Ribbon Flowers {tutorial}

With all of the Burlap Ruffle Wreaths I've been making lately, I've also been working on some embellishments for them! Today, I'll show you how to make the ribbon flower that I added to my latest Christmas wreath.

The materials list for this is super simple (as is the tutorial)

- grosgrain ribbon (less than 1 yd to make one flower)

- hot glue

- scissors

- button or brad for flower center

Step One:

Cut 4 strips of ribbon in approx. 6"-8" lengths.

Step Two:

Bring ends of each strip together and press into a figure 8 shape.

Step Three:

Twist the ribbon into a true figure eight shape and secure with a dot of hot glue.

Step Four:

Repeat four times and glue all together!

Step Five:

Flip over and add button or brad to front.

These are great for hairbows for little girls, or to add to gifts at the holidays!

Check out a few other fun designs of these in my etsy shop too!

Linking up to:

Ohh Baby

Not Just a Housewife

Book Page Canvas {tutorial} and Fabric Pom Necklace

Well, I have been nuts over Pinterest lately (who hasn't?) and I wanted to actually make a few things I had seen on there! So, first was the book page canvas, which is everywhere so I decided to just make my own tute on that...

Supplies:

Pre-stretched canvas in size of your choosing (Michaels or Hobby Lobby)

Book with nice thick pages and good-looking typography (Dollar Tree)

Spray Adhesive Modge Podge & chip brush

X-acto knife

Metal ruler with cork back

cutting mat

ok, so the last three are really not necessary if you have a pair of scissors, but I am so anal about cutting straight lines I can't help myself. Plus, I already own all of this stuff. No need to purchase just for this project!

Step 1: Tear out a bunch of pages one at a time and trim off rough edges and white spaces.

 

I chose this book at Dollar Tree because there were a few places in it with different fonts and I knew that I wanted to make some sort of collage with it.

Step 2:

Start to place your pages on the canvas, folding the edges over to cover the staples on the side. Move pages around every which way and then cut smaller pieces to fill in gaps and just add to the overall aesthetic of the collage.

Step 3:

Modge Podge the heck out of it! Use it to tack everything down, then brush a thin coat over it so that all the edges and corners lay flat.

For the necklace, I found it via Pinterest at littlemissmomma.com and you can find the tute here.

As usual I modified it a little and made my pom in the center large then had it get gradually smaller. I like it and I think I'll wear it this week! Some fun little thrifty tips for you:

I found the chain at Wal-Mart for $3 and I should be able to make 3 necklaces with it.

I used a flour sack from Dollar Tree for the white cotton fabric on mine and used less than half!

Oh and this book page canvas will definately be part of my Christmas decor! I think I'm going to skip Thanksgiving decorating (we are going to be out of town anyways) and go straight for the Christmas stuff as soon as Halloween is officially over tomorrow night! Ha! Stay tuned for all of my fun projects!

linking up this week to:

Amaze Me Monday at Dittle Dattle

Fall Mantle and Tablescape

My Fall Mantle China Cabinet in all its neutral glory! :) I'm not sure what prompted me to go all neutral up here this year, but it may have been due to these fab horse sculptures I picked up for a song this week at Front Porch of the South. You can see my post on it here.

I don't think I mention these horse heads specifically in that post, because I think I found them the second time I was in there last week, but I got two of them for... wait... $15.

No, I'm NOT kidding you. Ok, sorry, moving along.

I picked up our lovely little owl friend here for $2 not long ago at a little place called Polka Dotties. He was silver, and after I attacked freshened him up with a coat of white spray paint, he is one of my new favorite accessories. Polka Dotties, by the way is located in Ellerslie, GA in a big old house.

I know the lady's husband, and they are very kind, but to be pefrectly honest, the prices are high for a thrift shop. Only, for some reason she didn't know what she had with this little guy! :)

You probably recognize the pedestal from another shot that you can see here.

I tend to like to move stuff around when I'm decorating and use things in different places in my home. Plus, it makes me dust more, so that's always a pain good thing.

You may also recognize the wood disk and apple from a picture of the bookshelf in my living room here. The floral arrangement was a Michaels find from long ago.

The creator of this special little courdurouy punkin is little ole' me! :)

I will be doing three days of tutorials starting Friday on the

Fabric Pumpkin, Burlap Wreath with Felt Rosette Flowers, and Burlap Banner.

Stay tuned for more on this little guy!

My dining room is one of my favorite places to show off holiday decor. It is the first room that people see when they come to my home, and my kids are almost never in there. Seriously, I can set something up in there and it will go untouched. I can't say that for anywhere else in my house. Except maybe the attic! 

The burlap "runner" is just some yardage that I folded up and placed on the table. I didn't feel like cutting, hemming, or really doing anything with it and I like how it has some dimension.

The floral arrangements I picked up at a little place over in Alabama that I found the other day called Bee Bee's Junkin. I'll have to visit her again and take some great photos to share with you!

Another fabric pumpkin made by yours truly and the stand was another great find recently at Front Porch of the South. It's super heavy and was described as a floral arrangement holder. The best part is that you can turn it either way and it still looks good!

Another fabulous pumpkin... I found the felt for this in the remanent bin at JoAnn's for $3. I think I've made two pumpkins plus the rosettes for the wreath and I still have some left to do more fall crafting with. Definately a thrifty find!

I never did a post on this, but thought I would highlight it now. I know that in some ways, the cloche/pedestal trend has passed, however I still love to incorporate pedestals in my decor to add height to vignettes. This is a homemade Goodwill pedestal if there ever was one!

I found the wooden candlestick and the cheese plate in the same trip for a total of less than $4. I pulled the little feet off the cheese plate, popped the metal plate from the top and used some Liquid Nail to attach. They were a perfect stain match! Lucky me!

I just couldn't help but highlight this little Dollar Tree gem.

Hope you enjoy my fall decor!

Linking up to:
Wow Us Wednesdays
Whatever Goes Wednesday
Share the Wealth Wednesday
Show Me What Ya Got
Tuesdays Treasures
Remodelaholic
House of Hepworths
Flaunt It Friday
Transformation Thursday

Sweet Southern Comfort: Before & After

I just finished a "spruce up" project for a client and I wanted share some before and after pictures with you! She already had some good upholstery pieces and was wanting to tie some things together and fill in a few spots. A lot of the changes are slight and the pictures don't do it all justice, but ultimately she was pleased with the results!

Den {After}

Den {Before}

Formal Living Room {After}

Formal Living Room {Before}

    

Cozy Little Dinner Party for 4

I have a great little eat-in kitchen, that I have had a blast sprucing up recently! And, believe me when I say little... the eat-in part is only about 5 1/2 feet by 7 1/2 feet. The table takes up almost all of it!

I wanted to have a cozy little dinner party for 4, and wanted all the decor for the party to match what is in the room already.

Paint on the walls is Benjamin Moore "Honeymoon" from the Affinity Collection (AF-345). It was really a new idea for me, because it's a yellow and I hadn't done much in the way of yellow before moving into this house.

I envisioned a warm palatte of yellows and reds with a touch of black. I had some great little black and white vintage grocery salad plates from Ballard Designs that started my inspiration.

Pictured here hanging one above the other on my wall in my kitchen. There are 4 total and they flank the door leading into my office. (Said office happens to be a lil' bit messy right now, hence no pic of all 4 salad plates)

I then found a fabulous fabric at JoAnn's of all places! I used this to recover some hideous looking chairs.

So, on to the dinner party! First, the centerpiece... Had all of this already. Red gerbera daisies were left over from my son's first birthday party. (It was a Dr. Suess theme - if I get pics together I'll post someday!) They are in a clear glass vase with some green bamboo and are sitting on top of a black painted wooden charger.

I then added some tealights for ambiance on either side of the vase.

Next, white dinner plates, red salad plates, and white napkins with felt flowers. I wrapped the napkins in black grosgrain ribbon, and added the silverware inside the napkins for a nice clean look on the table.

View of the microwave stand from the table. The leaf is a metal tray I hung with a plate hanger, and the red vase and red cookbook stand are thrift shop finds!

And now, the shot from the kitchen.

And every great hostess knows that your dinner party isn't complete unless you look great, so don't forget your cute little apron that says, "I've been slaving away all day, and I still look fabulous!"