Tulip Music Page Cones

Don't you just love creativeness that's shared on the internet?!  Of course, Pinterest is my all time favorite place for inspiration.  What about you? When I came across these adorable flower bouquets, I knew that I had to make them for Spring for my booths.

I also knew the exact flowers that I wanted to use.  Michael's had been advertising these beautiful bouquets of tulips for only 99 cents each!  They are regularly $1.99 each which is still a great deal but when you are going to re-sell, you want to get your supplies as cheap as possible. I had already cut them apart in this pic, but you get 8 stems of 2-3 blooms each!

At that wonderful price, I had to get one of each color!

One of the things that I'm doing in 2020 is using supplies I have.  Especially glue and paint as I seem to be quite fond of them and seem to have way more than I need.  As can partially be seen here on one tray of my work station has nothing but glues in each section of the tray.

I'm very much old school and when I find something I really like, I remain loyal. As it is with Aleene's tacky glue.  I first used it in the 80's and almost 40 years later, I'm still using it!  It's just hard to go wrong with Aleene's.  Sidenote: Did any of you used to watch her TV show?  Oh, how I used to love to watch her!  Even Dollar Tree now carries my favorite, yay!

I will admit to a new found favorite that my friend turned me on to last year.  Beacon's 3-in-1 is also an amazing glue that can be used on a variety of surfaces.  I especially like it for paper and lighter surfaces.  I always get it at Hobby Lobby or Michael's with a coupon.  But it is only $6.99 a bottle.

Using this amazing glue stick that was gifted to me by a friend (so amazing that now I have to go buy some-- ugh!), I put glue down one side of the hymnal music page and rolled it into a cone. 

Remember... I cut each stem off so I ended up with 8 stems per bouquet.  I used 2 stems for each cone so I was able to get 4 cones out of one bouquet!  

Using these amazing glue dots (totally wish I knew where they came from because they are strong!), wrapped around the two stems, I pushed them down into the cone.  I would have used Aleene's here but these have been sitting in the glue tray of the work station for some time now.

One of my favorite ribbons to work with is crinkled seam binding.  The colors are so pretty, so vibrant, yet it has such a nice vintage touch.  I just love it.

Normally, I would use glue here also.  But in keeping with the 'use what I have, use it up' theme... I went with this double stick tape to stick the ribbon to the back of the cone.  And it worked great!

I'm a little biased but I think they came out super cute.  Super cheap.  Super quick and easy.  What more could you ask for?!

Every single time I make something, I always give it away or sell it and not keep one for myself.  Well not this time!  I kept one of my favorite colors and started my spring decorating.

I had SO much fun making these cute little cones!  I was surprised at how quickly I was able to put 24 of them together.

In the end, 23 went to my booth and they started selling right away.  I guess I'm not the only one anxious for Spring!  =]

29 more days until my favorite season of all is here!  Sure can't wait!  Have a delightful week my friends~

Linens & Lavender

I'm a sucker for vintage linens.  Are you?  The graphics on vintage tablecloths make my heart skip a beat!  I am drawn to their gorgeous colors and beautiful patterns.  The same for vintage sheets... I love to feel their softness.  Oh, and hankies!  I am saving my favorite full color pieces to make curtains for my junk room.  Can't wait till I have enough to make even one curtain!  What about those amazing embroidered linens that can be found around here a dime a dozen.  So very sad.  I salvage ALL the ones I come across.  I try my best to clean them but if the stains just won't come out or the piece is beyond repair, then I make little lavender sachets out of them.

I had a pile of white linens that I washed but the stains did not come out.  So I put them in a tub of hot water and bleach.  I let it set overnight, stirring every 4-5 hours.  The next day I dumped it out and let them soak in a tub of hot water only, stirring every 4-5 hours.  I was amazed at how pure white they all were!  Every single piece came out clean.

I separated the plain linens from the ones with a design.  The linens with even a little design will go into the booths.  But the plain linens got a little dressed up before they went to the booths.  With lavender.  And twine.

Simple, yet elegant.  

This spring loving girl is ready for all the pretty flowers!  I was shocked to see our Daylilies already trying to push through.  I discovered these on January 8... at least one month early as we normally find shoots at the beginning of February.  We've had a warm winter this year so I'm guessing these babies are confused that we haven't had much frost yet.  I hope they survive through the rest of winter.

I hope I can survive the rest of the winter. 😂  These old bones and arthritis are ready for Spring also.  It's our favorite time of the year! Stay warm and cozy, have a wonderful weekend~ 

Booth Garland

I'll admit... I've been wanting to make a garland for me for years.  I have not made the time for it.  When I realized the almost 3 feet of space at the top of my booth was going to drive me crazy, I decided now is the best time for that garland.  So I got started.

My booth is 8 feet long.  I cut a piece of twine 12 feet long so I would have a 2 foot tie and overhang on each side.  Since our daughter is away at college, I used her room to hang it in and just work on it when I felt like it.  I didn't want to rush it... I wanted to enjoy the process and pick out each piece.  I wanted the pieces long so I shot for 28"... but some are 26", some are 32", and that's ok.  That's what gives it character.

It took a few months but I finally finished it recently and took it to my booth for a little renovation.  Our church was throwing away this awesome brick backboard that they used for a Christmas backdrop.  So I climbed in the dumpster and salvaged it. 😂 I screwed it right over the existing pegboard.  Two pieces and it fit perfectly.  

I then hung the garland on nails that I nailed into the 2x4's that the pegboard was attached to.  So quick, easy, and painless.

Since I already had an extension cord at the top, all I had to do was plug in the 100 count white cord light set.  Hung my sign back up and I finally have a nice backdrop for my booth... even though I did love the shade of sage green that it was painted.

A fellow vendor asked if I was going to sell this and make another when it sells.  No.  Not this time.  I'm going to keep this one.

This little beauty is full of love and all the types of embellishments that I cherish... lace, velvet, twine, rick rack, seam binding, muslin, homespun, burlap, and daisies. 😍

Now that I'm finally satisfied with the one and only wall of my booth, it's time to focus on the goods.  I'm chalk painting some pieces and crafting with beautiful spring flowers.  Can't wait to add them to this booth.  I have so much fun playing!

Blue Snowman Tree

I've always loved collecting snowmen more than santa.  I had so many that I decided to use a 7' slim pine tree for only snowmen ornaments... and only blue at that!  No red. No green.  Only blue.

It was fun to put together.  I can remember how old this tree is because I put my youngest son's baby picture in a frame ornament, that first year that I decorated it.  He is 14 now... 

Most items came from my 20 years of working at Hobby Lobby... including the tree itself.  Even though it's full, I still look around every year for a blue snowman ornament to add to it.  Most years I don't find anything but every once in awhile I am surprised =]  The white SNOW word ornament was found at Dollar General last year.

It looks so pretty at the bottom of the stairwell.  I just love how it lights up that corner of our entryway.  Of course, having my husband's Grandma's mirror to reflect the lights really makes it pretty.

We didn't get our snow last weekend. Well it covered the ground then disappeared as fast as it came.  That's okay, I'm ready to move on to my favorite season.... can't wait for Spring to arrive!!  But in the meantime, I'll just enjoy my little winter tree until I get tired of seeing snowmen, hehehe~

Stay warm and dry wherever you are.  I hope you are having a wonderful start to the new year.  I am so enjoying blogland again... it's great to be back. =]

Winter Cardinal Tree

We don't like dark and dreary winters around here... so we keep a couple of Christmas trees out through the winter, or until it starts to thaw out and warm up a little.

The cardinal tree was born out of my love of watching the beautiful cardinals, especially the bright red males, in the winter branches.  We only have a couple of feeders but we can have 12-15 male and female cardinals at a time!  It's such a beautiful sight.

I bought this 7.5 ft Mixed Pine Tree with snowy branches, pine cones, and red berries back in 2008.  The lights didn't work and I got it for 80% off... can't beat that!  But I spent two full days snipping off the clips that were holding the lights on each and every 1,266 branch!  Now it is worth it but at the time I was ready to trash the tree.  😖  We've enjoyed her for the past 12 years.  

I only have gloss and matte red glass balls and cardinal ornaments on this tree.  Nothing else.  It's rather simple, but I like it that way.

Every year I buy 1 cardinal ornament for it.  This year got away from me and I didn't think of it.  Thankfully a sweet friend must have known... as she painted this cute ornament for us!  How precious is that?!

It's so nice to have the overhead lights off and only the glow of the Christmas tree, along with the lights on the mantel and hutch.  It makes this cold, rainy, dreary day feel so warm and cozy!  We're supposed to get a little snow tomorrow... our first of the season.  I hope we do!  Be safe and stay warm in this winter weather~