Halloween Mantle

It's the second most wonderful time of the year! Pumpkins, gourds, acorns, yellows, reds, oranges, and... CANDY CORN! I am ready for fall, ya'll! Even though it was a high of 90 today in my little nook of the desert, it didn't dampen my desire to decorate my mantle. Eeek!

I took it easy last Halloween and had very "kid-friendly" decorations here and there. This year, my 10-year-old is a bit braver and my 2-year-old... is... such a nut. Nothing scares her. She actually called the skulls I pulled out from storage "pretty." Yes, that's my silly willy.

I used all of last year's decorations and threw them together with projects I've done throughout the year. I only spent $4 for this mantle display. Vases are my favorite thing to use during ANY holiday because you can fill them with practically anything. For the sake of keeping costs down, I filled one with a candle I already had, but stuck some fall leaves in there to jazz it up a bit.

I have found many of my vases at GW and enjoy finding clever fillers for them. Take a look at this fun idea:

Those are black river rocks found at the dollar store. I've seen blogs where people paint these with chalkboard paint, then write things on them with a chalk pen. I was going to do that until I found out that was going to cost me almost $10. Instead, I bought a bag of black rocks ($1) and wrote on them with white-out (FREE). Yeah, buddy!

Remember my brassy, GW lantern I fixed up here? Well, it was quite lovely in our guest bath when I was aiming for a coastal feel. Now, it is holding spot for a scary skull...

Throwing in some more of my GW finds over the year, here is my finished Halloween mantle:

The only thing I purchased was the black crow, headstone, rocks, and the gray, torn material (each only $1). Not exactly "child friendly" but my weird kiddos love it. ;) This week, I'll be working on TWO Halloween wreaths. LOVE!

Linking up with: Amaze Me Mondays, Debbie Doo's, Keeping It Simple, Made By You Monday, Nifty Thrifty Tuesday, Good Life Wednesdays, Twice Owned Tuesdays, 20 Below Thursday, A Creative Princess, Freshman Friday

Summer Mantel

As soon as I heard TDC and 3 other ladies were going to have a combined link party for next month, I knew I had to jump on board with the "summer mantel" and "spray paint project" train! Here is how I combined the two, to create my thrifty, summer mantel.

First, I needed a focal point for my mantel. I have been looking for a mirror to place over it for longer than I want to admit. I bought one on Craigslist that I thought needed just a bit of TLC to bring it back to life. I was dead wrong. That mirror was going to cost more to fix than I bought it for. Well, luck finally came on my side when I found this at my local thrift shop on Monday:

A perfectly sized mirror for only $9.10! All it needed was some white spray paint to cover up all that dated brass and it would be like new again! On the same trip, I saw this cute birdcage that I couldn't pass up.

Although it wouldn't fit on my mantel, I knew it would look adorable in my living room. The birdcage was only $3.50!

Here is my finished mantel with items I already had, and most of them were blogged about since I found them at thrift stores.

 Yes, those are sticks... that I found... and spray painted white. The moss balls and birds were from the Dollar Tree. I spray painted the birds, mirror frame, and sticks white.

Remember my birdcage? 

It looks precious on my side table. I'm still debating whether I want to fill it with anything or leave it as is. What do you think? Is anyone else getting ready for the link party? Well, I'm off to the gym. Got to get in that last workout before the royal wedding!

Linking up to: Christina's Adventures, Funky Junk Interiors, Chic on a Shoestring Decorating, Thrifty Decor Chick, Keeping It Simple, House of Hepworths, Christina's Adventures



Feels Like Spring

Today was a gorgeous day in the desert! We nearly reached 80 degrees and it was lovely.

With the warm weather came anticipations for spring and the realization that I really needed to lighten up. Well, my house, not me. ;)

I posted a couple of days ago about my apothecary find at Goodwill. I shoved some (dark) green moss balls and (dark) jute balls, then placed the jar on my (dark) brick fireplace. Well, I couldn't take all the darkness anymore and had to change it.  Here is what I did to lighten up my mantel:

I took some music sheets (more on where I found these later) and trimmed them down to get rid of any excess blank areas. Then, I cut them into half inch strips. Next, I arranged them into my apothecary jar, placed them on some old books and grouped them with some other "light colored" items.

The books were 25 cents each, the figurine was a present for my husband after the birth of our daughter, and the white jar was $2.99 at Goodwill.

Now, here is the scoop on the books. I found them at my daughters school! The library set up a stand with old books they were trying to get rid of and asked that you donate a quarter for each book. I love decorating with old books and scooped up these for a dollar:

The bottom book is a collection of hymns and I can't wait to use some sheets as wall art and inspiration. It has plenty of Christmas hymns that will add to this years Christmas decor. So excited!

Here is my (dark) mantel before:

And my "lighter" mantel after:

Cost Breakdown:

White Jar - $2.99

Figurine - Free (already had)

Books - $0.50 for two

Apothecary Jar - $3.99

Music Sheets - $0.25 (out of hymnal book find)

Total Cost: $7.73

Linking to:

House of Hepworths

Christina's Adventures

Chic on a Shoestring Decorating

Feathered Nest Fridays

At the Picket Fence

A Beach Cottage

Faded Charm

A Goodwill Love Story

I love me some Goodwill finds. Love.

I have been hunting for months for apothecary jars. Yes, Hobby Lobby sells them but the huge jars (my fav) are a bit too pricey for me. I have searched for them in thrift stores only to discover that these jars sell fast. I'm talking "you better buy it before you even know what to do with it" fast.

Now, try to imagine my excitement when I found this at Goodwill last week:

$3.99 and aaaaalllll mine. Ooooh yeah!

Never having actually owned an apothecary jar, I was stumped on what to fill it with. I have visions for this beauty in the fall and Christmas time. Visions. Going with what I already had around the house, I set forth with a small craft project. I found a huge bag of Styrofoam balls at the same Goodwill for $1.99. The bag had about 15 different sizes of foam balls. They were perfect for my jar. So, using some items from around the home:

I wrapped them in jute using tacky glue.

Add a moss ball and you have something to fill a jar:

Isn't it precious? I'm so desperate for spring to arrive (a first for me) and get giddy when I think about the adorable, colorful eggs I get to fill this with.

Project Breakdown:

Apothecary Jar $3.99

Styrofoam balls $1.99

Glue, jute, moss ball FREE (already had)

Total Cost: $5.98

What do you fill your apothecary jars with?

New Use for an Ornament!

December is officially here and Christmas is in full swing in our little home!

Even the Jammies are Christmasy!

I was finally able to have some down time and create a new use for an ornament. Remember these beauties that I wrote about here?

Well, things didn't turn out as planned. My spanking new bottle of ORB, that I have been itching to try, jammed after about a minute of use. I bought this can months ago and can't go back and exchange it, so I'm a little peeved. Has this happened to anyone else before?

Well, plan B... paint these brassy beauties black. ;)



Don't they look new again....

Well, I loved my "new" candle holders, but then it dawned on me I was going to have FOUR candles under a WREATH. Not too smart. Then, the lovely game of "where can I put these" commenced. You all know that game, right? I needed to find a spot where they were visible (duh) and out of reach from curious children or flammable objects. 

Then, I remembered about how a couple of my big ornaments had broken. Well, not really "broken" but the tops had come off and were impossible to put back on. So, I thought, "I wonder if..."

HOLY HOLLY!!!!

Would you believe it?! They looked adorable! Plus, I could leave them on my mantel, under a wreath, and out of children's reach. BO-NUS!

I even ripped the tops off of my good ornaments so I could get the exact color and texture I wanted. HAHA!

Small sacrifice for such a fun, festive mantel.

I'm posted on these link parties:

The Shabby Nest

Fingerprints on the Fridge

Hodgepodge Life

Southern Hospitality

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Has anyone started putting up their Christmas decor?

Today was a fun day for us as I traded fall leaves for red berries, pumpkins for nutcrackers, and autumn twigs for Christmas Santas! Yes, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas 'round here.

Today, as I was resurrecting the Christmas decorations from our storage bins, I came across some ideas for crafts...

Check out these candle holders! These belonged to my Mom and I don't remember a single Christmas where we used them. I really am not digging the dull brass look though and I just bought some ORB (oil rubbed bronze) spray paint. I have been looking for something to use it on and I think this will look divine! A couple of coats of ORB, some white candles wrapped in ribbon and these babies will be a perfect centerpiece.

These things have been in our bins for the last two years and I'm not even sure where they came from...

Can you picture them added to Christmas presents instead of the typical bows? With a little bit of jute I have from a previous project, my presents will have a fun, festive touch.

Besides all the cute decor I continue to dig out of storage, I am most excited that my fireplace mantle is starting to look nice! Ever since we moved in, I have been struggling to decorate it. For the most part, this is what it has looked like...

hehe, I told you I wouldn't use the monogrammed tray for keys because I loved it so stinkin' much!

I have never had a fireplace mantle and was clueless on what I wanted it to look like. I really don't want to fill it with knickknacks that will only collect dust. I would like to place a huge mirror above it but have yet to find a mirror I like for a reasonable price. So, it has remained a bit... empty. That is, until now...

A picture of my favorite day, a huge Christmas wreath, some Christmas angels, and St. Nick hanging out with the nutcracker. FINALLY, my mantle is looking pretty! I would love to still hang a pine needle garland on there, but for now, it's lovely.

Christmas is creeping its way in our home and I wish it could last longer than a month.

our scaled down tree this year because we will never be able to fit our 9 foot tree in our home. Funny story - my baby was following me around the tree as I hung the lights, and she kept trying to blow them out. It was the funniest sight.

This house was made by my aunt years ago and again, my baby tried blowing out the lights.

Remember that thrift store candlestick I found and decorated it with a pumpkin? I replaced the pumpkin with this heavy, crystal snow orb. It has a snowflake when you look down in it. Pretty!

When do you put up Christmas decorations? Are you like me and put them up the weekend after Thanksgiving?