DIY Topiary Tree

Hi everyone! I have to share a quick tutorial on these little topiary trees I am making for table centerpieces at a family Christmas gathering. I know this is very last minute to be in time for Christmas, but I know some family Christmas celebrations aren’t until after the 25th, so maybe this can be of help for someone, or if you are just looking for cute little holiday decoration to be had, this might work!

I came across a similar topiary tree on Pinterest and don’t have the link, but I know it was Stonegable’s blog where she also shared a tutorial on making one.

So, here goes..

I bought all my supplies at Pat Catans. I was shopping for decor for two long, 20’ tables and like I usually do, I gravitated toward earthy, natural things..

First I used wicker balls and sprayed them with snow spray.

I then stuck fake boxwood sprigs into the ball, gluing some of them down.

I then went outside and collected Hydrangea stems ..

I had some foam that I cut into chunks to put into the cups..

I stuck the Hydrangea sticks into the balls and glued the ends to hold.

After adding little foam ornaments and giving the “tree” another coat of snow spray, it was done!

I added shredded “snow” to the cup, along with a few foam ornaments..

I hope you enjoyed this quick tutorial and are inspired to make some yourself!

Merry Christmas!!

-Mary

2017 Holiday Cottage Tour

Christmas time is one of my favorite seasons to decorate for! There’s nothing more cozy than flickering candles and twinkling lights on these long evenings.

I like to display snowy looking decorations so they will be fitting for the remainder of the winter season. I ended up spraying most of the greenery with snow spray, including the tree!

Following is a quick tour of our home.. enjoy!

I used Dollar General’s duster refills for the snowy string you see wrapped around the tree. I apologize for not taking any pictures of this process!

I bought a few boxes of these soft, dusters from Dollar General and cut each one in half length-wise. I then fluffed them up and glued them together to make a “snow rope.”

I made the bow out of burlap ribbon. I discovered I am not a very good bow maker. Trust me, you don’t want to see the underside of it! I was thankful for every pin I had on hand.

My favorite ornaments on the tree are these adorable owls and birds I found in Walmart for a good price. They are so adorable!

Just bringing some of the outside in can add so much to a room! I use a lot of real tree and shrub clippings. Love the natural look and smell!

For the mantle display I used all natural shrubbery clippings form my gardens. The smaller evergreens I sprayed with snow spray.

Gotta have some red plaid in the mix!

The above scroll is available on my Etsy shop. 

Moving on to the dining room..

I got these little trees at a local market and added the dropcloth for a farmhouse look. I’m hoping I can get them to survive the winter, then plant them outside come spring. 

Have a Merry Christmas everyone!

-Mary

DIY Filing Cabinet Desk

Hello you all! I’ve been wanting to post about one of my latest projects for a while now and haven’t gotten around to it. So finally, here I am writing after midnight, since that’s when I enjoy it the most. :)

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! I can hardly believe we are in that time of the year again. To me, it seems like it just was! I’d be lying if I said I’m not already thinking about the next season, right around the corner, but for now, I will try and enjoy Ohio’s winter season, which can often be described in a few words, GRAY and a bit BLEAK. :(

Before getting into the topic at hand, I wanted to share my latest Etsy listings. I have a box of interesting books, old documents, checks, etc. from my great grandparents that I like to rummage through now and then. I found these cool old book pages that I felt were worth printing out. I thought they would make a neat vintage farmhouse wall decoration. You can view the listing here.

And I also found some old books at a local thrift store that I used some illustration pictures to frame. You can see them on my shop here.

I have also been busy creating scrolls and I am presently doing some research on different papers and sizes to use.

Here is Twinkle doing his best Sphinx impression as he watches me work..:)

Now, for the featured project..

Starting at the beginning…this summer I added shiplap to a section of our living room wall, which you can read about here. 

Even though it’s in our living room, I had plans to add an office area along the one wall eventually. Sure, a nice big studio would be nice to work in with all kinds of space but for now it won’t happen so I decided to make use of the space I have.

I wanted to remain as thrifty as possible with this project so I dug through my stock of wood out in the shop and managed to find a few nice, long boards to use for my desk top. I didn’t get a picture of how I fastened them together but I basically just used short boards and screwed them on the bottom side, holding the planks together.

I had a little “end of the summer” visitor watching me as I stained the boards…

I got my inspiration from this pin on Pinterest..

So, again, here is the “before”…

And now the “after”…

I spend a lot of time in this little corner! I do in home secretary work and also work on my Etsy designs here. I love it since it’s on the same floor as the kitchen, so I can multi task without having to go too far.

As you can see, I used three black filing cabinets from Walmart as the base. I was going to paint them gray and give them a “zinck” look as pictured in the Pinterest image but I haven’t gotten around to it. I still feel like they are too black but for now they will do.

I am really attracted to the color charcoal, white and stained wood combinations these days so I tried to incorporate those three into this area. 

My youngest son, who is eleven made this pretty wood sign for me this summer. Doesn’t it fit in perfectly? :)

I was impressed how smooth I was able to get the planks, using only my little electric sander. After the top was stained, I gave it a few coats of Polycrylic, which helps with getting it smooth.

A scroll ready to ship out.

So, all in all, I didn’t spend a fortune to get this much needed space set up. The biggest expense would have been the filing cabinets, which were around $40 each. Coming in second is the chair, which I ordered from Amazon for around $110 for a set of two. The lights are from IKEA and I believe they were $20 each. I won’t count the wood since it was just left over from a former project. All the wall decor I made spending next to nothing.

I hope I can inspire you to create things using what you have, or spending nearly nothing, but still getting something useful out of it! It’s a good feeling!

Thanks you all for visiting my blog and I hope you are having a great day!

-Mary

Autumn Skies and Pumpkin Pies

Here I am posting about Fall and it seems like the season is over with already! How does one keep up? I had a crazy busy late summer and Fall with the vintage fair in October and it seems ever since I’ve been trying to catch up.

Here are a few belated pictures of my booth. I had a lot of fun and pretty much a sell out, which I’m always thankful for! I appreciate everyone who comes!

I know a month has gone by and it seems a bit late to be posting pictures of the event but since I didn’t get it done sooner this will have to do.

I added a few autumn touches in our home this year..

I know these little Rosemary plants are more on the Christmas side but I couldn’t resist when I saw them at Lowes a few weeks ago. I know they get harder to find as the Christmas season approaches so I thought I better get them while they are there.

I kept the mantle very simple and natural this year..

I did manage to capture a few outdoor pictures before all the leaves were gone from the trees..

Downtown Marietta. Love the historic town with the river running through it!

I still have a few of these table runners available on my Etsy shop. I thought they would be fitting for a Thanksgiving table setting..

Hopefully it won’t go this long for my next post as it was for this one! I apologize for the lateness.

I hope you are all having a wonderful Fall season! Thanks for visiting!

-Mary