The Thrill Of The Hunt

Sometimes, I think that the thrill of the hunt in finding something is just about equal to the thrill of actually acquiring that something!  I spent a whole day this week trying to find three wall mirrors that I recently saw on Sonny at 155 Dream Lane blog, which she happened to show a portion of in one of her posts. 

Great knock off look of Ballard’s Garden District mirror.  A set of two is $229.00 from Ballard’s. 

The ones I got {eventually} from Target were $25.89 each.  I did get the three I wanted, even if it required several phone calls to several Targets as well as trips to three of them.

I hung them above this chest in our dining area, which has basically become a sideboard here.

Close enough to a Ballard’s look that I love them!

Just in case you wanted to get them yourself, they are on clearance, are discontinued, and there are limited quantities out there.  Good luck!

Linking up to

Open House Party at No Minimalist Here

Fall into Fall at DIY by Design

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

Kathy

Fun Gift Wrap Idea

I did this for my daughter one year when I bought her a bunch of different colored and patterned socks.  This year I’m doing it for my granddaughter.  Take one of the empty cardboard tubes that your wrapping paper was wrapped around, some safety pins and your socks.

Safety pin all the socks together ~ toe to cuff until you have them all pinned together

Stick them in the tube.  You may need some help from a dowel, knitting needle or pencil to get it to go all the way through.  When you see it at the end, stop.

Wrap it up and stagger the paper if your paper is the same size as the tube, leaving some end paper.

Squeeze that end paper together so that the tube looks like a giant cracker and tie off with ribbon.  I didn’t have any curling ribbon so I just used what I already had in the house.  You could also use twine or string.  The curling ribbon looks really good though.

A gift of socks never looked so good and you’ll get some laughs when it’s opened and the socks are pulled out of the tube.  It makes me think of the neverending scarf trick that magicians do.

Kathy

Shedding Some Light

I got this great light fixture from Joss & Main with a credit I had several months ago.   It was only offered in the silver color for this size.

I had really liked the larger size because it came in the darker color, but it was too big and more money.  You can see it has two tiers of lights as opposed to the one tier of 4 on the one I got.

I knew, though, that I could get mine to look the same by painting it Oil Rubbed Bronze.  So I did just that!

We are mounting this light here.  Can you see the ceiling plate?

No light fixture in this dining area or the adjoining living room, although there are plates up there indicating that electrical is in place.  We can really use the light because eating by lamp light only goes so far! 

My son will be back to stay with us for Christmas so I’m hoping I can talk him and my husband into doing a father/son project and hook it up for me.  I’ll be back to show you how it looks once it’s up!

Linking up with

Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps On The Porch

Kathy

Christmas Quickies

I’ve got two quick projects for you today.  One you can make for yourself or give as a gift.  The other can hold a gift ~ specifically, a gift card.  First up is a gift card holder I made using an Altoid tin.

I keep these tins on hand when they are empty because they just beg to be dressed up and reused.  Plus, you are recycling in the best way possible.  I took some Christmas scrapbook paper and traced the inside bottom portion for sizing.  I cut two pieces and this paper happened to be reversible so I got to use one piece of scrapbook paper.

Mod Podge one piece and put in the inside cover.  I used craft scissors to cut a little more decoration into the one that was going on the outside top and then attached that with Mod Podge. 

Once they dry, put a coat of Mod Podge over the top of both.  The red of the tin works well for this particular project, but you could paint these with paint that works for metal.  You could also apply ribbon around the base part, but I just left mine.

Best thing is that a gift card fits perfectly inside!  The second project is  using those pretty little decorative frames you can find in the dollar bins at Michaels.  I’ve been picking up a few every so often. 

I used the same scrapbook paper for the insert on this and then used the JOY scrabble tile letters I picked up at the antique store recently. 

I applied them with hot glue, added a ribbon and you’ve got something to hang from a cabinet knob, door, as an ornament, just about anywhere.  I found that the stands on these frames don’t do well being turned hence the ribbon.

Great little project to keep for your own décor or to give as a gift.

Kathy

Quick & Easy Ornaments

I bought a box of white ornaments at Hobby Lobby the other day.  All their Christmas stuff is 50% off.   I found a small package of transfers that I already had and just rubbed some of the designs and phrases onto the ornament.

You don’t have to limit yourself to Christmas designs.  There are so many great rub-ons available to coordinate with your home or personalize with a monogram.  This would make for a great gift, too!

Five minutes and you’re done!  You could do the whole box of six in under half an hour.

Kathy