at Home Depot I found a sample size of an unknown darker grey. The little dot on top looked nice and it was only $.50 so why not?  As soon as I mixed up my chalk paint, and started to paint it on I knew I was in love!

The cement grey color and chalk paint texture gives it a really cool industrial feel. I absolutely love that the wood grain shows through the paint, and the distressing turned out very natural looking. Something you cant tell by the picture is how soft it is! That is one bonus of using chalk paint, is you can sand it down to baby bottom smooth then the furniture wax keeps it that way.

So here is the before and after.

Before:

After: