Silver Button Blingy Decor Ball

 I decided to change that big silver Christmas ball looking orb because that's just what it is.
A big silver Christmas ball.

. You know when you go to someone's house and you see a decor item that just draws you in 

and you want to pick it up and handle it and 

say, "What is it? This is so cool!" 

That's what I was shooting for.

In my craft room I have a huge stash of stuff, including silverish buttons and doodads.

I roughed up the ball surface with sandpaper
and used hot glue then E6000 adhesive.

 I used wire cutters to trim 

 the hasps off the back of the buttons so they would lay flat.

Then I went to town and attached every silvery button and trim I could lay my hands on. 

                                                                                                                                           

Buttons and bottle caps and watch faces and silvery beads and glass half marbles...

and jewelry parts and necklace clasps and scrapbook gems and even glitter.

Oooh! I like it alot!

               
             

Or right there where it started, at the end of the counter when you come in the door? 

Yeah. That's the place.

 I love the way this came out! 

Don't you want to pick it up and turn it over and check it out? 

So do I! 

Five Gallon Bucket Table With Blingy Blue Top

You know the drill by now. I wanted something but didn't want to spend any money. 

In this case, a nice little side table for our front deck....just a pretty little place to put things when we're sitting out there visiting or enjoying the sun.

I knew we had to have something in all of our stuff that I could use for this project.

Heeeeyyyyy....

We have a stack of five gallon buckets in storage. Sure, they smell like pickles but 

they are free and they are also the perfect height! In this case, 13" tall.

Here is the spray paint I keep on hand for our plastic patio chairs that are still sturdy and I am too cheap to replace. Painted this beautiful turquoise blue they even look good. 

The bucket is now Lagoon blue. And soon the boards will be, too.

Pallet wood scraps, baby!

I knew if I rummaged around enough in the scrap barrel I'd find enough to cover this bucket.

Yeah, they look rough but they're scraps and they're free and it was starting to get hot....

Okay, used air nailer to attach boards to bucket. Easy peasy.

Checking the kitchen I found this 15" microwave plate under the counter. We've never had a microwave large enough for this plate so I must have bought it at some point,

 but hey, serendipity! Perfect for the table top I have in mind.

Yeah, I have a stash of blue gems from the Dollar Store and thrift stores and yard sales. Don't judge me, I use these all the time! Shhh, they're pretty and they're cheap and perfect for this next step.

I laid them out in different ways and decided I liked the random look. I used a caulking gun and that tube of silicone sealer and added a small cookie sized blob of silicone in each area of the plate and smooshed each glass marble into the blob, giving each one a twist to seat it. In a bit I was looking at.....

A five gallon bucket table with a blingy glass top! 

I made this photo all gauzy and glamorous on purpose. Because I'm not quite sure if the style

 of the top goes with the style of the base, even after I painted the base turquoise blue.

Hmmmmm.

Look! All's well that ends well! The silicone dries clear and makes the glass marbles look like they are surrounded by water.

This pretty little FREE table is perfect for the purpose I had in mind. With a bit

 of ingenuity and time and a bit of work, I now have a blingy blue glass table for our front deck. Not only is it FREE, but it is totally waterproof and can stay outside all year long. 

Plastic bucket.

Reclaimed pallet boards.

Silicone sealant.

Blue glass gems.

ALL totally weatherproof.

I am calling this a win win, even if I'm not completely satisfied that the top goes with the bottom. But I've got a few ideas, and a few more five gallon buckets, to try and change things up.

Stay tuned!!

Here's my second table, so pleased with it!

DIY "Rock" Planters from Styrofoam Boxes

What to do with those 

styro foam boxes

 you get with Christmas goodies inside?

Here's a great solution and it's easy to do.

Make faux rock planters out of them.

Yup!

Here's one finished planter with a succulent that's loving it's new home. 

This planter is a few months old so you can see I have to touch up a few spots 

but really, it looks like an old stone planter covered with moss!!

This was a box for our Christmas ham. I trimmed it down then roughed up the sides 

with a wire brush. Then I scored rough rock shapes into the foam.

I took my regular acrylic craft paints in rock and moss colors and started layering

 and layering until it looked authentic. 

I used spray paint sparingly at some of the joints and I loved

 the cool rocky texture it made.

So now I tried some more light sprays of paint in little areas and loved it even more!

This is definitely a stony, rocky look right there.

Then I layered on more acrylic paint to blend the colors and cover up 

any white foam showing through.

I'm in love with this project!

I already had a pot of mixed sedum on my deck so I

popped it into the new planter.

Oooh aaaaah!