Wintry Snowflake Chandelier-Dollar Store Decor

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Okay, here is the early 90's brass and glass chandelier in my dining room. 

I'll give you a moment to bask in fond nostalgia.

Yeah, well, we're still living with this chandelier until I find exactly the right fixture and can wave a big ol' bag o' money at it, so right there it is going to stay. 

It's just so....brassy and perfectly functional and by the way, 

The Welding Man loves it just the way it is! 

So here are a couple of my ideas for coping with it's golden funkiness each season. 

Dollar Store to the rescue! 

Years ago I saw Martha Stewart's pretty hanging autumn wreath light and it stuck with me.

 So in October I decided to make my own version with several autumn leaf garlands around 

and around and around my light's brassy framework but

 without the candlelit mini pumpkins.

 

We tried it with and without the glass panes and the glass just 

gave it some extra shine at night, so they stayed. 

Ooh! I like it alot and it is a sure sign of Autumn in my house.

Come Christmas time and wintry weather,

 I hit my stash of Dollar Store decorations again and found 

many different styles and sizes of snowflakes. 

We took off the glass panes and hung the snowflakes willy nilly,

 just like they would be in a blustery winter storm.

With just a few icicle strands here and there and oooh! I like this alot, too! 

Even in the daytime in natural light the

 layered textures of silver, white, and glittery gold and 

silver pack a beautiful festive punch.

Even The Welding Man, who does not like it when I mess with "his" light, thinks that this is very pretty!

Note-If you hang enough Dollar Store snowflakes on a brass light fixture you can mostly hide it's golden shininess!

And kapow! Here she is all lit up! She is dazzling!

        

Ooh aah! So pretty! And with the cold, wet, rainy, snowy winter weather hanging on, I'm leaving these snowflakes on my chandelier at least until Easter!

Which version is better? Daytime or night time? I like them both but the daytime 

chandy looks more wintry to me. 

Go figure.

The Welding Man will be glad to know  I won't be replacing his chandelier anytime soon. 

But I can sure mess with it and make it pretty, can't I? 

 

And maybe I'll learn to appreciate it's brassy vintagey vibe? 

We'll just have to wait and see, lol!

Lighted Autumn Hurricane So Pretty!

                                      I scored this gigantic glass hurricane at a yard sale for $2.
                       It is 20" tall and 8" across at the belly with a wooden base. I love the size
                                          and how I can dress it up all year long. Plus, $2!! 
                                                          
                                                           That still makes me smile.

Last spring I filled it with vine balls, book page decor balls, driftwood, monkey's knots,
pine cones and my favorite green glitter dragonfly. I LOVE how it looked with a
few of my cobalt glass pieces.

                      

So this fall I restyled it for Autumn. Now it is a lighted accent to my
Thanksgiving decorating.

I like it. I like it alot!

         I grabbed a garland and a short string of 50 lights from my stash....both Dollar Store buys
                     from years past. I twined them together and stuffed them into the glass. 
                                             The problem was, they all fell to the bottom and
                                                       left the top of the glass empty.

I took a dowel the same height as the glass and wrapped it in autumn paper to blend in. 

Then I wrapped the garlands and lights together around the dowel using florist tape to secure it in a vertical column. One the dowel is nicely decorated it was easy to place

 the hurricane glass over it and set it in place. 

It worked!!

                

I love how it turned out!

It looks stunning and really lights up any corner I put it.

Me thinks I need to keep an eye out for more huge hurricane glass!

I used the same trick in the tall pasta jar right next to it. 

Easy peasy and didn't cost a dime.

Gotta love that!

Twig Wreath Redo for Spring

I'm a bit of a wreath fanatic. There, I've said it.

When I found this twig wreath for $2 at a yard sale I knew it's 24" size 

was perfect for my front door. It came with bits of dried eucalyptus branches and fake roses and I kept them in place.

So first, I spray painted it glossy black and added Dollar Store leaves and flowers for fall and Halloween.

LOVE!

See the black roses and dried eucalyptus? 

Then for winter/Christmas I spray painted it gloss white and added lots of glossy turquoise. 

I am always on the look out for more turquoise bits and bobs 

plus glittery snowflakes and Christmas bulbs.

And there are the eucalyptus and roses painted bright white.

And now for spring, the white wreath is ready to shine in beautiful shades of green. Courtesy of the Dollar Store, thrift stores and yard sales, of course.

This time the white roses are under the ferns and butterflies.

Here are some of my finds during the year. I used some for this wreath. 

I have a list of things I am always looking for.

When I couldn't find green curlicues I just painted some curled wire. I do believe in making things I need/want and then making things work without spending loads of money.

Ooh aaah!

This year I've even turned it over and tried it out on this octagon window.

I removed the nest and added more butterflies and a wind chime. 

I painted the wind chime butterfly as a Monarch for a pop of color. 

What do you think? Should I add a wreath on the door, too? 

Can I ever have too many wreaths? Lol.

What are you doing for your spring decor? 

Tree Branches and Leaves for Bright Autumn Corner Decor

I know this is hugely late but I'm posting it anyway. Life and projects have eaten my time for months!

Here is the corner of my living room where I keep this urn and painted branches almost all year. The square corner table is perfect for the space and easy to dress up for every season. I change the table cloth and the decor with stuff I have on hand and, of course, bright silk foliage from The Dollar Store.

But first let's go back a bit when the corner was looking a bit cluttered at the end of summer. These two couches form the favorite lounging corner in our house so I try to change it up seasonally. 

Ah, Number One Son likes that spot.

And here it is again, all fluffed up with autumn decor. I added a vase of leaves in a basket on the coffee table

I added a stack of my restyled books which I've crafted to look like vintage editions.

And here's a link....

         http://makethebestofthings.blogspot.com/2014/01/how-to-restyle-books-to-look-like.html

Then I just played around with everything until I liked the design as a whole. That's the fun part!

                          

I have muslin curtains hanging over lace panels on my window wall. So I added my big coffee filter wreath (made from a Dollar Store hula hoop!) and more leafy garlands.

http://makethebestofthings.blogspot.com/2013/11/oversize-wreath-from-hula-hoop.html

Here's a link to that easy rosette and autumn leaves wreath decor....

http://makethebestofthings.blogspot.com/2014/09/quick-change-wreath-decor.html

All done fussin' and ready to start enjoying. I love how the corner decor looks with my own paintings on the wall and the ever changing pillows I made for the couches. Holiday season, bring it on!!

Autumn Garlands Styling Up a Brass and Glass Chandelier

The Welding Man LOVES this dining room chandelier so you know it's not getting replaced anytime soon. We've been married 43 years and counting.

 You have to pick your battles, ladies.

Ahem.

Back to the big, bold, BRASS chandelier. I'm always looking for ways to change it up. I saw this beauty on Martha's website and glommed onto it's creative prettiness right away.

Of course she used real leaves probably harvested by her minions and real mini pumpkins holding real candles all balanced on a real grapevine wreath. But still, pretty and clever!

Martha envy has motivated me more than once but moving on....

Our Dollar Store has these very colorful autumn leaf garlands every year at this time. I have at least a half dozen sets I use every autumn.

Here's my first gorgeous leafy chandelier in 2011. I LOVED how this looks! Almost as pretty as Martha's and it won't catch on fire or drip wax on the table PLUS it cost less than $5 for garlands.

Win win!

Here's THIS year's version in the daylight. So colorful!

I took the beveled glass off the hangers and twined the garlands around the brass hooks. It's so pretty!

Here is is all lit up during the "blue hour" at sunset. This just makes me smile and smile!

 But....those bulbs are hot and the leaves are very close to all that heat. I'm going to redo it with the glass hanging between the bulbs and the silk leaves. I hope it still looks full enough.

Hey hey! The glass hanging between the lights and the garlands actually makes it brighter and prettier! I like it!

Here it is during the day and still lovely!

Oooh aaaah! I think it's a quick and lovely and CHEAP fix to give this brass and glass light a bit of color and bling going into the holidays.

Win win!

Spring Wreath Redo....The 4th Look From The Same Wreath

Time to redo my wreath for spring. Easy and CHEAP and beautiful!

Ooh aah!

Back in the fall I started out with a Walmart twig wreath, some eucalyptus branches, mixed twigs, fake roses and gloss black spray paint. I added a Dollar Store haunted house cut-out and some ruffled streamers made from a cheap plastic table cloth. Spiderwebs and tiny little bat cut outs made this a fun wreath for my Halloween door.



This wreath is almost 24" across, so it is big enough for the arched windows in the door to fit right into the curve.

Next......

I added Dollar Store autumn leaves and flowers, plus some real mini pumpkins. The bright colors against the gloss black wreath and twigs really popped! This was a great look between Halloween and Thanksgiving.

Next...

I spray painted the wreath gloss white and really changed it's look. See how the roses stand out now? I added pretty shiny decorations in blue, silver, teal and white and LOVED the way it came out. I scored some teal foil twist at the Goodwill and used it for the curlicues and the rosettes on the little ball in the middle. I also crackle painted another teal ball with silver acrylic paint and Elmer's glue.

And now to that white wreath I'm adding all these springtime elements.....

Silk hydrangea leaves, plastic ferns, sticks from the yard, glitter and paint and pretty glittery butterflies. And, a mini vine wreath to remake into a bird's nest.

I painted some of the greenery with lime green Patio Paint for some color interest. The Patio Paint is specially formulated for use outdoors and I've had good luck with it holding up to bad weather.

I like it. I like it alot!

And here's a closeup....

I had most of these things in my stash and only bought the glittered eggs for the nest. The bronze glittered butterflies were on clearance after Christmas for 50 cents. I painted the curly wires with the Patio Paint and re used the tiny blue berry twigs from the Christmas wreath. I soaked the tiny vine wreath in hot water then unraveled it and spread it out to be less tight and more nest-like. Then I added twigs from the yard to make it a little shaggy.

I've had this project in mind for awhile and it was fun getting it finished and hung up. As wet and cold as the weather has been here, it's the only thing we've done outside so far this spring!

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