New Year's Wreath/ Valentine Wreath

I love the Christmas clearance sections! It's almost just as thrilling as Christmas shipping. I love to look through the piles and try to think of ways I can use these cheap prizes for gifts next year. And sometimes, the decor isn't even "Christmas-only."  The wreath on my front door came from my Christmas clearance shopping this year.

I realize this is very New-Year's-Eve-ish! But I am just now getting around to posting this quick idea.

I picked up several strands of the sparkly tinsel garland in the Christmas clearance section. Three covered my wreath fully.

After wrapping the tinsel around a Styrofoam wreath form, I attached a sparkly gold bow with wire that was also part of the Christmas clearance. I think it was meant to be a gift topper.

I am sure that there are still some strands of red and silver out there in some clearance section. This would make an adorable valentine wreath!

The tinsel stayed in place without my having to glue it to the wreath. That means, I can use this wreath form for another project!

And the entire wreath cost me just a few dollars!

A Free Pine Cone Wreath for Fall

Everyone seems to be jumping full force into this fall season...but I love summer. I love the sunshine and warm weather. Trips to the beach and wearing shorts. It's one of the reasons why I am so happy to be living in Tennessee.

So, I have decided to just slowly decorate my house for fall. A small pumpkin here and some autumn colors there. I've also decided to use mostly natural items for now.

I started with my front door wreath. Thanks to a large pine tree in our front yard, we are constantly picking up pine cones. One day, I collected a grocery sack full and left them in the garage.  The cones seem to be tightly closed and a little damp when they first fall off our tree. After a few days, the cones had dried out and "bloomed" nicely. (Please don't judge my lack of proper pine-cone terminology)

I was going to try hot gluing the cones to a wreath form - but Martha said floral wire was the way to go. In the end, I was thankful for the wire - this allowed me to "pose" my pine cones as I went along. And since I may use this wreath for multiple seasons, the wire will help my wreath to last longer.

Martha suggested a wire wreath form, but since I had part of a grapevine wreath already in my wreath stash, I thought I could avoid a trip to the store. When I buy a grapevine wreath, I usually cut the vine that is wrapped around the entire wreath. I can then get two wreaths from the same set of vines.

To make this pine cone wreath, I first cut a bunch of 6-8 inch pieces of the floral wire.  Wearing my gardening gloves (because those pine cones are prickly), I did what Martha said and wrapped the wire around the top part  (I am sure there is a name for that) of the cone.

Then I wrapped the wire tail around the grapevine, tucking in the leftover wire.

I was pleased with the end result and I love how it looked against my blue door. In January, I might paint the tips of the pine cones with white paint to resemble snow.

I took a little walk today with a pair of sturdy scissors and came home with a little bit of bittersweet. Most of the berries are still green (usually til after the first frost), but I was able to find a few branches that were turning that pretty shade of orange.

Little pieces of the vine stuck nicely in between the pine cones. As the berries open up, more and more orange will be exposed. Eventually, these berries dry a burnt orange color. I still have a vase full from two years ago. They seem to last forever.

So, for $0, two nature walks and a nap time, I was able to decorate my door in a natural way. I love the little bits of color that the bittersweet added. And I love that my blue door tells me it's OK to hold on to the cheery summer weather for a little bit longer.

A Summery Splash of Color

It was time for my Easter wreath to come down.

I grabbed the coral window frame from last summer and painted it yellow.

Hudson "helped," telling me what pink spots I'd missed and how many squares were on the window. I love turning my little projects into learning times for him. On our walk this morning, he saw the window hanging on the door and said, "The yellow window! I painted it!!" I said, "Well, Mommy painted it" and he said, "No, Hudson do it." Just think of all the projects I could complete if he was capable of repainting stuff!

The watering can that used to hang with the window frame is currently decorating a shelf. So, I whipped up a quick book page wreath with some left-overs from MOPS (See the tutorial here). It was fun to mix some of the different colored pages.

I also threw in a few leaves made from $5 Dime rolls. Slowly, but surely, I am using up those 1,000 wrappers. (See other projects with them here, here, here, here and here.)

This paper wreath may not last long outside. It is under an overhang, which will help with the rain. My other book page wreath lasted several months outside. And even once it's ruined or blows away, I am comforted by the fact that it originally came from the free bin at McKays. I can always make another one.  It's just another excuse to be creative!

I Just Wanted to Paint Something

Sunday afternoon, I got the urge to paint something. I was trying not to give into the temptation to tackle a big project (like painting my laundry area in the garage). But, I still wanted a "project." I blame my mom for these tendencies...we get in our mind a little project, and we don't quit thinking about it until it is complete. Thanks to a little sample of paint and an old window, I was able to add a little fun to my front door for free.

While Jeremiah washed the car, I dug around in my pile of treasures in the garage - just trying to decide what to "re-make."  I stumbled upon this window that I had brought home from the Cook farm over a year ago (read about my other treasures from that day here).

Using some pliers, I was able to easily remove the few rusty nails that were holding the glass in place. Jeremiah was kind enough to help me with a few stubborn nails. Since half the glass was missing, I decided to remove all the panes rather than try to clean them up.

After dirt and cobwebs from the wooden frame, I grabbed a few paint samples and went to the front door to decide on a color. I love that Lowe's occasionally puts out these coupons for their free sample pots of paint. Even if I don't have a project in mind, I pick up the freebie...and on days like this past Sunday, I am glad that I have a few colors to choose from.

Using some leftover nativity pieces (read about that big project here), I propped my frame up on top of a piece of cardboard. When painting, I've found that if I prop the item up off the cardboard, it prevents the newly painted item from sticking. Plus, it is easier to paint all the way to the edge of the item. With the help of a sponge brush, I had the entire front painted in less than 3 minutes. And thanks to the warm temperature, it dried super fast too.

I decided to only paint one side of the window. I might paint the other side a different color, giving me the option to change things up easily.

I've been holding off on hanging the window frame for a few days due to lots of windy storms. Today, using a piece of twine, I tied a little loop on the top of the frame. My magnetic hook that I bought way back when (see how long the hook and the paint job have lasted here), is still holding strong. In fact, I need to move it just a tad in order to gian more visibility for the peep hole. I like that the hook is super strong, yet not permanent.

For now, I have decided to hang my watering can over the top of the window. I'm planning to make some quirky little wreath in the near future to hang instead of the can. And if you look back to when I originally hung the watering can here, you can see that my fake vines have faded quite a bit. The sun shines on the front of the house for most of the afternoon. Even though they are a little muted in color, I still think they look summery- just a little less vibrant.

As I worked to position the window frame just right, I think the ice-cream "van" (they are always a scary white van these days) drove by four times blaring her musical tune. Maybe she just wanted to see what I was doing. Maybe she was hoping this pregnant lady would buy some ice cream. Once I got the frame hung, I rewarded myself with a frozen treat from my own freezer. I'm too cheap and too cautious to buy from the scary musical van.

I'm thankful that my mom taught me to love little projects like this (Just this morning she sent me a picture of her newly decorated mantle.) I love that she is always changing things up. I'm thankful that Jeremiah doesn't mind my keeping a pile of treasures in the garage and basement...eventually I make something out of them. He is always so good to help me by drilling a hole or power-washing something or hanging a random object. And for this project, I'm thankful that my mother-in-love was visiting because she babysat Hudson while I was being creative.

Does the urge to paint something ever strike you? What's the last impromptu project you've attempted? Or are you contemplating one now? Are you a hoarder of potential projects? Sometimes (like this past Sunday) hoarding pays - or at least it makes your project free!

Add caption

Thrifter's Remorse

Monday, I had the privilege of having lunch with my college roommate. We then went exploring in some local antique/thrift stores. I found some great treasures...2 large red canisters and a picture frame.

Rarely do I turn down something red and fabulous. I have actually seen these canisters on previous trips to these stores. But Monday, they had been marked down! Good things come to those who wait.

I immediately found homes for them on top of my hutch...

and on top of my refrigerator.

The one living on top of my hutch is empty for now, but the one on the refrigerator turned out to be the perfect size to hold cards and notes that I want to keep that we receive in the mail. I love when I can "contain" a pile.

The third item I picked up was a little picture frame. In one of the booths, there was a box marked "FREE." On the surface, it looked as if it only contained a few ugly clown dolls and some ugly pink candles. But nestled in the corner of the box was a fabulous little light weight frame.

It was missing the backing and the glass, but for the project I had in mind, I would have been removing those elements anyway. I proudly took my free frame up to the counter and hoped that the cashier would believe my strange store of a free box. And she did! 

Yesterday, Ashlee (my bff/neighbor) and I worked hard to mix together some paint colors to find the perfect new color for this little frame. At first, I wanted it to match this rug. But mixing such a bright shade of teal proved to be too difficult. Instead, we settled on an awesome grayish-tannish color (which I may want to use as a wall color in the future). 

  

Since the frame was a light weight foamish material, I decided that magnets would be the perfect tool to use to give my frame it's final resting spot. 

A few dabs of hot glue later and my frame was complete. You can see the markered word "FREE" in the picture above...It was free! I wasn't making it up! 

And for now, my little freebie is magnetized around the peephole in our front door.

I thought the door needed a little something to break up all the whiteness. 

And I must admit, even though I LOVE my crocheted rug, I am leaning towards wanting something orange to live these on the floor instead. I've already begun to search for an idea on Pinterest! Or I will switch out the strip of orange in the curtain for either a grayish-tannish or teal. 

BUT maybe you are trying to figure out why I titled this post "Thrifter's Remorse." It's not because I  wished I hadn't bought something that I came home with. I love my new treasures! But instead, I wished I HAD picked up another 2 items. I had seen them in a little store that is usually too pricey. Most of the time, I end up walking into the store and walking right back out. Since I'm a bit of a bargain shopper, I don't get much thrill out of things priced to highly. But sitting in the middle of the isle, leaned up against an ugly sofa from the 60's was the pair of awesomeness...I examined them, drooled over them, tried to think of a place in my house to put them...and then put them back. I couldn't come up with a single place to use these fabulous things. The price was great! But, one of my rules is, "If you don't know where or how you're going to use it, you don't need to buy it." And so, I obeyed my rule and went on to the next store. There is a large pile in my basement now of items I thought was cool, but I haven't found a way to use them yet.

When I got home, I could not get them out of my mind. And that night, while I was watching some Anne of Green Gables, it hit me! I KNEW WHERE THOSE ITEMS COULD LIVE!! I KNEW HOW I COULD USE THEM!!! I NOW NEEDED THEM!  

I thought about them all night. I even had a dream about them! I told Jeremiah about them. I told my mom about them. I told my shopping partner from that day that I wished I had purchased them. I could not get them off my mind. And so, the next morning, I made another trip to the antique stores. I just hoped they were still leaning there in the middle of the store. I just hoped someone else hadn't come up with a fabulous way to use them. 

And when I walked in, there they were, waving at me! I brought them home and immediately set up my painting station on the deck. They needed to be white, but were a dingy cream. After getting one coat of paint on the back side, it began to thunder. So, I dragged my tarp and paint can inside and finished painting. (And my legs are still store from all the squatting...painting is good exercise!) 

Now, they are dry and sitting in my kitchen, waiting to be hung. And they already had the hardware attached to hang them (Jeremiah is always glad when he doesn't have to figure out how to hang my weird things on the wall). There are a few things that need to come off the wall first before they can be hung. And I plan to touch up the wall paint a little while I'm at it. 

I know you are dying to know what they are....but I'm going to make you wait. Once they are hung, you will get to meet them in all their awesomeness. (Or maybe you'll hate them, but I think they are amazing).   So, hang tight, and check back...soon! 

Do you have any thrifting rules for yourself? Or have you even regretted not buying something and just hoped it was still there the next morning? Or am I the only weird one?

Spring has Sprung

The sun is out - flip-flops are on my feet -- the temperature is rising! And my door is now looking more spring-like.

It was time for the Sham-Wow Wreath to reappear!

Read about my painting of the front door here.

And if you're looking for a fun new wreath idea from Dollar Tree supplies, find the tutorial for the Sham-Wow wreath here.

How are you getting ready for spring?