Anybody who knows me well knows that I love to garden and I love glass. Which may be why I love terrariums. All that goodness rolled into one thing. Makes me so happy!

My love of terrariums may date back to my short lived membership in 4H.

I joined at the end of school my 5th grade year, just in time to make a terrarium in an old 5 gallon pickle jar and an ill fated homesick trip to camp.

I was hooked on the terrarium, even if 4H was not for me.

Recently, I was cleaning out a cabinet and came across this glass container and thought it would make a good terrarium.

Plus, it’s the time of year that I start getting antsy, wanting to get out in the garden and enjoy mother nature, even if I know better.

It occurred to me that I might not be alone in my need to grow something green, so I thought that I would share how to make a simple terrarium with you!

Supply list:

A large container

Potting soil

Charcoal

Rocks

Plants suitable for terrariums. If you are not certain which to buy, your local nursery should be more than happy to help.

First, add rocks.

The rocks help with the drainage.

Next, add a 1″ layer of charcoal.

While, the charcoal isn’t necessary it helps the rocks with the drainage.

I’ve skipped this part in the past and regretted it! #mold

Step 3, add enough potting soil to plant your plants!

Now for my favorite part, planting the plants.

Be creative and have fun with their placement!

I decided to have a little fun with my terrarium and added the sweetest turquoise bird.

However, you could leave yours plain.

Just remember, make sure what you are adding is water proof.

Last, add water.

Luckily for the plants, you rarely have to add water to the plants in a terrarium.

It’s basically it’s own ecosystem.

However, once in a great while I find that I have to add some if it gets to dry.

Think rainforest, not desert!

One last piece of advice, I like to put my terrarium where it gets a good amount of natural sun light, avoiding direct sun.

A nice thing about a terrarium is that if it isn’t happy with the sunlight, you can just move it!

It is amazing that such a simple thing can make this girl so happy!

Have I mentioned that I love terrariums?

Until next time…

Hey all! I hope that you had a wonderful weekend and your start to the week is awesome. The weather here this past weekend was cold and wet, so it only made sense to stay inside where it was warm and add my favorite material in the bathroom!

I recently added this material to a new seat for the bathroom, if you missed it you can see it here.

It’s been along time since I found a fabric that I love as much as I do this one. I want to girl squeal every time I see it.

Silly, I know!

Honestly, I thought that I had a picture of the window above my tub with this material, but no!

Five years ago, this material seemed so crisp and clean.

Those who know me, know that this was a big departure in both style and color palate for me!

Since I had it in the master bedroom, it only made sense to carry it on into the master bathroom.

However, I recently changed out the master bedroom bedding and curtains, so the ones in the bathroom definitely do not match.

Time to make a new valance!

Not only am I excited about the new material, I’m super excited to use my new sewing machine that The Hubs gave me for Christmas.

What I love about this machine is that it has an embroidery hoop attachment.

And you know what that means? More monograms for The Queen!

Now, I am definitely no sewing whiz.

What little I do know, I learned from my mother and mother-in-law.

However, I can manage the basics.

So I made a flat lined valance.

When I was done I wanted to add a little something extra so naturally I thought about adding trim.

I could use the same trim I used on the previous valance.

Or, I could add a big bunch of color!

Honestly, I couldn’t decide , cue the theme to Jepardy here.

So, I called my sister.

She said one word. BLUE!

So, blue it is.

All I really cared about was getting my favorite material in the bathroom!

Until next time….

It’s Ten on the 10th! Which would normally mean that ten bloggers share awesome ideas on the 10th of the month for under $10.00. However, this month we have 13 bloggers participating. Woo Hoo! Bonus for us. Our theme is a Thrift Store find, which is totally up my alley!

I didn’t actually go thrift store shopping because, well, my garage is already full of thrift store finds.

I had this sweet little chair that was beyond repair and thought that it would make an awesome little stool!

First, we was sawed off the back of the chair and sanded it.

Next, a few coats of white paint gave it a crisp clean look!

Next, I removed the chair seat.

The existing seat was sturdy, however it had definitely seen better days!!

I cut out a few pieces of foam to fit the seat.

Then, covered the seat with batting.

This helps smooth out the foam and keep it in place.

This material is my new favorite!

I am in love with it, it makes me so happy just looking at it.

It is colorful, yet soft at the same time.

I plan on using if for some type of window treatment in my bathroom, that’s how much I love it!

This sweet little stool is the perfect size for my vanity.

I can’t wait to start on the curtains.

So, how much did this thrift store find cost?

Chair – Free

Material – $4.25 ( 1/4 of 1 yard)

Batting – free ( leftover from another project)

Foam – $4.25 ( 2 pk from Hobby Lobby using my 40% off coupon)

Spray paint – $1.10

All other items used were a stapler, staples, and l a hammer.

Total cost: $9.60

Barely under the wire!

Now I hope that you will join me in visiting my fellow bloggers and see their fantastic ideas. Also, a great big thank you to our hostess of the month, Katie from Let’s Add Sprinkles! We could not do this with out you.

French Etherealh

Homeroad 

My Heart Lives Here

At Home With Jemmah

Decor To Adore

Chasing Quaintness

County Road 407

The Apple Street Cottage

Let’s Add Sprinkles

Pandora’s Box

Bluesky at Home 

Exquisitely Unremarkable 

Until next time….

The weather was fantastic here at the beginning of the week. The Hubs decided to do a little yard clean up. While soaking up some beautiful rays The Hubs found this sad little birdhouse. It had definitely seen better days! Now, I could have looked at this sad, dirty and moldy thing and tossed it in the trash. Instead, I decided to do a birdhouse remodel!

The first order of business was to remove the mold.

First thought? Bleach. However, Bleach is a harsh chemical and the wood on the birdhouse was already in sad shape.

Hydrogen peroxide is suppose to be a good cleaning solution, so I decided to give it a whorl!

Not gonna lie, it was a dirty, gross mess!

But, guess what?

It worked!

Some of the paint did come off, however I think that was more due to it being old and weathered.

Time for some paint!

The birdhouse started out as a warm sage, which was nice, but I thought a new color would be nice.

I still wanted the worn, chippy look so a coat of turquoise dry brushed over the sage was the perfect solution!

A coat of white dry brushed over the old white gave it a nice clean look.

No it was time for some birdhouse jewelry!

If you noticed in the very first photo, there used to be a pretty white embellishment around the round hole.

It was broken and in such bad shape it went into the trash.

A few pieces from my odds and ends drawer were added for some character.

Y’all know I couldn’t resist adding a crown!

Once the birdhouse remodel was finished, I gave it a couple of coats of clear coat.

Hopefully, it will last many more years!

Please don’t judge my front porch!

I know it’s got leaves and dirt everywhere.

But it’s 38 degrees with a wind chill of 28!

I sweep the dirt off and the wind blows it right back in.

A girl can dream of spring, right?

Until next time….

It was a beautiful 80 degree day here in Texas yesterday. After weeks of cold temps and gray days, it sure was welcome. It feels so much like Spring. I love it! But I know that Mother Nature is just messing with me, before long it will be cold again. After all, it is Texas in February.

It was way to pretty to stay inside all day, so I headed out to do a little work in the garage.

While there, a few things caught my eye.

My fringe flowers were going crazy!

My cabbages are so huge and pretty this year!

Don’t you love that purple?

My mint is going nuts!

Funny thing about that, I needed some mint for a recipe over the weekend.

I asked The Hubs if he would mind running to the store for some.

He asked “Isn’t there mint in the garden?”

I looked at him like he was crazy.

“Not at this time of year!”

Boy, was I wrong.

Not only is the mint going nuts, but so are my strawberries!

I guess it’s time to clean out the leaves and add new mulch!

I also found time to run to Hobby Lobby for a few things to finish up some loose projects.

This chinoiserie vase was on sale.

It had been 59.99, on sale now for 5.99!

While it’s not my favorite pattern, I couldn’t pass that up.

Plus, it’s larger than any vase in my collection.

Score!

Since I’m convinced that Mother Nature is messing with me and that cold weather will be back soon, I treated myself to some flowers!

They look so pretty in front of my Valentine’s chalk board!

So when the cold days come back, and I know that they will, I’ll be enjoying my flowers, dreaming of Spring!

Until next time….

Between jury duty and pulling a hip muscle it’s been one of those weeks that I haven’t gotten anything done. Instead of my usual “here’s what’s going on at the castle” posts, I decided to share a few of my favorite things!

At the beginning of January I shared how beautiful this Amaryllis was.

Sadly, those beautiful blooms have come and gone.

However, a few new shoots have shot up and I’m really hoping for round 2!

Tuesday was jury duty.

Unfortunately, Monday I pulled a hip muscle.

I pulled up my big girl panties and hobbled my way through it.

Thankfully, I was not chosen for the trial portion!

Tuesday evening was way more fun as it was PoKeeno night!

Nothing makes me feel better than a few hours with my besties!

I won these gorgeous tulips.

Between the Amaryllis and the tulips, the recent gray days are a little brighter!

I’ve mentioned several times that I love Mud Pie.

So much so, that I know you are rolling your eyes thinking “We know, we know!”

Well, I also collect white dishes.

These hob nail plates are some of my favorites!

So when I won this bowl…

and this platter, I was over the moon!

Woo Hoo! It was a good night at PoKeeno for sure.

Earlier in the week I shared that I was looking at a few new accessories for the master bedroom update.

I talked The Hubs into being my chauffeur/ pack mule.

Now, this is where my eyes were bigger than my tape measure!

I’m usually pretty good spatially, not this time.

I knew it needed to be a big painting, but maybe not this big.

I’m on the fence.

What do you think?

However, on a positive note, these pillows were exactly the color I wanted!

I’m in pillow love.

Hopefully, next week will be more of a I got a lot done this week and a little less of it’s been one of those weeks!

Have a wonderful weekend!

When we last spoke, I was impatiently waiting the arrival of my new duvet and shams. Well, I am happy to say that they arrived last week and I got to spend the weekend updating the master bedroom part 2!

This is what my master looked like last week.

Cute, but it was time for a refresh.

I couldn’t open the new duvet and sham up fast enough and get started.

My new duvet cover and shams came from Pottery Barn.

I have to say that in the past I have only purchased children’s bedding and quilts from them, so when I opened this up I was a tiny bit disappointed.

Not disappointed enough to send it back, but still my excitement dropped a little.

In the store the duvet felt super, super soft.

However, upon opening it up it was fine, it just did not have the same feel.

And then The Hubs and I slept under it and we ROASTED.

I’m here to tell you that this girl wears flannel P.J.’s from October to April, so when I say it was hot , you know it was hot.

Plus, I wasn’t sure that I liked that much of my bedding to be so “matchy”.

On a positive note, the colors in the new bedding look beautiful with the headboard!

I couldn’t have matched it better!

After much thought, I decided to pull out my old quilt and kicked the new duvet to the bottom of the bed.

And I love it!

Next up, some new accessories.

Which for me, may be my favorite part.

I was thinking of painting some new art work for above my dresser, but then I saw this beauty!

Not the best picture, or angle, but I think this one may be a winner!

So far, updating the master bedroom part 2 has been so much fun.

Now, if you will excuse me, I still have a ton of painting to do.

Until next time….

In the past few months I’ve been slowly updating my master bedroom. Nothing major, just a few things here and there.

This is a truly horrible picture from, when I changed out the bedding.

We’ve had this faux cherry wood bedroom set forever. It is a little dinged, scratched and truly in need of an update.

Last fall I changed out the comforter and the dust ruffle in preparation of the arrival of my new headboard.

When the new headboard arrived, I started updating and painting the old bedroom furniture.

I’m still painting furniture, I swear it’s the never ending job!

Earlier this month, my BFF and I went to Pottery Barn and did a little window shopping.

At the back of the store they had a bed set up with the Jordana bedding line.

It is truly an understatement to say that I fell in love, head over heels.

However, since I’m trying to be nice to my husband and our budget this month, I sadly kept on walking!

Fast forward two days, I’m opening my email and guess what?

Pottery Barn is having a sale! A big fat, whopping sale.

Yep, you guessed it. The Jordan line was on Sale!!!!

I quickly whipped out my credit card, apologized to The Hubs and ordered a duvet cover and two shams.

While I’m waiting on my new bedding to arrive, I started updating a few other areas of my room.

This seating area, while cute, does not match the new bedding.

I had these curtains from IKEA sitting in a drawer for over a year now.

Normally, I like a lined curtain for this room, however these are a nice weight.

I love how light and airy they look in here.

Until I hung them, I never realized how tired I was of the green!

I switched out the black throw for a fuzzy white one that I got for Christmas.

I also plan on updating a few of the accessories on the table.

Of course, the green pillows need to be replaced.

I’m thinking a navy or a mid tone blue?

Are you getting the feeling that I’m falling down the rabbit hole and this is becoming a “if you give a mouse of a cookie” room?

If so, you would be right!

I still need to paint two dressers, find a few new accessories and some new art work!

At least I’m keeping myself busy.

I feel like that woman on the commercial standing in front of a store impatiently muttering “open!, open!, open!”

Only I would be saying, hurry up! Hurry up! Hurry up!

Either way, I’m having fun updating the master bedroom.

Until next time…..

I love Mardi Gras! I love the beads, the fun, the bright colors, the king cake and celebrating the Wise men finding the baby Jesus!

As I’ve told you before, I fell in love with Mardi Gras many years ago when we visited some friends in Biloxi.

Before then I thought it was all about beer, beads and Bourbon Street. And while for some it is, it is also a family celebration!

Of course, my decorating starts with my front door.

One of my favorite Mardi Gras decorations is the front door wreath.

Which, of course, has a crown!

Once you enter my home, to the left of the entry is the formal dining room.

In this dining room, you will find most of my Mardi Gras decor here.

Lots of color, lots of shiny and a ton of crazy fun.

I’m convinced in a former life, my BFF Roxanne was a raccoon.

You know, a lover of all things shiny!

It’s no secret that she is definitely is rubbing off on me!

I truly love the fun beads, the glittery bulbs, the boas, the alligators, and the crowns.

The fact that most of the beads were caught at parades that we have attended makes me love this table scape all the more!

The place setting this year starts with a purple placemat, followed by gold chargers and toped off with white hobnail plates.

The napkins were given a fan fold and then tucked into a gold napkin ring that is decorated with different Mardi Gras masks.

And last, but not least, you must have plenty of beads on hand for guests!

My Mardi Gras table is ready.

The only thing it needs are a few friends to enjoy a a fun evening!

I love Mardi Gras!!! Don’t you?

Today I’m sharing my Valentine’s table with you. Specifically, my Valentine’s Day Napkins. No one could be more surprised than me!

Full disclosure: I’m not much of a Valentine’s Day celebrator. I don’t like chocolate. Hey, don’t judge! I’m not really a sweet eater, with one exception. If you are standing in front of iced sugar cookies, girl you best get out of the way! I tell you all of this because I don’t normally decorate a lot for Valentine’s Day except for my kitchen table.

As you can see from the above picture, my Valentine’s table decor is usually pretty simple

This is what I started with.

And to be honest, it was fine.

Cute, colorful and functional.

But, it bugged me.

I mean, where’s the fun in that?

So I did what we all do and hit Pinterest to see what fun ways I could spice up my Valentines’ table.

Specifically, with my napkins.

I started with fun and sweet envelope napkins.

These are fun because you can tuck sweet Valentine messages inside the flap!

Fun, but still not what I wanted.

Then I stumbled upon a heart napkin fold.

Once I folded one, I knew that it was a winner!

The only thing hard about this fold was getting the top of the heart to stay folded.

I had to iron them to stay folded under.

Honestly, if you have a lot of napkins to fold I would totally skip this design.

However, since I only had four, it was doable.

I love how my Valentine’s Day napkins and table turned out.

This table really is me.

Fun, colorful and simple.

P.S. I did break down and buy a few chocolate truffles for chocolate lovers in the family.

It is Valentine’s Day after all!

Until next time….

P.S. I hope that you check out the following link parties. Lots of great inspiration.

Happiness is Homemade Link Party

Hey! As I write this it is a beautiful, but cold, sunny afternoon. After days of dreary cold, wet weather the sunshine is so welcome for this girl. I did manage to get a few things done with my enforced confinement indoors. One of which, I want to share with you today. How to make a faux boxwood wreath.

I purchased this boxwood wreath on a trip to Magnolia years ago.

While it wasn’t terribly expensive, it wasn’t inexpensive either.

However, I use it all over the house.

I’ve been super surprised at how versatile this little wreath has been!

Shortly after the new year, my BFF Roxanne and I were doing a little shopping at JoAnne’s.

Across the isle I saw piles of what I thought were boxwood wreaths in the 70% off section.

Nope, not boxwood wreaths but tiny Christmas garland.

But it got me thinking.

Couldn’t I make these into wreaths?

So, I cut the garland in half with wire cutters.

Then I rolled the garland back up, leaving about 2 inches that I wrapped around the wreath to hold it together.

At this point, I needed to make it look more wreath like.

Less “I rolled up garland to look like a wreath”.

My solution was to randomly hot glue the loops together.

Each of the rolls of garland made 2 mini faux boxwood wreaths.

Are they perfect?

No, but at a glance you can’t tell that they aren’t the real thing.

Wrapping a ribbon, adorned with hearts, around the wreath made them the perfect Valentine’s Day decorations for my kitchen chairs.

Not only is this an easy project, the 2 wreaths cost me 1.50 plus tax.

Now that’s a bargain!

I can’t wait to show you the rest of my Valentine’s Day table. These mini wreaths just make the table look so festive.

How to make a faux boxwood wreath, y’all!

Until next time…..

It’s the first Ten on the 10th of the new year. I’m so excited! If you’re new here, that means that ten fun bloggers get together on the 10th of the month to share fabulous fun ideas for under $10.00. A great big thanks to Carol from Blue Sky at Home for hosting this month. This months theme is Valentine’s, so I’m sharing a fun and easy mixed media Valentine’s decor project.

So, let’s get this party started!

List of supplies:

Wooden blocks of various sizes. I used scrap wood from The Hubs pile of scrap boards. Sizes varied from 8″x8″, 6″x6″ to 3″x3″.

Paint colors of your choices.

Paint brush.

Scrap fabric.

Glue.

Embellishments of your choice. Honestly, I raided my craft room for ribbon, stamp pads, paint, string, upholstery tacks and scrapbook supplies.

The first step is to paint all sides of the block of wood.

Then, lightly sand the edges.

Next, I used a stamp pad to antique the blocks edges.

Then, cut out hearts to fit the center of each block.

Once the hearts were cut out, I roughed up the edges of the heart so that they look a little worn.

Next step, glue the hearts to the center of the board.

Time for the fun part – the embellishments.

Let your creative flag fly!

I have to admit that I did buy two things for this project.

These Spare Parts alphabet tiles.

And a package of keys.

Both came from Hobby Lobby, of course!

Here’s my finished project.

I love it!

So much so, that I made a few more.

Not only are these cute mixed media Valentine’s decor, but I think they would be sweet gifts for friends and family.

Due to the fact that I raided my scrap craft supplies, each tile cost me around $1.60 each.

Now that we are done here, I hope that you will join me in hopping over to my fellow Ten on the 10th friend’s sites to see what fun projects they have going on!

Ann at Apple Street Cottage
Benita at Chasing Quaintness
Carol at BlueskyatHome
Cindy at CountyRoad407
Eilis at My Heart Lives Here
Kim at Exquisitely Unremarkable 
Katie at Let’s Add Sprinkles
Laura at Decor to Adore
Susan at Homeroad
Tammy at Patina and Paint

Patti at Pandorasbox

Barbara at French Ethereal

It’s funny how a project can take on a life of its own. We recently started a mini makeover in a guest bathroom. Everything was rocking right along until I pulled a muscle in my hip. Now everything, including cleaning up after Christmas, has come to a slow crawl.

After a few days on the couch, I was determined ( and bored out of my mind!) to get a few things done.

Things that I don’t have to bend over, twist, or lift to do.

The first of which is getting my Happy Planner decorated for February.

I always try to keep my planner ready a least a month or two in advance.

I haven’t put everything back together since I took down all of the Christmas decor.

So this was the perfect time to put out a few gifts that I received for Christmas.

I love my new cookie jar!

During Christmas this corner sports a cute platter.

The rest of the year I have it decorated with this ceiling tin.

It’s perfect for displaying family photos, invitations et.

After putting it out this year, it felt a little too cluttered.

Trading the ceiling tin for this cute platter was the answer!

I love how bright and clean it looks.

I’ve also been working on gathering a few things for my Valentine’s table.

A few Valentine’s Day crafts have kept me busy too.

I promise to share them with you soon!

One last thing, I was on my friend Stacey’s FaceBook site, Poofing the Pillows and Friends, and they were discussing what everyone was putting on their front door after Christmas.

I went blank. For the life of me I couldn’t remember what I put on my door after Christmas!

Then, I saw a FB post from our friends in Biloxi, MS on how they were decorating for Mardi Gras and it hit me.

I usually put out a Mardi Gras wreath!

Some days I seriously need a keeper….

That’s it for my cleaning up after Christmas post.

Hopefully, things will be getting back to normal soon.

Whatever that is.

Until next time….

Want to see my least favorite room in the house? Don’t we all have one of those? NO? Well, I certainly do.

I have a room that has taunted me from the day we moved in 13 years ago.

Every time I would walk by, its lousy layout would scream at me.

Not only is the layout bad, but the door placement is a nightmare.

And don’t even get me started on the fact that the previous owner put carpet in the sink area….

What room is it?

It’s the jack and jill bathroom between the guest room and my office.

In case you were wondering, this is my favorite room.

At least, it is today….

After 13 years it was time to show that bathroom who was boss.

First up, we tore out the gross carpet and the ugly linoleum.

Once that was done, it was time to lay tile.

I chose a tile that I thought looked clean, timeless, and fairly easy to put down.

Clearly, this was the winner.

It IS clean, white and timeless.

It is NOT easy to tile with.

In fact, I’m sure that I heard The Hubs muttering things under his breath on more than one occasion.

I’ll be honest, it was hard to put down!

Here it is before we grouted it.

So pretty!

I wanted to put a black grout in, but The Hubs put a stop to that in a New York minute.

The Hubs is perfectionist time 10.

He was certain that the black grout would show every imperfection of the placement of the tile.

So white grout it is!

I love it.

The only downside to the whole tile project?

Now you can see how beat up the trim is.

So guess what this girl is going to be doing over the next few days?

After the grout set and the room was caulked, I decided to go ahead and put it back together until I got the chance to finish the painting.

I realized that the shower curtain, rug and towels just weren’t working for me anymore.

So, I did a little shopping!

I still have a lot to do in this tiny bathroom before I share the end result with you.

More painting, more decorating.

However, I have a feeling that my least favorite room in the house is fast becoming one of my favorite.

Until next time…..

It’s Christmas Eve and the festivities have begun here at the castle. So before all of the crazy begins, I wanted to take a moment and wish you and your family the very best holiday season. Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays!

All of my boys will be home for a few days, which is a rare occurrence, so I will be taking some time off. This momma’s got to get her family time in when she can.

Don’t worry, I’ll be back after New Years and have the start of a bathroom reno to share with you!

Until then….

Merry Christmas and the best of 2019!

If I’m totally honest, I love painting children’s rooms and furniture more than anything else. Which means that I love my job during the holiday season, as I get to paint a lot of things children related. This year I got to paint a super fun toy chest and and Ella’s table and chairs.

I can’t tell you how much fun I’ve had painting both pieces!

Queen Lally asked if I would paint a table for her granddaughter, Ella.

Of course, I wasn’t passing up the opportunity to paint something fun!

This set is from Doug and Melissa.

It started out a plain light wood that was primed and painted white!

Once it was white, the decorating and fun painting began.

Her only requirement was that I use the colors turquoise and purple.

After a few quick sketches we came up with this design.

A monogram, which is my favorite, polk a dots, flowers and squiggles all came together for a super fun design.

I think that Ella’s table and chairs turned out pretty darn cute!

Merry Christmas Ella!

Until next time….

Tammy

I have another Christmas craft to share with you, just one more. I promise. Again, like last time, it’s an easy one. Which sometimes are my favorite kind!

 Every year I try to make, or buy, something small for all of the women in my family. This year I decided to make leather earrings!

I found this “faux” leather here.

It is the perfect weight and thickness for cutting on my Silhouette.

Cutting out the earrings was super simple.

Simply choose a design in the Silhouette design catalog, edit the size, and cut them out.

Since I was making over a dozen, I cut multiples out at once.

The sampler of leather that I chose had several different neutral metallics that are super adorable, however this leather comes in several different bright colors also.

Just in case you’re not a neutral kind of girl.

And, an added bonus, the leather is paintable.

I did make several that I painted bright colors.

Once the leather was cut out, all that was left to do was attach the fish hooks.

I found these hypo- allergenic ones here:

This is the finished product.

I guess they were a hit, because my sister brought me this leather the next day to make her another pair!

Just in case your thinking that  you can’t make these without a Silhouette or a Cricut, not so!

This leather is way too thick for my machine to cut.

So, I simply traced the pattern on the back of the leather and cut it out with super sharp scissors.

A needle is the perfect way to make the hole for the fish hook earring.

See? Super simple!

Maybe it’s time for you to try another Christmas craft at your house!

Now, I’m all geared up to find some new and interesting materials to make more earrings…

Until next time…

Tammy

Christmas is just around the corner, so the elves here at the castle have been very busy. Not just wrapping presents, but painting all sorts of things for little girls and boys.  This children’s toy box is one of my very favorite projects!

My sweet friend asked if I would be willing to paint a toy box that she had built for her granddaughter? Oh, yes I would! I love painting furniture for children. It’s my favorite.

I can’t believe that I didn’t take a picture of the chest before I started painting.

Oh, who am I kidding?

Yes, I can! 

I get so excited to start painting, I always forget.

So, let’s just pretend that I have shown you a pretty white toy chest before I started painting.

Before painting, I always start with sketches to show my clients for their approval.

This is what I started with.

Once, I draw the design onto the furniture it’s time to start the fun part – painting!

I was so excited to paint this piece for several reasons.

One, it was for a very special friend.

Two, I LOVE the colors.

I rarely get to paint with such a variety of bright color for clients.

So, when I do, it’s a great big treat!

The front of this toy box has a big design, so the rest of the box is a little more understated.

The top of the box has just a few flowers and polk a dots sprinkled here and there.

The client didn’t want a whole lot going on the sides, so we gave it just a tiny bit of color.

Hopefully, this children’s toy box will be a bit hit with Kenzington and grow with her for years to come.

I hope she enjoys it as much as I enjoyed painting it!

Speaking of small children, Beep’s Granny has been busy outfitting her for Christmas.

The girl is rocking those snow boots, vest and  glasses!

Her shirt says “Who needs Santa, I’ve got Grandma!”

True That!

Until next time,

Tammy

Have you ever read DIY articles about what to do with your “extra” closets? Yeah, me too. I used to laugh hysterically. Ain’t nobody that I know got an extra closet! Until I did. Empty nesting is good for something. So I made mine into a wrapping closet. My one guilty indulgence. Unfortunately, from time to time, mine blows up and its time to start  cleaning out the wrapping closet. In a big way!

See what I mean? Being a small closet, thankfully it also makes me clean it up in a timely manner. There is no room to do otherwise. Also, Christmas is the perfect time to change things out and tidy up a little bit. Here’s how I do it!

Here at the castle, the stockings are hung. The tree is up and the elves have finished sprinkling Christmas decor through out the castle. So, what’s a girl to do? Why break out the Christmas crafts at the castle, of course!

For the first time in many years, I have almost all of my Christmas stuff done! I’d love to pat myself on the back, however it’s mostly due to my car being in the shop off and on for the last month! Certainly not because this girl is rocking it! When you are forced to stay home it’s amazing how much you get done. Who knew?

What happens at the Christmas party, stays at the Christmas party. Especially the Queen’s Christmas party!

When the Queens get together it’s always fun, this year was no exception. We ate, laughed, cried, told crazy stories, made a craft and had a cookie exchange.  In other words, a normal night with the Queens!

I’ll have a blue Christmas with a big splash of hot pink, please!  My dining room colors are blue and hot pink, which just happen to be my favorite colors. So naturally, when it came time to decorate the dining room I couldn’t help but think that they would also be perfect Christmas colors.

And boy, did I find some hot pink! It’s so hot that it was truly hard to get pictures that didn’t hurt my eyes. But, I love it!

The elves have been busy decorating here at the castle. Of course, they always start in the heart of the home, the kitchen. This years theme is simple, less fuss and not as over the top as in years past. It’s a black, white and red Christmas kitchen!

I don’t buy all new stuff from year to year, instead I like to mix and match a few new things with old things from years past. Don’t get me wrong. It’s tempting, however every time I consider it I hear my sweet Granny’s sarcastic voice saying “Well, aren’t we Miss Aster!” For those of you that are younger than dirt, that was her way of saying that we aren’t made of money. And even if we were, money doesn’t grow on trees! Thrifty was her middle name.

Anybody who’s had children has probably heard “I want a pony for Christmas!”. My great niece, Beep, is in love with ponies. In fact, her Grandparents on her Dad’s side bought her a pony recently. She’s crazy about horses.

So when a neighbor of mine was moving and had this horse themed table and chairs for sale I couldn’t resist. ( I thought  I had taken a picture of the before, but no. My bad.)  This table is the quintessential DIY project. The base, or horse part, was originally a cigar ashtray.