Southern Living Saturday: Unique Wall Art

The cooler weather we have been experiencing has me in a "nesting" mode! I enjoy every season, especially the beginning of each of them. I get very excited to dig out the decor for each new season and give our home a different look. I try not to be too Holiday specific with the decorative items I choose, opting for items that will look nice for longer periods of time. A lot of the items I decorate with can be changed for each season just by adding different flowers or "fluff" to them!

I love our brick fireplace, but I would LOVE to have a mantel that looks like this! If you would like to create the look in the above picture in your home, these are the items you will need from our fall Southern Living at HOME catalog:

1. 2 - Cordova Candle Sconces (item #40974)


2. 4 - Filigree Iron Wall Sconces (item #41116) Instructions below!


3. 2 - Jackson Square Lidded Urns (item #41233)


4. 1 of the Olive Jar Trio set (item #41027)


5. 2 sets of the Drake Firefly Lanterns (item #41208)


6. The Cordova Firescreen (item #41108)


7. Our Entertaining Bucket and Tray (item #40672) a Customer Special this month!

It will take four of these Filigree Iron Wall Sconces to create the circle. The votive holder is completely detachable (it slides into a bracket in the back) If you are like me, you don't want a million nails holes in the wall, so start by laying out the design you want to create on a piece of paper on your floor. To create the circular pattern lay each of the wall sconces at an angle, points touching at the top and bottom. Mark on the paper where the nails need to go. (hanging hardware is included with each sconce) Tape the paper to the wall and pound your nails according to your marks. Tear the paper off, hang the sconces and WA - LAH! You have unique wall art!

Wouldn't something like this be pretty hanging in the center of your new wall art? Or a simple grapevine wreath - the possibilities are endless!

Saturday - Southern Living Style

I know I have been a little absent from my blog this summer, but I am going to attempt to get back in to a routine now that some cooler weather is upon us. Since I love a good theme, I think we will do a little decorating "How to" on Saturdays - sound like fun? I think so!

I love to rearrange things in our home all the time. When you have as many collections of things as I do, it is fun to move them from room to room. It is always amazing to me how it gives the room a new look, and also the collectibles. I will shop my house and try things in a lot of different places (and drive My Handsome Prince nuts!) before I will settle on a certain look. When I get bored with that look I just move things around again!

Storage seems to be a challenge no matter what size house you have. In our Master bathroom the only storage we have is under the sinks, which is clear across the room from the shower. Not very convenient! Where do you put the towels? My solution was this Baker's Rack. It is slender enough that it doesn't block the doorway and it holds a TON of stuff! Even though it is serving a very useful purpose, I still like for it to be decorative. I'm all about "The Drippage" :)

Along with the towels and wash cloths folded neatly on their shelves, I have added a few Southern Living at HOME accessories to make the room seem more warm and beautiful. (In my opinion anyway!) I have used the Camille Vases, Francesca Frames, Signature Flowerpot and a Jamestown votive.

The Camille Vases (item 41155) are hand blown glass and come as a set of two. I am using the taller one to hold a bouquet of flowers, and the smaller one works perfectly as a reed diffuser - and keeps it smelling good in here! You could also use these to hold cotton balls, makeup brushes, a candle - you name it. They are pretty and versatile!

The Signature Flowerpot (item 41183) is just the right size to tuck in the corner. It can be used indoors or out, and comes with its own little coaster to catch any spills from the drainage hole. My fake plant stuffed in here won't have that problem! It would work in the kitchen to hold utensils, or line with a napkin and make a unique serving piece for breadsticks - whatever! I think my glue gun and I may create another little topiary with one of these!

The Francesca Frames (item 41106) come in a set of three. The tall one will hold a 4"x6" photo, the medium a 3 1/2"x5" and the round opening is 3 1/2" diameter. I love the distressed finish, and the fact that they can be hung on the wall if I want. This set would make great gifts - put the new school pictures in them and you have three very affordable gifts that anyone would be happy to receive. I am printing a couple of my favorite Bible verses on pretty paper to put in mine!

Here is the view as you enter from our bedroom.

I hope you have enjoyed my first edition of Southern Living Saturdays! I hope I will give you some ideas that you can put to use in your own home. If you would like more information about any of the products I have featured today, leave me a comment or you can go to my website and click on "Our Products" for more information.

Have a great weekend!

Another Craft Project: Topiary

Happy Monday!
I hope you had a great Easter! We had a wonderful weekend. Got a lot of things done around the house, and shared a fabulous meal with my family. Mom had ham and potatoes - Yummy!

On a recent trip to my favorite project store - AKA Hobby Lobby - I spotted the most gorgeous topiary, EVER. Then I saw the price tag, and was certain I was reading that WRONG. Over $100.00 instantly put it out of my price range, even if it did ever make it to a Half Price sale, or a 40% off coupon. The things I loved about it were the iron base, and a Fleur Di Leis finial they had put on top.

I put my "thinking cap" on, and went to the 80% off aisle! I found two heavy iron candle sticks marked down to $6.00 and $8.00. NOW We're TALKIN'! Off to the floral department where I grabbed some of the green Styrofoam balls in two different sizes and a few kinds of moss. The silk bushes were 50% off and I found a fern that looked fairly realistic. Now I needed a finial, so off to the aisle with the drawer pulls, also 50% off. I couldn't find a Fleur Di Leis that would work, but for $2, I liked this one just fine! So for less than $30.00 I have enough materials for TWO topiaries! Much better price, and my Good Friend HGG (hot glue gun) has been missing me anyway! Here's what I started with:

I used Spanish moss on the larger ball that I will use as my base. Work in small sections, putting some glue on the Styrofoam and CAREFULLY place a handful of moss on it. Remember, it is called a HOT glue gun for a reason! :) But it also works the best. I tried the spray adhesive and it doesn't hold as well for this project. For the top ball I used a lime green Reindeer moss.


Once I had the moss glued on both of the Styrofoam balls, I had the Handsome Prince bring me in a stick from the yard. He whittled it a bit on each end to form a point, making it easier to stick in to the foam ball. I cut the silk fern apart, and stuck it in to the Styrofoam. I actually think I need one more, so that will be an outing later this week. To finish it off, I stuck the drawer pull on top!

One down, and one (the shorter one) to go! This is where I decided I had better glue this to the candlestick, because we were leaning just a bit. The picture below is after the glue.

I'm pretty pleased with how this turned out. I'll finish the other one this week, and hopefully have after photos for you then!

How to make a Spring Centerpiece: Filigree Iron Candlestand

We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming to do a little decorating! Since American Idol completely messed up my schedule this evening, I decided to be a little bit productive.
The Nester recently did a series called "10 Minutes to a room you will Love". It was encouraging, a little kick in the pants if you will, to take a few minutes, "shop" your house and use things you already have to make our homes beautiful. Because we're worth it!

I had not decorated my Dining Room since I put the Christmas decorations away. It was looking a little bare, and making me a little sad. I don't like an empty table! I have a LOT of pretty things (I have a small obsession with dishes. and serving pieces. It's an addiction really...) SO, I gathered a few things I had around the house and made a centerpiece this evening. I was a good little blogger and took pictures to show you how to do one too!

I found this throw at Hobby Lobby on clearance for 80% off! I loved the soft colors and the texture of it, plus HELLO! 80% OFF!! Score! So I put that on the table first. Then I got out my Filigree Iron Candlestand (you can see one HERE) and a couple of garlands I had.

See how pretty this is! It's a nice, heavy weight too. Back to the centerpiece...

Work the greenery around the bottom of the candlestand. It doesn't have to be perfect! You want it to look natural - like it grew that way!

Grab some candles. I used two Vanilla 4x6 pillars and four 3x3 cinnamon and nutmeg pillars. The candlestand holds eight, you can use as many candles as you like, this is what I already had. For the two end candle holders, I used a little bird's nest I made with stuff from the craft store.

Then I took some loose silk leaves and just stuck in here and there. If you go to The Lob, in the Floral Department they have a basket full of plastic bags they have filled with random junk. They are usually $1.00 or $2 per bag. I've gotten these a few times and found some real treasures! You know how torn up the stems of flowers get - especially when they have them all at 50% off. They cut up those stems that most of us would call trash and bag them up. That's the stuff I tucked in here. There were even a few feather balls in there.

Isn't that little birdie cute?

Next, I set the table! Those of you that know me, know I LOVE to leave the table set. Might as well show off those pretty dishes! I have used a copper charger (Canterbury Charger for you Southern Living at HOME collectors). On top of that I used my Gallery Collection dinner plate and topped that with the Pacific Accent plate. The colors all blend beautifully with the throw that I found on clearance and am now in love with.

I like how the Tuscan Everyday Baker and Tidbits look with this too!

This took very little time to do, even with stopping to take pictures in between steps! Just a little effort makes a big difference in how the room "Feels". Look around your home - I bet you have lots of pretty things you could try in a different room than you are used to seeing them in. Even my Husband commented on how pretty it looked. That made my little effort worth it!