Dollar Store St. Patrick's Decor

Since Easter comes later this year, I have put out my St. Patrick's Day decorations after taking down my Valentine's Day decorations.  Most of this came from the Dollar Tree (not all this year but from years past as well).  This is my dining table centerpiece that I made to be a multi-season/holiday decoration.  Click HERE for instructions and to see how it's been decorated.  I've also decorated it for Spring but I don't think I did a post on that.

Today at the Dollar Tree they had these bags of foam shamrocks in different sizes and gold coins - so cute! 

I threaded a tapestry needle with this gold and white string and just slid it through then tied these onto the branches.

While I don't have a lot of St. Pat's decorations, I have enough that gives the rooms a fun pop of green, gold and silver.  This is a reclaimed wood molding piece turned upside down and mounted on the wall.  I have a small collection of vintage salt and pepper shakers on here.

I always have fun with this ledge in my living room.  

All except the fabric and the shamrock picture are from the Dollar Tree.  The picture is a faux four leaf clover that I made and framed in an old picture frame.  Instructions for that are HERE.

Here is Eileen, my vintage typewriter dressed for the holiday.  She's another fun piece (Read about how I 'scored' her HERE.) that I like to decorate for the holidays.

I do a lot of 'multi-season' decorating like this big frame in my bathroom.  I change out the pictures for each season and holiday and they all are kept right in the frame so no need to go looking for them!  I just found this quote/verse and loved it so added a vintage image and that was it!

Looking, waiting, wishing, hoping for Spring to come soon but in the meantime, I'll settle for a little "green" inside.

Multi-Season Branch Centerpiece

 

 Living in a small house means I don't have a lot of room to store decorations so often, I'll create decorations that can serve multiple seasons and holidays. Just before Christmas I created this branch centerpiece.  Instead of hearts though, it had red ornaments.

Now that I'm getting ready for Valentine's Day, I simply swapped out the ornaments for paper hearts I made (tutorial for the hearts farther down in this post).

To make this, all you need is a piece of scrap wood, a branch, some white spray paint and battery-operated rice or seed lights.  Look for a branch where most of the twigs are coming out of one side.  This way, you can staple (or as I did, nail) it to the wood.  I chose to paint and sand my wood as well.  The rice lights are perfect because the wire is so thin and flexible so you can wind it closely to the branches.  I added some bling-y rhinestone ribbon to cover the battery case and make it look pretty.

Trying to save money, I decided to make my own hearts rather than buy them but you could buy little hearts to hang on this as well.

1.  Cut card stock into small squares, fold in half and cut a single heart the size of the ornament you want.  I just did it free-hand but you could print a pattern if you want.  Use your first heart as your pattern for the others so they are all the same size and shape.  

2.  Cut eight hearts.

3.  Put glue on top of first heart.

4.  Add a second heart on top of that.  

5.  Continue adding hearts until they are all attached.

6.  Apply glue to the center seam of the hearts and attach the string for hanging.

7.  Apply glue to the top heart half.  

8.  Fold it around to meet the opposite heart half and press together, forming the ornament.

I added a single pearl to the bottom of each using hot glue and then they were ready to hang on my branch centerpiece, replacing the Christmas ornaments.

I see a lot of different possibilities with this centerpiece.

Other options may be shamrocks, Easter eggs, pumpkins or fall leaves . . . 

On any given week (depending on how busy I am!) I love to participate in Link Parties.  These gals put a lot of time and effort into hosting these parties so I always want to show my appreciation by directing my readers to these blogs. 

Monday

Busy Monday

Amaze Me Monday

Creative Mondays

Metamorphosis Monday

Make It Pretty Monday

Inspiration Monday

Show & Share

Keep It Simple

Sew Can Do

Farmhouse40

Tuesday

Let’s Talk Vintage

Tuesdays at Our Home

Cedar Hill Farmhouse

Tuesdays With A Twist

Brag About It Link Party

The Savvy Apron

The SITS Girls

The DIY Dreamer

Party in Your PJ’s

Review, Chews and How To’s

The Hearth & Soul Link Party

Celebrate Your Story
Reader Tip Tuesday

Wednesday

Wow Us Wednesday

Ducks In A Row

Creative Spark

Penny Pinching Party

Thursday

The Homemaking Party

Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop

Inspired Creations

Vintage Charm

Transformation Thursday

Dragonfly Designs

Share Your Style

Too Much Time on My Hands

I Gotta Create

Share Your Cup Thursday

Friday

Simple and Sweet Friday

Home Sweet Home

Oh My Heartsie Girl

Homemade & Handcrafted

Chic on A Shoestring

Home Matters Linky Party

Saturday

http://www.acrosstheblvd.com

A Vintage Kitchen Christmas

DAY TEN was probably MY most challenging post because I am not a "table-scaper" like so many others!  My house is small so no big, formal dining room, etc. to feature but I DO love my retro kitchen so that was my focus! Enjoy gathering more inspiration from others who ARE veteran 'scapers'!

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Welcome to the third annual 12 Days of Christmas Blog Hop!

Stop by every day from December first through the twelfth for new ideas you can use to make your season brighter!

Meet Your Hosts

They have all been busy as Elves creating, decorating, cooking and crafting tons of new ideas for you to try this holiday season!

Shirley~Intelligent Domestications I Alli~An Alli Event I Michelle~Our Crafty Mom I Marie~DIY Adulation  Erlene~My Pinterventures I Beverly~Across The Blvd. I Debra~Shoppe No. 5 I Victoria~Dazzle While Frazzled

Megan~C'mon Get Crafty I Michelle~Michelle James Designs I Amanda~Domestically CreativeDeborah~Salvage Sister & Mister I Jeanie~Create & Babble I Sherry~Olives & Okra

Jenny~Cookies Coffee & Crafts I Emily~Domestic Deadline I Bonbon~Farmhouse 40 I 

Leanna~Of Faeries & Fauna I Pam Larmore~P.S. I Love You Crafts I Kelly~North Country Nest I Marie~The Inspiration VaultGail~Purple Hues and Me I Lynne~My Family Thyme I Karen~Dragonfly and Lily Pads I Trisha~Blowing Away Out West

I Lorrin~Embrace The Perfect Mess  I Terri~Christmas Tree Lane 

Sam~Raggedy Bits  I Cyn~Creative CynchronicityValeria~Val Event Gal I Yami~The Latina Next Door I Tania~Little Vintage Cottage

 Lauren~Wonderfully Made I Vanessa~DIY 180 I Kimberly~A Wonderful Thought I Kim~Everyday Parties Dru~Polka Dot Poplars

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I did not want to spend money to do this so I 'shopped' my house.  The vintage tablecloth was a favorite find a few years ago and I added a few strips of cloth, trimmed with pinking shears in a 'cross' pattern over the table (think "package").

These vintage dishes were my SUPER find two years ago at an antique store where everything Christmas-related was 50% off!  I got ten place settings, serving bowls, serving platters, creamer and sugar for . . . 25.00!  They are called Termocrisa Milk Glass made in Mexico.  Recently I saw a set of eight (no serving pieces) going for over 250.00.  Yep, I think I stole these!

The napkin 'rings' are just the same fabric from the table pieces, hot glued together and then I added a Christmas pick.

The centerpiece is an old wooden 'sled' decoration that was headed to the thrift store so it was rescued and enlisted for this table.  

The jars on the sled are recycled.  I brushed on Mod Podge and rolled in Epsom Salts.  A ribbon and some more Christmas pics turn these into lovely, little candle holders.

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Be sure to visit our fellow 12 Days of Christmas Bloggers below for even more creative ideas this holiday season!

An InLinkz Link-up

Outlet Mount Candle Holders - Fall Centerpiece

I needed a new fall centerpiece for my table but didn't want to spend much money so I 'shopped' around through my stash of 'junk' and came up with this.  The porcelain sockets make great candle holders!  The candles were too small for the opening so I wrapped them in aluminum foil so they wouldn't wobble.

 To cover the foil, I made a little 'necklace' from an old pearl necklace in my stash and slipped that down over the candles.  I added a few old keys to the light pulls for some added interest,

The centerpiece itself was a wooden box someone gave me (don't you love it when people give you their 'cast offs'?!) and since it had leaves on it I thought it would be perfect for a fall piece.  I gave it a coat of chalk paint then lightly sanded to bring out the details in the wood.

The bird house is one I've had for years and it's been in a lot of different places in my home but at the time was in my box of 'stuff' so I gave it a wash of chalk paint and added it to the back section of the box.  Some sticks, silk hydrangeas (also gifted to me) and a 1.00 felt pumpkin from the Target Dollar Spot (a dangerous place!) completed the look.

I'm trying to embrace fall . . . it's hard for a summer-, warm weather-lover like me though!  Do you let your friends know to call you before they throw out their unwanted things?  If not, you should! It's amazing what you can gather for your makeovers, often at no cost to you!  What's the greatest 'freebie' you've ever gotten?

GOOD Scales

In my opinion, there are GOOD scales and there are BAD scales.  The above scale would definitely fall into my 'bad' category.  A 'bad' scale CAN be a 'good' scale if it's used to weigh something other than me . . . like a puppy

 or a hamster

 but my FAVORITE scale is of the 'vintage' variety used solely for decorating purposes.  A few weeks ago I scored this one at a garage sale for $5.00!

 Right now I have it on the floor next to a large pot filled with dried reeds.  I love old books so I just grabbed a few I had and put them on top of the scale.

Like ladders, I think scales can be decorated in so many different, fun ways.  For example, Songbirdblog stacked some vintage doilies on hers . . .

The Blessed Nest has a slew of ideas for vintage scales including this one where she uses it for soaps and towels . . .

Vintagewithatwist.com used their scale as a centerpiece to hold a flower arrangement . . .

Americanhoneyhome created an entire vignette around her $10.00 vintage scale find!

Gracefully Vintage has a whole slew of ideas for a vintage-style wedding including using scales to hold favors

AND this cute idea using incorporating a vintage jell-o mold with flowers

I played around a little bit with my scale displaying different things like one of my vintage teapots

and this lovely two-handled teacup that my dear friend gave me a few weeks ago

The corsage was mine from my son's wedding last summer.

Do you have any vintage scales?  How do you use yours?

More Pennant Banners!

LOVE making these! Banners are such a simple way to add color and fun to an indoor or outdoor space, in my case, my gazebo.  I really put aside my 'obsessive, compulsiveness' on these and went for quick and simple.

 After making a pattern with paper, I cut out the triangles using pinking shears and then used a zig-zag stitch along the edges to stop any fraying.  Folding the top edge over some rickrack, I again used a zig-zag stitch to create the banners.

I made two banners and hung them in the gazebo.  I decided to use the left over fabric to make a table runner and created some mini-pennants for the ends.

These pieces I cut out and stitched two together and then turned them right side out and attached them to the runner. Here's a little tip:  When trying to create a nice, sharp point, take a single stitch ACROSS the point and then trim. 

I topped them with left over red, rickrack.

I haven't had time to make a centerpiece yet so for now I'm using this basket I got at a garage sale which I painted and added the labels to using paint chips.  The jar candle holders were different colors before so I just sprayed them to match the new colors.

Found these adorable glass lady bugs at a gift shop when I went to collect my daughter from college.

 TOTALLY enjoying record-breaking heat here in Chicago! Hope you are enjoying good weather, relaxation and a beautiful 3-day weekend!