Thrifting: Tiered Tray Vignette

 

I got out of the habit of hitting thrift shops during COVID and then just hadn't picked it back up until last week when I stopped at a Dollar Tree and there was the cutest shop next door. I wasn't in there 30 seconds before I spotted something I've wanted for a while, a very cool tiered tray. 

The price tag said $5.49. SOLD! Then I got to the register and the cashier said "Oh it's on sale!". $4.12 with tax. Then I got home and was curious, Googled it, and found the EXACT one on Mercri selling for $58! Happy dance commenced. It had a little tarnish and a water spot but for the idea I had in mind, it didn't matter. I grabbed some Barkeeper's Friend and cleaned it up!

Good enough for me and $4. I'd found some mercury glass trees at Target that I bought just because and glad I did because they went FAST. I had some other things on had that worked perfectly for this idea.

Mr. Chocolate found these lovely Nutcracker Ornaments when he visited his dad earlier this year. They're handmade by women in Kenya as part of a collective empowering women. 

I found these little wood trees at Michaels.

And these shiny silver Merry Christmas ornaments at a Japanese Dollar Store (OK $1.75 store). I placed the bigger items, filled in with the smaller ones including some mini bottlebrush trees and ornaments, then added some epsom salt for snow. 

I didn't want to cover the tray base completely. I like how it shows off all the components as well asit's own beauty! I was so excited, I forgot to look for a couple other things.Oh well, guess I'll have to do some more thrifting!

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Sundays on Silverado

BFF Open House

 

Happy Friday Eve all! Finally finished decking my halls and I don't know about you, but sitting in the dark with the Christmas trees (yes, I said trees) twinkling is my favorite. I know Buddy the Elf says smiling is his but this is mine. There's something calming and comforting to me. What is your favorite part of the season?

This week I shared another idea I saved last year...a Dollar Tree Duster Mop Wreath 

and a Layered Letter Hanukkah Banner and Dreidel Cards I made for friends.

You've all been busy elves and shared some inspiring ideas at last week's party so let's have a look at a few!

The Apple Street Cottage has a beautiful solution for any jewelry pieces you may have stashed in a drawer and don't know what to do with: A Unique Jewelry Tree. As the family Maker, guess who gets these and this is one I'm saving to do next year! 

Crazy Little Love Birds shared this Frosted Glass Candle Display. I love how spray painting different pieces the same way unifies them. 

Condo Blues shared this ingenious idea of using tomato cages to make Outdoor Gnomes! The best part? They're slipcovers that can come off, be tucked away, the cages used in the Summer, and back again for the holidays!

Finally, Rose Bakes shared yet another creative take on a charcuterie board with this Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer dessert board.

Thanks to everyone who linked up and can't wait to see what you've been up to this week! To those lighting the first candle of the Hanukkah Menorah tonight, I wish you Peace, Love, Latkes!

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Papercrafting: Layered Letter Hanukkah Banner and Dreidel Card

 

Hanukkah begins tomorrow and I am honored to have a friend who appreciates my craftiness. I try to come up with something new each year and I realized I'd never made her a banner. So I did! It was easy to do using these amazing layered letters I was able to download for FREE (sign-up required) from Gjoa at Special Heart Studio.

Supplies:

• Layered Mandala Letters Svg
• Cardstock
• Spray Adhesive and Foam Squares
• Sequins and Dimensional Glue
• Ribbon

I downloaded the file, imported into Cricut Design Space, and sized, then chose gold glitter, white, black, and blue glitter cardstock for the layers. Working from the bottom up, I attached the white layer to the gold base layer with foam squares, used a tape runner for the black, and second gold layers, then attached the blue (top) layer using spray adhesive. 

Here are the first three letters done! Once all of the letters are complete, assemble the banner using ribbon. I used Offray "Galena" Ribbon (Walmart) and strung the letters as shown, tying knots on the ends of the ribbon to prevent fraying. 

Of course, I had to make a card too! Hubs gave me the "she's off her nut" look when I told him I was quilling our holiday cards this year. Challenge accepted! I finished Hanukkah cards first, choosing a dreidel outline as the base. 

Then I selected coordinating colors from my quilling strips and just coiled away! I got so busy I neglected to take pictures but Pinterest and You Tube have TONS of how tos! You can check out my Quilling Board on Pinterest as well. 

I made one to go with this gift, and another for another friend whose family celebrates both Hanukkah and Christmas. I had this handmade star paper in my stash...the stash I save for special cards and it worked perfectly with the colors! To finish, I added gold sequins as shown using Glossy Accents dimensional glue. 

Wishing all those celebrating, Love, Lights, Latkes! 

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Our Hopeful Home

Winter Decor: Dollar Tree Duster Wreath

 

This is another project I saw last year and pinned to make this year. Who'd a thunk a few dusters from Dollar Tree would make such a pretty fluffy wreath?

Supplies

• Wreath Form/ I used a wire one but you can use the styrofoam ones they sell at DT.
• For Duster Mops
• Glue Gun and Glue Sticks
• Bottlebrush Trees
• Wired Ribbon
• Ornaments
• Pom Pom 

I was only able to find four of these Mop Pads across a few stores and would rather have had at least five but made it work! Your best bet is to order a box of them online. 

Cut each pad in half. You will get some fluff that falls off but you're going to be gluing these down so it doesn't matter. 

If you're using a wire wreath form, turn it over and work from the back side. If you're using the styrofoam form, doesn't matter. Cut each pad in half then glue each side to your wreath form with hot glue. Keep adding your halves until you've covered your form.

Once you've covered your form, you could stop there but what fun would that be?!

I hit JoAnn when they had a buy one get three free sale on ribbon and found this pretty snowflake ribbon. I already had some silver bottle brushes on hand that went perfectly with the ribbon.

I made a bow and glued down on the wreath. 

I wanted to put the bow on before I added the trees to make sure things were centered. 

To finish, I added two pinecone ornaments and a white pom pom I already had on hand. Once you're done with adding things fluff and hang!

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Sundays on Silverado

Our Hopeful Home

BFF Open House

 

Happy Friday and December Eve Creative Peeps! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Ours was small...me, Mr. Chocolate, and the Mumster but it was wonderful. And now, the mad rush begins or accelerates, depending on where you are in the process. I'm at the begin part. The accelerate part begins this weekend! 

I'm having fun with some things I pinned last year after I'd already decorated. I shared my take on Paper Bag Snowflakes and will be making more as soon as I pick up some more glue sticks! I also have a fun Dollar Tree project I'll share early next week. 

I'd say you're all in the accelerate phase for sure given how many awesome Christmas projects you linked up. I hope you're visiting each other. So much creativity! Here are a few that caught my eye. 

Crazy Little Lovebirds shared this pretty Dollar Tree Sled idea. Love the whole vignette. 

Ann's Entitled Life shared this pretty and Easy to Make Rustic Centerpiece. Whip up a few! 

Penny's Treasures transformed a corner of her kitchen into a Gingerbread Wonderland. So much to see! 

Finally, Organized Island shared this Rumchata Hot Chocolate...a perfect way to cap off a busy day of Elfing! 

Thanks to all who linked up and can't wait to see what you've been up to this week! 

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Papercrafting: Paper Bag Snowflakes UPDATED

 

I saw these making the rounds last Christmas decorating season after I was done and definitely wanted to try making some this year. There are a gazillion tutorials on Pinterest and You Tube so I'm not going through a step by-step but rather sharing some tips I learned while making them. 

Supplies: 

• Brown Paper Lunch Bags (Can also use white or other colors but these are easily found)
• Hot Glue Gun and Glue Sticks
• Sharp Scissors
• Scrapbook Papers

The best part of these is how inexpensive they are and the bang for the buck! I already had these on hand from Walmart. Dollar stores are a great place to find them as well. I used 9 bags which was the most consistent number of bags I ran across looking at tutorials. 

I saw some tutorials that said it didn't matter whether your bags were "flappy side" up or down as long as you used the same side. I tried both ways but had success with "flappy side" down. If you are wondering what I'm talking about, the "flappy side" is where the bottom of the bag folds up to lay flat in the package.

Flip your first bag over and run a line of hot glue across the bottom and another up/down the middle to connect and make a T.

I also saw where some people glued all of the bags together before cutting and others that started with three bags, cut your design, layer the next three, use the first three as your guideline then cut, finish with the final three. 

The design possibilities are ENDLESS but I kept it simple so I could get the technique down. Decorative edge scissors and hole punches would also add character. 

I did a simple cut by trimming the edges of the bags to a point and adding triangle cuts on the sides. You can measure or do freehand. 

Once all nine are glued together it looks like this from the side:

Once the nine bags are stacked, glued, and cut, open like a pinwheel and glue the two unglued sides together. I was working to get this done before the glue cooled so no pics. 

You can stop here but I wanted to add some snowflake medallions because I'm extra like that. I chose an image from Cricut Design Space and cut out a patterned layer and a solid white layer, then mounted the patterned layer to the white layer with foam tape and then hot glued to the center of the star/snowflake.

I made these to hang on our fireplace wall. We don't have a mantel but I wanted something festive for this area. I just started decorating (I am an absolutely AFTER Thanksgiving decorator and usually not until December). I got some very cool wood bead garland I'm planning to add here but I needed to know I could do these first! 

They're hanging on the panels that are on either side of the fireplace. Mr. Chocolate gave me one of his "This woman is nuts" looks since I woke up early this morning and did them and he knows they weren't there when he went to bed last night. 

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