Top Projects of 2010

Rhoda over at Southern Hospitality is having a link party that I thought would be fun to join.  Here are my favorite projects of 2010, with the links to the actual tutorials in case you’re interested!

January

My Burlap Tissue Box Cover glammed up cheapie Aldi’s tissue boxes in my bathroom:

February

I combined a Marshall’s frame and a wedding invitation to make a super-frugal wedding gift for my cousin and his wife:

 

March

Thrift store elements combined to make a super-easy framed monogram:

I also transformed a tacky flower arrangement into a topiary for all seasons.

I took the $5 Challenge at Lindsay’s blog and came up with my Ballard grass knock-off using only elements from the Dollar Store:

 

May

I improvised a menu-board and a recipe holder for my kitchen with my Double-Duty Chalkboard Frame:

 

June

I gave my “mantel” a beachy look for the summertime, using shells and other items I’ve collected over the years:

 

July

My ratty church-sale footstool was given a total French manicure makeover:

 

November

I made my own version of the popular Ballard topiaries:

 

I didn’t get to as many projects as I wanted to this year, considering a large chunk of my year was spent painting, renovating, landscaping, moving, and then living with my parents while we wait for the short sale we want.   I seriously CANNOT WAIT to be back in my own place and decorating again. 

Anyway, it was fun to remember some of the projects I did this year.  Head on over to Rhoda’s for some more creative inspiration!

Ballard Knockoff: Mini Potted Boxwood Tree

A few months ago, while looking at my Ballard catalog, I saw the cutie-pie little tree that you see below on the right. On that particular page, two of the mini-trees were flanking a mantle and I knew that at some point I would want to make a knock-off version for Christmas. Unfortunately, that catalog page is still in the office of our house in PA, but you get the idea.

The Ballard one costs $50, plus shipping (in their defense, they use real boxwood leaves, but still. That’s crazy.) Mine was only $11 (cost breakdown at the end!)

Supplies needed:

Mini urn (they usually have tons of these at thrift stores)
Styrofoam tree/cone form (mine is from Dollar Tree)
Boxwood leaves (I bought mine at Michael’s, and ended up needing two, not one)
Toothpicks
Dark paint
Hot glue gun

Short version: You’re sticking bits of the boxwood into the foam. But you knew that, right? :)

Here’s some tips if you want more info.

1. Paint your base – this will help later to hide your gaps. I just took black paint and mixed it with brown to make it a little more green.

2. Start clipping off your boxwood from the stems and inserting them into the styrofoam. I’ll be honest, this takes a while. I cut mine into two lengths. On the left (we’ll call that #1) is how it looks clipped off the brown “stem,” and the middle and the right show the pieces after I cut them so I could actually insert them. The thicker piece is obviously much easier to insert into the foam; the thinner pieces (middle below) were easier to insert with a pre-poked toothpick hole. (A pre-poked toothpick hole? Did I really just type that?! lol)

3. I personally made a ring around the whole bottom (using all #1s) to see how far they would stick out, and then I went all the way up one side. Keep poking and adding and poking and adding. Remember that you’re making a tree, not a bush, so you want there to be a gradation.

4. As you get near the top and your pieces get shorter and shorter, you’ll probably want to start hot-gluing them onto the tree. I would poke a hole with the toothpick, get 2 or 3 of the shorter branches together, hot-glue the end, and then stick it into the pre-made hole. At the very top of the tree, I just hotglued them all (no holes).

5. My brother gave me the idea to use toothpicks to secure the bottom of the tree into the base of the urn. I forgot to take pictures of this part but I’m sure you can use your imagination. :)

And here she is! How cute is this?!

I intentionally left a lot of the leaves a little scraggly because I wanted the tree to have a more natural feel to it than the Ballard one. I’m so happy I found this urn – it already had the perfect amount of chippy-ness that I was looking for. (Um, did I really just type “perfect amount of chippy-ness?” Who am I today?! haha)

And just to keep it real after my last post, here’s where my girl is residing until we actually move: on my sister’s dresser, in front of her collection of Coach boxes (for the record, I own not a single Coach item *cough* Santa *cough*) and near my jewelry, nail polish, and perfumes.

SO cute and Christmasy, right?

Here’s the final shot of her make-over from drab to fab :):

Urn: $2.99
Styrofoam base: $1
Boxwood total: $7.00 after sales and coupons
(I already had the paint, glue, and toothpicks.)
Total: $10.99!

Before I go, I would like to point out that this little tree resulted in my first honest-to-goodness hot glue gun burn. I have a blister and everything. I am a total baby but man that sucker hurts. Does this mean I’m a real crafter now? :)

Have a great weekend girls! :)

Linked to:
Frugalicious Friday @ Finding Fabulous
Frugal Friday @ The Shabby Nest
Remodelaholics Anonymous @ Remodelaholics
Show and Share Day @ Just a Girl
Just Something I Whipped Up @ The Girl Creative
Make it Yours Day @ My Backyard Eden
Show Us What You’re Workin’ With @ Me and My Bucket
Knock-Off Party @ Homebody

Ballard-Inspired Grass: The $5 Challenge

Lindsay, of the fabulous blog Living With Lindsay, is hosting a "5 Dollar Challenge" on her blog. The mission? To create Spring decor using only $5 worth of materials from the Dollar Tree.

I left for the Dollar Store with several ideas in my head, but I hadn't been to the Dollar Tree in months so I had to look around for a while to see what my options were. I put a bunch of stuff in my cart, waiting for inspiration to hit. As I went by the fake flowers, I noticed "Onion Grass" (chives to me!) in the selection. *Ding - light bulb! :)

I immediately remembered this picture from the Ballard Designs March catalog:

Notice the onion-grass display on the table? It's not even for sale (that I know of), but I circled it immediately because I knew that was something I eventually wanted to attempt. (I'm not even gonna try to pretend that mine looks as good as theirs, but I only had the Dollar Tree to work with, remember!) J

I picked up two packages of onion grass (the last two they had), a square floral foam, and.....
confectioner's sugar.

That's right! I searched every aisle of that store for a low, rectangular container and could.not.find one. I really wanted the project to have angles and not be in a round container. You should have seen me in there, holding up my onion grass to all sorts of different shaped boxes, trying to make it work. I'm sure the employees thought I was bonkers.

To complete this project, I also used burlap (left over from this and these) and a scrap piece of ribbon I had that was wrapped around my box of Target baby-shower thank you cards (I always save ribbon I like - you never know when it will come in handy!).

I cut the top of the box, took the sugar out, and painted it a uniform shade of brown (it's not the shade that matters; I just didn't want bright yellow and blue showing through the burlap). The next few pictures are kinda yellowy because they were taken during Mommy's happy hour(s) - Luke's bedtime! :)

I also took some of the cut-out cardboard and used it to bulk up the sides.

Once it dried, I simply tucked and folded the burlap in and hot-glued it.

In process (it's not supposed to look pretty inside!):

One of the tucked in sides:

Here's what it looks like when finished:

I waited until after this point to cut the floral foam, since I didn't know how much fabric would be on the inside, bulking up the box.

Once I had cut the floral foam to size, I started snipping off about 2 or 3 inch sections of grass to insert. Since the grass is not very wide on its own, it really helps to insert several pieces at the same time so that you can ensure that it will stay.

Here's what it looks like when you start:

Here's how it looks after one stalk was in:

And in its finished state. I hot-glued the ribbon around it for a little something extra.
I thought about trimming the grass to the same length,
but I decided that I liked the natural look.

And there you go! Ballard-inspired grass for only FOUR dollars!

Check out Lindsay's blog for other $5 inspiration! J

A Topiary For All Seasons

I'm sure you've seen topiaries in a bunch of catalogs and stores lately. Well, I have been holding onto a mini urn since TWO Christmases ago! It was $1.99 at Goodwill, and then 60% off, so....$.80, right? My math skills are pretty outstanding. Don't be jealous.

I've been staring at it in my project box all this time, just knowing I could transform it into something fabulous. Abby at Tales and Trials posted an adorable little topiary of her own, and that got my butt into gear and I got to work!

In my hurry to rip off the pink flowers, I forgot to take a full before picture, but you get the idea. I picked off about 50 of those things (trying to make it easier to saw off the top), only to discover that I could just slip the styrofoam triangle right.off. Duh.

Please don't judge me but I may or may not have actually used this in my Spring decoration last year. In all honesty, I don't think it's really that bad - to me it looks like a cute table decoration for a pink wedding....just.....in 1995.

Anyway, I decided it was time to give this old tired girl a makeover! I gave the bottom a new coat of paint (I just mixed a bunch of browns and black acrylic together) and painted the stem (it's a little green for my taste but I don't have a good brown for it yet so that'll have to wait until I make it back up to Michael's.)

A craft ball went up on top:

And the moss for the top and base:

I purchased the craft balls and the moss with 40% off coupons at Michaels ($6 for both items, I believe).

Took out Claudia (my hot glue gun) and away we we went!

I am in total love, and for less than 7 bucks! :)

(Plus, I have about half a bag of moss left and the other styrofoam ball to use for another project!)

I call this a topiary "for all seasons" because I saw several adorable potted plants in the PB catalog, but they were all chippy and whitewashed and they were more appropriate for Spring and Summer decorating. I did a greenery project like that, but it will be debuted in another post. I wanted this baby to last me all year!

One thing I will add: if you move a lot, moss may not be the project for you. It is VERY messy.

Now I just can't decide where I like her furry little goodness best! :)

Although I am really loving the way it picks up the urns of the garden in our wedding photo.

Linked to all my favorite blog parties:

DIY Day @ A Soft Place to Land

Frugalicious Friday @ Finding Fabulous

Thrifty Thursday @ Tales from Bloggeritaville

Show and Tell Friday @ My Romantic Home

Transformation Thursday @ The Shabby Chic Cottage

Saturday Nite Special @ Funky Junk Interiors

Show and Tell @ Blue Cricket Designs

Trash To Treasure Tuesday @ Reinvented

Make It Yours Day @ My Backyard Eden

Frugal Friday @ The Shabby Nest

Penny Pinching Party @ The Thrifty Home

Show Us What You're Workin' With @ Me and My Bucket

Metamorphosis Monday @ Between Naps on the Porch

Just Something I Whipped Up @ The Girl Creative

Weekend Wrap-Up @ Tatertots and Jello