Homemade "flameless" candles - August Decor

Back in February, I really needed some pink or red candles for my fireplace mantle Valentine's day decor. However, I was too cheap to buy any and have a hard time spending $7-15 per candle each month I redecorate. Well, I was just running through my Fall items trying to decide what I'm going to use to fancy the place up this Fall and got an idea... Flame-less candles out of 12x12 scrapbook paper!

All I did was spend $1.24 on 4 pieces of scrapbook paper that looked like birch/rustic wood. I then wrapped it around the only real candle I own and marked the height and unrolled the paper. Then, I folded the paper in half where I'd made the mark and put a tight crease across the paper. Starting at the top of the smaller half of paper, I began cutting small triangles at the top-kind of like teeth. I took the paper and wrapped it back around the candle and glued it into a cylinder shape. Where the crease was with the triangles, I alternated folding them down and taped it down to give my candle a top. I need to run out and buy twine so I can run a small piece through the top to create the illusion of a wick.

Ta da!!! The look of candles for any occasion without the cost or fire hazard. Not to mention, these babies won't melt when I store them away!  Here they are displayed with my back to school August mantle decorations.

summer fun

And that bring me up to date and most of the mini projects I've been up to.  Of course, I change my mantels every month and that drives J nuts too.  Whatever.. it's pretty!  Here is my summer theme.

I whipped this little beauty up with some leftover pallet wood.  I'm out of mini starfish but there will be a 3x3 square after a quick trip to the store.  I like it because it doubles for Independence day kinda sorta.

I was bored today and hot.  I was looking for something fun to do out of my big pile of scraps and this is what I came up with out of junk I already had.  Good enough for now I think... we have been traveling all summer and I haven't had the motivation to decorate the house as much.  It broke my heart today when I was at the craft store and all the fall decor was set out.  Isn't it too soon yet?  I mean, it's just now summer and I am not excited about my favorite season at all yet!

Late Valentine's Day

I know my Valentine's Day posting are super late and no help to anyone looking to decorate now.  Hopefully this inspires you to do something for next year's special day of love!

I have been saving all my jars from cooking to come up with this sweet design.  I was actually playing around with some stuff for an up coming wedding but decided to use this as part of my Spring decor this year.

This maybe took me a whole hour to do.  I just cut a few triangles out of left over linen and  stamped three different color hearts on each triangle with a paint brush and acrylic paint.  I simply hot glued the triangles to yarn and hung this from my mantel.

I had some left over curtain fabric from the pillows I made at Christmas.  I traced a giant heart, sewed red fabric underneath in the heart shape and cut the tan fabric out just inside the stitching to reveal the hearts.  Easy Peasy Slipcovers!

Now this guy took me forever!!!  Although this project was simple, making all the crepe paper roses and burning myself on hot glue was hardly worth the effort!  I planned on making two more smaller ones but opted out and I'll save that for next year.  Instead of purchasing Styrofoam balls, I just rolled up newspaper and taped it in a ball shape with making tape to save money.  This cost me $140 minus 40% with a coupon from Hobby Lobby.

A close up of my quickly strewn together Vday decor

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I printed this Q out on some vintage sheet music I had.  DO you have any idea how hard it is to find anything with a Q on it???

For this beauty, I just collected a bunch of Q monograms from the internet and  pasted them all on a word document.  I put a sheet from an old book in the printer and TA-DA... art!!

I glued a Q I painted with black paint on an old frame I lined with  burlap

My mantel

I pulled an old swimming noodle out of the trash and bound torn strips of linen around the noodle.  My kids have three bow and arrow sets that drive me nuts so I stole an arrow for this project.  That's one less arrow I'm getting shot with...

My formal mantel

Fall Decorations on a Budget

I'm trying to be really good about decorating on a budget but it's so hard when Fall is my favorite season of the year!  And, I think I've done it with some thrify thinking starting with my new Autumn inspired pillows.

This is my goal: to have seasonal throw pillow all year long.  But, instead of spending a fortune on pillows and trying to figure out where to store them, I'm making seasonal slip covers for my already exisiting pillows.    

The first pillow below is made from a really cute hand towel I found this season at Kohls.  All I did was measure the size of the pillow, cut the towel to size and sew two folds of  coordinating linen fabric to the back.

This beautiful linen and embroidered pumpkin lumbar pillow is a place mat I adored at Kohls as well!  If you look carefully at the place mat when you purchase it, it is already sewn like a pillow with a distinct front and back piece of material.  I simply cut a slit in the center of the back piece of fabric and stuffed it with one of my pillows.  Boom!  Instant pillow!

Here is the new mantle (minus paint and stain) in the family room.  I still have to post my how to for the mantle and bookshelf my amazingly crafty husband built for me.

My foyer is decorated with Halloween decor already as well.

I love these cute Halloween ornaments but I needed a place to hang them.

I simply cut a few branches from a crab-apple tree outside and duct taped the bottom together.  I was going to spray paint the branches black and decorate with some glitter but I think I want to uses the branches somehow for November and December.  I may just need 3 different sets but for now I'm content with their natural look.

I took my glass votive jars and changed them out too.  This one below is stuffed with cotton pillow stuffing and a few black felt cutouts for eyes and a mouth.

I even hit up the bookshelves of my kitchen island!

Here is the living room; full view (still minus white trim and paint sadly)

Make your own Wheat Decoration

I love these decorative wheat bundles!  But... I've seen them priced anywhere between $100 and $15 dollars.  And I'm sorry, call me cheap but I'm not going to spend a minimum $30 plus tax to put some dead grass in my home.  I needed a money saving solution!

Since it is not wheat growing season here in Ohio, I was SOL to pick actual wheat.  But, a solution came to me when I was scowling at the distinct weed fence between my and my neighbor's property.  Bingo!!  I quickly grabbed some scissors and started cutting down some wild grass and grabbed some cardboard, my trusty hot glue gun and duct tape.

This project is simple!  Roll your cardboard or heavy card stock and tape it in the shape of a cylinder.  Hot glue each stalk of grass being sure to kine the wheat like top at about the same height.

Cut of the uneven bottom and glue a band or ribbon, twine or lace around the middle for a pretty touch.

Ta DA!!!  Here's my beautiful and cheap fall mantle!  Notice I made a small bundle to stick inside a white pitcher on the left side or the mirror.

Now, if only I can get J to finish painting the trim to get rid of the yucky oak so I can paint the walls!