Thursday Thoughts

It's been months since I've done this so I'm bringin' it back.

Ten Thoughts This Thursday

1.  I need...to begin ordering Christmas gifts online....like, now!

2.  I want...to take a photography class.

3.  I think...that $4.55 for a grande "Skinny Peppermint Mocha" is outrageous. 

4.  I wish...I could perform on Dancing With the Stars once, just for fun.

5.  I appreciate...a hot shower.  What would you do if you stepped in and only had cold water?

6.  I enjoy...dancing.  Wish I could do it more often.

7.  I struggle...with pushing myself that extra bit at the gym during my workouts.

8.  I feel...overwhelmed, but under control.

9.  I recommend...Rod Stewart's new Holiday Album.  So great!

10. I hope...my flights this weekend are smooth and uneventful.

Colorful Mantel is Complete!

A couple of weeks ago I posted (here) about my desire for a non-traditional, colorful Christmas mantel.

This weekend I had some time to work on it and I think it's complete, for the most part.  Since my previous post, I found these goodies to add...some from thrift stores and some from other stores.

So the idea was to spray paint all of the figurines an off-white color to balance out all of the color.

And here is the finished product.

And now for some close-ups and some details...

I strung these satin ornaments on some sheer cream ribbon.  I made three clusters to add some dimension.

I love how my three choraleirs turned out once they were spray painted.

One picture I didn't get was this ornament garland.  Aren't the colors perfect?  I found it 60% off at Michael's.  It adds just the right touch.

 

 

 Love those candlesticks.  You can read more about that re-do here.

Ok, so this tree isn't spray painted, but I love the sparkle it adds. I found it at Marshall's.

 

Spray paint?  What would I do without it?  Love ya, Frosty!

 

My village....that probably cost about $6.00 total.

 

 Oh Santa, I like you so much better painted.  It also holds a candle, if I so choose.

Ok, so for some other details.  I had the teal and sheer fabrics already. I bought a strand of frosted indoor white lights and wrapped the sheer material around them to add a soft glow.  

 

I'm in love...such a bright addition to the holidays and something I've never done before. 

Can you say "Colorful"?

Yikes...I haven't posted anything since October 7th!!

Truth be told, this whole working full-time thing is getting in the way of keeping my blog up to date.  Well, actually....this whole working full-time thing is keeping me from completing projects to add to my blog.

At any rate, I have new visions.  I am on a mission.

I want a non-traditional Christmas mantel this year.  I'm thinking colorful...something along the lines of this:

http://lapetitefashionista.blogspot.com/2011/11/have-yourself-colorful-christmas.html

I envision chartreuse, magenta, turquoise. I told you...colorful!

However, I also want some simplicity to this mantel in the means of ceramic figurines spray painted an heirloom white.  And well, where do you find such things?  Thrift stores, of course.

I started in on my mission today and was able to gather these items:

 All my mantels have to include the Big Man and this one holds a tea light candle.

 These will look adorable painted white and placed on a round mirror with some snow sprinkled around them.

Building a small village

I think I was able to get all of these things for about $18.00.

It's a start.  I still need to find a Christmas tree and maybe a snowman.  I'll keep you posted as I make some progress.

Halloween Mantel

It seems as though I just set up my fall mantel only to take it down for my Halloween mantel.  (Mental note:  Wait to put the fall mantel up after Halloween next year.)

Did you all see the post from The 36th Avenue on the Dollar Store Halloween Village a while back?  I was inspired to make one of my own, however I just don't have the room anymore to keep buying and storing new decorations.  However, the idea of it all was stuck in my head and last week while looking around some thrift stores, I had an Aha! moment when I saw this:

 A porcelain "Bank" for a buck fifty??  It totally could get spooked out with a little paint!  And so it did.

I first applied a coat of gray primer and then lightly sprayed some black over it.  I was careful to not totally cover up the gray.  Also, I used a satin paint instead of a glossy paint.

(The first picture is a bit dark, but the only one I got of the whole thing.)

Some other things I picked up at the Dollar Store were:

Onto the mantel...

 I ended up applying some water-based stain over the eyeballs so they didn't look so perfect and new.  Also, in another jar are the plastic skeletons from the Dollar Store.  I haven't purchased anything for the third container yet, so I just added some green food coloring to water.

I believe I got all my printables from eighteen25.

Halloween "Eek" Wreath

Who knows where I am going to keep yet another wreath when November rolls around, but I made one.  I couldn't resist.

After perusing Pinterest, amazingly I didn't come across one that inspired me....not to say there aren't a ton of super wreaths out there.

My solution was to go to Hobby Lobby and figure it out spontaneously.  Here is what I came home with:

This (compacted) cardboard spider, which is what I built the rest of the wreath around.  I imagined it all glittered up.

 In addition to the spider, I picked up a foam wreath, some wooden letters, black ribbon, tule, and silver pom poms

I wrapped the green foam wreath with the black ribbon so it was completely covered up and completely black.  Then I covered the spider with an orange glitter....and I also covered the wooden letters with purple glitter.  Next, I cut the tulle into 2" strips, folded it in half, and tied a knot at the bottom.

After I had a bunch of tule knots, I glued them onto the wreath and added some silver pom poms here and there.  At the base of the wreath I glued the letters to spell "EEK."

And this wreath is being hung above the mantel on our big mirror.

Fresh Fall Wreath

Although it's not officially fall yet, it was time to retire my spring wreath.

See why?

Once upon a time it looked like this (and you can read about that project, here.)  With the intense afternoon sun, the green moss has faded into a dull, dirty, green color. 

Last fall I made this wreath.  I was in a total felt kick then.

I did like the yarn I used because it was textured and easier to wrap because I didn't have to be so careful...I could overlap and it didn't matter.  I decided that a textured yarn was the way to go again.

Last night I ran to Hobby Lobby and came home with the following items:

Chocolate colored yarn

 miniature pumpkins, squash, and acorns

3 fall berry bunches (barely used but one)

fall colored leaves

After wrapping and wrapping and wrapping the yarn, I carefully arranged and hot glued the fall goodies I had purchased. 

The only thing I may go back and fix are the squash.  The white-ish circles on the bottom bugs me, and I think they need to be painted.