Flocked Pinecones

We recently visited family in East Texas and had a pinecone hunt! My family is super competitive and will turn anything into a competition…....a fun one of course! My Mom and I had a contest to see who could find the BEST pine cone; 4 bags full of pinecones later we finished our little competition.



Now that I have pinecones out the wazoo I knew I needed to come up with a few ways to use them throughout our home this Christmas. Pinecones are readily available and are a wonderful option to decorate your home for the holidays all while keeping cost down.

Here’s what I used for this project:
*Snow Frost and Iridescent Snow Flaks, (both purchased at Wal-Mart for $2 a bag)
*White and Silver Glitter
*Spray Adhesive

It gets messy so wear gloves if you have them

Mix glitter and snowflakes in a plate, spray your pine cone with glue and go to town.

After you cover your pine cone in the snow mixture spray another light coat and sprinkle more glitter over the pine cone for a little extra bling.

I had some metallic gold spray paint on hand so I sprayed a few pinecones gold. It really catches the simmer of the glitter. I wish I had some white spray paint….I think white would be soooo beautiful! I’ll probably break down and pick up a can even though I’m trying real hard to come up with projects using things I already have around my home.

Here are a few inspirational pictures of
ways you can use pinecones throughout your home.

Image from: Country Living

Image from: Country Living


This would be so pretty with flocked pinecones!

Image from: Country Living

I’m planning on using the ones I made to do something like this. Image from: Martha Stewart Living

Ribbon Scraps

Stop!!! Don’t throw away your ribbon scraps, you can use them to make this…….

I had some ribbon scraps left over from a project and couldn’t bring myself to throw them away; they’re just too pretty. I played around with them and came up this,Uhhhhh let’s call it a ribbon rosette. It’s super simple and I’m sure you can find many, many uses for them.

Here's what ya do…..

Lay your ribbon scraps out like so.

Bunch them together..........


and bend them until you get a shape you like. I used wired ribbon. You probably will not get the same effect if you use a ribbon that is not wired.

Get out your trusty stapler and staple the bottom tip. Cut tips of ribbon in a V shape and play with it until you get a shape you like. Super simple….right?

I made a bunch for the garland on my stair railing. I won’t lie this project started off as a way to use the scraps I had but I loved it so much I actually cut extra ribbon to make more!

So many options! What about adding them to your tree?

Or giving a Christmas package a little love.

Now I just need to think of something to do with these pretties

Just a reminder……..

Our linky party (What’s your Christmas Décor Obsession) is on Dec 9th. If you want to know more just click the button on the side bar. It will direct you to all the info.

Trimming the Tree Day 2

The tree is finished and I’m ready to move on to the rest of our home. Before I do I wanted to share just a few more things I do to decorate our tree all while staying on budget.

If you missed the clips from yesterday you can find them HERE.

Let’s get started...

Rounding out Your Tree

Adding Flowers and Fancy Frills


Buying Items such as flowers, ribbon, and berries can get expensive. Here are a few options of ways you can collect these items and keep the cost down.

*Use coupons whenever possible. Craft stores that sale items such as these always have a coupon in the Sunday paper

*Stock up after Christmas when everything is marked down. You may not be able to use them on your tree this year but you will be happy you have them when next year rolls around.

*Check local Goodwill and Thrift Stores. They often have berries and flowers that people have thrown out. You can collect these items throughout the year as you come across them. This how I came across the sticks of berries I showed in the clip above.

*Deconstruct an old wreath you are no longer using or pick one up at your local thrift store. I’ve found some really great sprigs this way. The glitter leaves I showed in my clip came from an old wreath I no longer wanted. I even found an old Christmas wreath at Goodwill that bit the dust (it was $1.50). I pulled a few things off it and plan to repurpose them in when I start wrapping gifts. For a $1.50 you can’t beat it!

*Don’t forget the Dollar Tree. They have tons of great options for things you can stick in your tree or garland to give it that extra pop! *Get out the glitter and spray paint and spruce up some pine cones! They are easily available and would be a wonderful way to add a little nature to your tree.

I'm linking up with:

Reinvented who is also having a great giveaway! Stop by her blog and check it out...I think you will be happy you did.

Blue Cricket Design

Trimming the Tree (including video clips)

Like most, I LOVE to decorate for Christmas. I in my genes and I can’t help it. I started collecting ornaments and Christmas décor before I had a home of my own. I still think I need more but Kent thinks I go wayyyy over board! I have no idea how a Mrs. Clause became engaged to a Mr. Scrooge (aka Kent) but I am and we make it work…..with a few little arguments along the way. ;0) Even though he hates all the fuss and mess he still helps me lug down the Christmas decorations from the attic year after year. He even finds a little Christmas cheer and complements on all my hard work! Mr. Scrooge can be a softy sometimes.


My ALLLL time favorite thing to decorate is our Christmas tree! This year we purchased a new tree from an online vendor. I was super nervous purchasing a tree I had never seen but it all worked out! It was a great price (20% off), free shipping, and good quality. I was pleasantly surprised with the tree and the whole experience!


I wanted to do post about adding pizazz to your tree all while staying on a budget. Decorating a tree and making it look over the top can be extremely pricey but I’m cheap (as you know) and try to decorate my tree on a budget so I thought it would be fun to share a few tips and tricks. I started working on the post but it was hard to describe what I wanted to talk about and take just the right picture to explain it so I decided to break it down into a few video post.


Let’s gets started.........

But first a WARNING: I am by no means a video pro nor am I trying to be one so please excuse my bobbles and mess-ups along the way. We are all friends here, right?

Decorating from the Inside Out




Giving your Ornaments a Little Extra Boost!





Giving you Tree some Love and “The Step Back”





Still lots more to do! Check back tomorrow for a few more video clips as I finish and fill the tree with flowers, sprigs, and even MORE glitter!

I'm linking up with:
The DIY Show Off
Between Naps on the Porch
Blue Cricket Design

My 1st Vlog!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving full of loved ones and many things to be thankful for. We had a great Thanksgiving but I’ll fill you in on all that in a later post.

I just wanted to pop in to tell ya that I’m working on my first video post! I’m not going to make it a habit but what I want to show is easier to demonstrate through a few little video clips. I’m thinking I’m going to split them up into 2 posts (starting Monday 11/30). Want to know what they're about? Well you’ll just have to check back Monday morning.


Also, don’t forget about out little party on Dec 9th! I hope to see many of you there. To see what it’s all about click HERE.

Target 2-Day Sale: War Room

Have you seen the Target 2 Day sale commercials? They are too funny! Here’s my favorite. To see the others visit youtube.com and type Target 2 Day sale.

Christmas Craft

Do you guys follow Southern Hospitality? Well if you don’t your missing out. Her blog is full of thrifty treasures and get projects…….like this one!

Rhoda crafted a few signs that I fell in LOVE with so I decided to tackle the project.

Click HERE to see Rhoda’s informative how-to.

At the bottom of this post I’ll give you a few extra tips and tricks in case you decide to make your own set.

Tips and Tricks

1. If you decided to paint your letters and or wood base white spray them with a primer first. This wood just soaks up pain. I didn’t and I used a whole can of spray paint for these bad boys. What a waste! When I thought about primer it was already too late.

2. Sand down any rough edges before you spray paint. I didn’t do this (don’t know why I didn’t do it) and I had to sand and re-spray over the sanded edges.

3. Make sure you have some down time or do not mind doing this project in intervals. There is a lot of waiting while things are drying (spray paint, modge podge, wood glue, painted polkadaots, top coat). I just cleaned house while I was waiting.

4. I used a rolling pin to roll out roll out air bubbles after I applied scrapbook paper. It worked really well and I did not end up with any wrinkling or air bubbles. If you do not have a rolling pin you can also use Rhoda’s technique.

5. The boards I purchased have a raised center which made it hard to precut the paper. I tried to trace as close as I could to the actual size of the raised board. I applied the paper and let the Modge Podge dry. Once the paper was harder I went back in with my scissor and cut around the edges to make them flush. I then dip my finger in a little Modge Podge and ran it along to side to seal them.

6. Use Rhoda’s tip to create the polkadots (such a great idea). The more paint you apply to the tip of the eraser the bigger your polkadot will be.

7. If you mess up on one of your polkadots just use a damp paper towel to wash it off and start over. I originally had black polkadots as well and didn’t like them when it was all finished. I carefully wiped them off and used another color to cover any residue that way left behind. You can also use a q-tip with a little waterdown nail polish to remove any excess residue after wipping.

8. I wiped a little stain not only on the wood but over the scrapbook paper and letters as well. I did this after everything was dry.

9. To secure the ribbon to the back of the plaque I made a little loop (I used this loop to hang the sings on the wall) and nailed the ends of the ribbon to the back board. Once they were hooked on the wall I used a separate strand of ribbon and tied a bow over the nail. Hope I’m not making this sound too confusing; it’s really not.

10. Oh I almost forgot, I finished it off with a top coat to give it little shine.

Such a great project!! I’m planning on making a different set to use in my kitchen after Christmas that says EAT. You could recreate this and make a set for a shower gift with the child's name, hostess gift, Christmas gift, teacher gift……….

I'm linking up with:
Girl Creative
Blue Cricket Design