I Do Designs: December 2010

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

My FIRST Tablescape

Oh, how I wish I could say that all my Christmas decorating is done and my house is now a “wonder to behold”, but sadly that is not the case. My husband tells me that if I would stop doing all these DIY projects I would get done, but he just doesn’t understand… I need those DIY projects to FINISH my decorating!!! Case in point? My kitchen table. I’ve had an idea in my head about what I wanted to do for a Christmas centerpiece, but just haven’t had the time to create the items I needed – until last night that is!!!! WAHOO!!!! F-I-N-A-L-L-Y had a chance to put everything together. Know what’s weird? I would have NEVER thought I would end up with black and white decorations for Christmas!!!! You ever have something in your head as to color schemes, etc. that you want to use, then find just one single item that completely takes you in a different direction? Well, that’s what happened to me! When we had the kitchen and family room painted, my intention was to decorate in white, brown, and teal colors. After finding several things which were black and white that I really liked, that plan went out the window. Anyway… back to the matter at hand… my tablescape!!!! Without further ado… below are pictures of what I came up with. Unfortunately, I don’t have a big ole “fancy-smancy” camera, so these pictures are not the best, but they should give you a good idea of the finished product.
First I started with some beautiful placemats. Several have a design beautifully cut into them, and the one for under my tablescape has a black and white design… perfect to use as the base to bring all the pieces together.

I started out by decorating a teacup. I was able to find this cute little teacup and saucer at our local Crafts 2000 store (LOVE that place!!!) for just $5. I used one of my “thrifty finds” candle holders to elevate the teacup. Turned it upside down and hot glued it to the saucer (also hot glued the teacup to the saucer).

I used some Glue Dots to attach some “Bling” to the cups.

I then filled the cup with black and white beans so I had something to hold the decorations in place, and then hot glued some decorations into and around the cup. I placed one of my small vintage spoons in the cup and perched a little blue glass birdie (ornament) on the saucer… that part was done.

I made two candles by purchasing some cheap 6” white pillar candles. I found some black and white tissue paper that perfectly matched my teacup. I cut one piece for each candle to cover the bottom three-fourths of the candle and hot glued it onto the candle. (I TRIED using my heat gun to make the candle melt into the tissue paper, but I think the tissue paper was too thick or something because it didn’t work.) I found some beautiful jewelry charms at Wal-Mart and added them to a black ribbon which I also hot glued on the candle. Wanted to add a little “bling” to those as well, so I once again used my “handy-dandy” Glue Dots (I’m telling you people, Glue Dots are quick and easy to use!!!) to strategically add some gems.

The white bowl/pedestal was another “thrifty find” which I picked up for a mere $3. Unfortunately I actually broke it before I even got it home… sadness! But, I glued that baby back together and I don’t think anyone will even be able to tell (if they can, then they are looking too close!! LOL). I put some greenery in the bottom of the bowl and stacked several beautiful black and white ornaments on top. Added some white berry picks here and there.

One more “thrifty find”… this cute little bird cage. It was already white, so other than pulling off the ~~ugly~~ disgusting decorations that were already on there, it was ready to go. I filled the cage with a little bit of greenery and some small ornaments. Put a few decorations on the top, and added another blue glass bird. I used a white candle holder on the bottom of the cage so I could elevate it up a little.

One final item was a small black vase (yep… another “thrifty find”).

Now the only thing left to do was put everything together. Taa Daaaaaaahhhhh!!! Here it is…

Added just a little greenery and a few pine cones around the base to finish it up.

I think it turned pretty good for my first tablescape. It’s hard to actually get good pictures, but hopefully you can get a good enough idea of what it looks like. Whatcha think? Did I do ok? Do you think I should have a tablecloth on the table? If so… white??? I believe I’m going to go and find a few parties to link up to.
Thanks for paying me a visit… I would like – no… I would LOVE to hear from you, so be sure to drop me a line. Also, I've been in the "50s" with my number of "followers" FOREVER... wanna help me escape from the fifties? Come on... get in the Christmas spirit and join up to "follow"!!!! Hopefully my journey has just begun and I'll have lots of new and exciting ideas to share with you!!!

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Silverware Wall Art

Slooooowly but surely I keep working on projects that have been in my head. Things have been so KRAAAAZY around here that there hasn’t been a lot of time for crafting. Last week I spent a few minutes working on some “Silverware Wall Art”. I’ve been collecting everything I knew I would need for some time. Here’s what I needed:
Got out my glue gun and fired it up!

One Goodwill find… $1.98
I removed the glass, then took out the picture to use as a backing for my project. Since the frame was already black I didn’t have to do anything to it.

One coffee burlap sack… FREE!! Yep… FREE! I called one of our local coffee shops and asked if they ever had any coffee sacks. The guy said I could stop by and pick one up. :-) I cut a piece of the burlap to fit the backing I took out of the frame. I wasn’t sure if I should use the glue gun to attach the burlap to the cardboard backing or not, but hey, I didn’t have a lot of time, so I gave it a go. Worked just fine.

Another small frame… $1.50
I knew that I wanted to use a small picture at the top of the larger frame so that it wasn't JUST silverware thrown on there. I found this small frame in my stash which was the perfect size. I took out the glass and spray painted it black.

Picture I already had (scanned and resized)… FREE!
I hot glued the picture into the small frame. I then took that small frame and hot glued it to the upper portion of the larger frame.

Goodwill silverware finds… $.19 each
This picture is just a small sampling of the silverware I have been collecting. I went through all of the pieces and pulled out some of my favorites to use.