Christmas Trees From Tomato Stands

A friend shared with me years ago an inexpensive way to make miniature Christmas trees. When I first made them I put one in each of my girls' rooms allowing them to decorate them to fit their personality or fad for that year. This was before the great variety of trees became available . This year I got them out of the attic to spruce up and use outside. They are soooooo easy to make.
Start with what I call a three prong tomato stand. I went to a hardware store for these. You will have to ask for them because this is not the season for planting gardens!




Tie the prongs together, I used a ponytail holder(could not find a rubber band in this house to save my soul)


Wrap with garland


I do not know the length of the garland but it is whatever length Walmart sells. I only used one swag. Sometimes the garland has a tendency to slide so I wrap a limb around the stand wire every chance I get.

Add lights


They have endless possibilities and I will probably wrap mine in mesh but wanted to post this before everyone finished decorating.
Merry Christmas!

Linking to: Chic on a Shoestring Decorating Flaunt it Friday , DIY Showoff , and Metamorphosis Monday

Wreaths, Wreaths, and More Wreaths

Earlier this month I went to a "Glorified Flea Market" in Jackson, MS called Mistletoe Marketplace. I jumped on the band wagon of the mesh wreaths. Convinced myself and a stranger standing next to me that I can do that. I googled and watched several tutorials on how to make them and here are some that I came up with.

This one is for a friend to put in her salon.




The bronze in this looks orange but it is my favorite. I really do need a camera lesson.

The wreath below was for a friend's mom but I changed the ribbon before she took it, I don't like the way it wraps around. Unfortunately I did not get a picture of the adjustment.



This is an all season wreath made from coffee filters. The pictures do not do it justice. They really are much prettier .



While hosting Thanksgiving in my home, Aunt Nancy ordered a "Mississippi State" wreath

This is an old one that I have had for years that I gave a "face lift" with the mesh.



Linking to The DIY Showoff Christmas

Laundry Room Makeover

This is my least favorite room in my home, mainly because I HATE to do laundry. I just never seem to stay ahead of the beast! I thought that MAYBE if I paint it I may have a better attitude about doing the laundry. It's amazing what a little paint and organizing will do! I am enjoying the results. I used Better Homes and Gardens Orange Spice.
Before






After

Pantry Redo

My favorite luxury in my home is my larger than most pantry. I have never had the best system of organizing the items in here. In fact, there are many things in there that should probably not be in there! Take a look at my shameful "before pictures"


Over several weeks every time I went to Ross' and Walmart I would buy containers that I wanted to use in helping me organize my mess. I took everything out of the pantry . This took more time than I want to confess. I had stuff in the dining room, breakfast room and kitchen. We looked like hoarders! How did I get all of this in that small room???






I painted the sheetrock and may go back and paint the backboards or put decorative paper on it. I am loving the gold paint so much that I am contemplating putting it in my living room. I am really enjoying my pantry and we are taking bets on how long it will stay that way.







I'm linking to Between Naps on the Porch and New Nostalgia



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Dining Room Curtains

Several years ago I made these toppers for my dining room windows. Sorry about the quality of the pictures but no matter the time of day or night, the lighting was not good.

I bought the Egyptian print from Hancocks, lined them with sheets like missmustardseed.blogspot.com . I am really enjoying them.

A Little Fall Decor

In the first picture, my friend Monica made this wall hanging that I just love. Got the idea to hang it on the mirror from, once again,thethriftydecorchick.blogspot.com. I made a trip to Hobby Lobby to make the wreath. It may look a little skimpy but I'm ok with it for now. The centerpiece is made from dollar tree finds. Now all I need is the cool weather!





Linking to DIY Showoff

Faux Wainscoting on Stairs

For the entire summer I have had markings on my wall up the stairwell. Being a math teacher can be a nuisance at times because I lost sleep over this problem. I wanted the faux wainscoting but when you are on an incline and curve that created another dimension! You see, the rectangles become parallelograms in this situation. I could calculate the angles on paper but when I made the cuts, I had anything BUT a parallelogram. I creeped many Woodmen of the World forums to try to get advice on this project. One would say it's a piece of cake and another would recommend ditching the project. I hate to give up! It wasn't until I saw a post on thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com that I understood what I had to do. I used this cheap mdf board, put up the verticals and filled in the horizontals. After 5 months of deciding how to tackle it(can you tell I have been watching football?) and minus a little more caulking, I AM FINISHED WITH THIS PROJECT! And believe me, my family is happy too!