Guest Posting Today @ My Favorite Finds

How is it already Monday again and December 5th?  I am in complete denial that Christmas is less than three weeks away.  Yikes.

Today I am guest posting over at My Favorite Finds.  

Thank you Carrie for having me over for your birthday celebration! 

Carrie hosts a link party on Mondays called Must Try Mondays and a party on Wednesdays called Wednesday Pinterest Favorites.  Head on over and join in on the fun.  Carrie attended college in Michigan, so we both have a love of Michigan!

Thanks again Carrie!  You can see my guest post right here.

Butterfly Art from Cottage & Vine

Happy Friday friends!  I have another wonderful project to share with you.  Rene from Cottage and Vine is here sharing her butterfly art.  Cottage and Vine is a home decor blog full of inspiring projects and ideas.  It's been a daily read of mine for a long time.  I always look forward to Rene's posts!

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Hello to all of Alissa's readers!  I am Rene from the blog Cottage & Vine.  Alissa invited me here to be a guest today so thought that I would share one of my recent butterfly projects with you.

I used unfinished shadow boxes from AC Moore that I bought with a coupon.  The must have cost around $5 after the coupon.  I primed and sprayed them with a can of glossy black on the exterior and white on the inside edges.  The inside backs were rough so I used spray adhesive to line the backs with white card stock.

These are the butterflies I used.  They are made of thin wood and are located in the scrap book section at Micheal's.  I think they were around $2 after the coupon.

I played around with several different arrangements, but finally settled on this one with the blues together and the yellows together.  They were attached to the shadow boxes using a hot glue gun.  The graphic pop of color is just what this little corner of the kitchen needed.

There you have it...thank you for inviting me over today Alissa!

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What a great project - thanks for sharing Rene!  I have seen versions of butterfly art in home decor stores and they are quite pricey.  This is a great way to achieve the same look on a budget.  For more inspiring ideas, visit Rene at Cottage and Vine.

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I have two more days to soak up the sun - I'm going to go get back to it!  See you next Tuesday with a recipe.

Chiang Mai Dragon Pillow from hodge:podge

I have a special treat for you today.  Barbara from hodge:podge is here to share one of her beautiful projects.  If you haven't been to Barbara's blog you are really missing out!  hodge:podge is one of the first blogs I started to read after I started my own.  Barbara is one of the sweetest bloggers you will meet and her blog is full of wonderful projects for the home - all done on a budget.  I'm so happy to have her here today!
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Thanks to Alissa for inviting me to guest post while she is away. I am thrilled and honoured as I have been a loyal reader of Alissa's blog from pretty much the beginning! She always has such amazing projects that are up my alley.

Alissa and I have a lot in common but one thing we both love to do is to sew. Recently she tackled sewing an invisible zipper, via email I told her how easy it really was. As she found it was! I too recently tackled my "invisible zipper phobia" on some juicy and gorgeous pillows after years of sewing

Recently I scored some absolutely delicious fabric memos of  Chiang Mai Dragon by Schumacher that I wanted to make into accent pillows. My only problem was that the company punched grommets into the fabric to discourage anyone from making something from the free memo. I guess it was their way to encourage you to fork out the $200/yard for the stuff! Always up for a challenge while using ingenuity and imagination, I managed to create two fantabulious pillows!

Had to get rid of the grommets somehow. 

Think. Think.

This was hard for me to cut this beautiful fabric. But it was necessary for me to work my magic.

A little piecing with a linen with a similar weight and colour along with some sumptuous navy velvet ribbon.

Ta-da!

With the second piece of fabric I just cut out flowers from the above pillow scraps and appliqued them over the grommets.

Ta-da!

The ever so fabulous invisible zipper....

There you have it.
Don't let a silly grommet stand in your way from having fabulous pillows.

Thanks again Alissa for having me guest post today. Hope you are having a fabulous time soaking up the sun.

Hop on over to my blog, hodge:podge,  if you want more frugal decor and DIY ideas! 

Hugs.

XO Barbara
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Isn't that a beautiful pillow? Barbara came up with such a creative way to work around the grommet in her fabric memo.  Thank you Barbara for sharing this project with us!
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To see more beautiful home decor projects and ideas, visit Barbara at hodge:podge.

Guest Posting @ DIY Newlyweds

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Happy Sunday!  Today you will find me over at DIY Newlyweds participating in Jenny's Fall series, unFootball Sunday's.  Isn't that a great idea for a series?

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True confession though - I actually will be watching football today because I want to see if my Detroit Lions can pull out another win!  Normally I don't follow NFL football, but I'm pretty pumped about the Lions season.

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If you get a chance, head over to DIY Newlyweds and look around Jenny's blog - I think you will enjoy it.

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Thank you Jenny for asking me to participate in your fun series!

Guest Post from Homemade Ginger: Easy Sheet Curtains

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Today I have a treat for you - Megan of Homemade Ginger is here to show us how to make curtains out of sheets.  Megan's blog is full of cute projects and posts.  Recently she posted about using her homemade yogurt to make cream cheese.  Homemade yogurt is something I've been wanting to try!  I think you will also enjoy her family room transformation.  Wow - the power of a can of paint!  You won't believe the before & after.

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I'm also guest posting at Megan's blog today and sharing my quilted coasters project.  Thanks for blog swapping Megan!

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OK, take it away Megan...
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Hello everyone! I'm so excited and honored to be sharing with you all today!  I blog over at Homemade Ginger and love coming up with easy and frugal DIY projects.  Last year, when I was re-decorating my 3 year old's room, I made some super easy and super cheap curtains. 

Here is the tutorial!

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Everyone who tells me they can't sew things like curtains needs to make these, there is barely any sewing required! They probably cost under $10 total, which is also a big plus!

Here is what you need:

1 twin flat sheet (if you get them from Walmart they are only $5 and come in lots of colors!)

6 yards of ball fringe (optional...you could make plain curtains without the frills)

Thread

Sewing machine

Scissors

First, you  need to cut the sheet in half length-wise.  I chose to rip it. Yes, ripping fabric is actually a great way if you have a large piece. It also guarantees to be perfectly straight because it tears right along the weave of the fabric.  Just fold it in half, cut through any seams and then rip away!

Then, you need to fold over the ripped edge (about 1/4 inch) and iron.

Fold again 1/4 inch and iron.

Sew along the folded edge.

Now, you need to make the top part of the curtain casing for the curtain rod.  I did the bottom of the sheet (the smaller already sewn seam) and just folded it over about 2 inches and ironed.

Now, just sew along, close to the open edge to create a casing for the curtain rod. Of course you will do all of these steps to both curtain pieces.

Now, pin on the ball fringe on the outside of the curtain edges and sew down.  

And you are done!! 

They look so cute with some coordinating tie backs:

To learn how to make these equally simple tie backs, here is my tutorial

Thanks so much for having me Alissa.  Come stop by Homemade Ginger and say hi sometime, everyone!

Happy curtain making!

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Thanks Megan for sharing your curtain tutorial with us!  If you've never visited Megan before, head on over for a visit.  I think you will really enjoy her blog.

Spring Mantel

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I'm back from vacation and slowly catching up on work, emails, blog reading, and laundry.  The hot weather in Arizona was exactly what I needed.  It felt great to get away!
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My Spring mantel was my guest post earlier this month on Remodelaholic.
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Spring is here and my mantel was in need of a new look.  I decided on yellow and green as a theme (because what's more Spring than that?!) and went from there.
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I didn't have to buy a thing for my Spring mantel - everything came from around the house.  I use the apothecary jars on my mantel a lot and just change out the fillers to match the season.
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I printed these botanical images out from Vintage Printable.  If you've never checked out their site, you are in for a treat.  There are thousands of images you can print out for free!
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For fake lemons, I think these look pretty realistic!
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I've had this ivy plant for a while now and have been meaning to replant it to a different container with a topiary form.  But for now I think it looks great on the mantel.
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The little mercury glass votive holders are filled with moss.  I just took a handful and stuffed it in!
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Here's an overall view:

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I think these Spring branches are a nice addition.

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Happy Spring!  I hope it's starting to warm up where you are.  Unfortunately it's a cold week here in Michigan.  It has to warm up soon, right?

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.I've linked this post up to:

Centsational Girl

A Stroll Thru Life

Guest Posting Today at Remodelaholic

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Hi guys, I'm guest posting today at Remodelaholic.  You can see my guest post right here.  Thank you Cassity for having me back today!
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Thanks to everyone who has been linking up to Tasty Tuesdays.  I'm sorry I haven't been around to visit many of you.  Work has been crazy busy and I had to travel out of town this week.  I really appreciate everyone who links up and takes the time to leave a nice comment - you guys are the best!  Hope you all are having a great week!
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Natural Elements Tablescape

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The was posted earlier this month as a guest post for Remodelaholic. 

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Almost everything I used for this tablescape was something that I already had - there were only a few new things I purchased.  Don't you love when you come up with something new out of things you already have?  I first decided on a theme - green, silver, and natural elements, and then started pulling things together.

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The first thing I started with was a burlap table runner.  I won this runner from the lovely Rene of Cottage and Vine - lucky me!  If you would like to make your own, take a look at Rene's tutorial.  Or, if you are lucky, she might have one for you in her Etsy shop.  I think burlap is just the perfect base for so many looks - it looks great with everything and was a perfect start for the natural elements I wanted to incorporate.

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Glass hurricanes are a versatile accent piece to have on hand.  They are inexpensive, come in many sizes, and will work with any decor.  I use mine all the time for so many different things.  You can usually find these at Marshall's or TJ Maxx between $6 - $12.

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To fill the vases, I used a bag of moss from the craft store, mini grapevine wreaths, and candles.  I soaked the grapevine wreaths in water overnight.  The next day I was able to pull them apart and shape them how I wanted to fit in the vases.

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Decorating with succulent plants is easy and inexpensive.  Succulents are low maintenance and will be around long after you are finished with your tablescape.  I put these in little metal containers and filled the top with moss.

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I really like how this tablescape would work in any season.

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Adding votive candles around your centerpieces will add a little sparkle to your entire table.  Everyone likes a little candle light at a dinner party, right?

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A photo from my tablescape is featured on HGTV.com!  It is included in a gallery called "15 Easy Centerpieces For Any Dinner Party".  You can see it right here.  Thank you HGTV.com!
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I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!  My sister is coming into town and we are heading up to East Lansing on Saturday to see our Spartans take on Illinois.  GO GREEN!  We are also having a belated birthday celebration - I turned 34 last Friday.  Not sure how I feel about 34....It doesn't quite have the same ring as 33.  And it sounds so much older somehow!
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I'm sharing this post at:
Finding Fabulous
A Stroll Thru Life
Funky Junk Interiors