Scrap Paper Roses

This project is super easy.

All you need is some scraps of paper and scissors.

Start by cutting out a round "cloud" shape.

Like these:

Then, cut a scalloped edged spiral all the way to the center of your paper...Like this:

Next, starting from the outside edge,

begin rolling the paper up very tightly.

I used a safety pin. The curves you've cut 

into your shape will contour nicely into a beautiful little rose.

Stop rolling when you get to the center of your shape.

The last little part from the center of your "cloud"

will flatten nicely into the outside of your flower.

If you like, now would be a good time to add a spot of glue.

When you stop rolling, your rose should stay together.

If you want your flower to open more, press lightly on the center.

NOTE: Make sure you cut your layers about the same size

or it will not stay together.

When you are done this is what they should look like:

I love them...so much I had to take more pictures...

Now...what should I do with these little beauties?

Escort Card Tree

Yes, you read that right.

An escort card TREE.

I got inspired by these pictures from pinterest.com

Aren't these ideas dee-licious?

So, using these as my inspiration...

I decided to make a "tree" to hang our escort cards on.

I, personally have never seen anything like it.

Here are the materials I used:

• ugly green plastic pot for a plant- .25 at a garage sale
• spray painted with a pretty brown spray paint with sparkles in it...paint 3.76@WM 
• 2 packs of escort cards- .50 at a garage sale
• 2 long branches- FREE from my yard
• a decor type bird's nest- .10 at, yes...a garage sale.
• 3 styles of vintage lace- FREE from a dear lady named Kelly :)
• 2 pks of stained mini clothespins = 3.98 at WM
• stained by me with FREE stain I found in our home when we moved in.... you can see that project here
• "lovebirds"- on sale for .99 at Hobby Lobby
• various pieces of florist foam- found at various places= $3
• bag of moss- Dollar Tree $1
• glue gun and glue sticks

Grand Total: $13.58

First, I spray painted the ugly garage sale planter.

Then, I cut up pieces of foam and wedged them into the pot.

*note- in hindsight, after knocking the finished product off of my dresser, I realized a little bit of weight was needed and added some rocks from my driveway

...and added more foam, making sure to hot glue it all together.

Then, I stuck my twigs into the foam like bunny ears.

Next, I began ripping up pieces of moss and gluing it down to cover the florist foam.

For the next step,

I took my little nest and 

nestled it into a little nook

within one of the branches.

I actually wove the sticks around the branch to keep it secure, then hot glued it into place and glued 

the birds onto the nest.

Next, I took three different styles of beautiful vintage lace and wove them back and forth between the two branches. I used the nooks and crannies of the twigs to my advantage and hot glued them in spots as needed. These will serve as a place to hang the escort cards. 

Lastly, I hung the tiny clothespins onto the lace trim.

Ready to see the finished product?

(well, without the cards...we will do that at the venue)

So stinkin cute.

Wedding Guest Book Makeover

I have been helping to plan one of my best friend's weddings.

I am doing all the decor and little details.

I found our guest book at a garage sale in a box of other

wedding stuff for ten bucks. There was also a cake topper,

plastic disposable champagne glasses, and more...

I figured all in all I paid about three dollars for this brand new Martha Stewart guest book still in the original plastic.

Yes, its nice, but that grey ribbon is NOT.

Her colors are pale pink and dark brown, 

so the grey was not going to work.

I figured it wouldn't be too hard to replace the ribbon.

well...

I couldn't find 1" grosgrain ribbon anywhere. Thanks, Martha.

I bet she sells it, but her stuff is overly expensive in my opinion.

So I went home hoping the 3/4" pink satin ribbon 

I already had would somehow work.

I started by cutting the ribbon with my Xacto knife 

where it goes under the protective sheet. 

Then I began to gently pull it off, being careful not to rip the book.

Yeah, right...

I tried not to tear the book.

Martha apparently uses some really good glue.

That poor guest book ripped to shreds...

LOOK!

It was at this point that I crossed my fingers 

and hoped for the best.

Time to try out the never ending roll of ribbon.

*crossing fingers*

This ribbon has also been used here and here.

I laid it out across the giant rip, and....

THANK GOODNESS, it worked.

It just barely covered the rip.

I used fabric glue and a paint brush to smear it onto the rip.

That worked fine until I saw a brown brush bristle under the ribbon.

NOT OK, I switched to Q-tips. Then I smoothed down the ribbon and wrapped it around the edges of the book.

I sure hope that glue dries clear...*more crossing of fingers*

Well, that darn glue DID NOT dry clear.

Well...I will deal with that later.

I need time to figure out what to do.

I attempted to distract myself by making 

something for the picture frame...

I found a perfect piece of brown scrapbook paper

and used pink chalk ink to stencil the monogram.

M is for her name, J is for his,

and the O is for their last name.

Then I cut it out using the piece of paper that had been 

in the frame as a template.

Then, I faced yet another issue...

The photo corners...ugh.

I got out my Xacto knife and used it like a seam ripper.

Then I put my monogrammed paper in...

and got this.

GREAT!

I have ribbon threads showing up on my brown paper!

NOT PRETTY!

Now what?

I tried to use my Xacto knife to get them out,

but that did not work.

Then I had a brilliant idea...

I glued a thin strip of pink ribbon around the inside 

of the frame to hide the threads.

Next, I needed to adress the pink ribbon that 

had the glue showing through...you could still see it.

I thought about making a few ribbon and lace

rosettes  to put along the top third of the ribbon...

but as you will see later, I used rosettes elsewhere 

and didn't want to over-do it.

Then I thought I should add another "floating" ribbon.

Meaning, I would just tack it down on the inside of the book 

and let it "float" on top of the other, wider ribbon.

I found a perfect, sheer pink ribbon and layered it on top.

That worked, but I can still see the glue 

through the ribbon a little bit.

Now I am wondering if I should add a bow like the original one.

Then my husband comes in and says he can't even read the monogram...Seriously? Now?

So, I took his advice and hand painted with pink paint right

over top of the chalk...

Are you ready to see the before and after?

Before:

and....wait for it,

wait for it...

AFTER:

I am pretty pleased with the results too!

Transforming Goodwill Plates

So, I have this silver colored plate rack.

It was one of the first items I ever bought full price for my home.

I have had it since my first apartment, and unfortunately,

it has been sitting in a corner for a few years.

I used to use it for 3 picture frames that are long past gone.

I saw it laying upstairs looking pathetic and thought to myself...

SELF, you need to do something with this or get rid of it.

The hoarder collector in me picked the first option.

Then, I was on a mission...

a mission to find three red plates of the same size...

 I found some lovely plates at WalMart, 

but at 7 bucks a pop, I gently put them back....

I was planning on painting words on them anyway.

I looked...

and looked...

and looked some more.

I was DETERMINED not to pay over a couple bucks each.

That meant I needed to get them used.

Well, red plates are hard to find.

Then I saw someone (wish I could remember who)

out in blog land who spray painted their plates.

Genius Move!

Especially since we weren't going to be eating off of them...

First, I found 3 plain plates at goodwill and paid .59 each.

Next, I got a dollar can of spray paint from WM.

Then, I went to town on those plates.

I could have SWORN I took pictures of this project, but...

EH, guess not. Use your imagination.

I wanted to put the plate rack in my 50's inspired kitchen,

so I thought a food inspired quote or saying was in order.

I came up with "eat, drink, and be merry".

I blew the words up to the size I needed and

printed them out on my home computer printer.

Then I traced around the letters with a pencil on the BACK SIDE

of the paper so that when I turned it over and smoothed it down really well, I had a very faint impression of the words to use as a guide to paint the words. I used a paint pen for precision.

Does that make sense? I hope so, 

I don't know how to explain it any better.

This is why I take pictures...ugh.

Well, I do have a picture of the finished product...

Wanna see?

In hindsight (always) I wish I'd placed the

"be merry" a little more centered.

But those words were very time consuming,

and I didn't want to repaint the whole plate.

I recommend using a stencil, not the way I did it.

It worked, but it was doing things the hard way.

Bargain Ring Bearer Pillow

We still needed a ring bearer pillow 

for a wedding that's in a month....yeah, 30 days from now.

Shudder

I found this for $2 at the Salvation Army.

Oh, and this was after I cut off the unsightly plastic "rings".

I could not figure out what all these ribbons were for...

So... I cut 'em off. Hehehe.

See? Isn't that better?

But....it's still a little lot plain, what to do with it now?

Next, I hunted for some pink ribbon.

I wanted something a little fancy.

I soon found something and decided to sew it in the middle, 

going all the way through to give it a "tufted" look.

I hand-sewed it...yes, I love her.

Then I tied it in a pretty bow and.....

Here she is!

All of that cuteness for a mere $2.


She will go so nicely with the flower girl basket I "made".

You can see that project here.


You can check out a couple of the other 
wedding projects here or here.

Flower Girl Basket on a Budget

I am helping my friend who is getting married soon.

I  {somehow} have adopted the role of:

wedding planner

decorator

coordinator

major stressor

We are trying to squeeze a big wedding

out of a tiny budget.

Her theme is a forest wonderland,

and her colors are light pink and deep brown.

We needed something for the flower girl to carry.

Traditional flower girl baskets are pretty blah...

So I decided to find one to compliment her decor.

I figured the cheapest way to go was second hand,

so I began my search at my local garage sales.

I soon found this beauty for .25

Once it was washed up it looked pretty good.

My friend liked it okay the way it was...

but I can never leave well enough alone.

I thought it needed a little polish.

Thats kind of the theme of this whole wedding...

Nature with a little sparkle.

I had these materials on hand...

The beige satin is from a baggie full of fabric I paid .25 for.

The ribbon is leftover from this project.

I warmed up my glue gun and placed my satin inside the 

basket to figure out how big to cut it.

I cut around the top edge of the basket,

leaving about an inch of excess fabric.

I then turned the excess fabric inside 

and hot glued it around the lip of the basket.

I "ruffled/pleated" the fabric as needed,

gluing as I went to ensure a secure hold.

Then I tied two simple pink bows on either side...

Ready to see it?

I know it's not perfect, but I 

adore it.

And to top off the cuteness,

it isn't being filled with flower petals...oh, no.

It is being filled with beautiful, pale pink, shimmery,

Butterflies

Making "Distressed Ribbons"

OK, so I am not sure what to call what I am making, but here is my inspiration photo.

This beautiful pennant banner is customizable and for sale at 

lisa leonard online but costs $38....

Um, no thank you...while I appreciate the creativity,

I plan on making my own for my friend's wedding.

First job, how to make those lovely distressed ribbony scraps of fabric?

My friend's wedding colors are pale pink and brown, 

so the first order of business was to find some cheaply priced fabric.

I went to all of the major craft stores to check out their prices, and realized one thing...

Fabric is expensive.

Now what?

Enter garage sale-ing, my favorite hobby.

I needed a thin pink or brown fabric and I figured I may run across a sheet or curtain.

So far, all I've been able to come up with is one pink pillowcase.

 BUT, it is the perfect shade of pink! And it was only ten cents!

So, I disassembled the case by literally pulling it apart with my bare hands....

Grrrrr.... and ended up with a large rectangle.

I wanted the ripped look so I played around for a few strands and came up with this...

First, cut strips into your fabric that you can rip straight down the grain.

I wanted mine small enough to go through a hole punch but not thin ugly things.

It took a few tries to get the thickness right, the fabric is the deciding factor.

This fabric shredded if I went much thinner so thats the thickness I went with.

Here is the tedious part.

Next you get to sit and cut like this, then rip a bunch of strands out, 

then cut more, then rip more, and repeat, repeat, repeat...

You get the idea.

I found that when I ripped each strand out there were lots of stray threads.

Each time, I pulled all the loose threads out so I wouldn't have to deal with them later.

And kept on ripping...

I was just starting to get into a real groove and all of a sudden I was done.

This is what I ended up with...

It may not look like it but thats about 100 strands as long as a pillowcase is wide...

I figure to make a pennant like the one above,

I should be able to get three cuts out of each length of "ribbon".

I would have never needed a whole sheet.

I like it when I have a happy accident like that.

Vintage Barn Siding

Today, I packed my children up and went in search of a barn...

Not just ANY barn, but a specific barn.

This barn we were looking for is supposed to be falling down,

and I have gained permission to pilfer some of it's vintage wood.

Here it is...isn't she a beauty?

That handsome young man there is my son Ethan.

I figured I was just torturing him and using him for free labor 

by making him come along and help me...

BUT, when we left he said, "Mom, that was kind of fun."

Please dont let me die of shock, I thought instantly.

Here are the tools I took with me but as it turned out I only needed the Electric Saw Thingy.

My husband says it is called a Sawz-All. Clever.

It is actually a reciprocating saw. This was my first time using one, it went well too!

I wasn't sure what we were in in for.

I should have taken pictures during the next part, the money shot...

Where I master over machine and split long beautiful boards in half, 

I WISH I could have a shot of that, 

but my only other pair of hands was standing on boards for me.

Needless to say, I got the job done :)

Look what I put my poor kiddos through...

But it was worth it, here is a close up of all the farm fresh deliciousness.

Nice.

Saving Silver

As you know if you read my blog, 

I am decorating and coordinating a wedding in a couple of months.

We are on an extreme budget, so I am constantly looking for ways to save some money.

Someone gave me a very old set of wedding cake utensils for free...

Here's why...

And this was after I used two different store bought tarnish removers...

Here's another look:

This was after I started my little "experiment".

Materials:

• clean, empty sink or large baking dish
• aluminum foil
• sodium chloride (table salt)
• sodium bicarbonate (baking soda)
• very very hot water
• clean towel for buffing

How To Do It:

1. Place your foil shiny side up in the bottom of your baking dish while you heat up your water.
2. When water is almost boiling, add 2 tsp each of the salt & baking soda and mix thoroughly.
3. Add your water and your tarnished silver, each piece needs to be touching each other and the foil.
4. Next soak you silver, it should only take a few minutes for the chemical reaction to start...
5. Watch your tarnish go bye-bye!
6. When the tarnish is gone, wipe with a clean dry towel to remove the loosened tarnish.
7. Always store silver pieces in a cool, dry place away from ANY moisture.

Here's the experiment in action....can you see the steam rising?

And the final result?

Almost like brand new, huh?

Wanna see what came off of there?

Ummmmm......gross.