Thrift Store Vase Makeover and DIY Flowering Twigs

It's easy to turn something old and unwanted into something beautiful again.
In this case, all it took was a little paint and a little stain
to transform a discarded wooden thrift store vase
into a lovely piece of decor for my living room.

Flowers in a Frame

Since I'm not sure the snow and cold temperatures are ever going to end here in Michigan, I'm doing my best to think spring! I put together this little craft that's filled with bright greens and white flowers. Anything to hurry spring along a little!

Junk Style Vase

I love it when I find a cute use for my stash of tin cans. I sometimes feel like such a hoarder when I look at the little corner of my kitchen counter where I have clean cans and jars. But the hoarding feels worth it when I finally use one to make something, like this cute little flower vase from an old slotted metal spoon, a tin can and a piece of scrap wood.

A Button Daisy

A broken frame. A placemat from the thrift store. Paint. Vintage buttons. A little embroidery thread and some glue. That's all it took to make this cute little wall hanging.

Flowers and Turquoise Birds

It finally stopped raining long enough for me to take a few photos.

So I'm showing off my flowers today.

And these oh-so-cute shabby turquoise birds.

Cherished Memories Corkboard

We had this really great, detailed frame in the garage. I finally pulled it out and painted it. Using Annie Sloan™ Graphite, I painted the entire frame, then dry brushed some Duck Egg blue over the detailing, finishing it off with a coat of clear wax. 

Next, I cut some cork to size from a plain-jane corkboard we had sitting around and inserted/glued it into the back of the frame.

I added some simple blue ric-rac, painted a piece of chipboard I had on-hand with Graphite and used my trusty awl to put a hole in it. I inserted the cherished memories metal tag (another scrapbooking embellishment) into the hole, glued some pretty matching flowers on the chipboard and added a few vintage buttons and she was finished. 

I think she's awfully pretty now. Hope you do too! 

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lilacs and snowball viburnum

I admit it. I had to look up the name of these white flowers. But aren't they gorgeous?

 I think I got it right. Snowball Viburnum.

And lilacs, of course.

The house next door has this bush with beautiful white flowers spilling over the fence.
And the house is currently vacant.

Well, I just couldn't resist picking a handful...

...and grabbing an old soda bottle, a few mason jars and a rusty old container.

Hoping everyone is enjoying their spring and the beautiful blooms that come with it! 

Jewelry Box {with checker drawer pulls}

We recently finished this little jewelry box.

I debuted it on Monday in a photo of our Broken Chair Chalkboard Shelf.

Eric built this for me to paint and it's so cute!

This was bare wood, so I started with some latex paint in a light blue shade.

Over that I added some Ce Ce Caldwell's Pittsburgh Gray.

But my favorite part are the drawer pulls!

These are checker pieces painted with Virginia Chestnut and a dry brush coat of Santa Fe Turquoise.

I bought the checkers awhile back at a local store and had previously painted these 3.

I love how they look on these small drawers.

Just the right size for this little cutie!

I also cut a vinyl stencil and painted the daisies, 1 on each side and 2 on the top, with the light blue paint as well.

I think this would be just perfect for special young lady!

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Partying with Anything Blue Friday at The Dedicated House

A Few Junky Office Accessories

Earlier this week, I showed you this old crate we made into a desktop organizer.

You can see that project here.

Today I'm going to share the accessories I made to go along with it. 

This little tiered organizer is made from a piece I sawed off an old chair leg (the aqua piece on the very top), part of a table leg (the orange part) and some metal kitchen molds (maybe?) that I picked up at our local thrift store. 

I always like the look of the tiered stands people make out of bundt pans and such. So when I saw these molds, I thought they would work great for a mini version! 

I painted the outside of the molds with Santa Fe Turquoise and used E6000 to adhere the bottom piece to the old table leg Eric had cut to size for me. The top was a little trickier. The spindle was not wide enough in diameter to glue the metal to it. So I made a trip to the hardware and found a rubber washer with the right inside diameter. Then I glued that to the spindle and the metal mold to the rubber washer. 

I then added some lettering...

You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have. (Maya Angelou)

It's just printed off the laser jet onto regular paper, cut it and Mod Podged onto the metal. 

I figured a desk needs a pencil holder, right?

So I painted this tin can with Destin Gulf Green, added a pretty brown ribbon with aqua sequins and one of my leftover wire flowers from a previous project. 

This pencil holder looks so cute sitting there in our new pretty desktop organizer!

We also made an easel clipboard out of some leftover barn wood.

I'l be sharing that with you tomorrow so be sure to visit again:)

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Partying at Anything Blue Friday at The Dedicated House

Oh, What Love Can Do!

You may remember our Card Catalog Inpsired Table. If not, we'd love for you to check it out. But. long story short, before that was an eight-drawer table, it just a simple cubby bin. We actually flipped it sideways from what was intended to be the top in order to make the table. Well, it had this piece of wood on the top that we removed.

Now, it's this pretty little sign!

I just love making signs for our business.

What can I say...

I'm a sign maker by day so I guess it spills over into the evening as well. :) I enjoy designing pretty little signs without any restrictions put on my by the customer. These signs are all my handy work. I think that's why I enjoy them so much. 

 This little piece of wood was a dark color, not quite green and not quite brown. Pretty much mud! I liked the look of the wood and the way it was weathered and chipping a little on the edges. So I decided to work with the color.

I painted some Ce Ce Caldwell's Traverse City Cherry over the original color.

I immediately fell in love!

Once it was dry, I applied my vinyl stencil and began painting the love part of the lettering with Santa Fe Turquoise. I decided to use a different color on the rest because I wanted the 2nd part of the saying to stand out from the first part. So I used Johnston Daffodil on the other lettering and then on the flowers. Once dry, I simply dry-brushed some Turquoise over the Daffodil to give the flowers a softer look.

I couldn't have been happier when I took the stencil off!

This is one of my favorites :)

Hope you've enjoyed it as well!

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Getting new followers and comments absolutely makes my day! :)

Everyone loves a good party!

Check my project out along with other great inspiration, at these great blogs...

Masterpiece Monday at Boogieboard Cottage, Mop It Up Monday at I Should Be Mopping the Floor, Make the Scene Monday at Alderberry Hill, Pink Hippo Party at Pinkapotamus, Monday No Rules Blog Hop at A Sorta Fairytale,Just Something I Whipped Up at The Girl Creative, Metamorphasis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch, Making the World Cuter Monday, Before and After at Thrifty Decor Chick (first Monday of the month), What's in the Gunny Sack at the Gunny Sack, Make It Pretty Monday at The Dedicated House, Mod Mix Monday at Mod Vintage Life, Budget Decorating Party at Creative Cain Cabin, That DIY Party at DIY Showoff, The DIY'ers Link Party at Home Coming

One Project at a Time at A Bowl Full of Lemons, Transformation Tuesday at The Ironstone Nest, Monday Funday at Creatively Living, Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm, The Scoop at Cedar Hill Ranch, Project Inspired{d}at Cupcakes and Crinoline, You're Gonna Love It at Kathe with an E, Transformed Tuesdays at PJH Designs, Tweak It Tuesday at Cozy Little House, Take a Look Tuesday at Sugar Bee Crafts, Primp Your Stuff Wednesday at Primp Junktion, Be Inspired at Elizabeth and Co, Pretty Things Link Party at twelveOeight, Time to Shine at A Diamond in the Stuff, Too Cute Tuesday at Funky Polkadot Giraffe, The Power of Paint Party at Domestically Speaking, Creatively Tuesday at The Rustic Pig, Show Me What You Got at Not Just a Housewife, Share It Link Party at The Winthrop Chronicles, Tasteful Tuesday at Naptime Creations, Tutorial Tuesday at Hope Studios, Trash 2 Treasure at Kammy's Korner, Fluster's Creative Muster Party at Fluster Buster, The Creative Spark at Clean and Scentsible, Tuesdays at Our Home at Our Home Away from Home, Homemade by You at Made to be a Momma, Trendy Tuesdays at Sweet Little Gals

Wildly Original Link Party at I Gotta Create, Wow Us Wednesday at Family Home and Life, Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts, Whimsy Wednesday at Smart School House, What's It Wednesday at Ivy and Elephants, Wednesday Whatsits at White Lights on Wednesday, What We Accomplished Wednesday at Green Willow Pond, Under $100 Linky Party at Beyond the Picket Fence, Show and Share at Southern Lovely, Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style, Wow Me Wednesday at Gingersnap Crafts, From Dream to Reality at The DIY Dreamer, Its' a Party! at A Creative Princess, Show Off Your Stuff Party at Fireflies and Jellybeans, Look What I Made Wednesday at Creations by Kara, Create and Share at The Trendy Treehouse, A Little Bird Told Me Link Party at The Life of Jennifer Dawn, Oh What a Happy Day Link Party at Not Done Growing

Party Time at The 36th Avenue, Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home, Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Creek Cottage, Share Your Cup Party at Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson, Hookin' Up with HOH at House of Hepworths, Talkin' about Thursday at Designed Decor, Live Laugh Linky at Live Laugh Rowe, Home and Garden Thursday at A Delightsome Life, The Inspiration Gallery at Craftberry Bush, Made U Look Linky at Made in a Day, Creative Things Thursday at The Vintage Farmhouse, Catch as Catch Can at My Repurposed Life, Time Travel Thursday at The Brambleberry Cottage, Catch a Glimpse Party at A Glimpse Inside, 52 Mantels, Creative Inspirations Linky Party at Embracing Change, Simply Create Link Party at Redfly Creations

Simply Creations Link Party at My Simple Homelife, Furniture Feature Friday at Miss Mustard Seed, Inspire Me Please Link Party at Liz Marie Blog, Frugal Friday at The Shabby Nest, Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage, What Have You Redone at Redoux Interiors, Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home, Thrifty Things Friday at The Thrifty Groove, Simple and Sweet Fridays at Rooted inThyme, Be Inspired at Common Ground, Faunt It Friday at Chic on a Shoestring Decorating, Frugalicious Friday at Finding Fabulous, Fabulously Creative Friday at Jennifer Rizzo, Show and Tell Friday at Romantic Home, Junkin' Joe Vintage and Thrifty Finds at The Cottage Market, Weekend Wrap-Up Party at Tatertots and Jello, Shabbilicious Friday Link Party at Shabby Art Boutique, Tickled Pink at 504 Main, Anything Blue Friday at The Dedicated House, Rustic Restorations Weekend Link Party at Homespun Happenings,  Great Idea Thursdays at A Handful of Everything

Saturday Show and Tell at Cheerios and Lattes, Saturday Nite Special at Funky Junk Interiors, A Bouquet of Talent Party at Life on Lakeshore Drive, Strut Your Stuff Party at Six Sisters' Stuff, Show and Tell Saturday at Sassy little Lady, Get Schooled Satuday at Too Much Time on My Hands, Power of Pinterest Party at Fox Hollow Cottage, Your Great Idea Party at Or So She Says, Overflowing with Creativity party at It's Overflowing, Craft Country Cottage Party at Old Red Barn, Saturday SHOW-licious Craft Showcase at Sew-licious

The Sunday Showcase Party at Under the Table and Dreaming, Sunny Simple Sundays Party at Sunny Simple Life, Sundae Scoop at I Heart Naptime, Think Pink Sundays at Flamingo Toes, Nifty Thrifty Sunday at Nifty Thrifty Things, It's Party Time at Three Mango Seeds, Restyled Sundays at Stylish Once Again, Silver Pennies Sundays at Silver Pennies, Frugal Crafty Home Blog Hop at A Blossoming Life

A Charming Picket Fence

Last week I posted a little tutorial on how to make your own
wire flowers.

Today I'd like to show you a quick piece of decor I made with those. 

I snagged a couple pieces of garden picket fencing from a sale last summer. I previously used one to make a little sign. But the 2nd one has just been sitting around. Waiting. 

Once I started making these cute and easy little wire flowers, I got inspired! 

So I took out some burlap, roughly marked off where it would show between the pickets, and alternately painted it with Barcelona Orange and Johnston Daffodil.

I painted a light coat of Santa Fe Turquoise over the fencing and attached my burlap to the back, trimming it off after I had stapled it on. 

My wire flowers were all set to go. I had used buttons that would coordinate with my paint colors for this piece. And I painted a little Johnston Daffodil on the flowers I was going to place over the orange, just to make them pop a little more. 

I simply attached them by sewing them onto the burlap and this cute little piece was finished. 

This charming little picket fence is the perfect match for our shutter shelf and crafty spring bouquets!

I'm loving how this turned out. Hope you do too!

If you haven't liked our facebook page yet, you can do that here.

And you can follow me on Pinterest with this link.

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Have a great day!
And make sure to stop back by tomorrow at 7pm central time, when I will be co-hosting the {wow me} wednesday linky party with GingerSnap Crafts! {so excited!}

Everyone loves a great party! Check out these parties for some great inspiration!

Masterpiece Monday at Boogieboard Cottage, Mop It Up Monday at I Should Be Mopping the Floor, Make the Scene Monday at Alderberry Hill, Pink Hippo Party at Pinkapotamus, Monday No Rules Blog Hop at A Sorta Fairytale,Just Something I Whipped Up at The Girl Creative, Metamorphasis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch, Making the World Cuter Monday, Before and After at Thrifty Decor Chick (first Monday of the month), What's in the Gunny Sack at the Gunny Sack, Make It Pretty Monday at The Dedicated House, Mod Mix Monday at Mod Vintage Life, Budget Decorating Party at Creative Cain Cabin, That DIY Party at DIY Showoff, The DIY'ers Link Party at Home Coming

One Project at a Time at A Bowl Full of Lemons, Transformation Tuesday at The Ironstone Nest, Monday Funday at Creatively Living, Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm, The Scoop at Cedar Hill Ranch, Project Inspired{d}at Cupcakes and Crinoline, You're Gonna Love It at Kathe with an E, Transformed Tuesdays at PJH Designs, Tweak It Tuesday at Cozy Little House, Take a Look Tuesday at Sugar Bee Crafts, Primp Your Stuff Wednesday at Primp Junktion, Be Inspired at Elizabeth and Co, Pretty Things Link Party at twelveOeight, Time to Shine at A Diamond in the Stuff, Too Cute Tuesday at Funky Polkadot Giraffe, The Power of Paint Party at Domestically Speaking, Creatively Tuesday at The Rustic Pig, Show Me What You Got at Not Just a Housewife, Share It Link Party at The Winthrop Chronicles, Tasteful Tuesday at Naptime Creations, Tutorial Tuesday at Hope Studios, Trash 2 Treasure at Kammy's Korner, Fluster's Creative Muster Party at Fluster Buster, The Creative Spark at Clean and Scentsible, Homemade by You at Made To Be a Momma

Wildly Original Link Party at I Gotta Create, Wow Us Wednesday at Family Home and Life, Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts, Whimsy Wednesday at Smart School House, What's It Wednesday at Ivy and Elephants, Wednesday Whatsits at White Lights on Wednesday, What We Accomplished Wednesday at Green Willow Pond, Under $100 Linky Party at Beyond the Picket Fence, Show and Share at Southern Lovely, Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style, Wow Me Wednesday at Gingersnap Crafts, From Dream to Reality at The DIY Dreamer, Its' a Party! at A Creative Princess, Show Off Your Stuff Party at Fireflies and Jellybeans, Look What I Made Wednesday at Creations by Kara, Create and Share at The Trendy Treehouse, A Little Bird Told Me Link Party at The Life of Jennifer Dawn, Oh What a Happy Day Linky Party at Not Done Growing

Party Time at The 36th Avenue, Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home, Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Creek Cottage, Share Your Cup Party at Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson, Hookin' Up with HOH at House of Hepworths, Talkin' about Thursday at Designed Decor, Live Laugh Linky at Live Laugh Rowe, Home and Garden Thursday at A Delightsome Life, The Inspiration Gallery at Craftberry Bush, Made U Look Linky at Made in a Day, Creative Things Thursday at The Vintage Farmhouse, Catch as Catch Can at My Repurposed Life, Time Travel Thursday at The Brambleberry Cottage, Catch a Glimpse Party at A Glimpse Inside, 52 Mantels, Creative Inspirations Linky Party at Embracing Change, Creative Things Thursday at The Vintage Farmhouse

Simply Creations Link Party at My Simple Homelife, Furniture Feature Friday at Miss Mustard Seed, Inspire Me Please Link Party at Liz Marie Blog, Frugal Friday at The Shabby Nest, Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage, What Have You Redone at Redoux Interiors, Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home, Thrifty Things Friday at The Thrifty Groove, Simple and Sweet Fridays at Rooted inThyme, Be Inspired at Common Ground, Faunt It Friday at Chic on a Shoestring Decorating, Frugalicious Friday at Finding Fabulous, Fabulously Creative Friday at Jennifer Rizzo, Show and Tell Friday at Romantic Home, Junkin' Joe Vintage and Thrifty Finds at The Cottage Market, Weekend Wrap-Up Party at Tatertots and Jello, Shabbilicious Friday Link Party at Shabby Art Boutique, Tickled Pink at 504 Main, Anything Blue Friday at The Dedicated House, Rustic Restorations Weekend Link Party at Homespun Happenings

Saturday Show and Tell at Cheerios and Lattes, Saturday Nite Special at Funky Junk Interiors, A Bouquet of Talent Party at Life on Lakeshore Drive, Strut Your Stuff Party at Six Sisters' Stuff, Show and Tell Saturday at Sassy little Lady, Get Schooled Satuday at Too Much Time on My Hands, Power of Pinterest Party at Fox Hollow Cottage, Your Great Idea Party at Or So She Says, Overflowing with Creativity party at It's Overflowing, Craft Country Cottage Party at Old Red Barn, Saturday SHOW-licisou Craft Showcase at Sew-licious

The Sunday Showcase Party at Under the Table and Dreaming, Sunny Simple Sundays Party at Sunny Simple Life, Sundae Scoop at I Heart Naptime, Think Pink Sundays at Flamingo Toes, Nifty Thrifty Sunday at Nifty Thrifty Things, It's Party Time at Three Mango Seeds, Restyled Sundays at Stylish Once Again, Silver Pennies Sundays at Silver Pennies, Frugal Crafty Home Blog Hop at A Blossoming Life

Make Your Own Wire Flowers

The other day, I showed off the mail holder that we made from a shutter. 

I had placed some wire flowers in the shutter for decoration and now I'd like to tell you more about how I made those. 

Start with a roll of lower gauge wire. I'm not sure what thickness this is because  I've had it sitting around my house for awhile and don't remember (I apologize).

But it's easily shaped, yet strong enough to hold its form. 

Start by making a petal shape and looping the end around where it meets the wire again to secure it.  

 

Next you can make your second loop. It really doesn't matter which direction you make the loop, because you can fill the petals in around any side of the flower very easily.  

Simply bend the wire around the middle each time you make a petal to form your flower. Again, it's pretty tough to make a mistake because you can bend and fold the wire any way  you need to in order to fill in your flower petals. 

You will end up having something that looks like this.  

In order to finish the flower and hide the imperfections of the middle where all of the wires are folded around each other, I did one of two things. For the flower on the left, I used an embroidery needle and thread, made a very large knot in the end, and sewed the thread up and through various loops in the wire and called it good. For the flower on the right, I did the same thing, but then used a sewing needle (because the embroidery needle was too large for the button holes) to add the button on.

The really nice part about making flowers in this fashion, is that you really can't mess them up! 

And I just love them! And I like that I can coordinate them with any project or decor just by switching up the color in the middle!

Hope you enjoyed seeing more about these wire flowers.

And if you like these, you might also enjoy learning more about our felt and burlap flowers.

Check out that post here.

Click here to see the cute project we made with these flowers!

If you haven't liked our facebook page yet, you can do that here.

And you can follow me on Pinterest with this link.

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Most of all, have a great day!

A Crafty Spring Bouquet

Today I want to tell you how I made these pretty little felt and burlap flowers. 

I'm not always the best flower maker. I've tried some different flower tutorials and had varying success. Sometimes I see diy flowers and they are so, so pretty so I try my hand at them and they end up not resembling a flower at all! 

The best luck I've had with flowers until now were the flowers I made for our Live Simply Shutter project, which you can find here.

First, let me tell you a little about the vases I made for this project. These are actually plastic pieces that come in the ends of our vinyl tubes at work. We throw them out all the time. Awhile ago, I brought some home, because I just knew there must be someway to repurpose them. It just took me awhile to figure out how! 

For this project, I simple painted them with chalk paint. One is Annie Sloan Barcelona Orange and the other is Ce Ce Caldwell Santa Fe Turquoise. Then I just added a piece of scrap burlap and an old button to each with some gorilla glue and clamps. 

Next thing to do was make the flowers.

It was very easy, believe me. I cut some burlap and some felt in the shapes of daisy petals. Just free-handed it because they don't need to be perfect by any means. The only thing you need to be aware of, is leaving enough burlap left in the middle of the flower so that it won't end up falling apart. Since it's burlap, it will fringe off and if you don't have enough fabric intact in the middle, you might loose a petal or two! 

After everything was cut out, I picked out my buttons and then simply took some lower gauge wire that I had on hand, cut it long enough for a stem and poked it up through the burlap, felt and button hole. I then bent it, poked it back down through the 2nd button hole and through the material until it was far enough so that I could twist the 2 wires together underneath the flower. Before you twist, just give each side a little tug so the wire is tight against the button on the top of the flower. 

The best thing about adding the button, is that it hides any flaws you might have in the shape of your flower. All you can see are the petals, so if you cut a strange shaped flower that looks all wrong to you, don't throw it away. Chances are, it will look perfect when everything is together!

And then you're done! I put a little spanish moss into my upcycled vases and added my flowers. 

I love them! They are one of my favorite things to look at in the house right now :)

Later this week I will share a tutorial with you on how to make the wire flowers I used for decoration on our repurposed mail holder shutter. Those are super easy too!

If you haven't liked our facebook page yet, you can do that here.

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Most of all, have a great day!