A January Mantel

Happy New Year! I hope that your year is off to a great start! If Santa, Rudolph, and Frosty are still languishing in your living room, it's time to pack 'em up and give your room a fresh start for the new year. I wanted to share a few photos of my January mantelscape--maybe they will inspire you to try something new this year!

On the left side of the mantel, I filled a pair of tall, glass vases with aqua and pearly white Christmas balls to add a little snowball-inspired shimmer. For the right side of the mantel, I was plumb out of tall, wide, glass vases, so I had to improvise a little. In the spirit of use-what-you-have decorating, I propped the balls on a tall bud vase, a few wine glasses of different heights, and a silver tumbler. I like the cascading effect--it reminds me of champagne bubbles. Large, framed numbers in fun fonts, a black barn star, a silver cookie tin, and a tiny framed silhouette of ice skaters complete the arrangement.

To help with my Christmas light withdrawal, I twined a string of white lights through the whole shebang. Here's how the mantel looks at night:


Happy New Year! I'd love to hear how you decorate for winter after the holidays!

5 Minutes to Festive--Frame a Gift Bag!

A store called Carolina Pottery opened in my town not long ago, and I stopped in to have a look around. Carolina Pottery is a Southern chain of stores selling home decor items, furniture, housewares, wicker sets, craft and floral supplies, and holiday goods--but, oddly enough, very little actual pottery that I could see. I spotted some fun,vintage style gift bags and thought to myself, "Those are pretty enough to hang on the wall!" One look at the price tag clinched the deal.

To frame the gift bags, I just removed the ribbon handles and popped the bags into frames with the folded side down. Being the uber practical person that I am, I untied the knots in the handles rather than cutting them, just in case I ever want to use the gift bags as...gift bags!

For an investment of $1.98 and ten minutes of my time, I have some fun holiday art. This simple idea can be adapted to a number of holidays and occasions. Keep it in mind if you need last-minute decorations for a holiday party, birthday party, bridal shower, or baby shower in the future!

If you have an appetite for more framing irreverence, you might enjoy this post that I wrote about framing silk greenery.

My Alternative Home Decor Database offers examples of more wild things--from framed doilies to wall-mounted oars--that can pass as art!

This post has been linked to Tatertots and Jello. Stop by for loads of crafty inspiration!

Bargain Alert: Charleston Side Tables!

I just spotted these Charleston Tables from Bed, Bath, and Beyond. They're priced right at $99.99 for a set of 2. If you use one of Bed Bath and Beyond's uber ubiquitous 20% off coupons (they'll even accept expired coupons), the price for the pair drops to $79.99, or $40 per table. With their clean lines, these side tables would fit in well in most contemporary or transitional settings. Their smaller scale makes them great for tight spaces. Wondering whether these tables will work with your upholstered furniture? Measure the height of your armrests--aim for the top of your end tables to be the same height as your armrests or a few inches below them.

Sherwin-Williams Paints on Sale Today!

Sherwin-Williams is having a one-day-only sale on paints and stains today. Paints and stains are 40% off and other painting supplies are 30% off. This is a great excuse to stop putting off your painting projects! For a list of participating Sherwin-Williams stores, click here. Happy painting!

Photo credit: Stock Xchng

A Kinder, Prettier "No Soliciting" Sign

For some reason, our subdivision tends to attract solicitors of all stripes. When the doorbell rings, we never know who we'll find standing on our doorstep. Will it be school kids selling overpriced chocolate cashews? College kids urging us to save the rain forests? Juvenile delinquents peddling subscriptions to obscure-magazines-that-will-never-ever-arrive? Landscapers wanting to save our lawn? Zealots wanting to save our souls? With three vocal dogs and a toddler who only naps once in a blue moon, I've come to dread the sound of our doorbell.

I knew that something had to be done, but I wasn't about to hang up a ghastly orange and black plastic "No Soliciting" sign from the hardware store--you may recall my aversion to choosing guaranteed ugly--so I decided to make my own DIY "No Soliciting" sign.

I started with a small wooden 3" x 3" frame from the Dollar Tree. This is what the frame looked like before I started:
Thanks to blogger Melissa at 320 Sycamore for permission to use her "before" photo--I forgot to take my own.

Making the sign is a snap. It's an easy toddler nap time project--assuming that you can find that elusive window of time when a) your toddler is napping and b) no one is ringing your doorbell.

Step 1. Remove the glass and backing and spray paint the frame white.

Step 2. While the frame is drying, create the text using word processing software. I used a font called "Calligraph421 BT" and bolded my text. The words "No Solicitors Please" are in a 28 point font, and the "Friends Welcome" is 24 point. The little graphic in the middle was created with a 22 point "Wingdings" font. (On the off chance that you don't speak Wingdingian, you'll need to type in the letter "V" to create this character. )

Edited 8/11/10 to add: A few people have written to ask how to create the "white text on black background" effect using word processing software. To do this, start by using the "insert" drop down menu to insert a shape onto your blank page (a square, in this case). Use the "fill" feature (the icon looks like a little paint can with paint pouring out) to paint and fill the square black. Insert a text box into this square--change the text box fill color the same way that you did the square, if needed--and then change your text color to white (the icon for changing text color is usually a capital letter "A" with a bar of red under it). Voila!

Step 3: Print out your text and set it aside.

Step 4: After the paint dries but before reassembling the frame, drill two small hanging holes along the top edge. Run a ribbon through the holes and tie in a knot or bow at the top. (I plan to replace my ribbon with a slightly longer one the next time I get a chance to run to the craft store--the ribbon that I used for my sign was actually a handle from a gift bag!)

Step 5: Reassemble the frame, inserting printed text. Tear off the bulky cardboard stand on the back of the frame.

Step 6: Hang the sign where solicitors can't possibly miss it! Sign=$1 Silence=Priceless!

Step 7: When that small neighbor child on your doorstep earnestly points to the word "Solicitors" on your sign and asks, "I'm not a soul-sitter...am I?", go ahead and buy some overpriced chocolate-covered cashews anyway.



If you don't have time to make your own sign, you can buy this one through the Target website for $29.99. Like mine, it's not designed for true outdoor use.
Can't resist picking up more than one of those cute little Dollar Tree frames? Here's another great use for this frame from blogger Melissa at 320 Sycamore, who first introduced me to this particular frame:


This post has been linked to Finding Fabulous and The Shabby Nest.

Five (More) Surprising Things That You Can Transform With Paint

You're on a first-name basis with every employee in the paint department at your local Home Depot. You collect paint chips the way that kids collect baseball cards. You anxiously await the arrival of Spray Paint Season (referred to as "spring" by non-DIYers), and your neighbors hold you personally responsible for the hole in the ozone layer. Think you've painted every paintable surface in your home? Think again! Here are five more surprising things that you can transform with paint:

1. Beaded Trim:

The formerly-beige beaded trim on this (formerly-beige) lampshade did little to enhance the shade. To paint the trim, I started by removing it from the shade (the beads dangle from a band of ribbon, which was attached to the shade with double-sided tape). I used fresh double-sided tape to attach the trim to the edge of a piece of cardboard, and then I painted the trim with spray paint in the backyard, rotating the cardboard so that I could hit both sides in one coat of spray paint. Once the beads were dry, it was easy to adhere the trim to the shade again with more double-sided tape.

2. Art Mats:














Many people use spray paint to paint picture frames, but did you know that you can also transform the mats with a light coat of spray paint? Here's an example from my own home. I loved this collection of black and white photos from my childhood, but the frame had become dated and the formerly-white mat had yellowed over the years. Rather than spring for new custom framing and matting for the photos, I just removed the photos, took the frame apart, and hit the mat and frame with spray paint. The "new" mat and frame look much crisper, though my mom still shakes her head and wonders why the photographer didn't advise her not to wear a shirt with such a busy pattern! Ah, the seventies!

3. Your Plastic Paper Towel Holder:

















Let's say that you move into a house and find that the previous owners have left their formerly-white-but-now-yellow plastic paper towel holder for you. And let's say, just hypothetically mind you, that you're too cheap and/or lazy to drive to the hardware store and plunk down $20 to buy a new one. Well, my hypothetical cheap, lazy friend, if you've got a can of metallic spray paint, you're in luck! There's no need to prime the towel holder; just give it a good cleaning, hit it lightly with a coat or two of spray paint in the backyard, allow it to dry, and hang it back up. Voila!

4. Cabinet Hardware:


It's the oldest Realtor trick in the book, but many homeowners haven't tried it: to update the look of cabinet hardware, simply use spray paint! The cup pulls on this armoire were on sale at Lowe's for 99 cents because they were an odd brushed gold color. After a coat of Rustoleum oil-rubbed bronze spray paint, they fit in nicely with the cabinet knobs, which were factory finished to be oil-rubbed bronze. One painting tip: to avoid paint drips and pooling, opt for several light coats of spray paint rather than one heavy coat.

5. Light Fixtures:





















Who doesn't have at least one outdated shiny brass light fixture lurking somewhere in the house? With the help of a little flat white spray paint, a string of costume pearls, and some inexpensive chandelier shades, this fixture was easily made over from "brassy eek" to shabby chic. A handy way to paint chandeliers is to disconnect them (turn off the electricity first, of course) and hang them from a tree branch in the yard so that you can paint all sides easily.

Can't get enough painting? Click here to read my earlier post about five other surprising things that you can paint!

This post has been linked to: The Shabby Nest and Finding Fabulous

Celebrate!

Wishing you a safe, happy, and relaxing Fourth of July!

Five Surprising Things That You Can Transform With Paint

If you are a decorating blog junkie, an HGTV junkie, or even just a... junk junkie, you know that paint is an affordable way to transform even the humblest rooms, furnishings, and accessories. Maybe you've painted your walls, furniture, or a picture frame or two. Even if you're a seasoned painter with a closet full of paint-splattered clothes and a spray-paint-trigger-finger-injury to prove it, here are five things that you may not have thought about painting:

1. Your Blinds:

Blogger Stef of Frugal Home Ideas boldly went where no painter had gone before and transformed her outdated, almond-colored blinds using espresso spray paint. She hung the blinds from a swing set outside to do the painting! Bravo!

2. Your Floor Vents:

The super creative and ever clever Sarah at Thrifty Decor Chick used spray paint to transform ivory floor vents into something altogether more current!

3. Glass Bottles:

Glass bottles take well to spray paint, as evidenced by these Starbucks-Frappucino-bottles-turned-vases from Maize Hutton. Her instructions can be found here.

4. Your Stairs:

When the wall-to-wall carpeting on our stairs waved the white flag, we pulled it up and painted our stairs with oil-based paint. You can read all about it in my earlier blog post here.

5. Your Doorknobs:

Armed with spray paint, Beckie of Infarrantly Creative banished her shiny brass doorknobs. She shares step-by-step instructions here.