Ikea towels upgraded to gifts

 I am in the final wrap up stages for Christmas.  While I've been basically done with my shopping for a while now, I always find myself tying up the loose ends, and finishing the last minute details.  Today I wanted to get my teacher gift all set.  Sometime over this Christmas season I created a couple of new Christmas pillows.  I never blogged about them because, well quite frankly, I am NOT a sewer and the craftsmanship (if we can even go that far), is weak at best.  But hey, they only have to last a few weeks, and I am going to show you a picture, but you have to promise not to look too closely.  

 I made both of these from items from Ikea.  The larger white pillow case was $7.  I added a couple of dollars worth of red ruffles, and for under $10 I had a cute little pillow.  The #25 pillow was made from one of the .79 cent tea towels from Ikea.  Love the red stripes, and I created these numbers by combining large printed numbers and some beautiful vintage Christmas paper created by KerryAnne at The Shabbyartboutique.blogspot.com. She has a beautiful blog that if you haven't already, you should totally check out.  That reminds me, I also used her paper to wrap the presents shown on my Antique-chair-redo with Annie Sloan paint.  I think I forgot to mention that in that post - sorry!!

So, this 25 pillow is what inspired me to make tea towels.  I started with my towel and removed that really big tag.  Ironed my towels nice and neat.  Then I took my printed numbers and cut them out.  Don't forget to print a mirror image of what you will be printing, otherwise it will be backward! 

Once you remove the backing, you are done!  Super easy and super cute.

The total cost of this is around $2.  The transfers are from Jo-ann's and after coupon are $7 for a think 6 of them.  I managed to get two sets of numbers on my transfer, so I only had to use a 1/2 of a transfer sheet.  The pillow numbers are larger so that used one full sheet.  But think of the possibilities.  I might made some pillow cases next.  

I rolled up the towel and wrapped it in pom-pom's, added a Christmas sock to a Ball jar, some twine, and mounted a Target gift card to a paper straw.  It's a fun and inexpensive way to wrap up a gift card! You could also add a couple of kitchen tools, or some pretty dish soap, and you would have a perfectly lovely gift.  

Thanks for stopping by!  Hope you are wrapping up your Christmas prep too!  

If you like what you see, then follow me!

FACEBOOK           PINTEREST              HOMETALK

or subscribe on the side bar ☞

Linky Parties:

Diyshowoff.com

Debbiedoos.com

Today's Creative Blog

Tipjunkie

Homestories A toZ

Snowflake Glass Jar knock-off

 I'd like to show you my knock-off decor I created for Debbiedoos Holiday-knock-off-decor-party.
I found these cute glass jars and thought they were easy enough to re-create.  Turns out just finding a glass jar was the hardest part.  

source

My knock-off

But once I found it, it really was as simple as painting a wooden star black (from Michaels) and hot gluing it to the lid. 

Easy enough - right?  

I added some soft peppermints sticks.  Now I do have to confess.  I love my jar, but saw the real thing in Pottery Barn this weekend and theirs is MUCH larger and the snowflake is metal, but I still think it's a great knock-off!

Thanks for stopping by. 

If you like what you see, then follow me!

FACEBOOK           PINTEREST              HOMETALK

or subscribe on the side bar ☞

Antique Chair redo ASCP

I came across this chair at a local thrift store.  In my best antique knowledge, I'm going to tell you this chair is really, really old.  I don't know what style it is, but I am thinking it has to be from the 18th century.  The wood was really worn and dry, and one of the legs a bit wobbly.  But, for $15 I couldn't let her go.  So I brought her home, and spruced her up.

I just love the ornate wood carvings on this chair.

I had some Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Florence I'd been wanting to try out, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity   A couple of coats later, followed by some dark wax and a little distressing, and she was quite lovely in turquoise. 

Curvy, lady-like

Sweet and demure 

with some sexy legs (insert whistle)

I love her.  ❤

Hope you like her too!

If you like what you see, then follow me!

FACEBOOK           PINTEREST              HOMETALK

or subscribe on the side bar ☞

Party Links:

Annie Sloan Chalk paint side table

Today I have a quick post to show you my Nightstand's Swedish sister.  I continue my journey in re-doing my master bedroom, and I am so close to being completely finished.  Just - need - to -focus.

Backflash - Here's my nightstand that I bought on clearance for $22.  I think she's real pretty now, oh, and if I may toot my own horn for just one minute, this little beauty is scheduled to be featured this afternoon at:


(toot, toot)





So here she is.  I like to call her the Swedish sister.

She's simple, uncluttered, and clean looking.

I used the same custom blend of ASCP as I did on my nightstand.  Just added a little stencil with Old White and Florence for accent.

after

before

Duck tape ice skates

One last thing to share with you about my outdoor decorations. On black Friday I got a great deal at Home Depot on some really cute Christmas Duck tape.  2 rolls for $3.88!  Came home eager to use it on SOMETHING, when I spied the ice skates I had purchased at a local thrift shop. So I thought I'd give it try.  They turned out so cute!  Afterward I attached them to a swag of fresh pines, and then to my sled.  Makes a cute porch decoration.  

Linky Parties:

Christmas Mantel

Welcome to my Mantel!

The colors are red, white, and silver.

Everything on it is new this year.  In fact, I haven't even opened my decoration boxes from the basement yet.  Pretty much everything up here is crafted by me.  You can find the tutorial on this spool tree HERE.

The Mercury Glass is created from thrift store glass.  If you'd like to make some of your own, follow this LINK.

The JOY sign above the mantel was created with 6 Ikea candle plates, 3 Dollar Tree stars, and a portion of a banner from Hobby Lobby that used to read Joyeux Noel.  I'll be re-using the Noel portion somewhere else :D.  The plates are held onto the wall with 3M removable wall hangers. Up over a week and haven't fallen yet  ッ

I made up the fresh greens with cuttings from my yard, a few puffy snowballs, and some glass candy canes from - Dollar tree! Hot glued them on a stick. I did.

A special thank you to my neighbor Brad, who brought me back the deer antlers from his Dad's farm, and another thank you to my other neighbor, John, who said I had a nice rack, as I walked home with antlers in hand.  lol. Got to love good neighbors!!

And of course, my Poinsettia crate, which can been seen in closer details HERE.

So that's it folks!  Can't be absolutely sure if it's going to stay this way, because chances are once I bust open those Christmas bins, I'm going to see something that will NEED to go up there.

Happy days to you!

Diane

Linky Parties:

Mercury Glass tutorial

If you have been in the stores this year, you've certainly noticed all of the Mercury Glass, especially this Christmas.  It's so pretty, but usually pretty costly.  I've seen on Pinterest where people have been making their own, so I thought why not give it a try?  It was actually really easy.  I started out going to a local thrift store and purchasing all these glass items, each one was .94 or less, but you could use any glass item you have on hand and are willing to paint.

Here is what you will need:

Mirror or reflective spray paint (found mine at Michaels)
spray bottle of water with a fine mist
bottle of Windex
glass 

You basically start by lightly misting the piece with water.  Immediately after begin to spray paint.  If the glass piece has a large enough opening and you can paint the inside, start by painting the inside first.  After putting on a layer of paint, continue by alternating paint and water or windex.  The Windex gives a slightly different bubble than the water, and really the results are up to you.  Just make sure not to use too much paint.  I also would recommend holding the water of Windex at least 9" to 12" back so it lightly falls onto the glass.  You don't want anything to begin to run.  And that's it!  Let piece dry.  I found that spraying the inside gives it a more dimensional look.  You should plan to start with a piece you don't really care about ruining, since it might take you a piece to get the hang of it.  One can of paint did 5 pieces for me.

Here is a peek at my finished pieces.  Sorry it's hard to see on some of my photos.  Reflective things can be tricky to photographer :)  

   
You will be seeing all of these things on my mantel.  As a matter of fact, I haven't even opened my Christmas decorations yet this year.  Everything I've used on my mantel has been made this year.  I did get to photograph my mantel today, so as soon as I can edit those photo, I will add that post.

Thanks for coming by.  Have a great night!

Diane