Muslin-Wrapped Garland

I recently saw this muslin garland idea at Down to Earth Style and was

impressed by the ease and price to make it.

I tore my muslin into strips that were about  12 inches long, folded them,

and tied them into knots.

Total cost: $8.00

2 yards of muslin from Walmart..................$4.00

Twinkle lights from The Dollar General.........$4.00

For the complete look, I used Dollar Tree wreaths that I took apart and wired

together as a garland.  I also had a different type of pine garland that I bought at our local Goodwill.

I stuffed in some pine cones that I bought at Michael's and red berries from

The Dollar Tree....the whole mantle was put together for about $15.

Here's last year's mantle....

Yikes!......I'm not quite feeling the love.  That's even the same starter pine garland!  

What a difference layering makes!

This year I feel way more natural....using greens, pinecones, muslin, and burlap through my house.

Which one do you like??

Read more ...

Amazing Art Blog

{Winter Tree Art}

I recently stumbled across an amazing art blog that is just too good not to share with you all....

Since I am more of a science/math person, art tends to be my homeschooling weakness.

I didn't take many (any) art classes beyond elementary school and my drawing

skills are quite pathetic.

So.....art tends to get a slim showing in our homeschool portfolios.....but not this year.

This year, I am being assisted by the blog Deep Space Sparkle.  Patty is an art teacher who shares these gorgeous art lessons....for FREE!!

She also includes step-by-step instructions with photos.

Here are some of her projects...

{Snowmen based on the book Snowmen at Night}

{Watercolor Birch Trees}

{Planet and Galaxy Art}

We recently did the watercolor birch trees and they turned out gorgeous!!  Even my non-artsy son has a project for his portfolio that looks artistic.

My daughter and I are off to make the winter trees today.

If you are looking for more homeschooling ideas, check out my Pinterest Board!

Read more ...

Dropcloth Ruffle Pillow

Using THIS as my inspiration, I used dropcloth to make more neutral {inexpensive!} pillows for my living room chairs.

Remember the before.....

Here's the after.....

Instead of buying new furniture, I spent about $35 on a 12 x 9 dropcloth

from Home Depot.  

It took 3 packages of drop cloth to recover 2 living room chairs and 6 dining room chairs.

The cute basket on the left was from Goodwill....$4!!!  Don't you just love a great deal!

HERE's the tutorial for the Faux Grain Sack pillows.

Now to tackle the couch......

Read more ...

Faux Grainsack Pillows

I love dropcloth! It is just so inexpensive to decorate with!

Recently, I have been continuing to work on my family room furniture.  It's about

10 years old and the fabric is falling apart!

Armed with drop cloth, heavy-duty needles and a tutorial from Miss Mustard Seed,

I began recovering my chairs.

Marian's tutorials are amazing and I successfully neutralized my room, but I was still left with the "coordinating" floral pillows.

So using the same technique that I used here with my dining room chairs....

......I made myself some pillows.

I'm thinking about making some red-striped pillows to get ready for Christmas!

Read more ...