It’s 10 on the 10th! Every month on the 10th, a group of lifestyle bloggers get together and share ideas for under $10.00. This month’s theme is Summer Party! While there haven’t been a ton of parties going on here at the Castle, there have been a few small gatherings. And one thing that always makes me crazy is that the solo cups get knocked over and you can never find where someone left the Shapie marker. So I’m taking matters into my own hands and making a Solo cup holder!
Normally I would have The Hubs make a box for me, however I found this box at Hobby Lobby.
With my 40% off coupon it cost $4.79!
Before painting the box, I filled the staple holes with wood filler.
I added feet to the bottom of the box by gluing on 4 wooden beads.
Don’t you just love E6000 glue?
It works on almost everything!
Next, I attached a metal clip to the outside of the box to hold my Sharpie.
No more excuses as to where the elusive marker went!
Once the glue and the wood filler was dry, I gave it a light sanding.
Then it was time to paint.
At this point I could have called it good and been done.
However, I saw that there was room in the back of the box for straws.
I cut a dowel rod the width of the box interior.
Once the dowel rod was in place, I painted it white to match the box.
This solo cup holder is finished and ready to party!
I’m thrilled that the glasses have a home and hopefully we won’t be on a constant hunt for a marker!
Please join me in visiting the rest of this months bloggers!
I don’t know about where you are, but here in Texas it’s hot! I’m talking hotter than the devil’s basement hot. I’ve been inside a lot more trying out a few new artistic projects. Today, I’m sharing hand painted oyster shells.
Before I could start my project, I had to first find some clean, sanitized oyster shells.
Hello my friends! Today is the first Wednesday of July. Which means that today is the DIY Challenge. This month’s theme is Summer. Which is right up my alley ’cause summer is my favorite time of year! Today I’ll be sharing how to make a garden hose guide.
However, before I share that, I want to thank our hostess, Terrie from Decorate and More With Tip. Terrie is one of the sweetest, most talented gals I know, so if you haven’t visited her go there NOW! You can thank me later.
Also, if you are coming here from Jodi’s, The House House, welcome. I’m so glad that you stopped by. I always love to meet new friends.
We’ve been hand watering the flower beds since the pool dig started.
I gotta tell you that watering the flower beds and the flower pots on our wrap around front porch became quite the event.
Clearly it was time for some garden hose guides before I killed a few plants.
I went to order a few and quickly became discouraged, as all of the cute hose guides were quite pricey!
After doing a little research on making some of my own, I remembered that we had some left over finials from the new fence.
Add the finials to a copper pipe and Ta- daaaa !- new garden hose guides were born.
After picking up a copper pipe from the big box store, The Hubs was kind enough to cut me 18″ pieces of the copper pipe using a jigsaw.
Once he had them cut out, he used a rasp to sand down the rough ends of the pipe.
Now, it was my turn.
The left over finials were black.
Honestly, I almost left them that color and called it good.
However, I loved the look of the copper so much that I wanted the finials to be the same color.
I lightly sanded the finials, then gave them a few coats of Martha Stewarts Copper metallic paint.
After the paint dried, it was time to glue the finials to the pipe.
I used E6000 glue along with the double sided foam tape.
Because my finial was a little larger than my pipe, I wrapped some double sided foam tape around it.
Then liberally coated the tape with E6000 glue and inserted the pipe into the finial.
After letting the glue completely dry, I lightly sanded the finial to give it a worn and slightly distressed look.
The last step was to put a protective coating on the finals.
And my garden hose guide was done!
I have to say that I love the warm color of copper in the garden.
However, if you aren’t a copper fan you could use plain pipe and top it with just about anything.
Door knobs, drawer pulls and curtain rod finiasl are just a few that come to mind.
Now if you will please join me in visiting Pamela at DIY VIBES.
I can’t wait to see what she – and all of the other talented bloggers – is doing this summer!
You may think that it’s too late to put together a fun 4th of July table. However, think again. This last minute 4th of July tablescape is full of fun, color and whimsy. Best of all, it was all put together with things I already had on hand!
We will be celebrating outside on the 4th of July.
After may years with out one, we finally have an outside dining table!
I bought this metal lantern at Target a few years ago.
It is the perfect base for a centerpiece.
I filled it with napkins, pinwheels and sparkly fluff for a last minute centerpiece!
Everything in the placesetting was something I’ve used before.
From the straw placemat to the melamine plates.
Can I just say that plastic plates and glasses have come a long way in recent years?
The pinwheel napkin rings are a DIY from a few years ago.
You can see just how easy it is to make them here.
On the day of this photoshoot the wind was a whopping 25 miles an hour.
Which is why I chose to put the silverware, Twizzlers, straws and treats into the mason jar glasses.
At our house, we like to bite off the ends of the Twizzler and use it as a straw.
However, for those of you who eat your Twizzler before you can use it, I added a cute blue and white paper straw just for you!
For a little fun, a glow in the dark bracelet was added.
It wouldn’t be the 4th of July without a little bling!
Next, a box of Cracker Jack popcorn was added to each placesetting for an after dinner snack.
Next to the table is an old tool chest that am using for a serving area.
However, it makes a great bar cart too.
A fun chalkboard with a happy 4th message was added for a little colorful decor.
My last minute 4th of July tablescape came together in no time!
It is cute, colorful and just waiting for our guests.
Honestly, it just may be one of my all time favorite tablescapes.
Let’s be honest. While I love the 4th of July, I’m not one to do a lot of decorating for the holiday. I’m not really sure why. I justify my non-decorating with the thought that it’s a lot of decorating for one day. But Christmas is only 1 day! And let’s get real here, I spend WAY more than a few days decorating for Christmas. This year we are have a few guests over for the 4th, so I was determined to get into the decorating spirit. At least a little. Today I’m sharing how to put together a 15 minute 4th of July Mantle.
I started with a freshly dusted, mirror cleaned mantle.
After pulling out my meager 4th of July decor, I found this fabric banner that I had made a few years ago using fabric scraps, ribbon and jute.
On top of the banner, I hung a string of red pom poms that I picked up at an after Christmas sale.
Tip: I use small clear Command strip hooks to hang my banners.
On a quick trip to Michael’s a few days ago, I found this red, white and blue decor kit.
I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with it, but I picked it – and a couple of others – up just in case.
FYI – Michael’s is having a huge sale right now on their Spring, Summer and Red, White and Blue items.
This kit is normally $9.99, but with a 60% discount the kit came in right at $4.00!
The kit came with 5 hanging fans.
Putting the fans together was super easy and took a whopping 3 minutes.
The fans came with double sided padded sticky tape to attach the paper medallions to the middle of the fans.
I cut the tape in half to adhere the medallions, leaving me with 5 more pieces of tape which I used to stick the fans to the mirror above my fireplace.
Once the top half of the mantle was complete, it was time to bring a little color down to the lanterns on the hearth.
I added simple red and white pom ribbon to each lantern for a tiny splash of color!
And my 15 minute 4th of July Mantle is complete.
I couldn’t be happier with it.
I love that it’s super cute and bonus – it was super fast and easy.
Welcome to the Pink Flamingo room! One of our guest rooms earned this name from some super cute sheets that I received one year for a birthday present. Slowly, but surely I kept adding cute little flamingos to this room here and there. When we moved from Saddlewood last October I basically just used most of the same items in the guest room in our Cumberland house. Now that we’ve been here for 8 months it has become clear that a few things need to change. So today, I’m sharing why the Pink Flamingo gets a facelift – Part 1.
There is nothing wrong with this room per say.
It’s just not working.
Our grown sons come home and if they are here at the same time they fight over who gets the other guest room.
The full size bed really isn’t all that great for big boys!
And for as long as I’ve had it set up this way, I’ve felt like something is missing.
I knew that I wanted a guest room that was predominately neutral, with a lot of color.
It’s 10 on the 10th and our theme this month is Red,White and Blue! Of course, with a patriotic theme, a ton of things came to mind.
I think of long hot summer days and nights, fireflies – or lightning bugs as we like to call them, fireworks, iced cold Dr. Pepper, parades, flip flops, swimming, ice cream, cicada’s singing, picnics, sweet iced tea, BBQ, a good margarita and S’mores.
It’s one great big Texas party!
I recently had surgery so I’ve put most of my projects on hold. I’ve been taking it easy, watching our backyard pool area having the final touches put on it and taking quite a few naps.
Honestly, I wasn’t sure I’d have much to share with you this month, however I remembered that I had ordered 2 things recently that might just be worth a share. Even if they technically aren’t red, white or blue , they sure remind me of it!
I ordered these marshmallow roasting sticks last week in preparation for the little’s upcoming visit. We put in a fire pit near the pool and I just knew they’d be perfect for making S’mores in the evening. We’ve had these roasting sticks before- many years ago- and they are a favorite in my family.
The first ones that I ever bought were found in the dollar isle at Target. Today, you can find them just about everywhere for a wide range of prices.These came in right at a little over $1.00 a piece. I purchased 8, however I’ve seen sets as large as 20 and as small as 4.
I love that you can find each skewer with a different color of collar. This is great in assigning each child, or adult, to his or her own skewer. No fighting over who’s is who’s! Also, they are telescopic. To store them they slide down to a nice compact 12″, but they extend out to about 32 inches to ensure a safe distance from the fire. And they clean up like a dream!
I like to make a S’more “buffet” ahead of time. It’s pretty and cuts down on the mess. I start with milk shake glasses or french fry holders. Fold up pretty pieces of wax paper and line the glasses or holders. Then, simply stuff each container with your S’more ingredients. Graham crackers, marshmallows, and a good chocolate bar.
I ordered these french fry holders a few weeks ago and I’m really impressed with them. At $6.95 a piece they are perfect for a s’more buffet. Of course, they are perfect for french fries, shrimp, hush puppies or my all time favorite, Mexican Street Corn. An added bonus is that they don’t break and they are an easy clean up. Just throw away the wax paper!
It’s time for the June DIY Challenge and boy was this month different from months past! Our challenge this month was a surprise. Terrie from Decorate and More With Tip, asked each of us to send a surprise box filled with whatever we wanted to one of our fellow DIY participants. I anxiously awaited my happy mail to arrive. The excitement was high, as it was like waiting to open a gift at Christmas! So you can imagine my excitement when I got a package from Liberty from B4 and Afters, I couldn’t wait to open it. This is what I found in my surprise box! All I can say is – Bring on the Bling!
Let me backtrack for a minute. Have you ever started a project, thinking that you would make one thing and ended up making another? Well that’s what happened when I started this project. My first thought was that I was going to make the cutest little tray. So, I got two boards and glued them together. Then glued two left over blind slats across both boards.
To make sure that the strips were secured, I screwed them place.
Since I planned on painting the entire piece white, I glued on the pearl beads with hot glue.
Once I saw those beads, I knew that my project would never be a cute tray. Those beads reminded my of my great nieces, Miss A, aka Beep. This is her Easter picture. Her Granny curled her hair, dressed her up and because she had been so good Granny said she could choose her jewelry for her Easter pictures. I’m pretty sure Granny never thought she’d choose those beads!
Our girl loves her Bling!
Now I was coming at this project totally backwards! I painted the top portion of the board turquoise, being very careful to paint around the beads. Then I added the word “bling” to the board using letters I printed off from my computer. To transfer the letters, simply flip the letters over and using a pencil, color over the letters outline.
Then, flip them over, place them on the board and trace.
I painted the letters white, then drilled holes for my hooks that would hold all of Beep’s “joory”.
The hooks were made out of the drawer knobs from my surprise package. I spray painted them white as they were an oil rubbed bronze color to start with.
Beeps room is turquoise, white and lavender. To bring in the purple tones, I took the yarn from my surprise package and twisted it to create a trim. I glued it to the edge of the board. I did this twice around the board to make a bigger impact.
Once that was done, I painted the back a pretty lavender color. Yep, coming at it totally backwards – again!
Next, I added a cute white bow with all of the colors.
And a tiny bit of bling.
Bring on the Bling!
This sweet little sign is ready for all of Miss A’s joory!
This months surprise box challenge was so much fun. Now, I can’t wait to see who sent what to who! I’m headed over to Liberty’s site, B4 and Afters, and I hope that you are too!
I recently did something that I swore I would never do again! I hung wallpaper in my entry. I know, crazy right? After years of moving into homes and spending days removing wallpaper I thought that I would never put wallpaper in my home. Nope, no way. But I have a good reason for changing my mind, and putting wallpaper in the entry, which I will share with you here!
This post contains affiliate links, however the opinions stated are my own!
When we moved into our home last October this is what our entry looked like. Pretty plain and boring. It drove me crazy!
I couldn’t wait to paint one wall to bring in some color. Once it was done, it was so much better, however I couldn’t help but feel like something was missing. New mirror? Maybe a fun chinoiserie stencil?
So when Erin from Photowall reached out wondering if I would like to give one of their murals a try I was a bit skeptical. Because, you know, I did say never, ever will I do wallpaper.
But then I went to Photowall’s site and fell in love with several of their designs. However, I was a little worried about a few things. Things like, how much to buy. Since the company uses meters instead of inches, would I be able to translate that? I need not have worried, turns out the hardest part was choosing a design! Whether it was choosing a design or calculating how much product I needed the whole process was super easy.
I was hooked!
You simply enter your dimensions in inches into their calculator and they tell you how much wallpaper you will need for your wall.
But the best part for me? You can crop anywhere on the design you choose, so that you get the exact design what you want! And the rectangle that you use to crop the design with is the same dimensions of your room.
How genius is that?
They even have photos of your design on a wall with furniture in front of it to give you an idea about the scale of your design. Ordering couldn’t have been easier!
Once I placed my order I received it in less than 4 days. Yes, you read that right.
4 Days!!!
Which is amazing considering that this design was printed custom for my wall. I couldn’t wait to open it up and get a look at it. To say that I fell in love with it the minute I unrolled it was an understatement. The colors were exactly what I wanted, and the quality of the paper is unbelievable! Also included in the box were detailed instructions and wallpaper paste.
I couldn’t wait to get started!
To hang your wallpaper here’s what you will need:
Bucket Roller and Tray Brush Spirit Level Ruler Sponge Pencil Knife Seam Roller Wallpaper Brush Trim Guide
Another thing that I loved? Most traditional wallpaper comes on a roll and you have to figure out the repeat, or how to match it up when hanging it. Which makes for a lot of wasted paper. Since this is technically a mural, each sheet comes numbered, which takes the guess work out of it.
As you can see, I had six sheets total. Just cut off the top, line it up and hang! Also, there is no “booking”. With regular wallpaper you basically brush the paste onto the paper, fold it up and let it sit before hanging.
Which was always a huge mess!
With Photowall’s murals, you paint the paste directly onto the wall.
Before starting I measured where my first panel would be positioned and using a level drew a vertical straight line to help make sure that I was getting the first panel perfectly straight.
Once that was done, I applied the wallpaper paste, one panel width at a time, and hung the wallpaper panel. Hanging the panel is so easy. Simply hang the panel, smooth from ceiling to floor, then trim off excess paper. Repeat until all of your panels are hung.
This is my entry wall immediately after I hung my mural, so it’s still wet. It was so hard to wait and let it dry before putting everything back together. A 24 hour drying time is recommended.
While waiting, I painted the baseboards and doors a pure white just to give the entire room a fresh new look.
I can’t tell you how much I love this room. It just screams “Welcome, come on in!” doesn’t it? Now, every time I walk into the entry, I get a warm happy feeling. No more feeling as if something isn’t quite right. And shouldn’t that be how we all should feel when we come home?
Photowall was so generous that they are offering all of my readers a 25% discount from now through July 4, 2020!
Just use the code: patinaandpaint25 when you order!
Oh, and just in case you don’t have a space for wallpaper, they also create prints and posters. They can even take one of your images and create a custom design just for you! All you need to do is just head on over to Photowall and get started!
Like changing out the artwork frames from black to gold.
Now, all that’s left are a few of the biggest changes.
Adding new curtains and rug in the breakfast room will make or break this room!
This was the original plan.
One, Emmie Blue fabric for the curtains.
I chose this fabric because not only did I love it, but it had all of the steel blues, navy and light blues that I wanted for the breakfast room’s color scheme.
Two, this rug had all of the colors in the fabric and the furniture.
Three and four were my choices of fabric for the chairs.
I went back and forth over which one I wanted.
Threehad all of the blue tones, butfour was the co-ordinating fabric shown with my curtain fabric.
After going back and forth for DAYS I decided to hold off ordering the chair seat fabric until I saw the curtains with the rug.
And I am so glad that I did!
Because when the curtain fabric arrived it wasn’t steel blue tones at all!
It had the navy, but the colors that looked like steel blue on-line, in person were really very teal.
While the fabric is absolutely beautiful in person and the quality was great, the color was off just enough that I was just sick about it.
To make matters worse, no returns.
I threw a big pity party for myself for a few days and decided that since this fabric wasn’t cheap and I couldn’t return it, I was just going to have to make it work.
The rug came in a few days later and it was exactly what I had hoped for!
I love the high/low pile and the variation throughout the rug.
Perfect!
The original curtain rods were black in the breakfast room.
I never really liked them, they felt too skinny and small for the room, but they were the only ones I could find to fit that spot at the time.
Fortunately, I had some of my favorite curtain rods left over from the living room.
I LOVE the finials.
They are big and chunky and look like big glass squares.
The only issue with them was that the metal parts were black too.
Spray paint to the rescue!
( On a side note, I LOVE my spray paint tent. BEST THING EVER!)
Once I had them painted and put up I wondered why I hadn’t thought to do it sooner.
This is the final result so far.
And to be totally honest, it’s not perfect but it’s not bad either.
If I hadn’t been expecting all steel blues, I would be in love with the fabric!
So the hunt for chair fabric continues!
The current chair fabric looks great with the rug.
If a few of them didn’t have a some stains, I might not recover them.
As it stands, they will be this way until I find a fabric to tie in the steel blues, navy and the teal.
The struggle is real my friends…
It’s not as easy as it sounds.
I guess decorating is a lot like life.
Some days it’s smooth and easy – other days you hit a few pot holes in the road!
The breakfast room saga continues here at The Castle!
You, my friends, should be so proud of me! Before painting the buffet I actually thought to take a before picture!
Back about 100 years or so ago when I was a faux finish painter, I found this dresser on the side of the road. It was my first piece to ever make over. The Hubs added four legs from a an old bench that my BFF and I dug out of a trash pile to the bottom and TA DAAAA!
The buffet was born.
Oh, the decor styles this buffet has seen. It was painted white with lots of antiquing and gold accents through my Old World phase. Then, it was painted solid white during my less is more after the opulence of the Old World phase. When it became part of my office decor it was painted the black that you see in this picture.
Today, with the changing out of all things white and neutral in my dining room, I knew that once again my buffet needed a little face lift. There were just too many pieces of different colored furniture for me!
I painted the buffet the same blue as the chairs and table. If you missed how I did that, then you can see the how to here.
No recap of the painting because ain’t nobody wanna see that two times in a row!
This isn’t one of those “Oh, my goodness! I can’t believe it’s the same piece of furniture!” before and afters. It’s a really subtle one. In fact, I asked The Hubs how he liked it and he hesitated in his answer. Finally he said, “Well, it’s not that big of a difference.”
And he’s right.
My main goal was to make it seamlessly become more compatible with the rest of the room.
So, I guess, mission accomplished!
In this picture, if you look closely, you can see just how many times it’s been painted. If it were a better piece of furniture I would have stripped it down before painting.
Honestly, I’m kind of afraid to go too far down as it might remove more than I bargained for. I also decided to keep the hardware.
I’m eventually going to replace it, but I’m waiting until I find something I love!
I swore I wasn’t going to add any gold to the buffet this time. Well, I was wrong. I only added the tiniest bit of Rub’nBuff. Due to adding some gold pieces in the rest of the room, it just seemed appropriate. Besides, if I hate it, I can always paint over it!
Sorry the pictures are a little dark. Of course the day I had scheduled to take pictures it’s been raining all day! I’m officially calling this side of the room done.
For now.
I still have a few things that I want to do in the future. Like get rid of that intercom system. But, that’s another day!
Finished or not, I’m enjoying the change from black to blue. It ties in with the rest of the room and looks like it’s always been that way. After years of painting just about everything I’m still amazed at the power of a little paint. Now to finished up the rest of the dining room.
I can’t wait to share what’s coming up next with you!
However, every time one of the men in my family sat in these dainty chairs and leaned back, they chair made a horrible noise like it was going to fall apart any minute.
Which made me realize that even though I loved it, they just wouldn’t work for us.
My BFF Roxanne was having an estate sale and had this wonderful Pottery Barn farmhouse table and chairs.
And even though they didn’t have the curvy french lines of my last one, they super sturdy and cute..
The only negative about them was that I didn’t care for the color of the pine table.
However, I loved the style and color of the chairs.
So I set out to transform the table to match the chairs!
I sanded the table with an orbital sander and belt sander for a good 5 hours.
Thankfully, The Hubs helped!
Once it was down to the raw wood it was time for the magic to happen.
I started this table transformation with the top first.
I used Minwax pre-stain to make sure that the wood took the stain evenly.
Once that was dry, I stained the top with three coats of Walnut.
I wanted a medium dark finish, so this was perfect.
The next day, after the stain had thoroughly dried, I gave it three coats of Varathane polyurethane in a satin water base formula.
This was my first time to use this product and I am in LOVE with it.
It went on super smooth, no brush marks and dried quickly.
When the top was finished, I started on the table apron and legs.
Step 1, rub it down with liquid sandpaper!
I hate sanding chair and table legs, mainly because it’s HARD!
Since I didn’t need to repair anything, this was the perfect solution.
After a lot of sleuthing and stalking the Pottery Barn Pinterest boards I finally found the color of paint used on the chairs.
Since I wasn’t entirely sure that it was right, I purchased a sample quart of the color in Satin.
It went on so smoothly and was the perfect color, so I just used the sample quart to paint my table apron and legs!
Two coats, a little distressing, followed by an antiquing coat of the Walnut stain and my bottom half o the table was ready for a couple of coats of the Varathane!
And while the lighting isn’t the best in this picture, trust me when I say that it matches perfectly!
We love it!
The best part?
No more screaming chairs.
The Worst part?
Now the neutral rug and curtains don’t really go with the table and chairs.
Yep, if you’ve followed me for long you know that I subscribe to the “If You Give A Mouse A Cookie” form of decorating whether I intend to or not!
So here’s the color pallet that I’m thinking of using.
Number 1 is Emmie Blue and would make the prettiest curtains.
Number 2, of course would be the rug.
Now , the next two are a toss up for the chairs to be recovered in.
Do I stick with the blue tones of number 3, or do I boldly go where I’ve never gone before with the crips white and green of number 4?
Decisions, decisions….
What do you think?
If you are like certain members of my family and are thinking “she’s got an new table and chairs – again? The girl has lost her mind!”
Hey friends! I can’t believe that May is almost over, although I seem to be saying that almost every month lately. Time seems to fly the older I get. Today I’m going to share my Memorial Day Table with you. However, before I get to that, I want to do a little housekeeping first.
Memorial Day has always been a favorite holiday for me.
As a child it signaled the end of the school year.
As an adult, it means many things to me.
The weather is getting warmer, the day’s are getting longer and summer is just beginning.
More importantly, it’s a time to think about and honor those heroes that have fought for our freedom.
Also, to remember those who have died to preserve it.
My grandfather was one of those who fought for our country and I couldn’t be prouder.
So Thank you to all of the men and women who have served!
Normally, Memorial Day would find us in our backyard.
The Hubs would be grilling while the rest of us would be visiting or playing games.
However, this is how our backyard looks right now.
A big empty, almost finished pool, a whole lot of concrete and a ton of work to be done.
Hopefully it will be finished in time to celebrate, but just in case it isn’t I’ve come up with a simple, fun and colorful Memorial Day Table for indoors.
Of course, the color scheme is red, white and blue.
When setting a table, I generally work from the center out.
I laid out a white table runner, followed by a red, white and blue berry candle ring placed in the center of the table.
I put one of my favorite white lanterns on top of the berries.
On each side of my lantern, I placed mason jars filled with red geraniums to complete my centerpiece.
Now for my place settings.
I went for a fun, eclectic style for my table.
Full of color and a lot of mix and match patterns.
The key to making so many patterns work without it seeming like the busiest Jackson Pollock painting on steroids, is to make sure the all of the patterns are different in size.
In my place setting the buffalo plaid is the largest, then the bandana salad plate, the charger is next and the smallest is the red and white polk-a-dot plate.
Had I put this many same sized patterns together it would have had you seeing crossed eyed into next week.
Also, be sure to add some solids into the mix, as they allow a place for the eyes to stay “grounded”.
A plain navy placemat starts off my place setting, followed by a navy and white bamboo charger.
The blue buffalo check napkin is nestled under the red and white polka-dot plate.
A blue bandana salad plate finishes off the place setting.
The navy placemat was actually a natural color when I bought it years ago.
I simply spray painted it!
The red silverware is a new addition this year.
I love how it adds the perfect pop of color to an almost all blue setting.
If you look closely you can see the prettiest blue glassware.
Also a new purchase this year.
These pretty little glasses make my heart sing every time I look at them.
Not only are they pretty, but they are the perfect size for a glass of tea!
For a little added sparkle, I hung a red, white and blue star garland on my white hutch.
I love that this table is simple, yet filled with fun and color.
It screams summer for me.
But the best part?
With the exception of the centerpiece and the glasses it’s all plastic!
So, if we do get the patio ready in time for the holiday, it’s a simple task to move this table setting outside to our new patio dining table.
It really is the perfect Memorial Day table!
I’ve tried to link the items from my table, in some cases these items were out of stock so I chose some that are similar for you!
I’ve been sprucing up the front porch over the last month or so. Lots of projects to keep me busy for sure. I added some pretty black and white striped cushions to my bench and chairs. Almost immediately I knew that I wanted some hot pink throw pillows added to them for some color. Except I couldn’t find hot pink pillows that were the color, fabric, or price range I wanted. It quickly became apparent that I was going to be making them. So today I’m sharing how to make outdoor throw pillows on a budget!
Here’s what you will need: Napkins 18 x18″ , 2 per pillow Pillow form 16 x 16″ Sewing Machine Thread Pins Scissors Scotchgard
First of all, this project is so easy it’s almost ridiculous, and using the same steps below, you could make these a no sew project. Just use a heat n bond type tape or fabric glue! I found my napkins here.
They had a 12 pack of 18 x 18, 100% cotton napkins for $17.81 Which would make each napkin $`1.48. You will need two napkins so we multiply the $1.48 x 2 = $2.96
Step 1:
Wash and iron your napkin. Once that is done, lay napkins right side out, one on top of the other. Pin all the way around leaving a 6 – 8 inch opening.
Step 2:
Sew along the previously sewn hem line all the way around the napkins, leaving a 6 to 8 inch opening for the pillow to be inserted through. If you miss sewing along the hem line perfectly, no worries. You won’t see it when it’s done.
Step 3:
Remove the pins. Stuff your pillow form into the opening. I found my pillow forms here, each cost me $4.74. The pillow forms cost Make sure the pillows forms corners fill the corners of the pillow cover and that the pillow form is evenly distributed.
Step 4:
Once you have your pillow form inserted into the pillow cover, at the 6 -8 inch opening put the outer edges of the pillow cover together and pin. Make sure that your pillow is not in the opening! Sew the opening shut.
Step 5:
Once I had made all of my pillows, it was time to Scotchgard them. Following the directions on the can, I gave each pillow a solid coat of Scotchgard on both sides.
Let completely dry.
I placed mine outside on a table to dry. As my young niece would say “ooohhhh, stinky!”
LOL
It will definitely fill your house with that chemical smell!
Step 6:
Put them outside! Total time to make? I have to say that the sewing part of my pillows took me around 1 hour. Not bad at all. Waiting for the Scotchgard to dry took the longest in this process. Probably a half of a day.
Cost? The napkins per pillow were $2.96. The pillow forms per pillow were $4.74. The Scotchgard I had on hand, however you can buy this at any grocery or big box store for around $6.00 per can. My can was almost new when I started and I would say I used about 1/2 of a can for all of my pillows. So estimated cost: $3.00. So .75 per pillow. Total cost per pillow: $8.18!
I can honestly say that’s how to make an outdoor throw pillow on a budget!
This month Terrie also asked if we would like to participate in a Knock Off challenge. YES!
You know, when you see something you love, but it’s out of your budget or you think to yourself, “I could make that!” We’ve all been there. Well, that’s what happened to me.
Today I’m sharing how to make a HOME sign.
I saw this “HOME” sign at my local grocery store’s gift isle right before easter. And immediately fell in love with it. It’s part of The Round Top Collection, which is one of my favorite.
In the space where the O should be there is a small hook where you place a piece of art called a charm.
So cute!
However, the board itself was over $55.00. Not terribly priced, but I paint wooden signs a lot and knew I cold make this one for a few dollars, if not for free.
Charms can be square pieces of art or wooden cut outs like the bunny you see here. They make just about every theme you can imagine. Bats, Christmas trees, candy corn, American flags, hearts, flowers, four leaf clovers….
If you can think of it, they probably have it. My favorite place to buy the charms is online from Miss Cayce’s Wonderland in Lubbock, TX.
Happy Mother’s Day and Welcome to $10 on the 10th! Each month a few blogger friends and I get together on the 10th and share ideas for under $10. This month our theme is Upcycled or Recycled. Which is right up my alley!
I love it when I’m able to use bits and pieces of other left over projects to create something useful. Today I’m sharing my Recycled Pool Towel Rack.
We are in the process of putting in a pool here at the Castle. Which means that we’ve had to put in a new fence mandated by our HOA. The Hubs decided to build the fence himself, board by board. So we had quite a few 2 x 4 cedar wood scraps left over. They were perfect for what I had in mind. Which was to make a towel rack for the pool area!
Here was the plan. I knew I wanted to make a 40″ x 12″ rack, painted in blues and browns. Lots of distressing, but very colorful. But then I realize that it really wouldn’t match anything that I planned to do in the backyard. So, I went to plan 2.
The size was still going to be 40″ x 12″, however the colors changed. I pulled the spa tile sample and chose all of the blues in it to paint my towel rack.
Now, it made sense!
So here’s how we made it. The boards were a little thick for what I wanted. The Hubs was kind enough to to cut them in half for me.
After The Hubs gave each board a good sanding, they were ready for paint!
Using the tile samples, I chose 5 different paint colors.
I painted the 9 boards 4 different colors of blue, then painted the cross braces navy.
Once the boards were all painted, I gave each several coats of clear poly spray paint.
I know that it may be over kill, however since this towel rack was going to be outside it needed a protective top coat.
Next, we put the towel rack together using waterproof wood glue and a nail gun.
I found these hooks and bought a set of 5 for $6.81 which includes the shipping and tax.
I attached the hooks to every other board. Since we had 9 boards, this allowed me to put one on each end, as well as a few in the middle, leaving plenty of room for towels. Each hook has two arms, so the rack will hold a total of ten towels.
Perfect for when we have the family over to swim.
Once we were finished putting the towel rack together, the holes for the nails really bothered me. Not the look I was going for. At. All. So I filled them with a little wood filler. Repainted each board and gave it a couple of coats of a poly top coat.
Ta Daaaa!
My recycled pool towel rack is ready for the swimming to begin. Total cost was $6.81 as I already had the paint, scrap lumber, poly, and wood filler.
Now, If only the pool and backyard were as easy to finish up as building the towel rack was!
Please join me in visiting my blogger friends and see what recycled or upcycled items they are sharing today!
Let’s get this straight. I am no expert gardener by any means. However, over the years I’ve learned what works for me. And what doesn’t. A lot of what I know comes from trial and error. Anybody out there in the same boat? So in case you might be a new gardener, or maybe a frustrated one, I thought that I might share a few of my tried and true container gardening tips with you!
Always start with great soil. I learned a long time ago to start with a great foundation.
My flowers always thank me!
Miracle Gro Potting mix (not an affiliate) is my go to every time. And, once I get the flowers potted, I fertilize them every two weeks with plant food.
It makes a HUGE difference.
Soil is heavy, so if I’m planting in a large pot, I always put something in the bottom of the pot to take up a little room, like cut up pool noodles.
I fill up my pot about 1/3 of the way, then put potting soil on top. The pool noodles don’t absorb moisture and are light weight. This saves on the cost of soil and makes it easier to move the pot for cleaning.
Thriller, filler and spiller.
The perfect trifecta for planting arrangements. Ever heard of this? If not, it’s a simple reminder of one way to plant your flowers for maximum wow factor. The thriller part of the equation is a plant that you would put in the back or the middle of your planter.
A thriller ( see #1) is a plant that is going to be taller than the rest. It will also be “showy”. I like to use grasses and tall wavy, flowing plants for thrillers.
A filler ( #2) is exactly what it says it is. A plant that fills up the middle space. I like to use medium flowering plants in this area.
Geraniums, Periwinkles, Abelia, and Daisies are some of my go to’s.
As you can see here, I have a tall grass for my thriller. And Geraniums, Periwinkles and Abelia for my filler.
Now I just need to add my spiller.
And finally, the spiller. ( #3) A spiller is planted in the very front or on the edge of your planter. I like to use colorful trailing plants or frilly ferns here.
Some I like to use are Air Ferns, Creeping Jenny and Sweet Potato Vines.
As you can see here, I have all three – a thriller, a filler and a spiller- in this pot..
Don’t pass up buying discounted plants. I was at the grocery store and these geraniums were on Sale for $1.99. They regularly sell for $5.99.
Why?
I checked them over and they had no disease. They were just a little windblown and need to be put on a pot.
I simply cut off any dead leaves or spent flowers, put them in a pot and gave them a little food. As you can see, they are doing beautifully and are about to flower like crazy!
Which brings me to my next tip.
Dead head.
Always remove spent flowers. That way your plant can focus on growing healthy leaves and new flowers.
I always use the Thriller, filler and spiller rule of thumb with a couple of exceptions. The first being mass plantings. Sometimes, the planter just calls for one massive group of one flower.
Like this one.
All of those bright pinky red geraniums look fantastic against that dark metal planter!
The second reason I use only one type of flower is when you are using a small planter and there just isn’t any room.
Other than that I almost always use the trifecta.
My container gardening tips are pretty basic, but if I adhere to those tips I always have good luck with my container plants.
Welcome to this month’s DIY Challenge! Every month our wonderful hostess Terrie, from Decorate and More With Tip, creates the best challenges for us to accomplish. She is the BEST! If you’ve never met Terrie before, you can visit herhere .
This month’s challenge is one that I think a lot of people struggle with. It’s decorating your TV wall. Can I get an Amen? Back in the day our TV’s found themselves behind closed doors. In an armoire or built in shelving or cabinets . Today’s TV is much larger and thinner than those of old, so putting them behind closed doors creates a major problem, especially if you aren’t putting it above your fireplace!
My fireplace mantel is so far off the ground that if we tried to put our TV there it would be like sitting on the front row in a movie theater.
And nobody wants to do that!
So over the past few years our TV has lived sitting on a large cherrywood console.
It’s like a humongous black hole.
And to make matters worse, we live stream now so the large hole below the TV, where all of the equipment used to live, is no longer needed.
But that’s a challenge for another day!
So how do you decorate around the TV to make it look like a part of the room?
I’ll be honest, I’ve been looking around for ideas for quite a few months.
I knew it had to be simple so that it didn’t compete with the fireplace wall.
Cause there’s a lot goin’ on there.
Not as easy as it sounds.
Then I saw this photo from La Dolce Vita blog and thought not only how pretty and outside of the box it was, but also how genius to use something that I already had in my cabinets!
So I gathered my supplies.
Scissors, pen, brown paper, nails, hammer, plate hangers, blue tape and level.
And dug through the cabinets for some blue and white plates in several sizes.
The first thing I did was to draw the outline of each plate onto paper, then cut the silhouettes out.
Once I had them cut out, I started placing the outlines onto my wall using blue tape.
I always do this for gallery walls as it allows me the freedom to move them around until I’m happy with the arrangement.
Once I have the arrangement on the wall just right, I then lay the plates out to correspond with the template arrangement.
That makes it super easy to put the right plate in the right spot.
I put plate hangers onto each plate.
Then measure from the top of the plate to the top of the hanger.
Leaving the template on the wall, using the measurements I just took from the plate and hanger, I measured down from the top of the template for the picture hanger placement.
I nail right through the paper.
Then, I pull the paper off of the wall.
Next, hang the plate.
Works like a charm every time!
In the beginning I left two botanical art pieces up to go with the plates.
However, I still felt like I had a heavy black hole.
The scale was off.
After a few days of living with it.
I had a lightbulb moment.
In one of the guest bedrooms there were a pair of old small armoire doors.
Once they replaced the botanicals, I knew I had my scale just right.
So much better!
Now, I’m on to the next challenge.
The TV console.
Do I paint or no?
Does it stay or should it go?
The struggle is real my friends AND now I’ve got the song “should I stay or should I go now…” in my head!
Remember, if you like it, please be sure to PIN it!
We are certainly living in uncertain times right now. So what better time to let those around you know how much they mean to you? Intentionally celebrate them every day. That’s why today I’m sharing how I’m Lovin’ up on my besties!
This girl is truly the happiest person on the planet. She truly encourages you to intentionally celebrate the people in your life and build joyfully celebrated homes. In todays world, you gotta love that!
All of Brittany’s projects are just the cutest ever!
A little sprinkle, a little glitter, a bow here or there.
The girl speaks my language!
So today on a grocery run, I spied the cutest little acrylic ball tumblers.
Party balls!
They are colorful, a fun size and they are filled with freezer gel to help keep your drink ice cold while you’re sitting outside enjoying the sun.
Or in this case, it will keep our beverages cold while we all get together via Zoom this week.
Since there are 8 of my besties, aka The Queens, I had to decide what colors to pick up. There were 4 colors, hot pink, blue, green and orange. So I bought two colors of each. Once I got them home I couldn’t wait to embellish them just a little bit.
Come on! You knew I wasn’t going to leave them plain….
Since I love my name or a good monogram on just about everything, I decided to go with the names this time. I had this fun vinyl with all the colors of the tumblers, plus a few more, and knew it would be a subtle, yet fun, embellishment. I found a fun font, LW Dazzle, and cut out all of the Queens names to fit on the tumbler.
Once I had the vinyl names put on each tumbler, I added a fun bow to the top of each tumbler.
I have to say, that they are pure eye candy. All of that color…I’ll probably add a cute little gift tag to each tumbler, letting my besties know just how special they are. My plan is to do a drive-by and drop these tumblers off.
Front Porch Delivery!
Then send them a quick little text to check out the front porch.
I’ve had so much fun with this that I’m thinking this will be the year of celebrating friends, family and neighbors. It occurred to me that there are a thousand little things that I could do that hopefully would make someone smile. Seriously, lovin’ up on my besties couldn’t be more fun. I hope that they love these little glasses as much as I love them!
A few days ago I was sitting on the sofa contemplating repainting my fireplace mantle. I’ve put it off for awhile because my plan was to make it darker. To do that I had to strip the old varnish and stain it. One small problem. The mantle is embedded into the stone on the fireplace, so striping it would have to be done in place. All I could think about was the mess. The more I thought about it, it occurred to me the reason I didn’t like the mantle was that it looked a great big dark spot against all the white and nothing in the room had that finish. I finally came to the conclusion that the best thing to do was paint it white to match the rest of the fireplace and bookshelves. So Today, I’m sharing how to watch paint dry or how to paint a mantle.
(Luckily, the project took more time than supplies and I had everything I needed on hand.)
Here’s what you will need. Paint Brush Cabinet and Trim Paint Liquid Sandpaper Drop Cloth Damp rag ( to clean up any spills etc.) Paint key
Step 1:
Clean your mantle with warm water. Let dry. Your mantle should be super clean. Any spots or dust will result in paint chiping and flaking later. Tape off any areas that you don’t want paint on.
Step 2:
Using a rag, thoroughly wipe down your mantle with the liquid sandpaper. Don’t miss any spots! Work it into the creases and crevices.
Liquid sandpaper takes the place of sandpaper. It’s actually a deglosser that removes the shiny, slick surface of the poly so that the paint will adhere.
Read the directions.
Mine stated that I needed to paint within 30 minutes of dry time. Please note that Liquid Sandpaper can only be used on surfaces that don’t have any large chips or divets or rough areas on the surface. If you have any of those, you should sand and repair your mantle first.
Step 3.
Paint.
I used a water based semi-gloss cabinet and trim paint. Try to apply in long even coats, slightly overlapping for even coverage. Check occasionally for runs or drips.
As you can see, if you look closely, one coat was obviously not enough. After I painted the first coat, I sat around watching the paint completely dry before putting on the second coat.
This is why I titled the post Watching Paint Dry. Cause you do a little bit of painting and a lot of watching and waiting!
Step 4:
Apply the second coat of paint. Paint the second coat just like you did the first, making sure to check for runs or drips.
Watch paint dry.
I put 2 coats on in one day . One early in the morning, one late afternoon.
Step 5:
Early on day 2, I added coat three. And…you guessed it, watched paint dry!
On the third day I put my mantle back together.
I love the way the entire fireplace area looks. It’s so clean and now everything matches.
My OCD is happy!
I’ll probably style it a little differently soon, but for now I’m happy with it just the way it is. Aren’t you glad that I shared watching paint dry or how to paint a mantle with you?
It seriously takes an art in being patient that’s for sure!
I hope that you are having a wonderful week. It looks like we will be home for a little while longer. Seems like everyone has their own way of dealing with being at home more.
So, are you learning anything new? Or are you sitting on the sofa binge watching in your pajamas?
Me? I’m doing a little of this and that. What went on this week at the Castle? A lot!
It’s the second full week in April and feels like day 7000 of this Pandemic. But my goal this week was to be hopeful, upbeat and stay busy!
I started off the week on Easter Sunday by making honey bunnies. Not a bad way to start a week at all!
I was so grateful to find flour. I’d been looking for a few weeks and was fearful that we would not be enjoying them this year. After searching for what seemed like forever, I found a bag!
Honestly, I will never take the ordinary things for granted ever again!
Monday found me taking all of the bunnies, nests and all things easter down. I found these two candlesticks and small vase at an estate sale my bff was having.
I’ve been waiting decor always makes me happy!
Tuesday found me making masks for friends and family. I’m no expert at making masks for sure…but with the shortage of masks it only made sense to make a few.
I think I’m up to about 30 now.
I’ve decided to learn a new art. Watercolor painting.
Of all the different types of art, this is one that I’ve never done a lot with.
Y’all, it’s hard!
Then I saw that Lucy from Craftberry Bush was giving free lessons on instagram and I couldn’t resist! Still practicing a lot and honestly I have nothing worth showing, but I will say that I am enjoying the process so far!
I did break out the acrylic paints to paint a super quick fun painting for my sister who loves pigs. It’s been one of those weeks for her and I thought that I’d send her some hi I’m thinking of you happy mail.
Wednesday was super exciting.
We’ve been trying to get a pool built since we moved in. With the holidays, then the weather it’s been a slow process. Last week they dug a huge hole.
Monday the metal benders and the plumbers came and the mud hole became a hole with lots of pipe and wire in it. Then on Wednesday, out of the blue, a crew showed up in the afternoon and this is what our pool looks like.
Finally!
Its starting to look like a real pool! Our builder is hoping to get the electrician out soon. Once he’s done, its time for rock, tile and decking. Bring on the decking!
Momma’s already tired of cleaning up the mud!
Thursday found us with the most beautiful weather, even if it was a little windy.
We’ve been slowly, section by section, digging up the old overgrown shrubbery that came with the house. If you look at the very top of this picture you can see what I’m talking about.
I headed out front this morning with the intent of taking the old stone border and use it to lay out the shape of the new bed. However, the shrubs were so overgrown that I couldn’t even begin to do that. So, before we knew it we were tearing out all of the overgrown shrubs in this bed.
What a workout!
Today I’m off to pick up new shrubs that I ordered for this bed. Maybe a few new flowers to keep me busy over the weekend. Truly my happy place!
Oh, I did find time somewhere in the week to make some homemade bread.
So yummy!
Good thing we got a great workout gardening. I sure needed it!
So what projects are you working on? Learning anything new? Or maybe just enjoying an old hobby or being with your family. I’d love to hear what you’ve been up to! I need some ideas for next week.
I gotta tell ya, being at home has its benefits. It also has its downfalls. The downfalls? I can’t just run to Hobby Lobby when I need to. I will say that not being able to run to Hob Lob has made me way more creative. For instance, today I’m going to share how to frame art on a budget, which will prove that necessity is the mother of invention!
I use the term “art” loosely in this case. Last fall I bought this paint by numbers kit. I know that there are a ton of people out there that are fans of the PBNK’s. However, I am not one of those. First, I am not someone who likes to color between the lines. Second, this isn’t the PBNK you had as a child. I needed a magnifying glass to see the numbers they were so tiny! This endeavor took me almost 6 months to complete. NEVER. AGAIN!
However, since I spent so much time on it, I was determined to hang it somewhere in my home. I could have just hung it as it was, but I wanted to add a black frame. How to do that when you can’t go shopping? You make your own!
I wanted a simple black frame to go around my painting. My solution? Make a frame from lattice. At 69 cents a foot, it’s a bargain!
Step 1:
Measure the art.
Since I didn’t want to miter the corners – way too much math for this girl- I measured the top and bottom for exact measurements. For the sides, I wanted the side lattice strip to cover the canvas as well as the entire end of the lattice strips that were on the top and the bottom. This would make a solid frame with no gaps. To do this I measured the sides of the canvas, plus the width of the lattice strip, x 2.
Step 2:
Once I had my measurements, I cut the lattice strips using a small miter box and saw. This is perfect for cutting thin strips of wood! In fact, this is my new favorite tool. It’s small, compact and this small little saw is so easy to control. Definitely not like the one my Dad used to have!
Step 3:
After cutting the strips, I lightly sanded the edges to give them a clean, finished look!
Step 4:
Once I had the strips of lattice cut, I painted them black with multi- surface paint.
Step 5:
Normally, at this point, I would have simply nailed the lattice directly onto the canvas using small brads. However, I was out of small brads. So, I simply stapled the lattice to the canvas. I used 1/2 inch staples to insure that they would go thru the lattice as well as the canvas frame.
Step 6:
To help hide the staples, I painted them black, using the same paint that I used on the wood.
This is my finished frame. Not too shabby for my first attempt.
Honestly, not only was the frame budget friendly, it was also an amazingly easy project.
So easy that I couldn’t not share how to frame art on a budget with you!
Total cost: $4.14
Time: less than an hour.
Most of that time was spent watching the paint dry! Most important – I love the way my new piece of art looks in the powder room.
Hey there! Welcome to 10 on the 10th, where some really fun and talented bloggers get together on the 10th of the month to share their ideas for under $10. This months theme is tips while social distancing. My tip? Keep your children busy! One theme I’m seeing a lot of on social media is Mom’s wondering how to keep their children from being bored.
So today I’m sharing: How to build a busy box!
What is a busy box?
A busy box can be any container, a box, a duffle bag, a tote or as you will see today, a suitcase! The busy box can be plain jane or it can be decorated to the nines!
It’s up to you!
Once you have your container, you will fill it with things to keep your children busy! With Social distancing, my suggestion is to rotate out toys, games etc. that you already have in your home. Or, if you are going through shopping withdrawal, Amazon still delivers. The beauty of a busy box is that it can cost you nothing at all!
We all know that my busy box was not going to be plain Jane. Hey, don’t judge! I got nothing but time on my hands! My BFF Roxanne was selling this cute little suitcase at a garage sale. I picked it up for $5.00! It only measures about 15″ x 10.5″ x 6″. The perfect size for a busy box.
I could have left this cute little suitcase just like it was, however the insides had seen better days and there were a few tears on the outside. So I decided to spiff it up using only items I had on hand. My solution? To cover the insides with material. I measured the bottom, top and sides, added 1″ to all measurements and cut out the material.
Giving the suitcase a new lining was pretty easy. I used Spray mount to attach the material to the suitcase. For the bottom and top I simply sprayed the adhesive and added the material, making sure to smooth out any bubbles.
For all side pieces of material, I folded the material under 1/2 ” and ironed it to stay in place. Once that was done, I sprayed the sides and added the material to the suitcase.
Once the material had been attached to the suitcase, I added some black gimp around the edges to give it a finished look. I simply hot glued it on!
As you can see the ends of the suitcase had seen better days!
I found some fun scrapbook paper in my stash.
Then using white glue, I glued it to the ends. For me it was a super cute and easy solution!
Now for the fun part! Filling it up. For me it was easier to decide what to put in my busy box by thinking of a theme. And once I started thinking I came up with a ton of ideas based on what I had on hand.
Here are just a few of the themes I came up with:
1. Dress Up 2. Tea Party 3. Legos 4. Games 5. Art 6. Cars and Trucks 7. Picnic 8. Train set 9. Outdoor games 10.Gardening 11. Beauty box 12. Scavenger Hunt.
Really the list is endless!
For older kids a game box would be fun. Just fill it with old favorites or with new games that they haven’t played before. I’m willing to bet we all have a ton of games that haven’t been played in a while!
What little wouldn’t enjoy a tea party? I added a few dress up items. A boa, tiara and some fancy jewelry. Throw in a tea set and a stuffed animal or two and your busy box is full!
Other than spending zero money on a busy box, the best part is that it’s easy clean up and store. When the littles are done playing, pack it up and return to mom. Who will hopefully fill it up for the next time the kids get bored! So how much did I spend on my busy box?
$5.00.
Everything else was already here at The Castle!
Now I hope that you will join me and visit my fellow bloggers and see what wonderful tips they are sharing!
I have a confession to make. I always have, and always will, want to sit at the children’s table. Especially the Children’s Easter table! Why? Well, it’s way more fun! There’s giggles and laughs. Juvenile jokes. Silliness abounds! And the children’s table is always more colorful and has lots of surprises. In our family, on The Hubs side, there are 11 littles. Ages 16 all the way down to 2. So we always have one, or more, children’s table. Not only do I love sitting at them, I love decorating them! I always start with my centerpiece. The centerpiece doesn’t have to be big or elaborate. I find that, for the most part, the simpler the better. This year’s centerpiece started with an adorable white bunny and some fresh flowers! For filler I added some felt flowers and some colorfully wrapped candy.
Next up, the place settings. When I do place settings I always use plastic or things that don’t break. Fabric that can be easily washed. In the past few years I’ve leaned toward plastic plates over paper plates. You would be surprised at how far plastic disposable tableware has come in the past few years! There are some really great looking products out there. I started with some really cute white with light blue polka dotted square placemats. They had me at rick rack! Those sweet placemats have co-ordinating napkins that were perfect for the sweet wooden bunny head napkin rings I found on sale last year.
Next I added a pink straw placemat for color. Followed by some glitter purple chargers. I think my favorite part of this placesetting is the dishes. Yes, they are plastic! I love the shape, color and the detail on each plate. And don’t get me started on the pink silverware. And the best part? They cost me about $4.00 per 8 plates. I have a few extras of these and since I love them so much they may find their way into the Little’s play area. Wouldn’t they be cute for a pretend tea party?
This year each place setting has a chocolate bunny, a carrot and a mini cupcake for dessert. Who cares if they eat dessert first? Being at Aunt T’s is like being at Grandmas! Seriously though, I will probably wait to put out the cupcakes until after dinner. The chocolate, however, is fair game! If you have children, or parents, who aren’t a big fan of candy, this would be the perfect place for a cute, small goodie easter bag or basket. Maybe a small coloring book with crayons to keep them entertained? Or even a small game or puzzle! The possibilities are endless.
To designate seating, I made these easter egg place card holders. If you missed it, you can see how I made them here. I simply added each child’s first initial to each egg.
“A” is for Adriana!What little doesn’t like seeing their name, or initial, on anything? Plus, it eliminates arguing on who’s going to sit where.
I may or may not remember a year when there was a wrestling match over a specific chair!
Overall I’m pretty happy with this years table. It’s bright, happy, colorful and fun. The Children’s Easter table is complete.Let the wild rumpus begin! Until next time….
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