Southern Scraps

I really wanted to create a winter white mantel after Christmas, but to be honest with you, my mantel remained bare for about three weeks after we finally got Christmas packed away. So instead, I incorporated some white pieces into my Valentine's mantel and used the shabby white cloth garland I made for my parents' fiftieth wedding reception as inspiration to create somewhat of a shabby chic look. I used a white birdcage with a pair of white birds inside. I left the white and gold bow on it- gold decor is growing on me now. I also placed some glitter heart picks from the Dollar Tree in a white thrift store vase. I'm also using the same red frame I used last year  during Valentine's and on last year's fall mantel. I love that I have a collection of things I can swap out season to season. On the other side I'm using my glitter heart mason jar and the punched heart specimen art I made three years ago when I first started decorating for Valentine's...

I thought you might like to see how I put together my Valentines mailboxes ,  tree, and snow globe for a little vignette. I didn't decorate my mantel this year, but I got this vignette up. I've been doing a little more healthy cooking so my time has been consumed in the kitchen rather than decorating.     The star of my vignette is this little bear I picked up at Goodwill for 49 cents. I was looking for a piece to make the snow globe with but this one didn't work. Hubby had commented that he liked this little bear, so I knew he had to be used. I thought he needed just a little extra touch so I cut out the word love with my Silhouette SD and attached it to the bear with glue dots.     Isn't he sweet? I hope you get to spend lots of time with the ones you love this week. I'll be sharing my vignette here: From Dream to Reality *I t’s a Party * Whatever Goes Wednesday * Show and Share * Hooking Up with HOH * Blissful and Domestic * Handy ...

  Do you still need to get Valentines ready for school or loved ones? These whip up quick and easy with the help of free printables. I made these yesterday using printables from Catch My Party and I Heart Naptime . I made them for the young adults we teach Sunday School to so I edited them to include "Sunday" and I added a tag with Matthew 18:20 so they would be more Sunday School appropriate.     If you need a few more ideas, these were some treats I put in hubby's basket last year .     Check out a couple more ideas here.   I'll be sharing here:   Think Pink Sundays * Under the Table and Dreaming * Sundae Scoop * Craftomaniac Monday * Make the Scene Monday * Masterpiece Monday * Motivate Me Monday * Market Yourself Mondays at Sumo’s Sweet Stuff * Pink Hippo Party * More The Merrier Monday * Make It Monday * Mop It Up Monday * Take a Look Tuesday * Handmade Tuesdays *   Tell Me Tuesday * Tuesday Talent...

Last year I was inspired by this post to make some altered mini mailboxes for Valentine's Day, but I wanted to make mine a little more dressed up.  I started with mini mailboxes from the Target dollar section. I bought mine last year but it was too late to get them done in time for Valentine's Day. I haven't seen them this year, but you can find some similar mini mailboxes HERE .

Everyone's getting ready for Valentine's Day. It will be here in a month. Here are 14 projects to inspire your Valentine's Day decor.

I loved all of the flower topiaries in blogland, but did not really have time to make all the flowers for one. Then I saw THIS ONE at Stay at Home Artist. I remembered that I had a ton of little silk ribbon roses left over from ornament making days 10+ years ago. I actually had put them and some silk covered ornament balls in the yard sale/Good Will box. And even though you aren't supposed to take something back when you decide to get rid of it, I took them back. I was actually going to use them, so I figure it's okay. I started with this: And ended up with this: I removed the silk threads from the balls and went to town shoving roses into the foam. I only used glue in the places that they didn't want to stay. Some are holding fine without glue. I didn't cover the bottom of the ball. I decided I need a smooth surface for it to sit on and it doesn't show. I made another one in pink roses. I've paired them with my heart specimen art on the mantel. ...

I waited until today to decorate the dining room table for Valentine's Day because I didn't think  I would really want to look at the stuff all that long. I've never really decorated for Valentine's Day. However, I'm quite pleased with my setting and may have to leave it up for a while. I'm more pleased with the fact that I only spent about $14 to achieve this. I purchased three packs of paper heart doilies, three bunches of roses,  one bunch of babies breath, and a pack of heart glitter picks from the Dollar Tree. I got a set of napkins from Tuesday Morning. Everything else I already had. I created a runner from the doilies and then used some for place mats. I added the glitter heart picks to the bouquet.  Hubby really likes it too. Thanks for stopping by. I'll be linking up to the parties on the side.

I picked up these mini jar candles at Wal-mart's after Christmas clearance for 25 or 50 cents each. I had Valentine's Day gifts in mind for these. I took out some paper scraps, punches, rhinestones, Prima flowers and ribbon and had a blast decorating these. I think I'll be on the lookout for more to decorate for spring and Easter. I started with this and ended up with this I made five total. Here they are: These were a lot of fun to make. I'll be linking up to All Things Inspired Blue Cricket Design Show and Tell Whatever goes Wednesday and others. Check out the list on the side.

So.... I told you yesterday that the fuzzy heart was just a sneak peak and that it was part of a bigger project. Here it is: My ruffle Valentine wreath. My ruffles didn't quite turn out like I planned, but that's the beauty of DIY. You can take something and morph it and make it yours. You can still make things work even when they don't go as planned. I was inspired by this wreath at Sunshine Mama. Since I put myself on a craft spending diet, I started with a cardboard box and cut a circle wreath form, much like she did. Her directions are probably better than mine would be. I started out tracing a cookie sheet and another lid and then got the husband involved with a measuring tape.  Just follow her directions for the base. I coated my cardboard form with Mod Podge for some extra stability as we live in a humid climate and I was afraid the cardboard would not hold up outside. I had some canvas-like material that I bought at Goodwill. When I got it home and unfolde...

When I first started working on Valentine's ideas, I realized I had no heart shaped things and not much in that theme at all. I made a vow to not bring in new stuff until I had cleaned up this room and used some of what I had. So... I dug in deep in the stash and came up with some knitting fibers that I have had for a long time. I don't knit, I bought them for scrapbooking and they have been used on many tags, notebooks, and bookmarks but I can't seem to use them up. Well, this put a big dent in them. I made myself a heart shape from a clothes hanger and started tying on strips of the fibers. And tied, and tied, and tied, until finally I had a finished heart. I like how fluffy and fuzzy it is. It's part of a bigger project, so this is really just a sneak peek. I'll show you the bigger project tomorrow. Here is the heart:  Thanks for stopping by. I'll be linking up to some of the great parties listed on the side this week.

I created this with thrift items and stash  for very little cost. Back during Christmas I saw these felt heart ornaments at Target. They have glitter on them. I immediately thought "Valentine's Day project." I took my chances and waited for the after Christmas clearance. I got lucky! I got them at 50% off and got three of them! (50 cents each) A couple of weeks ago I went to the Habitat Home store and found the perfect frame for $1.50. You must see the before shot to appreciate this. The mat inside has some yucky brown stains.  I removed the glass and mat. I cleaned the frame, lightly sanded it and painted it with some acrylic paint from Michael's and foam brush (both purchased on sale- paint 3 for $1 or  33 cents and brush 14 for 1.00 or .07 cents). When it dried, the finish was really flat, almost chalk like. Not what I wanted. So it had to have a top coat. I searched my stash and found some Triple Thick. This stuff creates a very shiny thick, ep...

I finally got around to a Valentine's project. I made a heart specimen art. I plan to put this on my mantel, but as it stands, I have no other Valentine's decor as I have never really decorated for Valentine's. My goal is to have some more stuff made by next weekend to go with it. I used papers from my "scraps" and did not have to cut into a full sheet of paper. I used my Marvy mega and giga heart punches and a Martha Stewart embossed heart punch to get three layers.  I used an 11x14 frame from the Dollar Tree and placed kraft colored cardstock in it as a base. There is a seam near the bottom third because I had to use two sheets of paper but you can only tell up close. The bottom heart is attached with a pop dot as well as the top heart for lots of dimension. I'm pretty happy with my first "specimen" art piece. Thanks for stopping by. You can find me linked up at these great parties: ...