Patriotic Deco Mesh Wreath

Summer is here and school will be ending this week.  That means lots of busy days with activities and family fun and celebrations.  One of the events we look forward to each summer is 4th of July.  Our family just loves to get together grill, swim and sit out under the stars to watch the fireworks.  It's such a fun time for each of us.  So, today I thought I would share one of the Patriotic 4th of July wreaths I just made.  

Little Fabric Pumpkins Tutorial

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Hope you all had a wonderful Labor Day weekend. We were busy putting in a patio in our back yard while also keeping a close eye on the weather channel - Hurricane Irma is out there and it's still uncertain what path she is taking.  The next few days we will be preparing for the worst but, for today I am going to share a cute little fabric pumpkin I've been making.

DIY Valentine Wreath

Good morning friends. 

 Hope you all had a wonderful weekend.  We spent the weekend with our oldest grandson who is here visiting for a few days before he heads back to school. Spending time with him and his three sisters is always filled with lots of fun, laughter and good food. This weekend was no different. But it's Monday and time to get back to work - so to speak.

Today I am joining The Dose of DIY ladies for our monthly challenge. This month's challenge was Valentine's.  So I chose to make a simple and cute little DIY Valentine Wreath to share with you.

DIY BOO Sign

Hi everyone.  After all the rain we received two weekends ago would you believe it rained most of the day again this past Saturday. The weatherman stated that South Carolina is officially out of its drought conditions now. I would hope so after all this.  Anyway, today I thought I would share a little BOO Sign that Miss A and I did on Saturday to pass the boredom brought on by all the rain.

Patriotic Mantel

Good morning everyone. 

I have finally been able to start putting some summer touches in our decor but with all the activities going on here it's been hard to get much done.  Today I want to share our summer mantel. I decided to do a Patriotic mantel to celebrate all our summer holidays - Memorial Day, Flag Day, 4th of July and even Labor Day.  That way I won't have to worry about changing it again for awhile. And with the goings on around here that's great news.

DIY Valentine Mantel

As I said in Thursdays post I really don't do too much decorating for Valentines Day.  If I had my way I would probably skip it all together but Miss A likes to see the different holidays decorations and enjoys helping with them. So I do just enough to satisfy her and no more.  Today I am going to show you our very simple Valentine mantel.

A Vintage Valentine Vignette

 

I don't do much decor for Valentines Day but I do like to acknowledge the holiday a bit for Miss A.  So I put together a vintage vignette for our entry and thought I would share that with you today. 

Hanging Heart Frame

Written by : Cathy Carroll

Since Valentine's is just around the corner

I thought I would share a very cute, simple and quick project. 

The Story of the Nutcracker

I fell in love with The Nutcracker ballet many years ago and made it a tradition to see it when it was presented in an area close to our home. But even if I can't see it in person I catch one on TV to watch.

Recipe for Witch Repellent - a Guest Post

I can honestly say that we have a lot of the boxes unpacked and the most important things put in their proper places.  Whew, what a job! I am so glad that I have some great blogger friends that are able to help me out through all this Today I would like you to meet Dana who blogs at                        Dapoppins

Dana is a professional nanny and a Mother. She loves reading children's books , is a writer, and a scrapbook enthusiast. A very busy lady indeed.
Today she is sharing her tutorial on how to make Witch Repellent for those nights you may be out and need it - this weekend, maybe....
So without further ado I am going to let Dana take it from here. 

Throwback Thursday - Haunted Halloween Village

It's Thursday and that means it is time for a post brought out of the archives.  In keeping with Halloween rapidly descending on us I am bringing out our little Haunted Halloween Village that Miss A made last year.

Throwback Thursday - Halloween Candy Jars

Written by Cathy Carroll



Hi Everyone,
I have a fun Halloween project I am going to share with you today that I am pulling out of the archives for Throwback Thursday.  I don't do too much Halloween decorating these days like I did when my boys were young but this project is so simple and so cute - you can  make it in an afternoon.

TBT - July 4th Mantel

Since I decided to not to do a Patriotic vignette on my mantel this year and July 4th is just around the corner; I thought I would bring a couple of pictures from last year's mantel back to share with you.  The pictures are dark because it had been raining for days and our living room is quite dark - almost like a cave, it seems.  

Valentine Mantel

Written by: Cathy Carroll

I 

I finally got the Christmas tree and all the decorations down and put away.  This is really late for me as I usually take them down January 1. But, this year we were traveling until the 5th.  Then when we finally made it home I really did not feel like tackling such a big job - so, it sat for a few more days - more like a week.

But, it's down and now the dilemma of what to do with the mantel.  I wanted to do a winter mantel and just fore go the Valentine thing this year but, I was silly enough to ask for Papa's input.  He, of course, wanted a Valentine mantel.  Since I had asked for his input I had to honor it so...   in honor of Papa we have a Valentine mantel.....

Tissue Paper Valentine Wreath

Written by: Cathy Carroll

What about a hot pink tissue paper heart on a very black front door..... It definitely stands out....but, I like it.

So, today I am going to tell you how to make this really very simple bright heart wreath.

Haunted Halloween Village

I love those cute little Halloween villages that are seen in the stores. But, they can get rather expensive and I don't like spending a lot on Halloween décor.  I wanted to do an easy craft for Halloween with Miss A. She loves crafting and helping Grandma make things. She also loves painting and glitter. So I went to Dollar Tree and purchased five of their little Christmas village houses and a package of bottle brush trees.

Easy Halloween Candy Jars

Good afternoon everyone.

I'm going to share a really quick and easy project today.

Halloween Candy Jars.

I am on a kick of gluing candlesticks to everything that

stands still long enough for me to do it.

I love the fact that the candlesticks can turn an ordinary

object into something so cute and different.

These are oh so simple to make.

All you need is:

An empty jar

A miniature wooden candle cup

(found in the wood section of crafts stores)

A candle stick from Dollar Tree

(or wherever)

Black spray paint

Glass bond or glass glue

The jars I used are empty mayonnaise jars.

I spray painted the candlesticks, jar lids and

candle cups with the black spray paint.

When they were dry

I glued the candlesticks to the bottom of the jars

and the

candle cups (turned upside down)  to the tops of the lids.

Let the glue dry.

This only took a couple of hours and

I had a set of candy jars.

We filled these with some candy corn,

gummy body parts,

and

eyeball bubble gum

for a little get together we had for

Miss A's friends on Sunday.

They were a quite the hit.

( I think the candy more than the jars).

Very simple to make and can be used for all sorts of things.

I am thinking if you used different colors of paint for different holidays

you could have custom made candy jars year round

Or, they could hold marshmallows and DIY hot chocolate mix

for the winter.

There are all sorts of uses I can think of.

So, that was definitely a quick and easy project

you can do in just a couple of hours.

Have a great day

and

create something you love....

Click here to see the parties I am linking to this week.

Please visit them and see all the great projects and inspiration found there.... 

July 4th Decor

Written by Cathy Carroll for Vintage, Paint and more...                                           

Hi, everyone....

Today I am going to show you some of our July 4th decor.  I don't decorate very much for the 4th...We are usually traveling or so very busy I don't have the time.  But, this year I decided to do the mantle and the entryway.

Touches of Christmas

 

 

Good morning everyone,

I trust that you are well on your way to being

ready for the big day.

I am beginning to panic a little.

Thought I was well on target

and getting everything done in a timely fashion

but,

now I find that I may have

be mistaken.

 

 

Today, I will share with you a few

of the

Christmas touches in our home.

Above you see a few of my Santas.

I am a

Santa collector from way back when

and have just a few.

These little fellows

along with their brothers

reside in our china cabinet.

Along with a few gold wire trees

and

red and gold balls.

 

 

I love these little guys...

 

 

Here are a couple of the larger ones.

But,

sitting next to them is

the book page tree I made.

I do not have a tutorial on that one.

It is simply cutting squares

in decreasing sizes with decorative scissors

and

putting them

on a dowel.

Very simple and just what I wanted.

 

 

Another little tree.

This one is made of silver threaded lace

and

silver bead garland.

The JOY sign is simply

a silver platter

(from the Dollar Tree)

painted with chalkboard paint.

The silver bird is an ornament.

And a couple of

nutcrackers

from my hubby's collection.

 

 

Another little tree

(brother to the one above)

sitting on a candlestick

along

with a snowman nutcracker

and

a cork ball.

 

 

A book page snowman

made from a paperback book.

Top hat made from black card stock

and

a felt scarf....

 

 

A few red poinsettias

placed in the burlap wreath I made this fall.

( tutorial here )

I just pushed the stems into the Styrofoam

so they are easy to remove

after Christmas

without

destroying the wreath.

 

 

One of the several pillow

I made this year.

This one is made from a drop clot.

The little stockings

were cut from a

Goodwill sweater and sewn on.

The string is just a piece of

hemp tacked on.

I fell in love with these little pillows -

they are a

Pottery Barn Knockoff....

 

So,

are you ready

or are you,

like me. starting to get that

panicky feeling in the pit of your stomach?

 

 

Would love for you to leave a comment,

and

follow me on this blog or Pinterest....

 

 

 

Have a great day,

Cathy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



More Trees

 

 

Hi everyone - how is your day?

We are having one of those lazy days

as it is quite

cloudy, and drizzly here....

 

 

 

When I showed you our fireplace mantle decor

I told you how

I had fallen in love with those little trees

and

had gone crazy making them this year.

 

So, I thought today I would show you

a few more.

 

The ones I am going to show you today

set on top of our bookcase

along with a Santa from my collection

and

some red Christmas balls.

The "Tis the Season'

sign

was a gift from my son this year-

he got it at Hobby Lobby....

 

 

This little tree is made from a dictionary

and

sits on a book page column.

I love printed pages

and

script on anything.

So, a book page tree was a must.

 

 

The little tree in the

front of Santa

is made from scrapbook paper

and

then wrapped with some gold cording.

I had a little gold  snowflake

that I glued to the top of it.

Then I set it on another

book page column.

 

I thought I would show you how to make the

dictionary page tree in this post.

It is quite simple to do...

To start the trees

( make the bases you can find the tutorial here )

 

 

For this tree you will want to cut out a lot

of 2"x3" squares

from a dictionary.

It needs to be a dictionary page

as they are much thinner and will curl.

 

 

Then cut thin little slits in the squares

leaving about 1/2" solid.

 

 

Taking these little squares one at a time

and

using the blade side of a pair of scissors

very carefully

curl the paper

like you do curling ribbon.

Be gentle as the little strips can (and will) tear off.

 

 

They will look like this when you are done.

 

 

Then start gluing the little squares on the cone

with the "fringe"

facing the bottom of the cone.

You may need to overlap them just a tad

to make sure all your poster board

is covered up.

 

 

Continue to glue the squares in this manner

all the way up.

For the top of the tree

I cut a little square about 1"x1"

and glued it over the top tip

of the tree.

Then I glued the squares around that.

Now you may have to cut

your squares in smaller squares to get them

to fit around the

very top of the tree.

 

 

And this is what it looks like when you are done.

I love it...

so "frilly"

and

cute.

Another addition to our

tree collection......

 

 

And it's perfect for the

top of our book case......

 

Stay tuned

because I have tutorials for a few more.....

 

 

Lovin' my life in Carolina

Cathy

 

 

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