2017 ORNAMENT EXCHANGE-FROM URCHIN TO JELLY-FISH

November 16, 2017November 16, 201713 Comments

Welcome to the 2017 Ornament Exchange & Blog Hop! This year, there are 47 amazing bloggers participating in the exchange. The rules of the challenge were simple: be partnered with a fellow blogger, create a handmade ornament for $15 or under, create a tutorial, and ship the ornament off to a new home!

My partner this year is Terri Steffes. She has been married for 40 years! She has one daughter and two dogs (she would love to have a cat). I was excited to find out that she is a retired school principal who started out as a preschool teacher, just like me! She loves to read, write, decorate, travel, cook and entertain. We have a lot in common! She actually has 2 blogs, ChristmasTreeLane.blogspot.com and terristeffes.com. I can barely keep up with one! She also likes coastal decor for her Christmas tree like I do, so this was an easy one for me!

You can find all the participants and links to their blogs below. Also, if you would like to join the link-up, there is a button at the bottom to join in the fun!

Meet the 2017 Ornament Exchange Hosts

Erlene ⋅ My Pinterventures Kim · Made In A Day Amanda · Domestically Creative

Shirley · Intelligent Domesticatons Michelle · Our Crafty Mom

Beverly · Across the Blvd. Christene · Key to Inspiration Pili ⋅ My Sweet Things

Nicki · Sweet Parrish Place Megan · C’mon Get Crafty

Hilary · Raising Fairies and Knights Emily · Two Purple Couches

Tina · One Crafty Mess Marie · The Inspiration Vault Debra · Shoppe No. 5

Trisha · Rosewood and Grace Jeanie · Create and Babble Katrin ⋅ Kreativ K

Terri · Christmas Tree Lane Maureen · Red Cottage Chronicles

Toni ⋅ Small Home Soul Ula ⋅ Lulu & Celeste Sue ⋅ A Purdy Little House

Pamela · Home On The Corner Lorelai ⋅ Life with Lorelai Cindy ⋅ DIY Beautify

Debbie ⋅ Tweak and Style Stephanie ⋅ Swoodson Says Chelc ⋅ Inside the Fox Den

Susan ⋅ Super Mom – No Cape! Molly ⋅ Just a Little Creativity

Roseann ⋅ This Autoimmune Life Angela ⋅ Simply Beautiful by Angela

Vicki and Jenn ⋅ 2 Bees in a Pod Joanne ⋅ Our Unschooling Journey

Tylynn ⋅ Bitterroot DIY Sam ⋅ Raggedy Bits Mary ⋅ The Boondocks Blog

Cyn ⋅ Creative Cynchronicity Dione ⋅ Clever Chameleon Quilting

Erica ⋅ Erica Ever After Chelsea ⋅ Love Paper Crafts Evija ⋅ From Evija with Love

Samantha ⋅ Little Bits of Home Hope ⋅ Hopes Crafty Niche Anne ⋅ Orange Bettie

Pam · P.S. I Love You Crafts

When I found out that Terri liked coastal decorations like I do, I was very excited! I had an idea for some ornaments I wanted to make and now I could make them for someone else too! I love creating special gifts for others. I already had the sea urchins and I found the embellishments at Michaels. They were on clearance, so I was able to create these very reasonably. I did find sea urchin for sale on Amazon and Etsy and online at Jo-Ann’s. There were even some pink ones, which would look very cool too.

Since my sea urchins came from the California coast, I made sure they were clean before starting. 🙂

I took a small piece of white ribbon, folded it and hot glued it into the small hole on top of the urchin.

I put the ribbon on before the glitter, so that I would have something to hold onto while gluing and glittering. I brushed regular Elmer’s glue all over the urchin and sprinkled on the glitter. I used in iridescent glitter, but you could use other colors too. I made sure to rub it all over the shell. I had a hard time showing you how glittery they are, but they look so nice.

I love the purple one!

Here are the embellishments I found. I didn’t end up using everything, mainly just the different ribbons. I did add some small beads to some of them with some beads I already had on hand.

I cut each type of ribbon into small lengths and then hot-glued them, in the middle, on top of each other, one at a time. Now I had 6 ends hanging down. I made two sets for each urchin.

Once the pieces were glued together, I hot-glued them into the bottom of the urchin, pushing them way up inside using a pencil so I didn’t burn my fingers.

Ready to hang on the tree!

You can see some of the turquoise beads I used on this one.

I also glued some individual beads onto the white ribbon.

I love how the tails turned sea urchins into jelly-fish!

I’m so glad I had the opportunity to make these for my new blogger friend, Terri! Thanks to Erlene, from My Pinterventures, for hosting another year of Ornament Exchange! Remember to check out all the other ornaments below! Have fun creating!

FIND ALL 47 HANDMADE ORNAMENT TUTORIALS BELOW AND SHARE YOURS TOO! Use Hashtag #2017OrnamentExchange so we can see your creations on social media.

An InLinkz Link-up

Pumpkin and Magnolia Leaves Tablescape

November 13, 2017November 11, 2017Leave a comment

Good morning! Did you get to enjoy a holiday weekend? I did get to have 3 days off, which was so nice. And, I started my Christmas decorating!! I am starting in my ‘formal’ living room/dining room. Since it is somewhat separate from the other rooms in the house, it’s easiest to start there and then gradually decorate the rest. Plus I wanted to do it a little different than the rest of the house. The ideas are swirling in my head! I can’t wait to see how it all comes together. But for now, I have the last fall post for this year. Earlier in the fall, I had used green, white and black, here, and now I recreated it more for Thanksgiving.

I bought this great big fat pumpkin when I went to the pumpkin patch with my class and it has been waiting to be the star of the table! I love it!

I was able to cut a few small branches of magnolia leaves from my neighbors tree (shhh) to use on the table too. I added in a few pussy-willow branches and some golden acorns.

The candlelight glowing on the white hydrangeas and leaves look so pretty.

Adding in lots of textures gives the table a cozy and homey feel. Rattan place-mats and burlap pumpkins combined with the leaves and flowers add just the right touch.

I added just a little bit of orange and turquoise too.

I hope you all get to gather around the table with special people in your lives this Thanksgiving. All the decor and food mean nothing if we can’t share it with the people we love!

I’m so glad you stopped in today. Thank you so much for following along! The next time I am here, it will be with Christmas ideas! I can’t wait to share it with you all!

Clifford the Big Red Dog and Pals Halloween

October 31, 2017October 30, 2017Leave a comment

Happy Halloween!!! October has seemed like a really loooonnggg month! I’m not sure why, but I am glad to be in November.

I decided to have a little fun with dressing up the dogs this year. They are just so funny and it makes me smile. I started out with a felt doghouse. I just tacked it onto a board and set it up. Nothing too fancy!

Next came the challenge! Getting the dogs dressed and posed. Rozy does pretty good, but as you can see here, she has a couple of extra legs and an extra tail. I chose Clifford because Rozy always wants to sit on our lap like she is just a little puppy. Actually, we can’t see a thing in front of us when she sits there!

We actually did pretty good getting this picture of Maggie, aka Cleo. She just hasn’t gotten the hang of sit and stay yet.

Why is this taking so long and why do I have to wear these ridiculous things?

I love the beanie pulled down low! She looks like a hoodlum!

Hopefully we get a good one soon!

No hands this time!

Aww, Munchy’s (T-Bone) turn!

Oh my! I don’t think Munch is liking this! She even stuck out her tongue in protest!

Better…but still missing Cleo.

This is as good as it gets! At least they are all in the picture. Of course, the neighbor dog started barking and everything went haywire!

Ezzy acts like she doesn’t want to dress up in a Halloween costume, but she kept hanging around and getting in the way, so I finally put this ladybug costume on her and she seemed satisfied with that.

I hope this gave you a little smile today and enjoy your Halloween!

Halloween With a Few of My Favorite Bloggers!

October 23, 2017October 22, 2017Leave a comment

Good morning! Halloween is only a week away! What!?!? How is that possible? I don’t really decorate for Halloween anymore, now that my girls are older, so I thought I would share some ideas from my favorite bloggers. Just click on the pictures to be taken to each ladies blog.

Of course, my first and most favorite blogger, is Karianne from Thistlewood Farms. She shared some big news this past week. She’s moving! She’s moving back to the home she grew up in. I can’t wait to see what she does with it! Here are Karianne’s Four Ideas for Inexpensive Halloween Door Decorations.

Lauren over at Bless’er House has a cool idea for marbled vases. Not too scary…just the right touch!

Kelly, over at My Soulful Home, has this cute mummy candle. Great project for the kids too!

Here is an idea that’s a little more on the creepy side! But doesn’t this look awesome? Angie, over at Knick of Time, has some great recycling ideas. I’m sure you have some spare bottles around!

Do you have any extra mason jars around the house? Linda at Mason Jar Craft Loves has loads of ideas for those jars! Just pick your favorite and start painting!

Well, it’s Halloween, so we need some treats, right? Amy at the Happy Scraps has some cute printables to add to your treats. She has lots of great ideas and I had a hard time just picking one!

This would be a great way to welcome your trick-or-treaters! The pumpkin even lights up! Laura at The Turquoise Home shares all the directions on her blog.

How about some free printables to hang on your walls for Halloween? I love how Katrin displays them in a canvas hung backwards. Perfect touch for Halloween! She even gives you the links for the printables.

Well, I am leaving you with Karianne again! These adorable little felt pumpkins were made by her sister and Karianne gives all the instructions on her blog.

What do you think? Are you ready to try any of these ideas? I hope it gives you some inspiration! Have a great week!

Fall Decor Tips in the Family Room

October 2, 2017October 1, 20172 Comments

Good morning! It’s October! Can you believe it? We have been having some beautiful weather this past week. I’ve been able to have the windows open and feel the breeze come through the house. It’s wonderful! My school visits the pumpkin patch this week and I hope to be able to pick up a few nice colored pumpkins while I am there.

I’ve continued my fall decorating through the house. You can see the the dining room here and the living room here. As you can see I changed from my green, black and white color scheme. I went a little more traditional in here. This room is separated from the living room, so I can change it up a little bit. I still used a lot of neutrals, but I added little touches of orange too. I have a few tips or ideas that I use when decorating for fall.

My first tip: Use what you have! Many of the pieces you already own can be used in your fall decor. Lanterns, baskets, burlap, cozy blankets. These items all add great texture and coziness to your rooms.

2. Texture: I mentioned this above. Woven baskets are a great way to add texture and to store some other fall decor in. Baskets can be found everywhere from Craft and Art stores, to Walmart, to thrift stores. Baskets can be painted or left natural to fit your decor. There are woven ones or metal ones and many others in between. Burlap and nubby blankets also add texture.

3. Natural Accents: Remember those baskets? Use them to store pinecones, pumpkins, acorns, ect. Fall is the perfect time to find things outdoors to use indoors. Even a tall basket full of sticks would be perfect. Of course, fall colored leaves add just the right touch to any room.

4. Pumpkins, of course! Pumpkins in all different sizes, colors, fabrics and materials. I have pumpkins made of fabric, styrofoam and rulers, and of course, real ones too. I found these little burlap ones at the Dollar Tree. Real ones come in all sorts of colors now too. Pick from orange, white, blues and greens.

5. I didn’t use any in my family room but free printables are a great way to add small touches of fall to any room. Many bloggers offer some great designs. They can be placed in frames or on clipboards and changed out for the seasons or just your mood!

6. Lights and candles: extra lamps add soft lighting, especially with the days getting shorter. I placed a lighted fall leaf garland in the wire basket on the hearth with some burlap and pumpkins. Scented candles are wonderful and really add to the fall mood.