The Creative Home & Garden Hop

Welcome to The Creative Home & Garden Hop!  The Creative Home & Garden Hop is hosted by me and,

Mary from Back to the Basics and Mary’s Kitchen

Alison from Mumtopia

and Lisa Lynn from The Little Homestead On The Hill

That means that when you link up your posts each week, they will be viewed by even more people! Each host will be sharing her own picks for Featured Bloggers. This gives everyone a better chance of being featured and increases your exposure to new readers. Be sure to check all of our blogs to see if you were featured!

Sherry at Blessings From Our Nest updated a bench she had with a little paint and gave it a whole new look!

Linda from Life and Linda wanted a wood box to decorate with and wound up making her own elegant version!

Don’t forget to visit the other co-hosts to see who they have featured.

If you were featured, feel free to grab the button and share it on your blog!

Now, on to your latest creations!

• Share up to 3 of your Creative Home and Garden posts. Etsy sellers are welcome to share here too.
• Please link back to the hop in your post. If you don’t take a couple of seconds to do this, you won’t be featured. You can grab our cute button or use a text link in your post. Thanks for sharing the hop with others!
• Pretty please, with cherries on top, go visit as many of the other bloggers posting as you can! The whole point of a hop is to build a community of like minded bloggers who share and support each other. We all love to hear from our visitors, so please leave thoughtful and kind comments when you visit!
• Link your posts once. Please do not link the same post you linked last week! Let’s keep it fresh and fun!
• By linking your posts here you are assuring us that all images and contents are your own, or you have permission to share them. You are also agreeing to let us share your post and images on social media and our blogs.
• Happy hopping!

I’m looking forward to seeing all your links!

Minted

This is a sponsored post on behalf of Minted.

In keeping with my Balsam Hill wreath and their giveaway post, I thought I’d keep the early planning going with a post about Minted and, specifically, their Holiday and Christmas Photo Cards. 

In their own words:

Minted is a global community of independent graphic designers and an online store that prints and sells the best of their designs in the form of paper goods.

We believe that great design lives and thrives in the hands of indie designers that people may not have access to through traditional retailers. Our goal is to use technology to allow our community to discover the work of great designers from all over the world. And at the same time, create a place where designers can get exposure and build their careers.

Minted holds monthly design challenges for stationery, invitations, calendars, and other categories and all graphic designers are invited to enter. The Minted community selects the best designs in a highly competitive process, which gives us a top selection of the freshest, finest cards in the world. Winning designers earn cash prizes, a place in the Minted collection, and commissions on all sales of their designs.

I love getting photo cards at Christmas time from family and friends, especially those with children {or grandchildren these days!} to see how much they’ve grown.   I used to enjoy doing photo cards at the holidays myself when my kids were younger, although the options out there weren’t as widespread as they are today.

 

I like that some of their features include an optional back, where you can have your Christmas or holiday letter to recipients.  All the designs are beautifully done and prices vary with choices in different colors and shapes. 

They also offer a selection of wedding invitations.

Business cards.  These would come in handy for the Haven Conference!

As well as art prints.  There is even an area on their website where you can set up an inspiration board.  I will be passing this website onto my daughter, as she also likes to do Christmas photo cards now.  Just something to think about as we enter into September and we all know how quickly these next three months seem to go!

Dome Clock Makeover

Dome clock or anniversary clock, I pick them up whenever I see them {for a good price}.  It doesn’t matter what you call it, I guess, since it is going to be used as a cloche.  This one I showed you a couple of weeks ago. I picked it up in its original box at a garage sale for $4.00.

The base is plastic, but the dome or cloche part is glass.  After taking the clock mechanism off the base, I spray painted it with Rustoleum’s Metallic Aluminum {ultra coverage}.  One coat covered the brass color of the base.

To cut down on the brightness of the Metallic Aluminum, I dulled it up with some black craft paint.  I painted it on with a small paint brush then wiped it off after a couple of minutes.  I stopped at one point while you could still see what it looks like with and without the black craft paint.

The right side has had the black craft paint applied.  Kind of like a tarnished silver piece.  I continued doing that on the whole base.  I didn’t have to do the center, because that will be covered, but I did it anyway.

To cover the center, I usually use scrapbook paper since there are so many different colors and patterns to choose from, plus I have a lot in my craft room.  I chose this pewter and black damask to cover the holes in the center from the clock mechanism. 

I applied it with Mod Podge and once it dried I gave it another coat over the top.

Here it is styled with a few things I pulled from around the house.  A Peter Rabbit book I just picked up at a recent garage sale.

A little white ceramic crowned bird.

Some lovely items from Rosemary at Villabarnes.

A real piece of heavily tarnished silver.

Unless you touch it, I think the base looks like it could be a tarnished silver piece and not the plastic that it really is!

Now I have another cloche I can use to display things. 

I think the color on this one will work beautifully for Halloween and Christmas with that tarnished silver looking base.  I could just see a skull in here or silver Christmas ornaments.

Linking up with:

Stylish Friday Finds at A Stylish Interior

 

Pinterest Inspired Fall Project & A Winner

I am sure that, like me, many of you also pin so many different projects you’d love to try on Pinterest, whether it is a craft, recipe or decorating.  I thought I’d actually go back through my different pins that made me say “I want to make that” and actually make them.  I thought I’d try a fairly easy one first and went to my “For The Home” board and picked this one.

Original Source: Seasons of Joy

I had this project in mind when I picked up this terracotta pot from an estate sale a few weeks ago.

I loved the coloring to it and the scallop on the edge.  Now I just needed a grapevine wreath and some greenery and berries.  I went to the dollar store for the wreath but they were out of them, so I took the one I got there last time, took the eggs off and used this one. 

I used the greenery that was already on there and picked up a few Fall floral bunches and some styrofoam at the dollar store.  I already had the wire ribbon for the bow.

I put the foam in the pot and cut a wire hanger to hold the wreath in place in the foam.  I started to fill in with the berry bunches and florals. There are a total of 5 bunches in here, some cut apart to use singly and others left as the bunch.

This obviously isn’t an exact copy of the inspiration, but I like to put my own spin on projects and use the inspiration picture for just that ~ inspiration.  I can always go back in and take some things out to make it a little simpler looking, like the inspiration picture.

I had a few different ribbons that I could have used for this project.  You can see from the picture above that this person used a pretty brown wired ribbon.  I had brown but decided to go with this orange plaid as it seemed more Fall-ish to me.

For about $7.00 {including the cost of the pot} I got a pretty Fall decoration that I can use indoors or out.  Mine will be sitting on our table outside our front door.  This is a partially covered area so I think it will be okay if it rains, but I expect I will bring it in the house if I need to so it doesn’t get destroyed.

Have you made anything that you have pinned on Pinterest yet?  I’d like to try to make at least two projects a month from those ideas and inspirations I’ve pinned.

The winner {via random.org} of the Balsam Hill Wreath giveaway is Lucky #4, Susanne Hefner!  Congratulations Susanne!  I will be contacting you for your shipping information and choice of wreath.

Linking up with

Make It Pretty Monday at The Dedicated House

Inspire Me Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life

Sizzle Into Summer at DIY by Design

Stylish Friday Finds at A Stylish Interior

Be Inspired at Common Ground

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage

 

The Creative Home & Garden Hop

Welcome to The Creative Home & Garden Hop!  The Creative Home & Garden Hop is hosted by me and,

Mary from Back to the Basics and Mary’s Kitchen

Alison from Mumtopia

and Lisa Lynn from The Little Homestead On The Hill

That means that when you link up your posts each week, they will be viewed by even more people! Each host will be sharing her own picks for Featured Bloggers. This gives everyone a better chance of being featured and increases your exposure to new readers. Be sure to check all of our blogs to see if you were featured!

Denise from Bella Dreams redecorated a cabinet in her dining room using things she already has, giving it a vintage look that is lovely to look at!

Nicky at the Pink Recipe Box shared a smoothie recipe that makes for a healthy breakfast and it also sounds delicious!

Being a grandparent myself, I love Barb’s Grandparent’s Day Gift!  What grandparent wouldn’t be thrilled to receive this!

Don’t forget to visit the other co-hosts to see who they have featured.

If you were featured, feel free to grab the button and share it on your blog!

Now, on to your latest creations!

• Share up to 3 of your Creative Home and Garden posts. Etsy sellers are welcome to share here too.
• Please link back to the hop in your post. If you don’t take a couple of seconds to do this, you won’t be featured. You can grab our cute button or use a text link in your post. Thanks for sharing the hop with others!
• Pretty please, with cherries on top, go visit as many of the other bloggers posting as you can! The whole point of a hop is to build a community of like minded bloggers who share and support each other. We all love to hear from our visitors, so please leave thoughtful and kind comments when you visit!
• Link your posts once. Please do not link the same post you linked last week! Let’s keep it fresh and fun!
• By linking your posts here you are assuring us that all images and contents are your own, or you have permission to share them. You are also agreeing to let us share your post and images on social media and our blogs.
• Happy hopping!

I’m looking forward to seeing all your links!