4th of July pallet and pvc pipe firecrackers

Easter Eggs - Foil and Rhinestone decorations

Lately I have fallen in love with everything silver whether it be Christmas ornaments or antique silver platters.  With a little free time on my hands I covered regular plastic eggs with regular kitchen foil and hot glued rhinestones and trimming to make these beautiful eggs.  

I thought they turned out quite beautiful.

It's been a few days since I made my eggs and while spending a beautiful day in Tomball, Texas eating wonderful German food and shopping the antique stores, I came across this little mercury glass rabbit which was exactly what I was hoping to find to go with my eggs.

Chalkboard Easter Eggs

It is time to get the Easter decorations out.  Yes, I am skipping St. Patricks Day again this year.  At Walmart this morning I found the cutest eggs to use in my decorations.  Chalkboard eggs for just $1.98!

Kitchen decorating - wood floor, pewter plates and valance

I've been in my home for about 7 years and I've enjoyed decorating the majority of the house, but the kitchen has been hard for me to decorate.  First I couldn't decide whether to paint the cabinets or not. Then I started looking for curtains for the two large windows above the bench.  So, 7 years later, I am finally tackling the job. These are my move in pictures.

Beige tiled floors, bland, flat beige walls. In fact, the whole house was painted in the flat (hard to clean!) beige walls.  

Next came the appliances.  The counter top is black with green specks. It's not too overpowering I think.  The appliances are black with chrome/silver. 

From another post on my blog, I posted pictures that showed the change to the backsplash and the area above the windows.  The letters were vinyl that were cut using my Cricut machine with the exception of the Bon Appetit.  Since we decided we needed to repaint the living room, we decided to also paint the kitchen since it is a somewhat open floor plan.  All one color so it ~flows~.  In other words, I didn't know what color I wanted for the kitchen.  

We ripped out the carpeting (thank you dogs for using my living room as your personal toilet!) and installed laminate wood.  Let me stop here and say I LOVE my floor.  The only exception being that the dark wood shows every speck of grass, paper, etc.  Easy to clean and maintain!.  

We went from this...

to this!

Ok, I hate the pillows and that will be my next project. The walls are not the green like it shows in the picture.  The are painted a warm beige with a satin finish.  The paint has a tint of pink in it which changes around sunset each day. One of those things you don't know about until you have the entire room painted. 

Here is the kitchen with the wood floor.  What a beautiful change from the tile!

I still do not like the light wood cabinets but I am putting up with them until I can figure out whether to install veneer or paint.

Back to my dilemma about the valance.  I've searched the web and I do mean, I searched the web for curtains.  I've also shopped Bed Bath and Beyond, Marshalls, JC Penneys, Macy's, Dillards, Target, Walmart, etc.  I could not find a valance I wanted. One, it had to go with the silver appliances and two, it couldn't be frilly or lacy.  I wanted something tailored.  

So, after 7 years and an endless search, I found a valance on ebay.  I ordered three valances for $30 (not a bad deal).  Two for the window and one to make pillows for the bench. 

I'm not really liking the fringe so that may have to be cut off.  I taped the valances to the window frame to see if I liked them. (why tape?  because I haven't bought rods yet).

I'm not sure if the pewter plates are staying there or if I am going to move them to above the cabinets and put my silver platters in their place. I'm also not sure whether I want a floating shelf or just hang the platters. 

$30-$50 for a curtain rod? Nope, not for me.  Besides, from the way I wanted to hang the valance, no one would see the rod anyway. So I purchased a conduit rod at Lowes for $6.  They even cut it for me for free.  92 inches of strong metal which was really stronger than what I actually needed.  I purchased a shower curtain rod hanger (does that sound right?) to hang the rod.  One screw for each end and I was done.  

To be continued. 

BLING candles in five minutes or less

Maybe it was because I finally got new glasses that things are quite clearer now! I noticed these candles had become quite faded from the sun filtering through the windows.

I didn't want to through them away so I covered them with some Bling Ribbon from Michaels.  It comes in black or silver. 

Celebrate It Bling Ribbon

To cover the candles, I used sewing pins and heated the pins with a lighter.  This makes it easy to push in to the candle and the candle wax doesn't chip.  Be sure to not burn your fingers!  Push the pin in to one of the holes and in to the candle.  I used about six pins down the length of the candle.

Now to find a new place to put them!

DIY 5 minute pearl tree

I recently saw cute little trees on Pinterest and started looking at the "how to" videos on YouTube.  I thought, this can't be that hard to make but they seem very time consuming.  I only wanted a few to place with some of my Christmas decorations.  

It is a rainy day in Houston and I don't feel well enough to take down my Christmas decorations but I was in the mood to craft; something easy and not a big mess.  

I first started the afternoon by organizing my ribbon boxes.  That is, organizing the ribbon inside the boxes.  My step daughter and I pretty much went through all my ribbons and trim while making her homecoming mum and we left everything in quite a mess so I wanted to divide the homecoming stuff from my ribbon and trims.  In my box I found little pearl and silver picks left over from my wedding 5 years ago.  These looked exactly like what they were crafting on YouTube.  

Bouquet Jewels 11" Pearl Wires

11" Pearl Wire Stems $4.39 pkg/ 3 pkgs $3.79 pkg 12 per pkg. Regular price $5.99 pkg. 11 inch sturdy wire stems with 10mm white pearl tops. 12 pieces. Use to add sparkle to floral arrangements, bouquets, and wedding centerpieces. 

You can find these on the internet to order (I bought mine at Michaels).

I twisted the pieces together and then I had a little tree. They are cute, don't you think? And it took me less than 5 minutes to make.

Now I just have to decide where I am going to use them before I put my Christmas away.  Maybe I can use them for Valentines Day.  Hmmmmm.