Dollar PomPom Garland

I have been feeling a little non-creative over the past several months, hence my lack of posts. I love to create and I have dearly missed that outlet so I challenged myself to do a little something creative everyday. To get back into the creative habit I started off easy.

I purchased a few bags of pompoms from the Dollar store and with some thin jute and a larger needle I created some cute and very inexpensive garland.

           It looks so sweet on my Spring mantle. 

I also made one with more vibrant colors 

to use for the Summer. 

With a small investment of money and time, 

I was able to freshen up 

my creativity and my home.

Hot Drink Station

Although Halloween is long gone, I thought I'd share this simple and inexpensive idea that can be used for all the cold winter months. 
I wanted to do a little something special this year because I was so blessed to have ALL of my children and grandchildren here. I set up a hot drink station for my chilly trick-or-treaters to come home to, using items I purchased at the dollar store. 

There was a variety of drink packets to choose from: hot chocolate with marshmallows (with or without creamer), spiced apple cider, caramel apple, and cranberry apple. I corralled the drink choices, along with foam cups,  using white dishes on a vintage copper tray. I added a few sweet and salty treats, also purchased at the dollar store. 
It only took a few minutes and a few dollars to set up a little treat station that made my family feel extra special. 

Fun Creepy Crawlies

I think it's fun to have spiders in the house this time of year...as long as they are the plastic variety. Here's a couple of ways I've used the creepy crawlies in my Halloween decorating.

With a little hot glue attach a magnet to the underside of the spider, let dry and arrange them in a line on the corners of the walls. They adhere to the metal corner where the sheetrock meets. 

Give ugly dollar store spiders a glam makeover using a little gold spray paint. Added in among fall leaves they look spooktacular!

A Fun Retreat

Last week I was invited to go to an all girls retreat at my friend's beautiful cabin. I was both excited and anxious---excited to get away for a much needed break; anxious because ALL of the other ladies are expert quilters. I wondered how I would spend my time while they pieced and sewed. Most of my projects of late have been large, involving rooms or furniture in my home. . .nothing conducive to a weekend getaway. I was at a loss as to what to do. One son suggested that I take the break to plan future projects. A friend proposed that I bring magazines or books. Both were wonderful ideas but I felt the need to be creative alongside my friends. So I threw together several things I had lying around my home, items I had purchased earlier hoping one day to try my hand at creating.While my friends cut fabric scraps for quilts I used their cutting tools to cut apart dollar store t-shirts. Using the cut apart t-shirts I made necklaces with the help of this tutorial.I learned how to "finger knit" with the help of this post. It was so easy and fun that I made a brown friendship bracelet for each lady on the retreat.I covered a metal letter "A" with moss. And used my friend's cabin decor to stage this glamor shot.While my quilting friends were busy sewing I stayed busy creating words with wire similar to one I made here. I plan to use these as gift tags. I even crafted up several of these wire "eat" signs for my friends to take home and stick in breads, cakes, or anything they're serving to family and friends.I had so much fun with my creative and loving friends! I came home energized and happy. It's amazing how a little girl-time and crafting can energize one's soul!

Have you entered to win a Cutting Edge Stencil? If not, enter HERE.

Topped Off Topiary

While thrift store shopping I found this sad,

yet potentially awesome, topiary. It just needed to be
stripped of the things
that were weighing it down---
old lights, faded greenery, and the too tall stem.

With the help of several bags
of dollar store moss rocks cut in half, a bunch of glue sticks . . .

a few hot glue blisters . . .a couple of hours . . .

and a fresh dabbling of paint to the pot . . .

the topiary was re-born!

***Don't forget to

enter for the $100 gift card
to Wal*mart***

Living Room Vignettes

These are the vignettes in my living room

in the middle of the summer months.

Brass birds and oil paintings collected from thrift stores.

That's a real, live orchid that I've managed to keep living

and blooming for several months now.

I just purchased this orchid hoping to be able to keep it blooming too.

I love that it has twice the blooms.

The ceramic shell came from a Goodwill in Virginia,

the lotus flower from a thrift store in my hometown.

I love the reflective and airy look of the silver and glass

on the glass end table I found on clearance last summer.

I don't love having to clean kitty prints and dust off every week.

A little summer scene using a vintage lithograph of birds

and faux dollar store ferns.

This and That

While visiting my daughter and son-in-law I managed to keep myself busy in their cute little apartment. I joked with my daughter that having me for a mom is like having a dad and a mom come to visit because I do small home repair projects along with decorating and organizing. However she does lose out on having the sort of mom that deep cleans or bakes delightful goodies. That's just not me. Fortunately my daughter has many friends who volunteered to bring in delicious meals and desserts after baby was born so they enjoyed the best of everyone's talents.
On my last visit we curbside shopped this little piece that is used for kitchen storage. I decided to spruce it up using a few dollar store placemats and upholstery tacks.Do you see that gorgeous glass lamp? We found it at a thrift store for just a few dollars (along with that pretty green pedestal bowl). It originally had a light green tint that had been scratched off in a few places. About two hours later, with the use of a razor blade and an old credit card, I was able to take off all of the green leaving it clear and lovely.
And of course I had to do a few spray paint projects while visiting.
This stunning mirror was one.We picked it up at Lucketts. It was reasonably priced but it was a scary, ugly, yellow gold. Even after years of spray painting I am still amazed at how spray paint can transform almost anything.Next week I'll share more of our trip to the famous Lucketts store. I took about a hundred pictures (literally!) while I was there. It may have to be a two or three part post. So fun!!!

Botanic Garden and Dollar Store Orchids

One of my favorite places to visit in the DC area is
The United States Botanic Garden. Each time I go I find different things that inspire me.

This time was no exception.

I loved these arbors with their display of living plants.I'm always inspired by water features and creeks. I have great plans to make one in my own backyard---when I get enough money, time, energy, and muscle.

There are always beautiful hydrangeas to be found.One of my favorite rooms inside is the orchid room
filled with stunning displays of orchids.I love orchids!Even though I have two living orchid plants, I couldn't resist buying a few of the silk variety
when I saw them at the dollar store, along with some reindeer moss.With a little styrofoam secured in the bottom of some thrift store vases, I just stuck in the end of the orchid (cut to length)
and filled the vase with moss.This is the version I made for my daughter
using one of her beautiful thrifted vases.