Opulent Cottage

Front Door Fall Wreath -- With a Twist!

This is a first! Me, displaying team logos in our seasonal decorating. Who knew?

I'm not really a fly-your-team-flag-from-the-front-porch kind of girl. But this, I can live with. For once, burnt orange works with my decor :)

Have you seen the College Duck Tape? Our Michaels just had the two biggest Texas colleges, but I bet that every Michaels store has their local college. You can find them here, also. 

I was out of burlap ribbon, so I just cut some strips out of my burlap yardage and pressed the Duck Tape right on. I wired the bow together and then onto a fall wreath made from a leaf garland, some berries, and a couple of sunflowers. All I had on hand was an evergreen wreath, so I just made do with that! I can pluck the fall foliage off after Thanksgiving and use the same evergreen wreath for Christmas. 

How nice that I can show my team spirit and still be, well, opulent.

Hook 'Em Horns!

I'm joining Elaine's Sunny Simple Sunday at Sunny Simple Life

Seasonal Sundays at The Tablescaper

Aimee's Overflowing With Creativity at It's Overflowing

Susan's Met Monday at Between Naps on the Porch

Cowgirl Up! at Cedar Hill Ranch

Kim's Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

Yvonne's Tutorials Tips and Tidbits at StoneGable

Sarah's Easy Fall Decor at Thrifty Decor Chick

How to Make Coffee Filter Hydrangeas, a Pottery Barn Knock Off

On a rainy, gloomy day recently, Abby and I were stuck at home without a car, and decided to spend the morning cleaning and purging our craft supplies. They had been acumulating since, oh, probably kindergarten. Really, no one needs as many stickers, doo-dads and bottles of glitter glue as we had between the two of us. 

 

I found several packs of coffee filters that I had bought long ago to make flowers. After eyeing these beautiful flowers at Pottery Barn, I decided that it was time. Coffee paper flowers, here we come. I had pinnned this wonderful tutorial, which got me on my way. Thank you once again Pinterest!

 

 

Having just sorted through the craft paints, I knew I didn't have any blue or purple. But I did find some bottles of tie dye, in several shades of blue and turquoise. I simply mixed the tie dye with some water in a pie plate, and dunked the filters in for a couple of minutes. I alternated between batches of navy and batches of turquoise, some light, and some dark. Some batches were a combination of both colors. To dry the coffee filters, I laid them onto cookie sheets and baked them in the oven at 200 degrees. It only took about 5 minutes each. Each batch came out a little different, which ended up giving the flowers a very natural look. I scrunched a few of the filters up together as I was going along, to make sure that I was getting a variety of blue tones. 

Guess what else I didn't have on hand that day :)  You'll want to use gloves, unless you don't mind having purple fingers. 

Look at the beautiful variance in color that came from all of the different batches of dye --

To begin creating the flower, cut the center away from a quarter-folded coffee filter.

 

Twist the center piece, and cut a scallop along the outside edge of the long piece.

It's now time to assemble the flowers. Pretend that I am using a 3/4 inch piece of masking tape, which is what I would have used if I had planned this craft in advance. All we had on hand was 2 inch wide clear tape, so I cut it in half, which worked out fine in the end. I know it's hard to see in these photos, but the tape is about 6 inches long. Twist the center piece of the coffee filter, fold it in half, and place it on the tape. Add a piece of floral wire to use as a stem.

Scrunch the scalloped piece while sticking it along the edge of the tape.

Then roll it up, bunching the tape as you go to keep the flower from getting wrapped too tightly. This was a little frstrating at first, but got so much easier as I practiced on several of them.

Twist six of the small flowers together to create one large hydrangea head. As I assembled each flower, I made sure to mix in each of the varying colors of coffee filters. If the stems will show, you can wrap them in green floral tape.

 

I plan to make buckets full of these! They would be so pretty in green tones, or a combination of white and ivory.

 

Thank you to Lovely Crafty Home for the tutorial that inspired this project.

 

I'm joining:

Sherry's Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home

Inspiration Friday At the Picket Fence

Courtney's Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage

Honey's Potpourri Friday at 2805

Cindy's Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

Jen's Weekend Wrap Up Party at Tatertots and Jello

Donna's Saturday Nite Special at Funky Junk Interiors

Aimee's Overflowing With Creativity

Repainted Beaded Fruit for Spring

Who else has seen these pretty Pottery Barn pears? They are sold as vase filler, and are only $16 for a set of six. But how about an easy way to copy these without going to Pottery Barn, and for free?

 

 

You'll need some old, unused plastic fruit. We all have these beaded fruit hanging around, don't we? I actually didn't, because I foolishly gave mine away, but one of my neighbors put hers in a big box on the curb last month, so I snagged them! 

Paint your fruit with some bright green spray paint (you could also use craft paint). This is Key Lime from Rustoleum. Wowza. Kinda hurts your eyes, doesn't it? We'll fix this!

 

They sort of look like horse apples right now. Love those, but that's not the look we are going for today. 

Mix 1 part Burnt Umber craft paint with 2 parts glazing medium. Brush it over the whole pear, then wipe off with a paper towel. The paint mixture will settle into the space between the beads and tone the color way down. 

Instant improvement!

Add more of the paint/glaze mixture at the top and bottom, to make the pear look a little more realistic. They will be really imperfect, which is totally OK! Nature isn't perfect, which is part of its beauty :)

I had a little fun recreating the Pottery Barn photo, too.

So dig in those Christmas boxes, find some old fruit, break out the craft paint, and make yourself a little bit of spring today! 

I'm joining:

Kim's Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

Judy's Winter Blues Wednesday at DIY By Design

Gina's Spring Craft Party at Random Thoughts

Roeshel's Project Parade at DIY Showoff

Stephanie Lynn's Sunday Showcase at Under the Table and Dreaming

Susan's Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch

It's A Cinch Party at Thistlewood Farm

Copycat Tabletop Garden

One of my favorite articles from the winter 2012 Lowe's Creative Ideas for Home and Garden magazine was Tabletop Gardens. (You can sign up here for the magazine, it's free!) The tabletop saucer garden was my inspiration for this month's Copycat Challenge at Debbiedoo's and Marty's Spring Cloche Party. 

 

The supply list for this project is:  2 pendant light cones, a 16" terra-cotta saucer, tiny plants, river rock, seashells, and coral. Easy enough! But y'all know I wasn't ever really going to run over to Lowe's and just buy all of this, right? The Horror. That would just be No Fun At All. No, we're going to thrift for it! Dig plants out of the yard! Search the attic for what we already have! Now that's what I call Fun. 

First stop, Goodwill. They always have random, odd assorted glass globes (or pendant light cones, as specified in the Lowe's article). For $2.99 each! 

Next stop, the back yard, for a cutting of ajuga, and some lamb's ear. 

From there I dug through my floral stash for some river rock and pea gravel, leftover from a project last year. I also found some reindeer moss, shells, and tiny pine cones. Finding a clay saucer had me stumped though, until I realized that it didn't make sense to use that anyway. For this to  be sitting on my kitchen table or coffee table, I needed something more waterproof as a base. I substituted a glass tray that we already owned. 

 

 

This was so fun to put together. I laid a layer of pea gravel, then started playing around with the placement of my plants.

The easiest way to secure the tiny plants was in peat pots, which I tore in half to reduce the height.

Sprigs of the newly rooted ivy went into each of the globes, and the lamb's ear and ajuga were nestled into the tray. I love the variation of texture in each little plant.

Another layer of pea gravel went in, along with some river rock, the tiny pine cones, and some glittered shells. I made sure to camouflage the peat pots with the larger rocks and some moss.

 

It would be nice to have one of these in every room, made in different types of containers. I have been trying to add more live plants to our home, due to their ability to clean pollutants and toxins from the air. I'll probably just water this with a spray bottle, and be sure to set it outside (or in an east-facing window) once or twice a week to get some sunlight. 

Total cost, $6 for the two globes :)  I hope you'll try a tabletop garden of your own! 

You'll find this and so many more ideas at

Debbiedoo's Copycat Challenge

Roeshel's DIY Project Parade at DIY Showoff

Stephanie's Sunday Showcase at Under the Table and Dreaming

Tisha's Show and Tell Monday at Delectable Home

Nita's Mod Mix Monday at Mod Vintage Life

Susan's Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch

Marty's Spring Cloche Party at A Stroll Thru Life

Beth's Tutorials and Tips at Home Stories A to Z

Donna's Saturday Nite Special at Funky Junk Interiors

Valentine's Day Heart Shaped Rag Wreath

Do you all get the Lowe's Creative Ideas flyer? I signed up for it a while back, and have really enjoyed some of the projects that have been featured. (You can sign up for it here.) The project that caught my eye this month was a Valentine heart ornament, made from shop towels. I had never heard of shop towels, but I bet you can guess what color they are!

 

So I'm at the dollar store the other day, in the candle aisle, which happens to be across from the automotive supplies, and what do I see? Yep, shop towels! I immediately loved the linen-ey, burlap-like texture, and the deep, rich red color.

 

 

Brought a couple of packs home, and decided that I would use mine to create a simple rag wreath. Using pliers, I bent a wire hanger into a heart shape, and cut off the hook. I cut the rags in 1 inch strips, then in half lengthwise. It took only 2 packs of 4 towels each to cover the form completely, and I was done in less than one hour. I really packed the strips in there tightly, also.

 

 

Gotta love those $2 projects! The frayed edges give it a homespun and vintage appeal, which I adore. I tied on two pieces of gingham ribbon, and hung it in our entryway. I think I'll head back for a few more packs of towels, and whip out a couple more wreaths while we watch the game tonight. These would make a sweet gift for favorite friends for Valentine's Day, don't you think?

 

Thanks for coming by to see my wreath! I'm joining

Tisha's Show and Tell Monday at Delectable Home

Nita's Mod Mix Monday at Mod Vintage Life

Susan's Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch

Sarah's Before and After Monday at Thrifty Decor Chick

Linda's Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm

Kristin's Tuesday Treasures at My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

Mary's Share the Love at Very Merry Vintage Style

Kim's Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

Judy's Winter Blues Wednesday at DIY By Design

Paula and Patti's What's It Wednesday at Ivy and Elephants

Donna's Saturday Nite Special at Funky Junk Interiors

Valentine Party at Dear Lillie

 

Finding My Stash

When I cleaned out my stash in the bedroom, I found my crochet basket. Which is awesome, because I have been pinning an insane amount of crochet photos, and wanting to make something to give me relief from all the cleaning. There is an abundance of crazy gorgeous crochet projects on Pinterest. You can see my crochet category here.

So I finished up a small project -- miracles do happen! Especially when one is organized!

I blocked it, and now it's ready to become a pillow. That I have wanted forever. 

It looks so pretty against my going-to-be-white slipper chairs! The colors appear really bright in this photo, but are actually a tad more muted. I hope to back it in some really nice black velvet. (I'll tell my secret for finding that soon.)

And just for fun, some drool-worthy crochet photos from Pinterest:

This is a must-do for spring pillowcases

 

 

 

Oh goodness. How long might it take me to do every hanger in my closet? And these wood hangers are at my dollar store right now, pack of three.

 

 

 

I thought I might need resuscitation after seeing these

 

 

 

 

All photos from here

Even Minnie loves crochet. This is the reason that my bed doesn't always get made first thing every morning.

Thank you for coming by! Today I'm joining:

Debra's Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground

Sherry's Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home

Farmhouse Friday at Laurie Anna's Vintage Home

Honey's Potpourri Friday #20 at 2805

Heather and Vanessa's Inspiration Friday At The Picket Fence

Alison's Fridays Unfolded #50 at Stuff and Nonsense

Courtney's Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage

Diann's Thrifty Things Friday #42 at The Thrifty Groove

Cindy's Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

Donna's Saturday Nite Special at Funky Junk Interiors

 

A Look Back at 2011

The recent blogging tradition of taking a look back at the prior year's accomplishments had me intrigued, so I decided to take a look back at the past year here at Opulent Cottage. Come along for the ride while I reminisce about some fun projects from 2011.

 

We kicked off 2011 with a couple of small projects that gave us a big impact. In January, we installed some thrift store shelving on a formerly bare wall and gained a new display area in our kitchen nook.

 

After years of loathing the builder-grade mirror in our tiny bathroom, I finally took Rhoda's advice and trimmed in out with moulding and square medallions from Home Depot. What a dramatic change!

 

 

In February we said goobye to the formerly dark walls in our dining room, and embraced the neutral style that so many other bloggers had inspired me with. The room seems lighter and brighter, and I love having a neutral palette as a background for seasonal decorating!

 

 

With spring right around the corner, in March I featured our red toile bedroom. We have loved this room for years, and never more so than when the sun is shining in and the vibrant colors come to life.

 

 

April brought a small addition to our foyer, some sweet tole trays that inspired me to update this tiny room.

 

 

In May I must have sensed the long, hot and dry summer that was to come, and I simply perked up our patio pots with found items, forgoing the planting of fresh flowers. What a blessing that turned out to be!

 

 

And indeed the summer was kind of miserable for us here in Texas! We kicked it off with a citrus-themed birthday party for our daughter,

 

 

Spent a good amount of time here,

 

 

And canned and preserved summer's bounty for the first time! And yes, we are still enjoying the wonderful roasted tomatoes, and will never let a summer go by without doing this again.

 

 

Before we knew it, along came fall, where we were distracted by football games and all the activities that came along with our daughter's senior year in high school. I did manage to create a cheerful fall tablescape,

 

 

Bring out the kitty collection,

 

 

And decorate for our Halloween party.

 

 

November arrived with its lovely cooler weather, and we welcomed the chance to be outside again. On a walk one day I found this amazing vintage screen grate. I promptly brought it home, cleaned it up, and gave it a place of honor with a pretty wreath for fall.

 

 

Another found object was this potting bench, plucked from side of the road. Such a lucky find!

 

 

It hardly seemed possible that December was upon us. Along with all the usual holiday decorating, I was honored to have two of my handcrafted projects featured. These plates were included in a Dallas Morning News article on handmade gifts, written by my friend Jamie Knodel.

 

 

And this Pottery Barn copycat vase was featured by Beckie at Knock Off Decor. It was a thrill to have these items recognized, as I always hope to inspire others to give handmade gifts a try. 

 

 

Now when I ask myself, what did I do last year, I have proof that I accomplished at least a few things! There are so, so many more projects on the to-do list here at Opulent Cottage, and my hope is that we will tackle quite a few more of them in 2012. Many thanks to all of you who have visited, and encouraged me throughout this last year. I look forward to another year of being inspired by your projects and improvements also! 

 

Many wishes for a safe, happy and prosperous New Year!

With love to you all,

Andrea

 

I'm joining these blog parties:

Debra at Common Ground for Vintage Inspiration Friday

Sherry's Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home

Courtney at French Country Cottage for Feathered Nest Friday 

Honey's Potpourri Friday at 2805 

Alison's Fridays Unfolded at Stuff and Nonsense

Cindy's Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

Weekend Wrap Up Party at Tatertots and Jello

Saturday Nite Special at Donna's Funky Junk Interiors

Seasonal Sundays at The Tablescaper

Susan's Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch

Table Top Tuesday at Marty's A Stroll Thru Life

Recap Party at DIY Showoff

Handmade Vintage Santa Plates

I have been having so much fun making handmade gifts for friends and family members this year. Remember the decoupage plates that I did for my friend Jamie at The Dallas Morning News? You can find the article here, and I posted about the plates here. I have a done a few more versions of them, for unique and special one-of-a-kind gifts.

These beautiful Santa images from The Graphics Fairy were a perfect fit for a family member who has a vast collection of vintage Santas. I'm pretty sure she doesn't have any vintage Santa plates! After applying the image with Mod Podge to the back of a clear glass plate, I backed them with some vintage sheet music, then decoupaged the plate rim with some plaid gift wrap.

Also, I'm really honored to have my Pottery Barn copycat vase featured by Beckie at KnockOffDecor.com. You can see the post here. Kim was featured too, stop by and see her!

I'm joining Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday, Karen at The Graphics Fairy for Brag Monday, and Kim at Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesday. Have a good week everyone, and if you can't find the perfect gift, I hope you're inspired to make something!

xo, Andrea

A Christmas Copycat Project

I swooned the day I spotted this mercury glass vase on the Pottery Barn website. 

 

 

 

Not long after, I found these pretty paper cocktail napkins at Tuesday Morning. Next I headed to Michael's, knowing they had an extra 40% off of their already great prices on holiday mercury glass.

A few snips later, I had cut away the birdie along with a few berries and flowers. Now, did I remember to photograph this? Not a bit of it, sadly, but I think you all get the idea. Using a small foam brush, I slathered on a coat of gloss finish Mod Podge, and just gently laid the cutout on. After letting it dry, I covered it over with another thin coat of the Mod Podge. Here's the finished project

Dark photos, sorry! It's storming like crazy here. But believe me when I say it the decoupage medium doesn't show at all! The glossy finish makes it look like the bird image really is encased in the glass. 

This project was a true bargain. $1.79 for a pack of napkins, $1.75 (using a 50% off coupon) for a 4 ounce bottle of Mod Podge, and only $7.79 for the pretty vase, which was 40% off at Michael's. And coming up later this week, I'll show you how I used the remaining supplies for another project that involves dollar store goodies that I transformed!

 

Please stop by and see

Debbiesdoos for her Holiday Copycat Challenge

Beth's Home Stories A to Z for Tips an Tutorials

Susan at Between Naps onthe Porch for Metamorphosis Monday

DIY Party at Simple Home Life 

Funky Junk's Saturday Nite Special

DIY Crafts at Centsational Girl

Faux Mercury Glass Finials

Did anyone else notice the lovely mercury glass ball finial on the cover of January's Country Living?

 

You all who know me, know what my next thought was --  "How can I make that?" Thankfully, I had seen this fantastic idea on Nita's Mod Vintage Life blog last fall, so I already knew the answer! I purchased two wood ball finials and two square medallions at Home Depot. The ball finials are with the fence supplies, and the medallions are over with the moldings.

 

Oh, and a can of this --

 

First, I unscrewed the large screw from the finial, then simply hot-glued the two pieces together.

 

Not looking so good after a light coat of primer, but just wait!

 

This has officially become my favorite new paint -- I mean, wow! My head is spinning with all of the possibilities this paint has. And though these are really pretty, I wanted to take it a step further, going for even more sparkle. 

Following Nita's directions, next I sprayed a light coat of spray adhesive, let it sit for a couple of minutes, then sprinkled on Martha Stewart glitter, and rubbed it in until the whole thing smoothed out. I already had a bottle of Martha's White Gold glitter, so that's what I used.

 

The glitter gives the metallic paint such a silver-leaf-like finish, sort of mercury glass-ish, too. It totally camouflages the roughness of the wood, although I did lightly sand them, in between coats of paint, to smooth the finish out a bit.

 

 

I'll be on the lookout for other items to use this treatment on, for sure. I hope you're inspired to give it a try, also! And thanks again to Nita, for such a fab idea.

The Giveaway is going on through this weekend! Go here to join the fun.

I'm joining Sarah at Thrifty Decor Chick for her Spray Paint Party, Kim's Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style, and Cindy's Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home.