Monday, March 30, 2015

Spring Tablescape

I love decorating my dinning table.  I think of it as a blank slate that I can decorate as I please, there are no rules for me when it comes to table décor.  I want my guests to come in and take notice so I'm not adverse to over the top themes.  One Christmas I hung cut pine branches from my light fixture! 

This spring I decided I wanted to mix elements, white with glass and possibly wood.  Now how do I do that?
Here is the end result.
So how did I get there?  Follow me and I'll show you how!

I went to my local big box lumber yard and bought 1 long length of pine.  I chose pine because it is cheap but versatile.  If you don't like the knots in pine choose another type of wood or MDF.

Warning, if you do this, take someone with to the store, otherwise there you are in the parking lot struggling to fit the long board in your vehicle.  Luckily I have a truck but it took me putting seats down and doing some maneuvering to get this crazy thing in. 

Next and very important, measure your table so you know how long to make your centerpiece but first and foremost SET YOUR TABLE.  Yep I mean placemats, dishes, glassware etc.  Now measure between the table settings.  Otherwise your piece will be too long and you won't have room for your dishes. 
Now take that measurement and transfer it to your wood board.

To get a straight cut use a square and make a line across the board.

Make the line dark enough so you can see it.

Now cut the board. My husband gets a bit nervous when I use power tools so he cut the wood for me.


Next I sanded my piece with a hand held electric sander.
I made sure all my edges were nice and soft. 

Now comes the fun part!
Beat your piece of cut wood up.  I threw it on the ground, I cut it with a knife, I threw stones at it, smashed a chain against it and even had my husband take a gas powered saw to it; all just to make this new piece of wood look older.  Then I sanded it again just a bit to make sure there weren't any rough edges. 
Next I painted my piece.  If you don't want the knots on the pine showing you will want to use a primer or paint it white first.  If you don't care you can just paint it.  You could also stain the piece instead of painting it.  Since I wanted a fresh look I chose to paint mine white.
 You can see the scuffing I did to the piece above. 

See that other piece there that looks like a fence?  I'll show you how to make that next week! I used the same pine piece as I had a lot leftover.

After the paint dried I chose to sand it again to remove some of the paint color.  If you don't want to do this you just skip this step! 
After I saw the effect of re-sanding I was a bit sad that I didn't stain or paint the piece a different color first, then paint white over it.  It could have been more dramatic and it would have made the wood look older. 

I then wiped the wood down with a damp rag. 
Now I'm ready to start my tablescape!

I started with this sweet bunny tablecloth that I got at Target years ago, sorry it is no longer in stock.
 Then I placed my piece of wood in the center. 

Next I needed to decide what to put on the centerpiece.  I decided I wanted something natural and since we chopped a half dead tree down last August I thought I'd utilize what I had to create levels on the table.
TIP - creating levels helps keep the eye moving and keeps visual interest in the piece.  This is true for a table as well as a buffet or mantle or shelf etc.

I had my husband cut me two different kinds of wood.  The first was about 2 inches thick and was a wider piece of wood.  The other is about 6 -8 inches thick and is a smaller piece.
I did nothing to them, they are raw.
Next I decided what elements I would put on my table.  Faux flowers in a vase, lots of bunnies, a couple ceramic mushrooms, a glass hurricane and an outdoor piece of garden art.

I need to get a candle for the hurricane.   I bought this hurricane with the bunnies on it a Kohl's last year.  

 The dish with the bunny laying on its back is from Pottery Barn a few years ago but they still carry this cute little dish.  I put jelly beans in mine. 
The other bunnies I got from Hobby Lobby along with the white finial garden art and the mushrooms. 
The small glass vase with the flowers in it is from The Dollar Store. The flowers I had on-hand.

Pretty darn cute huh and EASY! 


Thanks so much for stopping by.  I'll be back next week to show you how I made this picket fence shelf that is on my mantle.
 
Until next week, Happy Easter.  Stay safe, Victoria
 
You can always follow me on Pintrest -
 
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Monday, March 23, 2015

Boxwood wreath

Spring is here! Spring is here!

It has been really beautiful here in Colorado these last few weeks.  Unseasonably warm, high 60's and even some days with 70 degree weather! 

Unfortunately, I know it won't last.  April is our snowiest month but I've got my fingers crossed! 

This week I made a boxwood wreath.  Let me start with saying if you try this make sure you look for the faux on sale.  I mean really otherwise you are looking to spend $18.00 - $20.00 PER BUSH! 
The wreaths are cheap - they start at $2.00. 

You can do this, I know you can.


Okay lets start.

You will need some faux bushes.  I wanted to make two wreathes so I bought two long dark bushes; one light long bush and one short variegated bush.
I also bought 2 twig wreathes.  You can us any kind but twig is the best. 


You will need wire snips or really sturdy scissors and florist wire. 

Start by deciding which color will be your base. I chose the dark.  Next, using the wire snips, cut a length of the faux boxwood.  Also cut a very small length of florist wire.  Stick the cut end of the boxwood into the twig wreath and secure it tightly with the florist wire.
 Cut another length of boxwood and cut another small piece of wire.  Lift the 'flower' end of the boxwood and stick the new piece of boxwood underneath the first one.  Secure that piece down with small piece of wire. 
Keep going around the wreath with your base.  Next choose your accent color and lay that overtop the base, using the florist wire to secure each piece.
Continue around the wreath.  Every now and then take a step back and look at your wreath and see where you need to fill in. 
I then took a piece of twine and made a loop on the back and hung it over the mirror in my foyer.
I love it!  What do you think? 
It was really easy and I only stuck myself once with the wire. 

Thanks for stopping by.  I really appreciate it! 
Until next week, Stay Safe!
Victoria

You can always follow me on Pintrest -
https://www.pinterest.com/vicdenniso/

I'm on Facebook as well, I do post at least once a week -
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You can also follow me right here on the blog -
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Monday, March 16, 2015

Spring door

It is spring or so the March calendar indicates.  Here in Colorado it is still winter, we get most of our snow in April but right now our March has been warm, very warm even balmy.  It was 72 today!  I'll take it because it could snow here tomorrow.  There's a saying in Colorado, 'if you don't like the weather wait an hour, it will change'.  True but I love the weather here, every day it is sunny and though sometimes cold the sunshine helps.  Even in the summer when 90 degrees there is a breeze blowing and without humidity it doesn't feel that hot. 

Today I'm sharing a super cute and easy spring craft I make in less than 30 minutes.  The best part was that it cost me $8.00 to make!  If you have more things on hand yours could be even cheaper!  I think it is super cute.
You will need:
An old frame - you could make one out of wood (I got mine at Hobby Lobby in January for $9.00)
Faux flowers of your choice (I had these on hand)
Ribbon - I also had this on hand
At least 2 packs of small canvas triangles - I got mine at Hobby Lobby
1 pack of string - I used jute twine -  I got at Hobby Lobby
1 pack of small clothes pins - I got mine at Hobby Lobby
Stamps - I had these on hand, you could just hand write each letter with marker


I took the frame I used for my Valentine's Day door décor and removed the heart. 
I then spun the frame upside down so the flowers were on the bottom but you can put your flowers wherever you want.  I didn't want to glue my flowers to the frame since I plan on changing them out for the fall. 
But if you want this permanent you will need to hot glue your faux flowers to the frame.  I think in the corner would look really cute!

Here is a link to the Valentine's Day door -
http://www.dragonfliesandthistles.blogspot.com/2015/01/valentines-day-door.html

This is what the Valentine's Day door looked like -
 
Next using my stamps and a stamp pad I stamped SPRING out on my triangles. One letter on each triangle.  I also stamps a Fleur de Lis and a flower each on their own triangle.

My next step was to cut a length of the jute twine.  Make it longer than the frame and tie it in a knot on each side of the frame.  You are making a sort of clothes line.  Don't worry about the twine itself or the knots; you won't see it all when you are done.  I pulled the twine as tight as I could and made the knots as tight as I could.  I then tucked any extra twine from the ends behind the frame.

Using the small clothes pins hang your word on the line.

I then used a ribbon and tied a knot in one end and looped it around the frame to hand it from the door. 


That is it!  It turned out Super Cute!!!  I love it because it isn't your normal door wreath. 

What do you think? 
Thanks for stopping by!  I'll be back next week, until then - stay safe!
Victoria

You can always follow me on Pintrest -
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I am on Facebook but I only post once a week.  But you can follow me on FB!
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Thanks for your support! 
Happy St. Patrick's Day!  Erin Go Bragh!!! 

Monday, March 9, 2015

Cheese Tray

Have you ever seen a craft and said to yourself... "BRILLIANT!"  or "Why didn't I think of that?" 
This happened to me the other day on Pintrest.  I saw a couple of pins about square tiles being used as trays or to display objects on. 
BRILLIANT!

I am here to tell you that it is an easy and cheap craft, (about $10.00) and something that would make a great gift. 


Here is what you'll need:

1.  A piece of tile, your choosing.  I chose one that is rectangle.  You can choose any kind of floor tile as long as it is one solid piece. 
2.  Handles.  I used regular drawer handles
3.  Glue I used E6000 and a construction epoxy that you mix
4.   Rubber or some sort of feet for the bottom

All of these items I got at Home Depot for about $10.00.  The tile piece is marble and was $1.93.  The rubber feet were 10 in a pack for $1.98.  The two drawer pulls were $2.98 each for $5.96.  I had the glue's on hand. 

Step 1 - Using the E6000 glue your rubber feet to the bottom of your tile.  Since my tile is a rectangle I used 6 feet on the bottom.  The rubber feet did have an adhesive backing but I wasn't sure if it would stick to the tile bottom.


As you can see above my rubber feet weren't flat but around 1/4 inch high.  I wanted my tray to sit off the surface a bit.
Step 2 - Using the epoxy I mixed the glue and used it to glue the handles to the tile, one on each side.
Finally, sit the tray aside and let it dry for at least an hour. 
Now I've got a nice cheese tray and it looked great on my Mother-In-Law's black countertops.


This was a great and inexpensive craft.  I am going to try and find some granite remnants and make one out of granite for a friend for Christmas! 
Thanks for stopping by.  I hope everyone has a great week.  I'll be back next week but until then, STAY SAFE!
Victoria

You can always follow me on Pintrest -
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Facebook -
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Or right here on the blog! 
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Monday, March 2, 2015

Egg fail... sort of

Oh decoupage we have a love/hate relationship.  I love the idea of it, the look of it when it goes right but when it goes wrong, oh my!  Unfortunately for me decoupage seems to go wrong more often than not.  But I try and I continue to try.  I'd appreciate any tips to make it go right. 

Okay so as always I will share the good, the bad and the really ugly.  I'd categorize this as the 'bad'. 

I saw this cute egg craft on Pintrest done with sheet music or a book page and plastic eggs. 

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/193865958936025882/

Here is my version, step by step...

You will need:
Craft eggs, I used plastic eggs
Book pages, sheet music or fabric
Decoupage medium
Plastic bowl
Paint sponge
Glitter
Twine, jute or ribbon


Step 1 - Rip up your book pages, sheet music or fabric into small pieces
Step 2 - Pour your decoupage into the plastic bowl
Step 3 - Soak your ripped paper in the decoupage
Step 4 - Using your paint sponge paint your egg

Step 5 - Take your wet ripped paper and cover your egg

Step 6 - Using your paint sponge cover the egg with decoupage
Step 7 - Take the glitter and sprinkle it over the egg
Step 8 - Let the eggs dry, I used a plastic plate

Step 9 - Tie the ribbon, jute or twine around the egg. 

DISPLAY! 

Options - you could write on the egg or stamp on it instead of or addition to glitter. 

I think playing like I was in Elementary School and painting my hand with the glue turned out better!


Anyway, my eggs turned out eh...

Do you have any tips to make decoupage turn out better?  I'd appreciate any help cause I love the look when it goes well. 
Thanks for stopping by!  I appreciate you reading and visiting.  I'll be back next week!  Until then, stay safe,
Victoria

PS - you can always follow me on Pintrest -
https://www.pinterest.com/vicdenniso/

I'm on Facebook, but due to the nature of FB, not as active.
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