Lighted Autumn Hurricane

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 it's size and how I can dress it up all year long. Plus, $2!! That still makes me grin.

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.

The Welding Man suggested that I put a piece of dowel inside to support the garland, so here's what I came up with. To disguise the dowel I covered it with an Autumn leaf print napkin cut into strips. A bit of hot glue at the top and bottom kept the paper in place. We threaded it through the garland and used florist wire to hold it at the top. Then we plugged it in and I am pleased as punch at the way it looks!

Here it is at the corner of my "bookcase in lieu of a mantel" with my Thankful wreath, my faux stained glass mirror, my oak family tree painting and another, smaller, unlit hurricane. It really brightens up that corner and is a beautiful night light. I checked it often for too much heat from the lights and it is safe, just warm.

Now I'm thinking that smaller hurricane needs lights, too. I can put it in the corner of the living room with my Autumn tree branches. And for Christmas I'm thinking silver balls and ornaments and pine cones and a bit of greenery, all lit up!

I'll be joining the blog parties on my sidebar, come along and link up! There is a wealth of creative projects out there!

http://ivyandelephants.blogspot.com/2014/09/up-in-smoke-again.html?utm_source=Friends+of+Ivy+%26+Elephants&utm_campaign=c40032f638-Up+in+Smoke+Again&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_a51593f650-c40032f638-42477

http://www.playpartypin.com/2014/09/weekend-re-treat-link-party-86.html

Time Flies....

....in a succession of fuzzy days when I've been fogged in with chemo, fatigue and a touch of the flu.

As usual, I did too much over the holidays and my compromised health smacked me down for a few weeks. I guess enjoying multiple family homes and meals, attending a holiday wedding in a cold church and being out and about in freezing weather was not a good combo. My own bed never felt so good! Dealing with my very low energy levels has been daunting for me, but I'm finally adjusting.

So I'm back and hope to blog faithfully now that I'm on a lighter dose of less toxic chemo. I feel better and have some energy these days. Speaking of which, we finally took down the Christmas trees, including the blue beauty you see above. Usually I just plunk a large houseplant in that corner and rearrange the glassware and call it good.

Last summer I scored a HUGE hurricane glass and it kept looking at me reproachfully, since something that grand deserved a bit of attention. This thing is BIG, as in 20" tall and 8" across at its "belly." I had filled it with gold and silver balls for Christmas, easy peasy, but for now I wanted something a bit different.

So, vine balls from Dollar Tree and some driftwood chunks....


A glittery moss green Walmart dragonfly. Some rearrangement of blue glass bottles and jars.....



....add some of my book page decor balls in two sizes, and a few glittered cinnamon pine cones. Plus several jute monkey's knot balls for more texture.



A closer shot of that gorgeous dragonfly. Only one dollar at Christmastime! Love it!

And off to the left you see a wooden pedestal bowl with a trio of Insanely Creative Christy's Mod Podged book page veggies with bronze glittered stems, just gorgeous. But you know, now this little display is making me long for spring and all the greenery that comes with rain and the warming temps.

I'm thinking of doing something very green and springlike to my counter display area...something that will incorporate Valentine's, Easter and St. Patrick's. LOL, that should be an interesting project and I'll post it when I do!

Ladies, thanks for stopping by. I'll be posting to the parties on my sidebar and visiting as many of you all that I can in the next weeks. Come check all the fun projects out, blog land is chock FULL of amazing, creative folks.

See you there!