Just Getting Started- A little FALL Decor

Hi friends,

I was at the Dollar tree 

getting something else when

I saw these Maple leave stems.

I know I could spend more and get better quality

floral at Hobby Lobby or just about anywhere else.

I had an idea and I wanted to see if it would work.  

I love the brown and beige tones.

I bought 2 stems for $1.25 each, so not a big investment .

Found some old book pages in my paper stash.

I used one of the leaves to make a pattern.

Then cut some Maple leaves from the book pages.

You could even stain your pages 

with coffee, tea or watercolor paints.

I folded the leaves down the center.

Then glued the leaves to a center piece that 

did not have a leaf...

but looked like it needed one.

It made the stems nice and full !

I put one stem in an old cider jug...

It works for me-

nothing fancy!

Here's a close up of the leaves.

I put the other stem in a white pitcher.

This year

I plan to decorate with my brown transferware, 

lots of browns and neutrals.

It turned out like I was thinking....I like it-

Okay... tell me what you think. 

Are you thinking about Fall?

Or are you 'enjoying' 105 degree weather like I am ???

Have a great week!

xo Lisa S

Faux Cinnamon Roll

 Hello!

I found air-dry clay at the Dollar Tree.

It looks like it's a terra cotta color

I wanted to test it out-

I immediately thought about cinnamon rolls....

Who doesn't love cinnamon rolls year-round ?

I cut the moist slab of clay

 in half lengthwise and rolled it out

 with a rolling bin wrapped in parchment paper.

I rolled it into one large cinnamon roll.

It was easy to roll.

The edges were smoothed out 

with a little water and fingertips.

It dried overnight-

The clay is dense and weighty-

No cracking.

I painted the swirls with Matte Mod Podge and real cinnamon.

I decided to paint the clay with acrylic paint.

I used white paint for the icing and let it drip over the sides.

After the paint dried, I went over just the icing with

GLOSSY Mod Podge.

The icing stayed glossy.

It looked real to me-

A delicious paper weight!

I enjoy making faux foods- it really fools the eye!

This clay was a win!

Definitely worth a try.

An 8 oz. package made 1 extra large roll or

 could easily make

4 mini rolls.

Have a great week!

xo Lisa S

Trash to Treasure- Monocraft Wood Cabinet

 Hi there!

The other day my Mom asked if I wanted this very old cabinet-

It's stackable-The top drawer is a separate piece.

YES!

I'll take it !

The drawers have dovetail corners.

It needed some work-

and a little wood glue.

One of the drawers still had

some dividers.

Some drawers had the dividers removed.

We used a sharp, flat scrapper to remove the

glue and wood pieces left-

It soon became a Mr. FreshVintage project!

 

We wiped it down and cleaned out the drawers.

I had this 'Old English'

Scratch Cover on hand.

It does an amazing job when you don't want to

refinish the piece of furniture

The color blends so well and the scratches disappear.

The cabinet was made with inexpensive wood.

It needed to have a bit more

 stain coverage in some areas.

I had some old stain-

I just used a soft cloth on the edges

 and in the dovetail sides.

It's nice and clean now.

I left the old labels just because I like it that way....

I can't help it.

The cabinet is a dark Mahogany color.

I immediately moved in-

The small sections are just the 

right size for all sorts of things.

Thank you for visiting!

I really appreciate you so much.

xo Lisa S

Simple 'Back to School' Vignette

 Hello!

Well it's been a while since I posted,

 in fact I've missed

all of July... and now summer is almost over.

To get back on track at our house I decided

to make a quick Back to School vignette.

I picked the desk near our front door.

I started with a clean slate.

It give me a chance to clean the area

and 'feed' the wood furniture.

I grabbed a few ideas to display.

Had to add a globe-

Brought over some books-

This little Koala named Blinky is adorable.

A few flashcards will stand up 

in a couple of vintage 'flower frogs'

This glass 'frog' will hold some pencils.

That was easy!

More books and some crayons.

One of my favorite finds was this Crayola chalk tin.

It was in great shape.

 I liked the color-and yes,

 I do keep my chalk in it.

I took a lunch pail thermos

from my kitchen.

We are all about the ABC's around here

right now!

These books came from my eBay shop-

I have quite a few vintage ones at the moment.

In the past I have shared 

my collection of  Early childhood readers.

I moved things around a couple of times!

That was fun to put together.

Thank you for visiting!

xo Lisa S