A Garland Will Rise

Easter mantle

This is my minor, yet irritable, yet fixable and I'm okay with that lament. I have one space in which to arrange decorative items that my boys cannot climb and destroy, the only safe surface in my home (besides the top of the refrigerator)is my mantle. (click on images to enlarge for detail)


Halloween mantle

Oh, the IKEA shelf that matches my tv console, you complete me. I have had lots of fun arranging my mantle. I was even about to show it to you because I recently made it so cute!

But, it fell down. Not just fell down, "oh honey let's put this back up".


Christmas mantle

Fell down to the point that now there are gaping holes in the wall and we (as in husband) had to push the wall back together to try and make it flush.


Valentine's mantle

Perhaps I got so overjoyed with some new pieces that I forgot they were a little heavy, and our walls are a little flimsy, and though it was anchored, it wasn't anchored in any studs and that shelf has been there 3 years and all. Surely, this wasn't MY fault then, I ask ;)


Globey mantle

So, what do you do when you have no paint to cover up the mantle's shadow of shame, and no mirrors/paintings... to cover it... and you have guests coming over in a few hours (and you nor the boys nor the house are near ready)?



I took some scraps from the freshly slipcovered pillows on my couches in my room and cut out triangles. I used no pattern, so they aren't perfect, but they are okay.



Then, I hot glued the right side of the fabric to the lower half back of the ribbon.



Once I completed that "task", I pinned some lace on the upper half of the front of the ribbon. Notice, if I had hot glued the fabric to the top half of the ribbon as well, then no pins or sewing needles would be able to go through that.



Now, I hang my little garland. It's not perfect and if you look close, you can see some unpainted wall behind the swoops, but it's purpose was to mask the nasty holes and that it did. Hey, it's temporary, and I like it! I have been aching to make a banner for a while now, but it's amazing how we only do things when we have the need to do it.



All the while, my eldest says, "You make my house pretty?" "You so nice mommy!" "Daddy is going to be so happy!" "You so special, mommy!"

I was given the giant letter A already painted white by a friend, and I remembered I had 2 smaller A's, so I threw them up there. Isaac helped pass me the letters as I balanced on a chair and painted the fronts while they hung on the wall. Yeah, I do that.



The metal scroll I got at a garage sale and beautified it with layers of blues, greens and white paint.

The white paint was almost gone so it made all types of squirting noises.
"Sounds like Isaac going poo-poo!" my son exclaimed happily.

I gave my eldest the leftover white to hide the nasty hole where we banged up the wall in the hallway moving furniture.



Then, he begged for more colorful paint and I let him paint on the wall he vandalized a couple of months ago. This wall can be his! (He did get carried away and painted the faux grout lines on the kitchen floors, but really, nothing could make those apartment laminate floors look any worse.)



You can see more project show off at Between Naps on a Bench's weekly post, Metamorphosis Monday and even more at Kimba's A Soft Place to Land DIY Day! Do you have any crazy quick fixes? How long did that temporary quick fix end up staying there?

Valentine's Day Decorating, Jewelry, Cookies and Crafts

Here is my little Valentine tutorial. I really wanted a more expensive topiary, but then I would of only had one, so I bought the supplies and made a whole set up for my faux mantle/decorating shelf. I kept it simple this time (for the boys) and I hope you like it b/c I know I do! I painted a wooden frame a creme color and added a pink flower and green vines. My candleabra project is HERE.


The hearts I just wound together, tied a bow and stuck it in foam and hot glued it to the bottom of my mom's vintage ice cream dishes. (The glue will peel right off when I need it b/c I used low temp glue). The foam heart I just used a pretty sage scrapbook paper, black marker for the words, glue, glitter, lace and a bow.

Isaac is turning into "a big boy", when people ask him his name, he says "I Isaac, big boy". And he loves to announce "I did it!" So, he helped me sprinkle glitter and arrange the hearts on this project. He has also been helping me cook, which has been nice, as it gets him excited to eat those veggies that he helped prepare. Here they are taking a cookie break!

SweetiePies Delights

Speaking of cookies, did you know that Etsy has a plants and edibles category? It's true. So, if you want to spend some dough (get it?) on some boutique cookies for your sweetheart (or yourself), check some of these out:

Sugar Cookie Couture

Whipped Bake Shop

Whipped Bake Shop

I am an Etsy seller mentor, helping other sellers set up their shops and such, and I met this lovely seller, Stacey of CreaShines. She makes unique and wonderful polymer clay jewelry and I just can't figure out why her shop hasn't taken off yet! So, I am doing my second artist bio, b/c really she's awesome and her stuff rocks for Valentines goodies, and even some non holiday jewelry too. I really had a hard time deciding which pieces to show you, so go and get you some!

"My name is Stacey Hines.

I was active duty military in the Navy as a photojournalist for over 4 years. I now attend art school at Ringling College of Art in Florida where I am majoring in photography. I'm learning the artistic side of photography to compliment my technical military knowledge of it.



When I'm not doing freelance photo shoots or working on school projects, I'm spending every moment of free time creating jewelry and accessories out of polymer clay! I then promote my items on the most amazing ecommerce website [for handmade/vintage goods]Etsy! My jewelry shop is CreaShines, but I am also working on my newest shop where I will be selling my photography at CreaShinesPhotos so please stay tuned!



The drive to be a designer is in my blood, my grandmother was a jewelry designer for over 35 years and I remember hanging out in her store when I was a kid, just staring at her beautiful fine diamond jewelry. My mother was also a photographer and I remember learning darkroom techniques as a kid and falling in love with it. Who knew that I would grow up and do the same things?"

I hope you all have a wonderful Valentine's Day!