Random Winter Projects

 

My favorite thing about winter is knowing that spring is next...

Okay, I admit to being the pessimist that came up with the quote but winter is just not my favorite season. Oh, it has it’s good points… snowflakes, hot chocolate and (my mind just went blank).

One of my highlights in December is the shortest day, which just was..the 21st. I can now think every day is a little longer than the one before.

I’ll share some of the projects I’ve had going on the past month or so..nothing major, just something to pass the time.

I had some sign orders to fill…

Mom’s birthday gift.

 

Our mantle sign. To see this year’s mantle click here.

 

I decorated the church tree using blues and whites. The tree was a very artificial green which I fixed using snow spray, giving it a frosty look…

Our primitive tree at home…

I’ve been pretty busy at times with “garden parties” (as I still call them, though they are now indoors)

We made a room divider so my guests would have a little more privacy…

A brunch special.

I’ve had an obsession with snow globes this winter!

Christmas chalkboard wall…

Just yesterday I finished painting kitchen cabinets for someone that had started doing it on their own when they found out they are getting two little boys to foster!

I’ve never done kitchens with red paint, so this was a first for me! This is a retro look where most of the other kitchens I’ve done are a little more country.

To see a few more kitchen makeovers click here and here.

I really had an eye on these cute little benches in their kitchen…

 

Merry Christmas everyone!

-Mary

 

 

Christmas Twig Tree

 

This is a short post on my favorite tree in our home this year. Although it cost hardly anything and didn’t take long at all to make, I felt it deserved a post all on it’s own.

 

It’s really simple consisting of a few twigs from the woods sprayed with fake snow. I hung some aqua ornaments on it.

 

 

This is the first Christmas for our aqua kitchen and I am loving it. I love how aqua goes with Christmas colors. To see this kitchen makeover click here.

 

 

 

I couldn’t resist snapping a few pics the other night of the porch through the window. Love little twinkling lights!

 

 

Good night! Thanks for visiting!

-Mary

 

Simple Christmas decorations

 

This year I got the urge to do some Christmas decorating a few days before Thanksgiving which for me, is a little unusual. I’m thinking it was due to the beautiful snow we got then…

I did all my decorations spending almost nothing! Some of them were from past years and this year I felt like using lots of naturals, including pine, twigs and different evergreen shrubbery.

 

 

 

 

 

 

For these, I printed out music notes and wrapped them around the glass containers that hold candles, tying with raffia.

 

 

I made this sled last year using an old mirror holder ( the old kind that held an oval mirror on top of a dresser) for the runners.

To see more thrifty ideas, click here to read about the mantle. Click here to see an easy way to create snow globes.

Happy decorating, everyone!

-Mary

Winter 2013 Mantle

 

Even though winter isn’t officially here yet, this Ohio weather sure seems like old man winter has arrived!

The next picture was taken during the night right outside our kitchen window…quite pretty! We had a couple excited boys since it was announced that school would be canceled for the next day..

For the mantle this year I spent nearly nothing… only a little extra time on creating a few things..

First I went out to my workshop and pinned a few boards together, making a rustic sign…. I painted “Joy to the world” onto it..

I felt very blessed to roam about my gardens snipping at the various evergreens. I had a big pile of white pine, holly and a few other greens that I don’t know the names of on our basement floor…

When hubs came home from work he thought about going rabbit hunting in our basement. ( I was not amused since I always root for the bunnies )

Here are a few of the clippings.

I dug out some green craft wire from storage…

After hanging the sign and making a natural garland complete with pinecones, I set my snow globes on the mantle. You can read about the snow globes here: http://porchswingsnhoneysuckle.blogspot.com/2013/11/christmas-project-1-snow-globes.html

I also dug out the stockings from last year that I made out of an old sweater and hung them up.

 

And here it is…

 

Very simple and best of all, thrifty!

I stuck some gifts in an old barrel…

Now, for my favorite part! I put a string of lights behind the globes and I love the look it gives in the dark!

 

 

Happy Christmas decorating, everyone!

-Mary

Christmas Project 1 – Snow Globes

 

Yep, it’s that time of year again… time to remove the fall decorations (decorations that are changing from orange & yellow to brown… and losing shape)

 

A quick gardening tip: (which you may already know) I like to store my mums indoors somewhere in a cool dry place over winter. Come spring, they will sometimes grow out and can be planted in your flower bed. They will have a better root system for the next winter, thus giving them a better chance at surviving cold Ohio winters.

Anyway, putting away fall décor means digging out the Christmas decorations. I always like to make some of my own holiday decorations. It’s thrifty and fun! Today I got the urge to create some snow globes using various sized jars I had around here…

Fake snow…

Little trees from Walmart… I think these could be made using brushes (I think I’ve seen it on Pinterest) I didn’t pay a lot for them $0.75 – $2.00…

My trusty glue gun and also the lids for the jars. I did end up painting some of the lids white…

First I glues the trees to the lids. I tried to use the larger trees for the larger jars…

After putting some “snow” in the jars, they were ready for the trees..

 

I made sure to coat the sides with snow to make it look nice and glittery..

 

Seeing these makes me want to ( as the boys would say) shrink, and walk into the jars. I can almost hear boots crunching in the snow and feel snowflakes blowing against my face.

 

I think these will be part of the mantle display this winter. Now for a nice natural, evergreen garland to go with them…a Monday project, maybe?

Check back for more Christmas crafting in the next week or so!

-Mary