Category: Decorating

A Fun Way to Use an Old Frame

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Good morning! I have a new project for you today! Lauren and I have been participating in some local vendor fairs and virtual fairs. She has been selling Disney Trading Pins and I am making boards to display the pins on. It’s been fun selecting all the different colors and characters. Of course, this doesn’t have to be done with Disney characters, but anything you like! Let me show you how!

I started with a frame from a thrift store. It doesn’t matter what kind of picture or if the frame is scratched. I like to look for frames that are a little different or have a design in them. I liked this oval one, because the curved ones are a little harder to find. This frame is just a plastic material.

The first step is to take apart the frame. Throw away the glass (unless you have another awesome idea to use it for!). I keep the back. It is good to use for tracing on the cork board and also to give extra support to the whole thing in the end. Make sure to keep any screws too.

Be sure to wipe off and clean your frame before painting. Then decide what color you want to use. I love the Rustoleum 2X Spray Paint. Since this frame is such a smooth surface, I used a primer first to give the paint something to grip. Once the primer was dry, I sprayed 2 light coats of the green.

This is where your back piece come in handy. I bought this corkboard from Hobby Lobby. I laid the back on top of the cork board, traced around it and then cut the cork with scissors. Depending on the thickness of the cork, you might have to use a razor blade. I found that 1/4 to 1/2 inch cork is the best. I really just depends on how thick your frame is and how thick of cork will fit inside and still be able to get the back of the frame back on.

For this board, I picked Tinkerbell. I looked up Tinkerbell silhouette in Google and then picked the one I thought would be easiest to cut out, without to much detail. If the design is too detailed, it’s difficult to be able to cut it out cleanly.

Once the design is cut out, place it on your corkboard. It might help to tape it down if you are afraid the paper might move too much. I used black acrylic paint to fill in the design.

I use a small brush that is pretty flat on the end. I start by daubing around the edge of the design and then I go back and fill in the whole design. Be sure to hold down the edges of the paper as you paint, so the paint doesn’t leak under. You may have to go over some of the edges with a small brush to smooth and even them out.

Doesn’t she look cute?! I love the bright green!

I’ve been making quite a few of these lately. Here are a couple of others. You can see that I used all different size frames and colors.

Princess crown…

and small oval.

These are fun to paint and the designs are endless! What would you put on yours?

Using Vintage Fabric to Bring New Life to Chairs

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Good morning!

I know I haven’t posted for a bit, but I am so happy to show you this project today! Thank you for stopping by! I am going to show you what a difference a little paint and fabric can make!

I bought these chairs several years ago at a ‘Junk’ sale. The seats were covered with burlap, but as you can see, they were very stained and dirty. I had bought some vintage fabric at an estate sale and knew they would be perfect for these chairs.

I spray painted the chairs with Rustoleum 2X white semi-gloss paint. I didn’t even take the burlap off when I painted the chairs because I knew the seats would be covered anyways.

I debated whether or not to leave the burlap on the seats and just put the new fabric over it, but I was afraid the stains on the burlap would go through, so I started to take out all the staples on the bottom of the chair. I used a flat head screwdriver and a needle-nosed pliers to take them all out. It definitely took awhile! Thankfully the foam underneath the burlap was still in good shape.

Once the burlap was off, I used it as sort of a pattern for my new fabric.

I used 1/4 inch staples to attach the new fabric to the chairs. I pulled the fabric taut and then stapled all the way around.

As you can see in the photo below, the wood under the seat didn’t get painted. That’s because the burlap covered it before. I was going to cover the chairs the same way as before, but then decided to not cover that part of the wood. I like the chairs much better this way, but I did have to go back and paint those front pieces.

I set up this little table last fall on my back porch. It was such a lovely, sunny day. You can see the chairs with the table set for two!

The sun was a little bright over here. The fabric is much more vibrant.

I set up this little sitting spot on the other side of the yard. Can’t wait for all the grass to start coming in as spring gets closer!

I hope you all have a great week and stay safe!

Valentine’s Day Round-up

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Good morning! It’s been a couple of weeks since I have been here! Life has been a little crazy since the new year started. Not just in world news, but in our little family too. We are all okay, but we have had some stressful times. And now, Valentine’s Day is right around the corner! It’s the perfect time to show a little extra love to those we care about.

I thought I would share some of the past ideas from the blog. If I can get some things together, I will show you next week, what I will be sharing with my friends for Valentine’s Day.

It’s A Valentine Tablescape-Set a pretty table to celebrate with your family.

Vintage Valentine Tablescape– Here is another tablescape using some vintage pieces.

Cute Valentine Printable– This is a cute little printable card to pass out to your friends…or pets!

Recycled Hardware Heart– Looking for a craft project? Go through your stash or hit the thrift store and see what you can create!

Faux Flower Heart- Here is a craft using Dollar Tree flowers!

Ombre’ Wooden Heart– Another craft idea with Dollar Tree items.

Gum and Candy Basket- Here’s a cute way to give some special treats to your special someone!

Valentine Pixi-Stix Flower Vase– Or maybe you want a special vase to give some flowers to someone!

I Love You Wooden Blocks– Another easy craft project for you!

Stamped Heart Treat Bag– One last idea for a goodie bag! (Scroll to the end of the post for the how-to)

I hope you enjoyed this round-up and found some ideas! I would love to hear about what you do for Valentine’s Day!

My Christmas Home Tour

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Good morning! We are part of the way through December already! Are you ready? Is your shopping done? I think I am done, but there always seems to be something else to buy! I do have my decorations up, so now I can sit back and enjoy. I hope you enjoy the little tour today!

I collect these little birds from Target, buying one each year. I set them up right in my entryway this year. I bought the birdcage at a yard sale, the wreath and white trees came from the 99 Cent Store. The white runner came from Hobby Lobby and is soooo soft! I love to just rub my hand across it each time I walk by.

Turning into the living room, I set up my frosted tree. I usually decorate this with a very coastal look, but this year I wanted to do something different. I kept the same white, silver and gold colors, but added in woodland animals. I bought about $20 worth of new ornaments at the 99 Cent Store, but the rest were pieces I already owned.

Ok, a penguin isn’t really a woodland animal, but he was too cute to not include!

I decided to hang the stockings on the mantle this year too. I added a couple more deer, a lantern, a lighted tree and a chalkboard.

Down the middle of the table, I lined up several lanterns, added some trees inside along with more woodland creatures.

This old kitchen cupboard belonged to my grandparents in their home. I love to decorate it with vintage style Christmas things. The old light up tree on the bottom shelf came from my grandma on my fathers side of the family.

This is my doggy corner! Each one has a handmade stocking and monogram. As you can see, they already have a few treats inside. I added a few of my other dog decorations on the bench. My daughter gave me the adorable gold and white wooden Christmas tree last year.

Here in my family room, I have my Disney tree! Lauren and I went through all the ornaments and found we had plenty of Disney ones to fill the tree. I love it! Most are mine, but there are also some from both girls.

Old movies and new ones.

Lady and the Tramp is my favorite old Disney movie!

And the iconic castle!

I posted about my village a couple of weeks ago. I set it up in my fireplace this year. I really like it here and I get to enjoy it every day. You can find it here.

Well, I hope you all have a Merry Christmas! It’s been a tough year, and I am looking forward to what 2021 has to bring to us. Thank you all for following me. I love to read your comments and looks forward to meeting with you next year too!

How to Set Up Your Christmas Village

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Good morning! It’s been a couple weeks since I have been here and now we are in December and all things Christmas!! I have all the decorations up and now I can just sit back and enjoy the lights and other decor. I was finally able to find a place to display my Christmas village this year. I had the perfect place for it at our old house, but we have been here for 4 years and I was still having a hard time figuring out where to put it. So I tried something different and I think it turned out pretty good. This will probably end up being its new place each year.

This is what my fireplace looked like in the fall. This is in my family room. I have had the crates in here for a while and thought maybe they would work for the village too. The first step was to clean everything out and put it all away.

Once everything was cleared out, I gave it all a good cleaning. I also added another crate and set it on the hearth.

I placed soft white felt in all the crates and on the hearth. I found a white tree skirt at the 99 Cent Store that worked perfectly. I pulled out all my large pieces, plugged them in to make sure they worked and then set them where I thought they worked best.

Now comes the hard part…getting them all plugged in and hiding the cords! Whew! I was ‘glistening!’ I have a cord that has outlets every couple of feet and I can plug in 2 or 3 at each outlet. I ran all the cords out the back of the crates and hid them under the ‘snow’ as much as possible. Thankfully there is a wall outlet nearby.

This next part is easier and more fun! I placed all the smaller accessories into the scene. I have trees, benches, people, and dogs. I use fiberfill for little tufts of snow and I even have some little rocks I place around the scene.

The last piece to add was a garland and lights over the top of the whole thing. It looks so pretty at night!

I have two churches, one on each end of town. This village came from Mervyns when they were around. My husband usually bought me a new building each year.

Here you can see the set was part of Village Square. I still see pieces around once in awhile at thrift stores, but I never had enough room for any more pieces. But if this is where I decide to keep it, I can fit more in!

I’m so glad I finally found a good place to display my village. How about you? Do you have a village? How do you display it? I love to see everyone’s villages and how they set it up! Have a great week!