DIY Christmas Card Wreath

If you are like most people, you get lots of Christmas cards in the mail and run out of spaces to put them pretty quickly. There are a lot of cute ideas out there, and I decided to try this one this year for my mom. I saw a version of it on Pinterest.

What I used:

 I think this totaled around $10

I made a bow using dollar store ribbon, added some retro Target ornaments, and tied it to the hoop. Then I just used clothes pins to attach the cards. So simple!

Such an easy and fun way to display your Season's greetings!

Vintage Bridal Shower With A Southern Touch

I enjoy planning parties as much as I do staging and decorating, so I was thrilled to have the opportunity to help with my cousin's bridal shower for her upcoming wedding!
We decided on a traditional brunch and thought finger foods would be best. Finger foods can be fancy though! This was a shower for family and a few lifelong family friends, so we kept it casual and elegant.

 We stayed simple with all white serving pieces and used my milk glass for the roses. I grouped several vases together to make one long centerpiece (always check the grocery store for their "manager's special" flowers...this usually yeilds some great deals on other wise expensive bouqets!).

 We went with 2 sweets and 2 salty snacks for a good combo. Below were glazed doughnut muffins and Paula Dean's lemon blossoms that were both super-yummy!

 For salty we went with cheesy sausage min-muffins and mini-mushroom-and-sausage quiches. It always is nice to label dishes like this in case someone is allergic to a particular food or doesn't like something (Just a piece of card stock and a piece of scrapbook paper is all you need).

 We also went a little non-traditional with the fruit and made mini fruit parfaits with whipped cream or on skewers so people could take their pick.

 My friend Susan did an amazing job with the doily cookies!

 They were the perfect touch and were exactly what I wanted! If you are in the Jackson, MS area you MUST check her out if you need any kind of bakery treat!
We used Oma's old doilys as a table runner.

 We also used a mixture of all of Oma's old china that had been passed down several generations. For utensils I used wooden forks and wrapped them in napkins and twine with a free printable I found online that said "bon appetit". VERY simple but makes a big impact!

 We served a simple punch and used mason jars and striped paper napkins. This cart made the perfect drink station away from the main table.

 We set up a coffee station in another room to keep guests moving (since the house is not that big). This was also where we opened gifts so it kept things flowing. We used Oma's old china for the coffee as well.

 We set up a gift station near the coffee.

 I framed one of the shower invites and used it when decorating. This is an easy way to personlize decor!

 I also set up a place for everyone to leave the bride "helpful household tips" that she can use! These ladies had years of wisdom and her tips were great! I bought simple cards and printed tape to personalize them. All they had to do was write a quick note and toss them in the basket.

 It was a fun morning. Here are a few pics of everyone enjoying the day and celebrating the bride to be! We hosted this in my parent's house, which I talked about a lot this Summer. You can see it's progression HERE.

 

Me and the bride.

(PS, this wreath is for sale in my Etsy shop)
 Moms, grandmothers, aunts, and cousins.

Sources: Wooden forks, paper straws, "Mr. and Mrs. decorative tags all found HERE. Very reasonable and highly recommended!

Thrifted Thursday...back with some vintage luggage action!

Hi!
I know, it's been a little while...but that's OK. It's my blog and I can post when I want to...(if you sang that sentence then we are totally on the same page).
I wanted to share a quick side table idea that I put together. I recently sold my den side tables at a yard sale (they had a glass top and shelves on the bottom=super hard to keep clean). So my lamps sat on the floor for a couple of weeks. Then, on two separate Goodwill trips, I picked up a vintage briefcase, and a really awesome giant picnic basket.
I still needed a base, so I scoped out the local neighborhood streets and...SCORE!

 These guys (the bottom two) were just sitting with someone's trash.

 I love the different looks and textures of each one and how they stack nicely to the perfect height!

These are vintage Platt suitcases from somewhere around the 30's-50's, and are apparently sort of rare. It made me a little sad that this even has someones initials but was still thrown out. (You can't see the initials unless you pull up the handle)

So for $10 total I have a new side table. And if I need to store things like blankets in the Summer I have a perfect place!
A tip for those of you wanting to find cool things like this for free and don't mind doing a little leg work: drive around your local neighborhoods the night before garbage day. You would be surprised the things that people toss out! The funny thing is that this is exactly what I went looking for and found it on the first try! That never actually happens!

Using magazines in everyday decor

If you are like me, you get several magazine subscriptions and aren't sure what to do with all of them after you've read them or while you are waiting to read them.

I like to keep some of mine for tips/recipes so I keep them stacked together and use them as part of my room's decor! If they are kept neatly it doesn't just look like a pile of mail.

 

 I love my Mississippi magazines and can't bear to throw away all of the good stuff that is inside, so I use them on top of the table under my TV so it's not just a bare surface.

 They work perfectly to add some interest without blocking the TV! The white covers give them a sleek look without being distracting.

What do you do with your old magazines? Recycle? Donate? Hoard them like me? I'd love to know!

Adding Custom Touches to Basic Bedding

For my parents' new guest bedroom, I had picked up some basic white pillow cases since they would be seen a little behind the shams. I decided to spruce them up a little to give them a more custom look.
I had these pretty tie-backs that came with the living room drapes that I knew we wouldn't use, and they were the perfect size!

See how they turned out HERE!

Dropcloths: A solution for inexpensive drapes

I purchased a dropcloth a little while back to possibly use as some kind of window treatment at my parents' house after looking at the one currently on my bathroom floor (being used as an actual drop cloth) and realizing what a great thickness and natural look it had!
Then I started seeing them used other places by actual designers:

Jenny from Little Green Notebook rounded up a lot more of these pics for BHG...you can see them all HERE.

Then I saw some in person at a friend's house and they looked great! So I thought we could give it a try. This is a VERY in-progress pic, but you get the idea:

I re-used an old brass rod that I painted oil-rubbed bronze, and then picked up some ORB clip rings at Walmart. I had to hem the drapes since they are 10 ft by 6 ft, but they are a great width for the windows and are nice and thick. And for only $10 a pop, a great deal!
See some more in-progress pics of this room HERE.

Vintage Magazines = Instant Art

Vintage Magazines have such amazing colors and artwork. My grandmother had saved several from the 30's. Although we didn't know why she had saved them, they must have meant something to her, otherwise she would have tossed them long ago.
So what do you do with something like this that you know was important to her? Treat it as a piece of art!

I used inexpensive document frames from Walmart and just left the cardboard backing off. How great are these? They even still have the postage marks from when they were mailed to her!

Other items that we used for creative art: old sheet music. Oma was a piano teacher for many years, and she has an awesome collection of music that is in great shape. What better way to honor that part of her life than to feature some of it in the room!

This room has undergone a lot of changes. To see the process so far, check out THIS post with lots more pictures!

Freshening Up A Vintage Sofa

People are starting to realize the value of a good, sturdy sofa. Because of this there has also been a re-emergence of the printed fabrics that you saw in many of those sofas from the 50's, 60's, and 70's. The key to using these is to update them with fresh fabrics and accessories. A few examples:

Source

Source

Source

We had my grandmother's vintage printed couch to work with:

See what difference the other side of the room and some custom pillows made HERE!



Backing Shelves with Fabric

This old secretary needed some brightening up...

But we didn't want to actually make any permanent changes to the antique piece. So the solution: fabric!
HERE is the full post on how I did it!

Inexpensive Pillow Form

How cute are these little lumbar pillows for my mom's side chairs?

Check out my secret for a super-inexpensive pillow form that gives great support HERE!

Also, if you are wondering how I make most of my pillows, THIS is a great tutorial. You may remember my original post about it HERE. It's a great way to cover a pillow without a zipper but still enabling you to wash it if needed!

Dresser in Distress

While helping my parents with their house, I worked on a dresser that was in need of lots of help.  I thought you might enjoy seeing the transformation! Here is a pic of it before I started (after I took the pulls off).

Since I'm too lazy to repost the whole thing here, you can see the full post with lots of "after" shots here: HERE

I've Been a Busy Bee

Happy Friday! I have been back home again working on my parents soon-to-be new house. I spent last night loading lots of pics for blog posts on the site where I am keeping track of all of that. If you would like you can see it all here: www.opashouse.blogspot.com

Here are a few looks at projects that will show up there in the next couple weeks!

Have You Tried "Chip It"?

I am excited about a new service from Sherwin Williams that I recently discovered! It's called Chip It and you use it similar to the Pin It button for pinterest. You can go to the Chip It site and grab the button to add to your favorites bar. Then whenever you find a picture you like on a website, you can "Chip It" and it will create an entire color palette for you!

How useful would this be if you have a statement art piece and want to design a room's color scheme around it?

I used this Jessie Mackay piece from my pinterest board to try it out:

How cool is that? Instant throw pillow and accessory ideas!

I also tried it on an inspiration bedroom that I had pinned.

You could even use this for help with accessorizing an outfit:

I also thought this might be useful when choosing a matte color for a picture you were having framed. Any of these that it selected would work! I love the Seaworthy and Overt Green.

Just a warning, you are going to want to do this to every picture that you find! I think this is a great idea! And it's so simple to use. It stores all of your "chips" on their site. You just need to sign up.