Floral swag - Project #2....

In my entry I have a couple of  artificial flower arrangements that I need to redo to go with my cottage /garden feel. I know some don't like fake flowers at all, but I think they are fine. I found this large arrangement at the thrift store a while back that has the perfect color flowers. I should have taken a picture of it before I started tearing it apart, oh well.

Since it was so big, I should be able to get a few smaller arrangements out of it.

Project #2....

This is the way the swag looked before...... a bit out of date and dusty!

All I did was tear off the bow and the dried flowers,

I left the green leaves - they just needed a little dusting.

Hot glue guns are soooo handy, all I had to do was glue the new(old) flowers on.

And this is how it looks after...

So much better, don't you think?

I made sure I added some blue so it will still go with my walls.

I'm still not putting it up until I get everything ready.

Until next time....

Project #1 - Rose pictures....

Well, I have a room in my house that I've been meaning to update. It's okay as it is but it doesn't have that wow feel and it's a bit out-dated. It's my entry room. It's done in blue and very 80's country. I'm going to change the accessories and make it more cottage/garden. I always have fun changing things up. If I had the money and time I'd probably gut the whole room,

 but I don't so I'm not.

The first thing I'll be doing is making some accessories

 to go in the room. I'll be sharing them as the days go on.

Project #1

I have this old book that has pictures of roses in it,

I thought that would be great to use to frame a couple of pictures.

Cottage style can always use roses.

The book is really old but has great pics of roses. I want to add a bit of red

 to the room so these are the two I chose...

I had these old picture frames that will work just fine...

a little black paint....

I decided to go with a green matt. I simply cut the paper

to fit the frame and matted the picture on top of it...

I also added a touch of gold to highlight the frame...

Here's the result without the gold, I took the picture before I added it...

I really like the way they turned out.

I'm not going to put them up until I finish some other projects.

Stay tuned....

Hot cocoa.....

When the weather outside looks like this...

there's one thing that will warm me up...

a nice warm cup of hot cocoa......

only a couple of minutes to heat up...

nothing like some whipped cream and chocolate syrup on top....

Sit back and enjoy - while I search some beautiful blogs.....

Valentine jar....

Well I know I said I wasn't going to buy any more things. But I don't think this counts. I wasn't looking to buy any more stuff, I went to Marc's for groceries

 and then I saw this....

I wasn't quite sure what it was, but then I saw this....

still not quite sure, until I saw this in the next isle...

did you figure it out?

It's an apothecary jar in PIECES!

I couldn't believe it. The top was marked .99 cents as was the base.

The center jar was only $2.99! So for only $5.97 and a little glue ...

 a few red apples...

a Valentine ribbon...

I get this...

Now that's a deal I couldn't pass up!

I hope there's a Marc's near You!

Before and after candlesticks....

I'm joining Sarah for her before and after party. Had to think for a minute -  just thought to do something simple. That's my favorite kind of work anyway - SIMPLE!

Bought these candle sticks at Goodwill for cheap....

BEFORE...

Took them apart and filled for Christmas...

AFTER....

Could probably redo them again for any season.

                                                                  

Check out other before and afters at :

http://thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com/2010/01/before-and-after-party.html

Craft - Calendar box

Okay, well it's taken me a while to get back into routine. All the inside Christmas decor ( the outside will have to wait until it stops snowing!) is put away and I'm geared up to start cleaning and sorting out my stuff. I started in my craft area.

 Remember I told you I have enough supplies to open my own store. Well I took out all my containers and am starting to straighten and get rid of ( put away for yard sale) my stuff. I found these old calendars I had bought because I loved the pictures...

It has all these great garden pictures...

I'm sure there are a million and one things you can do with them.

For one, I thought I could use these to cover a box that I was storing some old picture frames in.

All I had to do was cut the box down to the height of the calendar and then glue them on.

 I was fortunate the box was just the right sized square.

All four sides get a pretty picture...

And now I have a pretty box to store my frames in.

Happy New Year!

2010

Well, another year over. Time to start a new. I always like the way I feel when a new year begins, a fresh start. I'm sure my resolutions are like most... eat better, exercise, lose some weight. One of the new resolutions for me though is to stop spending money and start using up the things I already have, especially craft and home decor. I love going to the thrift store and finding bargains but I have been doing that way too much. I have to go through all the stuff I have and use it. I need to change some of my decor with some of the pretties that I bought and are just sitting and I need to start using up my craft supplies. I think I have enough to fill a whole store! Since the weather is cold and gloomy it's a great time to clean out and sort through.
How about you? Any new resolutions!