Easy Snow Covered Pinecones

The porch is decorated.  This year I decided to switch it up a bit.  For the past couple of years here is what the porch looked like. 

This year I used some fresh porch pots that were made of fresh evergreens and with large birch branches and smaller red branches.  Change is Good and here's the new look.
 

 

  I wanted to add some pinecones that looked like they had a dusting of snow on them. At the store  they were quite pricey, so I scowered the internet to find out how to 'Do It Yourself".  I had only an two  hours before the guests were arriving so I had to move quickly.  Most of the PINS on Pinterest were to labor intensive for the time I had available.  So I improvised,  and here's the what I came up with.

All you need to make these are: pinecones, white paint, craft paint brush and Epsom Salt.  I made a quick video to show you exactly what to do.  Take 2 minutes to watch and you too can make about 20 of these in 10 Minutes.
 

 

 

 There's lots of creative ways you can use these pretty pinecones.  Would love for you to share with me how you decorate with pinecones. 

 If you have any questions leave me a comment!

Looking for other creative ideas???
Pop on over to the following Link Parties..

Sundays at Home with Alice@ Thoughts from Alice

Amaze Me Monday @Dwellings 

 Wow Us Wednesdays@ Savvy Southern Style
Whatever Goes Wednesdays @ Someday Crafts
Inspiration Monday @ Redhead Can Decorate
 

Thanksgiving "Give Thanks Banner"

Fall is here.

It's time to start decorating.

Let me make it easy for you.

I just listed a new PDF pattern on my ESTY shop.

It's listed here...

YOU can make this 

"Give Thanks Banner ".

This Banner I made for my friend Sharon.

I  Love the way she displayed it with her

old glass windows and clock.

Here's Shelly's mantel.  

Love the fall decor!

Yesterday
I got rid of the Pink flowers
and put out the Fall mums and decor!

Take some time this week to start decorating for the fall...

Before you know it the Christmas tree will be going up!

Check out my ETSY listing HERE 

Lamp Makeover

Do You Remember

this bedroom canopy from  The Tea Castle display? 

Recently it was being donated to an auction for the 
Macomb Charitable Foundation.

I wanted to add a few accessories 

to be donated along with the canopy.

A cute girly lamp would be perfect.

Not wanting to spend much, and with a vision in mind, 

I headed to the thrift store!

Sometimes you're just lucky what you find...

and lucky I was!

Doesn't look like much but remember,

I had a vision in mind!

A lampshade for .99 cents and it was Pink.

Couldn't ask for better than that!

Can you see the price???

Yep, $2.99

PERFECT...

The lamp got a quick makeover with some cream spray paint!

I searched through my stash for some trim.  

Found some pretty trim with pearls on it 

and  hot glued the trim to the lampshade.

 I added some pretty shimmer tulle and a BIG bow to the shade.  

Gotta love a glue gun, it makes things so quick & easy!

A little green and pink paint was added to the lamp.

And Here It Is....

My $3.98 Lamp transformation!

It was the perfect touch for the auction....

I'll be linking up to the following sites....

Making the World Cutter

Market Yourself Mondays

Motivate Me Monday
Made By You Mondays
CraftOManiac
Motivated Monday
Craftastic Monday
Made It Monday
Monday Funday

Get Your Craft On

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday

Power of Paint

Sugar and Spice
We Did It Wednesday
Wow Us Wednesdays

A Special Wedding Cake

Ever say "I CAN do that !" 

and then wonder, "What was I thinking???"

Yep, that was me. 

My very good friend Shelly's daughter was getting married.

It was a BIG wedding.  

600 guests and I volunteered to make the wedding cake 

as a special gift.

It wasn't to far fetched for me to make this offer.  

About 15 years ago I had a wedding cake business,

but since then I have only done 2 wedding cakes.

Times have changed

 and wedding cakes have gotten much more elaborate!

Have you ever seen an episode of Cake Boss or Cake War?

Then you know what I am talking about.

I started to agonize over the cake.  

Since I was a guest at the wedding 

I wanted it to be perfect.

The bride only had a few requirements...

Buttercream Frosting...

A Monogram on the cake...
Each tier of the cake had to have a different design..
The tiers of the cake had to be square...

So here's the process and the finished cake...

I rented this pretty cake stand.

Next step, the monogram.

I used a wooden disc to cut a template.

 Fondant was used to make the disc for the monogram.

I printed out some different font styles for the monogram.

 

Here's the font I decided to use.

To get the exact size of the monogram

I placed the disk on the unfrosted cake.

I lightly traced the monogram onto the fondant

then filled the letters in with Royal icing.

It took a few tries but finally got it to work out.

I ordered this gold rhinestone ribbon  from HERE

 to add some glam to the cake.

Layer by layer the cake started to come together....

Each layer had a different design....

Once delivered to the reception hall 

fresh flowers were added to the cake.

With a sigh of relief the cake was done.

I couldn't wait to put on my dancing shoes 

and celebrate at the wedding!

It was a perfect wedding.

Shelly's attention to detail was unbelievable.

The next morning I relaxed with a cup of coffee

 and a BIG slice of Cake!

I'll be linking up to the following...

Get Your Craft On

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday

Power of Paint

Sugar and Spice
We Did It Wednesday

Graduation Boards For My Youngest....

 I really missed blogging, so much has been going on.

One of the BIG events this past summer

 was my youngest son's graduation party.

Getting the house ready inside and out was a lot of work!

In a future post I'll share with you the centerpieces.

For now, I'm going to share with you 

the graduation memory boards I created.

The party had a baseball theme....

Since baseball has been such a big part of my son's life 

and our families life,

I thought the baseball theme would be perfect!

During this past season, my son was lucky enough to have his name in the headline of the local paper.  
 I made a copy of the article. 

 I incorporated this into the memory board.

If you are planning a memory board use any awards or metals

that the graduate has gotten.  

I used the metal from the district playoffs.

I hot glued on a baseball bat and a special home run baseball.

The ideas are endless. ..

Does your son play hockey?? Use a hockey stick and puck.

Golf??   A golf club and golf ball.

A Chess player??  A chess board with the chess pieces.

I used all 5"x7" photos.

This made a bigger impact.

 All the photos were double matted.

One of the mats was a silver glittered paper.

Here's a cost savings tip....

I purchased glittered wrapping paper from Michaels.

I used this to mat the photos.  

It was cheaper than glittered scrapbook paper.

I found this scrapbook paper at a local scrapbooking store.

It had the school name printed on it.

I also photo copied the newspaper article 

with my son signing the papers for him to play college baseball. 

It was a special day and my Mother in Law was in the photo.

It was a way for my Mother in Law to be at the party.

(She passed away this summer one month before the party)

 She was my son's #1 Fan 

Along the bottom of the board 

I used a sequence of pitching photos.

I liked the way this looked. 

I also added a sequence of batting photos...

 This is the second board I did...

If you want to learn how to make this board

Head on over HERE to my Etsy shop.

School age photos from Kindergarten through high school.

I used a stamp to add the words

"Putting My Stamp on the World"...

It amazing how quickly the years go by...

If you have a child or someone special graduating

start planning now to make a graduation memory board.

Stop back again.

I'll be sharing more creations with you.