Saturday, December 19, 2009

Festive Ideas



Ice-Scape





 Dollar Tree ornaments


The birdbath idea would work even in a warm climate. Just float flowers in the water, and place it on your porch. It is a way to decorate without spending. If you need a front porch decoration and do not want to spend money or have  no time to do any thing elaborate, just fill your birdbath in winter and add greenery and shiny balls or bells. Let it freeze overnight or snow on top of it. The next day its a lovely greeting for your guest.

The ornaments on this tree came in packages of 3 for a dollar. They are glittered styrofoam shapes, and can be used in a bowl or basket, if you dont use a tree. (The flowers are hand made, from a friend). The butterfly topper also came from the dollar store, and comes in other colors.

I am currently working on some cardstock ornaments that anyone can make with the simplest materials.    I want to tell how we used to make glitter, when we didn't have any. Has anyone else done this?  We would take aluminum foil,  and clip it into tiny pieces. Then we would use hand made glue from flour and water or flour and cornstarch, and paint it thickly on an area and sprinkle the chopped up foil. It was not as convenient , but we did not have the dollar stores where you could get it so easily.  It just shows you that where there is a will, there is a way. We could find foil papers from the linings of boxes or wrappers around sticks of chewing gum. Just about any kind of packaging was scoured for signs of useful artsy materials.  Sometimes the most interesting art comes from people who had to "make-do."

Hopefully I will have a page of templates for an ornament, a card, and a tag, and maybe more.


I wanted to tell a little bit about cannisters, because I have noticed that in most decorating magazines and kitchen decor sites, the decorators are not displaying cannisters anymore. I think the graduated sizes of storage containers like this, give a kitchen a look of order. When you have a set of them, you can use  them like a theme for your kitchen. There have been some cottage shaped cannisters out there, too, but they were quite expensive. In spite of the fact that cannisters are not on display in pictures of kitchens like they used to be, you can still find sets all over the place, and they are quite pretty and in all imaginable themes. 

To see what might be available at your local Dollar Tree, go here http://www.dollartree.com/home.jsp   This site also shows some creative ideas of things you can do with cheap stuff. I made a wreath, using one of their styrofoam circles, and two of their pink  scarves.

                                                                 
From the dollar store, You will need two scarves and a styrofoam wreath in white, and a roll of pink wired ribbon, with a silver edge. The total cost is three dollars. You can add ornaments to this, also. I used it for a little girl's room. Total cost: two dollars and fifty cents.



close-ups of the pink wired ribbon from the dollar store





11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Those canisters are beautiful!! My husband found pretty flower pictures on the internet free. He copied them then covered them with clear contact with an edge of the sticky contact around it and put them on the front of my glass canisters. It really made them look all new. With the 'old' look I love! They look like the pld decals. You could glue them on instead then 'paint' over them with a waterproof coating. You probably need several coats. There are so many pretty little things we can do for our homes. Thank you for showing us many ways.

Anonymous said...

I never made the homemade glitter but we did make our own glue. We used the glitter we bought on sterifoam shapes we cut out of sterifoam packing that was to be thrown out. Thanks for the idea on making our own glitter though!! Now I know! I have a couple pieces of different colored 2 sided shinny used wrapping paper that would work too. One thing we made and I still have when we were little was very pretty too. We cut out circles of many sizes using the shinny paper and glued each size back to back. Each side could be a different color. Making many in diffeerent sizes and colors. Put two sets on top of each. Two larger, 2 small, 2 medium etc. Mix the sizes up when you go to sew them. Mother would place them far apart on a single layer of news paper then run them through the sewing machine using a straight stitch {hold the thread when you start so it will not go into the feed dogs and tangle}...you have the balls several inches apart..even 6" or more apart. She tore away the newspaper and what was left was the stitching then one set of the colored ball shapes then a chain of stitches then another ball etc. As you sew them vary how far they are apart with each string of them. When they are hung up in a windowor door or above the stair banistar you can open up the ball shapes to form 4 v shaped color balls. To store just flatten them again, Very pretty. You can use used wraping paper or whatever you like.

Lydia said...

I give gifts any time of the year, and one thing I like to do is wrap one votive for each person, in a really pretty piece of shiny paper, with a curly ribbon. The hazelnut scented ones really smell nice, as well as cinnamon or vanilla. Try giving a bar of luxury soap from the dollar store. The Yardley brand almond-oatmeal scented is just wonderful. It comes in a box and can be wrapped quite nicely. Or get some of their gift bags, which sometimes comes two or three or four for a dollar,, and stuff them with all the little things you can afford from Dollar Tree. The votive candles are four for a dollar, so you can spread them out into four gifts. Then add soap, cologne, shampoo, hair clips, an ornamment, a night light, or a kitchen utinsel. I can remember when a rubber spatula or a serving spoon and a dish towel was very expensive. I wrapped up one each, in a pink dish towel, for a group of ladies and they loved it.

I think any time you have an event of any sort, it should be done with the love of God in mind. So, in that sense, every day and every special occasion is a holy day, or "holiday" as the name as evolved.

Hand made gifts can include hand made stationery using your rubber stamps or stickers, and blank papers and envelopes, tied up in a ribbon and put in a decorated box; or a scarf from fleece--no sew--just clip the edges to look like fringe.

Anonymous said...

Dear Lady Lydia,

What a lot of wonderful, inspiring ideas! I've made glitter before by crushing white eggshells, then placing them in a bowl with a bit of food coloring. I mixed the color in, then baked it on a cookie sheet till it was shiny (I got the idea from a book whose title I forget). It really did work! I've heard of using salt that way, too.

Anonymous said...

I love your home decorating posts. :)

Thanks for the wonderful ideas.

Anonymous said...

I love everything! Very pretty!

Lydia said...

I am very sorry for the inconvenience but I had some problems with my blogger and was not able to post the comments from last night or today, so I am pasting them here:

one can make little sewn gift bags very easily from scraps of leftover fabric.....I just make one strap, which I cross over from front to back to make these tiny totes and then they can be filled with little things from the dollar store. I sometimes trim them with a bit of lace or rickrack. Even purchasing fabric for them is inexpensive since you need so little fabric, a quarter yard or quilting fat quarter will do and they can be made for almost any holiday.....Christmas fabrics, of course, but cupcake fabric for birthdays, little house for someone who is moving, etc. The bag itself is then a gift also since it is handmade.


I love your ideas and we have a Dollar Tree nearby. I miss your craft posts and I am looking forward to more! I love your blog and look to it daily for inspiration.



Just wanted to say I was in Dollar General last evening, and they have some CUTE ballet flats and maryjanes. Obviously not the highest quality shoes around, but still worth checking out for those on a budget. They also had little girls corduroy maryjane playshoes, something I have been looking for as an alternative to tennis shoes.

Please post again if your post isnt here..

Anonymous said...

This year starting right after Christmas, I am making a list of family members and friends I want to give gifts to next year.

On the list will be what each person's hobbie or interest is. I will figure out a budget and stick to it. Also I'll start shopping during the year to find or make something for these folks.

I think this will be so fun and will definately help our budget out since we are retired now and on a fixed income.

Commenter 8:16 is right, every gift should be given with the love of God in mind. In that way we emulate Christ who gave in love.

Thank you Lady Lydia for your gift of this blog for us. You are a blessing dear.

Anonymous said...

And those lovely tree skirts will be on clearance next week!!

Sharon said...

these are just so pretty. Great ideas!

Barbara Jean said...

That is really sweet!
How did you make it??

blessings

barbara jean