Holiday fun begins!

Cooler weather and the time change means more leisure hours inside AND holiday festivities! When I lived in Kansas, I spent a lot more time indoors beginning October/November until the end of February because the bitter and/or rainy cold temperatures outside were simply unbearable.

After living in the South for the last six years, there are still enough cold or rainy days during the winter that keep me in and thus force me to flex my creative muscles... My mother visited a couple weeks ago and we did some projects worth sharing. I'm also happy to pass on the tricks we used to accomplish each of them.

My favorite of the two projects is this holiday wreath. My mom and I went to an arts and crafts festival while she was here and there were a ton of wreaths for sell. But they were SO expensive. I examined a few of them for the materials and told my mom we could make one ourselves for half the price. And that's exactly what we did! This wreath cost about $45 compared to the $100+ the vendors wanted.

This wreath used:
–2 different types of burlap ribbon (about 10 feet a piece)
–4 berry sprigs
–2 burlap poinsettia arrangements
–pipe cleaners
–and of course the wreath.

The most difficult task for this project was that damn bow! It took a bit of googling, but I finally found one I could understand.

One of these should work for you.
–http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ske_0dUJpEc
–http://tidbitsandtwine.com/diy-inexpensive-fall-wreath-and-fancy-bow/
–http://www.howdini.com/video/8663250/how-to-make-a-bow-for-a-wreath

The next project we did was refurbishing this HIDEOUS bedside table Kyle got from a hotel his company was remodeling. Structurally it's a solid piece, but it has that laminate top so wood won't warp from liquids, but that stuff just looks so frickin' cheap.

My mom suggested we paint it with chalk paint–all the trend right now. I thought we would have to sand it down first, which I HATE, and so I was not amused by the idea. But she assured me we would not.

–We unscrewed the door hinges so we could paint the inside more easily
–Put two coats of paint on, along with touch up of a few more areas that just seemed to soak up the paint.
–Added two coats of clear wax and then dark wax in some of the crevices
–Sanded some of the edges

                            AND VOILA!

Now how good does that look? I was so so so pleased with it. I often describe my taste in interior design as vintage farmhouse chic and this paint definitely gives you the possibility of making things look and feel aged and antiqued. I already have a couple of other projects lined up to use it on!

Well, that's it for now.