Fabulous, Fantastic, and Frugal Friday - Gift No. 3 - Candle & Candy Set

This week we have a beautiful gift set, or a "keep set" for that matter. At this price you could probably afford to make tons of them.

No, this is not the gift
but
you may remember this from a while back...


I don't like to spend a fortune on decor but... well... um... let's face it... those items at the dollar stores are often too small in scale for most homes. My solution to this has been to meander through said stores and put items together. The above is a Dollar Tree pizza pan stacked on top of a silver tone candle holder.

Here's the link:
http://themanyfacesofmom.blogspot.com/2009/10/always-on-budget.html


This craft is another one of those "put together" crafts.

First, you'll need some supplies...

candlestick(s), vase(s) or bowl(s), strong glue that will work for glass, and paint in the color of your choice IF you don't like the color they are
BTW, be careful with E6000 and heat. It's not recommended for lots of heat. I use it but never at really hot temperatures.
I got my candlesticks and glassware at the Dollar Tree.


I'm usually never without this glue and black spray paint, but I happened to not be able to find my glue and was out of paint. That means that you get the pleasure of looking at a nice new can and tube instead of my icky ones. :)

Next on the list, spray paint or don't spray paint your candlesticks. If you do spray paint... Don't forget to paint the inside of the candlestick - you know, where the candle sits.


(If you click the picture above you can see how well the Dollar Tree candlesticks worked out. Once I painted them black the texture and color made them look like wrought iron.)


While that dries grab your glassware and peel off the stickers. Clean and dry it well. Then, get your dry candlesticks and runs some glue around the part that will touch the glass. Line up the glass so it will be centered over the candlestick and sit it down onto the glued candlestick like this:


Let it your glue dry and your done!


Pretty easy, huh?

... and cost? How about a whopping $4, not including paint and glue???


Now, what can you do with these?

Well, this craft started when I went out to find something to make a bowl on a pedestal for bath soaps. That's one idea.

I spotted these tall vases while I was looking for wood letters for another Friday gift idea.
To be honest, I have been keeping my eyes peeled since I saw this:
http://mag1.olivesoftware.com/ActiveMagazine/welcome/STLM/SouthernLivingatHome.asp

(Page 54, bottom left corner)
They've been out for a while but I liked the look with the top off and the beans at the bottom.
I steal tons of ideas from these catalogs. I've got another Friday gift idea coming from these pages, too.
So, that makes a second idea.

Here are the ones I made, sitting on our mantel.
Candy dish - idea 3


I wanted to use some small pebbles under the candle but forgot to get them. When I saw such large glass vases at the Dollar Tree, I forgot everything else. LOL.


These would be really cute filled with sewing notions in a craft room, too - idea 4.

How about stenciling on some glass etching liquid and monogramming them?

Give them filled with stuff or unfilled. Either way, one or two of these make a fabulous gift.

There's tons you can do with these cuties.

Now, go make them yours or someone else's. :)


Happy Crafting!

"Picture" what you love...

When I look around my home I see the things I love looking back at me. My family gets framed, of course, but I also see the sea, seashells, boats, harbors, signs, fishermen and more. I'm not so lucky that my home is near a sandy beach but I try to have those views, views I adore, in my home.

The sea, once it casts it spell, holds one in it's net of wonder forever. - Jacques Cousteau

Here are some of the items that grace my walls.




All of the above were $2 or less! The one at the top came from T.J. Maxx. The other two are from Goodwill.

These were a Marshall's find - $2.oo each!
The shutters in the floor are for another Friday gift idea.


This was a wonderful find at an antique gallery. It has a driftwood frame and has been stitched out.


Look at the detail! I just love it. It's a very nice size and hangs over the mantle. Can you believe it was $15?




A little tip for those that love all things seaworthy - The perfect time to shop for decor items is upon us. It starts right before Halloween and goes through the winter until it's gone. Stores like T.J. Maxx and Marshall's always mark down "beachy" decor around Halloween and the longer it stays, the cheaper it gets.

Now, go hang up what you love!
... and no, you don't have to spend a fortune. :)


Happy Decorating!

We are finalists in the True Value DIY Drama Contest!!!!

Can you believe it? I can't! I can't even win a free coke from a pop top!

All I can think about is what this would mean if we were to actually win - no more wearing coats around the house, a new bathroom (the bathroom is so cold that nobody will used it so having it warm would be like gaining a new bathroom), lower gas bills, and kids that don't complain about getting up in Antartic conditions... I could go on and on! I can't imagine actually winning but I'm shamelessly going to beg for votes. So, if you find yourself with some time and want to vote for us...

Persons 13 and older can vote once per day through December 4, 2009. You can click on the post title to go to the True Value Hardware page to cast your vote.

We greatly appreciate each vote and thanks for listening to my shameless plea for votes.

A bed fit for a grouch.

As a drove my van to the store one day, something caught my eye.

Yep, guilty as charged! I love to look at what people have in the trash. You just never know what you might spot and that day I spotted something particularly nice.

There, pushed up beside the garbage, was a wood bed with large round posts. I turned around and drove by again. Yep, it was worth stopping. I pulled over and got out. A bit of an inspection told me why it was headed to a new home in a landfill.

The side rails were coming apart and warped. One had it's hooks torn out. (If there is a technical term for those metal arms, I have no idea.) On top of that, the whole thing was covered in white dog hair. I'm not too squeamish when it comes to stuff like that so I continued my inspection.

Headboard... dirty but nice... check. Rails... broken but may be able to fix... check.

Then the heartbreak.

The footboard looked terrible. Big chunks had been gnawed off. Like CSI, it came together. That white fur pointed to a criminal - the criminal that had probably done the misdeed of chewing off those large chunks of the footboard. I could only imagine a beaver being able to destroy the wood so thoroughly.

What kind of people keep a white pet beaver?

Okay, so it was probably a dog, but that dog had to be part beaver. I only wish I had been blogging at the time and took before pictures. It was just a few weeks ago but before I made the commitment put my heart and soul into this. I only have the rail pics due to me forgetting to put them out with the trash.

On with the story...

I couldn't just leave the bed there. The thought did cross my mind but I decided to go ahead and see what I could do. It was so terribly chewed up that after I washed it off the wood on the footboard was just crumbly and splintered. When I tried to sand it the wood just flaked out of the chewed spots. I ended up painting it first to give the chewed spots some stability. I then sanded the rough spots and added tons of wood filler. I reshaped curves that weren't there anymore.

These are two spots that didn't exist before the wonderful tub of wood filler.

Okay, so not perfection but pretty good in my opinion.

It took two applications of wood filler to build the spots up enough and I think it could used a third for those little imperfections above. After the wood filler applications dried I painted those spots again.

The side rails turned out to not be salvageable. Our bed had been on a bed frame before I brought this little project home and we decided to keep it on there. We simply added 1X6's to the outside edges of the headboard and footboard.

The 1x6's are the black things in this picture that look like side rails.

We just held them up to the side and added basic wood screws. We did pre-drill the holes to keep the wood from splitting.

After they got a coat of paint, the project was as good as done.

I hope our Oscar the Grouch bed inspired you to dig through garbages all over your community.

However, I must warn that you will find no inspiration in the current room decor. Our bedroom is in for a complete revamp, slowly but surely. The blue pillow is one that I got to recover and haven't gotten around to it. The white and black pillows belong in the living area but got borrowed for this picture because I need new bedding. The desk may be moving, the mirror will be replaced, and the giant canvas on the wall is something that currently can't find a home so it's on the wall in our master for now. I'll post pictures as I complete these projects. Just check back often. Until then...

Happy decorating!

You can see other blogger's trash to treasure makeovers by clicking here.

Christmas Door Bucket

Just a quick picture of my winter themed door bucket...


If you love the door numbers, don't worship me yet. I spotted these on-line and stole the look. I saved some cash and didn't order them. Instead, I did them myself with a handy dandy utility knife. If you want the directions for this less than $2 project just follow this link: http://themanyfacesofmom.blogspot.com/2009/10/vinyl-door-numbers-monograms-such.html


And here is a close-up...


You can't really tell, unless you click on the picture to enlarge it, but the picks I used are icy looking. Believe it or not, this is just three pics and my usually palm and tropical greenery that I keep in it, no matter the season. I love the feathery accents but I didn't love the fact that they weren't real. I looked almost everywhere for the real McCoy but failed. I won't fret too much. I've still got one other place to check. ;) I would love this baby to be a super feathery winter delight!


And yes, I'm guilty of skipping Thanksgiving decor. Hey, what can I say? I needed the tree up so that the presents could come out of hiding.


Next year... a fall tree!
I thought it would be too much work but then I spotted a nifty idea at the mall - a Christmas tree with fall leaves sprinkled on it. Easy enough, right?