Table Crazy!

Don't lie to me, that is exactly what you are thinking...isn't it? I must be table crazy right now! Well, starting on my own home's casual table setting has put me in the mood to see what other directions I can go this holiday season. So, I took advantage of a dinner party for over 30 guests that my mother was having, and I got to work on her table too! Considering that her dining room is a bit more "grand" than what I would consider mine to be, I thought the use of real flowers was definitely necessary. I am not quite sure what she would say if I brought over ribbon leaves...

Here is what we came up with together.
Despite what you might think, this centerpiece is actually extremely affordable. Here is how we did it...
First, we 'borrowed' some magnolia leaves from a gorgeous tree at the end of her street. These leaves are green year round, and extremely sturdy. Any of us living in the south is sure to have a tree someone around that we can 'borrow' some leaves from. Therefore, the bulk of our centerpiece was free! Yay!
I cut about 6 or 7 stems off the tree, and left the leaves on the branch. This makes it easier to weave and manipulate, giving the leaves plenty of volume.

Next, my mom picked our her favorite blooms from a local florist. To keep the piece more budget savvy, your could easily look in your grocers floral section for reduced blooms, especially if you only need it for one night.
We started with a neutral to add a little interest to the base of the centerpiece. Just placing the blooms around as we thought necessary.
Next, we picked an autumn berry to give the piece a pop of color. Makes you feel "thanksgiving-y" right?
Finally, we added a few mustard gerber daisies to brighten up the mix just a bit more. And voila, an all natural centerpiece for even the biggest holiday table. The magnolia leaves make it a bit dramatic, and the gerber daisies bring it back to that warm autumn feel.


How about you send me a link to your holiday table setting? I would love to get a little more inspiration and see what is out there! Also, I am already finding myself in the mood for a change. Remember, I have a bit of a hard time committing to just about anything I do around my own house anyway.

I'll be linking to these parties this week. Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Thursday,

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Thanksgiving Centerpiece Starter

I was unusually excited to get the pumpkins out of my house this year. Don't get me wrong, I love them and know they work perfectly for Thanksgiving too. However, I was just sick of looking at them this year. I had too many I think. So, come November 1st I ousted the pumpkins and started in on a fall centerpiece. This year, I went the cutesy route with a fun twiggy centerpiece.
I haven't quite decided how I am going to supplement the twigs yet, but I'll share with you what I have completed so far. To do this project yourself, you are going to need these materials: branches or twigs, floral wire, 3 types of fallish ribbon, mod podge, paint brush, glue stick, scissors and a tall vase.
To begin, just cut your ribbon into 4 inch strips.
Next, fold it in half and cut out a leafy shape, leaving the top edge connected.
Then, I used elmer's glue (you heard it here! no hot glue... the gun was missing!) to keep fasten the leaves and floral wire stem.
I had already cut a stem (about 4 inches long) out of floral wire using wire cutters.
Finally, I used mod podge to seal the whole thing and keep the ribbon from fraying at the edges.
Using the floral wire stems, I attached it to twigs I had purchased at a local craft store.
And that was it! A simple centerpiece starter for my fun fall table. I am well on my way to a cute holiday season!
Anyone have any opinions? I'd like to find a way to dress up the table just a little more. Let me know what you think.
I'll be linking to these fun parties this week. Stop by and enjoy!

And, I'll be entering the CSI Project Thanksgiving Challenge here. Hope you will too.

Happy Thursday...

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Farmer's Market Spoils

This weekend was the first official weekend in fall. I was loving it! My family and I sat out to enjoy all that we could in town with the nice, crisp fall weather. Of course, our first Saturday morning stop was the local farmer's market. And let me tell you, I cleaned up! With less than $20.00, I walked away with 7 pumpkins, 4 gourds, and 10 flower stems. What a steal! Follow me along on my journey and check out all of my farmer's market spoils, as well as some projects I did around the house using my acquired goodies.

The downtown Lexington Farmer's Market:

My spoils:

Project #1, a gourd vase:

Just carve it out like a little pumpkin, insert small bud vase, fill with water and flowers of choice!

Project #2, a turquoise inspired fall table display:

Ingredients: small ghost pumpkins, one awesome giant gray lacquered pumpkin, feathers, turquoise painted pumpkins and some fabulous candle sticks.

It's amazing what awesome goodies you can find right in your own town, just when you take the time to get out and look. Do you have a local market you can hit up this weekend? I promise you won't leave disappointed!

I'll be linking to these parties, Happy Thursday!

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Jute Webbing to Fall Planter

I apologize to those of you who thought you might find more craft room projects today, as had I promised last week. But this idea popped into my mind at the beginning of the week and I couldn't restrain myself from trying it out. Then it ended up coming out so well that I couldn't help but share it a little earlier than later. Hope you don't mind too much!

I saw this jute webbing in JoAnns a few weeks ago and just feel in love with the beautiful texture and the fun red thread running throughout. I bought a few yards, unsure of what I would use it for, but knowing that it would end up somewhere. I kept envisioning how cool it would look all intertwined, but just didn't know exactly what I would do with it. Then I remembered this old cooler. You probably have one lying around somewhere in your garage or basement, and if not, check your parents or grandparents' garage or basement-they're the types of things that always seem to be just lying around somewhere. Or buy one at your gas station, they're cheap.

I ran lengths of the jute webbing down the sides of the cooler under the bottom and up the other side, keeping it slightly loose the whole time, and secured the ends with pins.

I made sure that the pins were pushed into the cooler at a downward angle as opposed to straight in. This kept them from pulling out as I wove the webbing.

I then ran a length of webbing down the shorter side of the cooler, weaving it through the bottom pieces and then up the other side, again, securing with pins.

I took a length of webbing and wrapped it around the outside of the cooler, and trimmed it for length. I then pinned the end underneath one of the pieces of webbing that was running vertically down the cooler, and then weaved it under and over the other pieces until I had worked my way all the way around.

I trimmed the webbing so that both ends would be hidden under the same vertical piece of webbing and pinned them in place.

Now that my basket was completely woven, I took the slack out of the lengths of webbing. I started with the vertical pieces, adding a second pin at the top for extra support, pulled each strand until it was taut, and then re-secured the end with pins.

I then moved onto the pieces that were running horizontal on the cooler. I grabbed my glue gun, and glued the ends of the horizontal webbing to the vertical strand that they were hiding behind, pulling them taut and trimming as necessary. Now that my whole basket was assembled, I took my glue gun and ran a thin line of glue behind any pieces that were pocketing to get them to lie completely flat.

I then got my fabric stiffener and applied a thick layer with a sponge brush. I didn't worry about it soaking through to the bottom layer, I just focused on getting the top layer saturated. I left the top ends (where the pins were) without any stiffener, because I wanted to fold those down later. But everything else got a good dose. (The red dye from the red yarn ran a little bit, so I tried to apply the stiffener in the direction of the pattern, as to not spread red dye over top of the brown webbing.)

When everything was dry I discovered that I couldn't pry the cooler out, so I decided to just break it off piece by piece. It was really secure in the bottom corners, and I was worried about warping the now stiffened jute webbing that I had worked so hard on! Luckily I won't miss that cooler.

I left the bottom piece intact, because I want to use the basket as a planter, and want to protect the bottom of the basket from any excess water that runs out of the plants.

I layered up a fun red vignette and popped it onto my front porch. Hello fall!

The size of the cooler, and therefore the basket, was perfect for 2 small mums, which were perfect for my front porch. But it's lightweight and fun enough to be used in the house as well.

In retrospect, had I known that I was going to be throwing the cooler away at the end of this project, I probably would have just covered the entire thing in webbing, hot gluing it onto the cooler as I went, and then I wouldn't have needed any fabric stiffener. But the basket would be larger, and a bit bulkier too. Oh well, just a few more options for you I guess. :)

I'll be linking this around to these great parties this week. Check them out for some beautiful fall inspiration.

And check back with us later this week for a great giveaway!

See you next Monday!!

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