Vintage Music Print Tutorial

 

This is another example of multi-purpose decorating.  These frames hang on my dining room wall year round and I just change out the pictures.  After making lots of these for gifts I finally came up with a super easy way to print a graphic over the music just perfectly.

1.  Open an Excel document.

2.  Do a Google search for the graphic of sheet music.  For example, I searched for "Let Me Call You Sweetheart Sheet Music".  Copy and paste the image into the Excel document.

 

3.  Resize the music image to fit your frame.  Print it out on your paper.

4.  Find the graphic you want to print over the music.  Copy and paste it ON TOP of the sheet music in the Excel file; resize and position it to appear where you want on the music image.

 

5.  Now click on the SHEET MUSIC image and delete it.  This will leave the graphic in place.  Now insert the paper with the music into the printer and print again and your graphic will print exactly over the music where you want it.

 

I like to choose a line or two from the song, print it out and turn this into a little tag.  The tags are attached with Sticky Tack so they too can be removed and stored.

When it's time for the next holiday, just remove the prints, tags and store between pieces of cardboard which means you're storing less but still have lots to decorate with!

 

Valentine Mantle

For my Valentine's Day mantle, I pulled together some items like these book stacks I made embellished with red ribbon and hearts from the dollar store.  

 This porcelain cherub was 1.00 at my thrift store.  I also have several vintage Valentine postcards that I added to the vignettes.

 And how perfect is this book I found in my 'stash'??

 On the other end, more book stacks and the frame that I change out for different holidays.

 I just print out different poems/verses and replace them in the frame.  That way, I store the piece of paper, not the whole frame!

 This little vintage Lefton angel was an Ebay find . . . I just adore her!

 Can you tell that Valentine's Day is one of my favorite holidays to decorate for?? Such a bright spot in the dreary days of January and February in the Midwest! Do you decorate for Valentine's Day?

 

Valentine Ladder

My ladder is like my "dress up doll".  I'm having so much fun changing it up for the holidays!  Here it is dressed for Valentine's Day.

 I wanted to keep it simple so just added this picture I already had as well as a few vintage hankies and candy boxes.

 And since it's snowing like mad outside, blustery and cold, I'm enjoying the pop of color Valentine decorations bring!

 

Multi-Purpose Decorating: Take 3

Living in a small house with little storage space I've learned to decorate my home with items that can easily be converted for several holidays.  This centerpiece on my dining room table is one of them.  Starting out as a $5.00 thrift find (1/2 price day!), this Crate & Barrel candle holder has had three "lives" . . . so far.  Originally it looked like this:

 Then dressed for Autumn/Thanksgiving:

 Next for Christmas:

 And now for Valentine's Day:

 I replaced the tapered candle holders with these dollar store ones because I like the rounded shape better.  The heart garlands are necklaces from the Target Dollar Spot (3/1.00) that I cut apart.  

 The hearts are from the dollar store. I removed the sticks and hot glued them together in a "mound" adding some red beads and stones.  So, when it comes time to store these, I'll just remove the hearts and garland and leave the candle holder to be decorated for the next season.  

 

DIY Non-Stick Shovel

Hard to believe that just 24 hours ago it was 52 degrees here in Chicago . . . this is what we look like today :(

Do you still SHOVEL snow or do you have a snow blower?  Someone just gave us a little snow blower a few weeks ago so I think we'll use it if the snow is not too deep but we still shovel for the most part.  Ever wonder how to keep the snow from sticking to the shovel? (If you DO shovel, you know what I'm talking about!)

Yes, that's a candle.  Just take an old candle and rub and rub over your shovel until you have a nice coating of wax and the snow will not stick at all but slide right off!  I fondly remember my dad every Fall bringing all of the shovels down into his work room in the basement and waxing them.  Did you know this also works great on sleds? He would bring our sleds in and wax the runners . . . man did we fly down those hills!  So, do you shovel or snow blow?  And if you live in a wonderful, sunny place where you don't have snow, we don't want to hear about it . . . LOL!

 

Check Out My Drawers

With the Christmas decorations down, I just couldn't wait to put up my Valentine decorations! Doesn't it all look so drab after you put everything away?  I am all about multi-purpose decorating and these drawers are just that.  Here is the same drawer at Christmas.

 I kept some of the elements and added some vintage Valentine postcards, old hardware pieces and rhinestone earrings.

 The heart garland is a pack of 3 plastic necklaces from Big Lots (1.25) that I cut apart.

Here's the second drawer changed out from Christmas to Valentine's Day.

Decorating your "drawers" is a great way to use up odds and ends by combining them into one holiday vignette.  Now show us your drawers!

Valentine Tree

 

You may recognize this tree . . .

  This is how it looked for Christmas with faux-vintage photos on it.  This was a big hit with guests who thought these were photos of my family . . . they got a good laugh when I told them I just pulled them from the internet!

 Using Google, I did a search for "Vintage Valentine Cards" and found a bunch of cute images.

 

I added a bit of detail with some ultra-fine glitter, 'aged' them with stamps and ink and  mounted them on layers of card stock.

 I kept the prisms and red beads on the tree and just clipped on the miniature Valentine cards.

I filled the wire base with metallic hearts and placed the tree on a vintage doily.  Multi-purpose decorating saves me a lot of time and storage space.  Take a look around at your decorations and see if there are things you have that can be used for several holidays.  I'll be back soon to show you more of my multi-purpose decorations.  It's hard to believe it's almost Valentine's Day since we're enjoying temps in the upper 40's - low 50's here in Chicago -- but I'm not complaining . . . each day without snow is a gift!

 

 

Charming Shelf

I've had this shelf since I picked it up at a neighbor's garage sale this Summer.  No before pics but it was just a dark brown wood with no back to it.  

I added a back covered with scrapbooking paper, painted with a few light coats of A.S. Chalk Paint and distressed.

I love the details on this -- it's in my Etsy Shop if you feel you can't live without it!  I'm enjoying adding to my shop after the Christmas season and will be adding more soon!

 

One Last Christmas Glimpse . . .

I had every intention of beginning to begin putting away the Christmas decorations today.  Then I looked out the window at the rain/snow mix falling and decided . . . one more day to enjoy the lights.  Here is one of the "Christmas Drawer" vignettes I created this year.

One of my bleached bottle brush trees, a vintage doily and some old hardware. . .

Toss in some ornaments and beaded garland, a vintage book, pine cones and there you have it . . . a simple way to add interest to any corner of the room.

I'll be carrying this idea over into Valentine's Day as well as featuring some of my other multi-purpose decorating ideas.

I wish you all a Happy New Year!