Taking Home the Tree Ornaments

Last year, Taking Home the Tree ornaments were all the rage...

With good reason...

They are adorable...

  Here are a few for inspiration this year.

I have been keeping my eyes open for small cars this year.

 I  pick them up when I see ones I like.

Some of them are new...

Like this little guy...

He looks old but he came right out of the box.

And then some are reclaimed.

I like the chippy, loved look.

I also like creating an unconventioanl interpretation.

Like this garbage truck... 

 How fun is this?

Cute on so many levels...

If a had a son, I would so make him an ornament for the tree with his favorite kind of truck.

I did clean this little guy up so the dirt left on him is intentional...

This little car is new as well.

But it is perfect for a vintage look ornament.

I add a drop of hot glue to the top of the car and add the tree.

The baker's twine is mostly for show and a way to hang the ornament.

Hope you make a few of your own...

Thanks for stopping by...

Linking up with these great blogs.

A Review...DecoArt Chalky Finish Paints...

This post was originally slated for this summer but never made it out of the draft folder.

I love these paints though and wanted to share the post with you today.

I am a DecoArt Helping Artist.

I have used DecoArt paints for about 20 years.

I have always thought they were the best quality, consistency, and pigment at a reasonable price.

This summer I ordered some of the Chalky Finish paints to try them out.

My experience prior to that with chalky finish paints were with those I mixed myself.

And while I love my homemade chalk paints, this was different.

These are so creamy.

I ended up painting everything on my workbench that could use a little paint.

These hat boxes have been in every craft room I had for the last 20 years.

This summer when I was cleaning the studio, I almost got rid of them because I was tired of the floral design.

I brushed 2 coats of Chalky Finish paints on them and now I am in love with them again.

Even the first coat has great coverage.

Now my buttons have a happy new place to hang out.

And I like that you can still see the old pattern inside.

I painted  them in different colors.

While I was waiting for each coat to dry, I looked around the workbench and saw the pretzel container of bottle brush trees.

Usually I just turn the label to the back so I can't see it, but there was still paint on the paint brush, so I gave the label a few coats.

Then I did my other one too...

Hmmmm...

How about those little peat pots...

 I showed you how they turned out, but here is where they got started...

This jewelry box was originally headed for the thrift store.

I bought several jewelry boxes full of jewelry this summer at my favorite flea market.

While my brush was still loaded with paint, I decided to give it a chalky makeover.

I love the new pale chalky pink.

I left the inside with the original colors and pattern.

With it's new chlky finish, it is cute enough to be a keeper...

I strongly recommend these paint if you have not tried them yet.

They have a great consistency, super coverage and a great array of colors.

Thanks for stopping by...

An Ornament and a Snow Globe....Two Recycled Light Bulb Tutorials

I don't think I am alone in being fascinated with  hollowed out light bulbs.

Last winter I found directions online for removing the inner workings of the bulb and tried it with a few.

I found this tutorial from Team Droid and really liked it.

I removed the inner workings from several burnt out bulbs I had.

 Then they sat on my workbench until recently....

Here is what they became....

I love the way this little ornament turned out.

There are a couple tips and tricks here.

These bulbs have fairly large openings in the base so the trees do fit through with the wooden base still attached.

Before you start, check this.

Also be sure to have a set of tweezers that are long enough to reach the bottom of the bulb while you are holding the ends.

Practice navigating the tree to the bottom a couple times.

It reminds me of the old kid's game Operation.

Once you think you can do it well without touching the sides, add a drop of hot glue to the bottom of the wooden base and carefully guide it to the bottom of the bulb.

 I added two so each is a little off center.

Wait for them to cool and add some fake snow.

I used purchased snow.

For my hanger, I used a piece of snowy holly garland.

I bent it into a U shape, stuck it into the socket with some hot glue and sealed it up by pushing a white pom pom in.

I am tickled with how they turned out.

I only wish I was better at photographing glass.

You could put anything inside that fits through the hole.

Definitely a reason to save light bulbs....

The second thing I made was this cute little light bulb snow globe.

The directions for this one are a bit different.

The tiny trees barely showed up in here so I used a larger tree and removed the wooden base.

Add your snow first with the bulb upside down.

Stick the tree up through the base of the light bulb while it is still upside down.

You can see mine bent a bit but I like the character it adds.

My tree is actually down into the metal base.

Then I added hot glue and put a wooden block on the bottom.

I turned it over and set the block down so the glue would flow down while it was still hot and create a good seal.

Then I wrapped the bottom with twine to cover the glue and tied a bow.

The blocks came from the flea market this summer.

A big cloth heavy tote and a couple dozen blocks for $2.

Some of the blocks were chewed on by someone's puppy, but I don't mind.

They work perfectly for me.

Even though the tree is not perfectly straight inside, it looks different depending on how it is turned.

I love to recycle things that would be thrown away...

This is versatile and can stay out all winter.

Thanks for stopping by.....

Linking up with these great blogs....

A Spooky Doorside Vignette

We have a party coming up soon.

I decided to pull together some of my recent projects to create a spooky vignette outside our door.

You might recognize some of the elements.

The hydrangeas came from my parents this summer and appeared on my workbench one Wednesday.

The Spider Spells book is a favorite and will end up a variety of places throughout the years I am sure. 

 When I have time, I will make additional volumes as well.

Here is one of the Candy Corn Gltter jars with the rice light strand inside....

The spooky branch was actually a paracord display my husband made for my daughter's paracord bracelets.

I repurposed it by adding stained cheese cloth webs.

When I was making glittered candy corn jars, I made a bottle brush tree as well.

The spooky spiders add a nice little touch...

I can't wait to see if anyone at the party notices...

The battery operated candles are a nice safe touch for any where.

I love vignettes that are spooky but fun.

Makes me want to sit in the rocker and enjoy the crisp fall air...

After I had done most of my photos, my mercury glass votives were finally dry so I added them as well.

Happy Haunting.

Thanks for stopping by....

Linking up with these great blogs...