One? Not enough!!!

Okay, so I am not allowed to paint my walls in my apartment!! Ahhhh! Not that I don't appreciate the light sand-brown color that they are painted (believe me, it could be so much worse), but I like a little more COLOR in my life! Therefore, I am forced to hang things on my walls. I hope my landlord doesn't read my blog....doubtful, since only my mom and sister read...and that's when I pester them to....but, back to my landlord. We were discouraged not to put any holes in our walls, but I can't leave them as be. I just counted and I have put 104 holes in my walls (I have 52 hanging objects in my wee little apartment)...and I haven't even finished my bedroom yet.......eeeeeeeeeeek! It's gonna be quite the day when we must putty over all these little holes.

I think my biggest hindrance when hanging things is I hate to leave an item by itself. When all by itself, I think an object probably gets lonely...therefore, I am always hanging groups of things together. No rhyme or reason to my group hanging...I just think it looks more enticing to my eye! I know it's not a new idea in any way, but just wanted to share some clusters of objects that adorn my walls to give the everyday-man some ideas.

I just couldn't find anymore pictures to put in frames. So, I went to a thrift shop, bought some old frames, painted them up, stuck some random peacock feathers in and hung them up in the corner of the dinning room!

Can't go wrong with hanging things in threes. In descending size order, I hung some fun wedding reception shots. To add a little somethin-somethin at the top, I hung the top one from ribbon.

Again, with my threes.

Oh my heavens, you'd think I'm obsessed with the sconces!



They are squares, they are boring, but I like em!



A collage is the perfect way to hang all of Matt's military stuff!

Sometimes less is more...

I do believe I have had an obsession with flowers since I was a wee-lass. As a child, my room was covered in cut-outs from magazines of flowers (one whole wall was covered). I was always amazed at the vast variety and colors which was the flower. Getting older, I worked at a flower nursery, learning everything you can imagine about garden plants. Then, my job as a 'production coordinator' (aka: party designer) took my love of flowers to a whole new level! Before you even see them, the most pleasant smell greets you...then, once you enter a room filled with the most incredible colored flowers in the most creative arrangements, WOW! Flowers: they do it for me.

When the budget is limitless, it is VERY easy to make the room look amazing, as one can fill it up with every flower imaginable. However, when one's budget is much smaller and still desiring a look with fresh flowers, creativity must reign supreme. I just wanted to share some ways in which I have used fresh flowers in a very affordable way....using very few flowers to make a big impact!!!

Using glass containers, just add water and throw one or more flowers in there for an AMAZING effect!

This centerpiece is almost free! Gather sticks from the yard, spray paint them white (or any color), then add a few fresh flowers for a spot of wow-color. Can be a glass vase or any container!

Swirl flowers for a fuller look, using a smaller vase.

VERY cheap centerpiece. Use a prop for your focal point and then add a spray of flowers around for a very fun look...it always works well if you use some bright ribbon as well!

Very few flowers are used here for a very big look. Most important thing for any centerpiece involving a lot of glassware is making sure glass is clean! If using gloves to handle, make sure they are powder-free!



Adding flowers to manzanita branches, with hanging crystals and candles is a gorgeous centerpiece that can be used again and again!



Again, flowers and some water. Be gentle when bending stems of lillies and do it repeatedly and slowly!

Well, these flowers are about expensive as they come, but oh do they smell FABULOUS! You can always use some gerber daisies or dalias for similar look with floating candles.

If you want a pop of fresh flowers to your tables, hang any flower with a touch of hanging amaranthus for a great look!

Attach a fresh flower or two to an existing item (such as a lantern) for a great centerpiece.

Adding flowers in the napkins can get expensive, but if you have access to fresh flowers for free, this makes such a special added detail to any party!

Stack flowers in a funky, unexpected way for a centerpiece!

Button mums (very cost effective) can be made into a ball for a unique and oh-so-neat look!

The Art of Quilling

Many people scrapbook (which don't get me wrong, I LOVE) and compromise paper in all sorts of interesting ways. They tear it, fold it, cut it, stain it...but my most favorite thing to do with paper is BEND IT! I love to quill! Not a typo here...not quilt, but quill.

I discovered the art of quilling when I was going through old things of my mom's. She had her old marriage announcement framed with these beautiful flowers (made of bended/folded paper) around it. It was breath-taking. I knew I HAD to learn how to do that! I found out who made this for her and called this amazing woman up. I took quilling 'lessons' from this lady and I learned how to do this amazing paper-bending-technique.

If you are not familiar with quilling, it is the art of taking tall, skinny (about 1/8 in. wide by 11 in. tall) lengths of paper, wrapping them around a needle and then bending them in the desired shapes you want. It's a long process, but the look is positively unique and something worth the time.

This is the slotted needle which you wrap paper around to create beautiful creations.





When making our wedding reception invitations, I decided to quill little flowers on all of them. About 100 invitations in, I realized there might have been an easier idea.

I am a complete ammature when it comes to quilling. An older lady (who taught me this art) makes the most AMAZING quilling creations I have ever seen. She is truly incredible. If you've never tried to quill and have extra time on your hands, you should try this very adorable and affordable hobby!!


Tightly quilled oranges made by a friend of mine. AH-AMAZING!

A little quilled flower in the corner of our reception invitation.

The top of our invitations...just a row of quilled flowers.

 


 





Little beads make beautiful things!!!

Years ago, I was watching a girlie movie and I saw the most beautiful detailed flower in a woman's hair. I paused the movie and carefully inspected this hair-piece and discovered it was a flower made out of itty-bitty beads put together some how and made into flower. OH MY!! I was going to have to learn how to do this!! I researched as much as I could about the elusive beaded flower. Very few resources could be found. I finally found this bead-shop in the middle of South Florida that carried one book about French beaded-flowers. I bought it, bought every color seed bead and more wire than you can imagine.

It's really a lost art...or rather, it's an art that was never really found, due to the amount of time and detail that each little beaded-flower requires. I have been making these flowers for years now and nothing is more fun than putting together one bead on a piece of wire at a time, creating a single petal and then eventually putting them all together for a beaded-flower-masterpiece.

The flowers in my hair on my wedding day were not real, but instead I made them out of unique crystal beads. The napkin-rings around my table at the holidays are beaded flowers made into a tiger-lilly and a poinsettia. The arrangements of flowers I put around my house from time to time will never wilt, because they are made out of beads.

Besides the amount of time these take to make, the only other real negative is the mess they leave behind! My husband will find these little beads everywhere after I have been working on flowers. I am constantly struggling to find more time to work on beaded flowers, because they are simply beautiful! Here are some I have created. I will make a picture tutorial sometime in the future for all these beauts!

Just a bundle of random beaded flowers I've made.

As well as flowers, bees and butterflies can be made as well!





A little intro to who we are...

Some people decorate their homes once and it stays that way forever. Other people redecorate one room every few years to keep the style up-do-date. Other, more ambitious people, will move furniture around constantly to keep things looking fresh. NOT MY MOM!! The house I grew up in was in a constant state of change my entire life. Not a week went by without something being altered. When I went away to college, the changes were even more obvious and more dramatic as I returned home for long weekends and holidays. These are not small changes, such as a new lamp. My mom (all by herself, mind you) would tear down walls, add new ones, paint ceilings, remove countertops, tile entire rooms and redo cabinets. This do-it-yourselfer has been my constant role-model for my life...so it is no surprise that I am becoming just like her.

This is a blog created by me to share some of the amazing tid-bits, ideas and tricks that I've picked up along the way. My sister, Brooksie,  and my mom Tami, the amazing one, will be the full-time guest columnists. We're not re-inventing the wheel of craftiness here, nor are we the most original creators in the world, but we do want to share all these amazing creations, crafts and experiments we have done through the years...and are still creating today.

Some people's escape or coping mechanism is to eat or read or exercise or drink...but not mine. I work with my hands. When I need to get away from it all, the first thing I do is get out my scissors, paper, fabric, wood, glass, paint, etc...and go to town. There is no therapy better for my soul than to create beautiful things!!

Me, My Mom and Brooksie