A Wintery Display

Last Saturday I gave our entry table a wintery makeover, without spending any money!  I picked up some paint sample cards while I was out one day and used a silver sharpie to do the lettering.  The font I tried to mimic is called Janda Happy Day and can be downloaded for free here.

I pulled our "What a Difference a Day Makes" print (seen here) from the living room, along with the white pitcher vase and small light blue vase which had accompanied the print.  The snowflake ornament was a purchase from last year.  I added a little bit of hot glue to the back where it would touch the table to make it stand up.  This little trick worked great!  The ornament doesn't slide and I can easily remove the hot glue if I want to use it somewhere else.

My chalk art skills are still quite lacking, but I think I'm making some improvements.  I'm sure over time and with lots of practice and patience I'll be able to create some really nice chalk displays...well, at least that is my hope.

Have a terrific Tuesday!

Love,

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wishing you all a blessed day filled with love, laughter and praise to our wonderful Father above who has blessed us with family and friends to make memories with.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Today I'm also sharing my Thanksgiving Mantle:

Have a happy and blessed Thanksgiving Day!

Love,

Thanksgiving Printable

This morning I decided that since we're having my parents and sisters over for a Thanksgiving meal I am going to create a special mantle and table scape just for the occasion.  

I've been brainstorming and have several ideas in mind...many of which involve burlap!  Since I don't have any burlap on hand and the nearest fabric store is 45 minutes away, I'm going to have to wait until next week to start those projects.

However, I was able to finish one project this morning and I'm going to share it with you!
(Chevron Background Image by Mel Stampz)

(Free for personal use only.  Thanks!)

Happy Holiday Planning!

Linking at:
The Sunday Showcase Party @ Under the Table and Dreaming
Our Favorite Things Link Party @ My Life's a Treasure
Making the World Cuter Monday @ Making the World Cuter
Made by You Monday @ Skip to My Lou 
Mop It Up Monday @ I Should Be Mopping the Floor
Tutorials and Tips Link Party @ Home Stories A to Z
Meet Me Monday Link Party @ You're Talking Too Much
Craft and Tell @ Cherished Bliss
Take-A-Look Tuesday @ Sugar Bee Crafts
Tip Me Tuesday @ Tip Junkie
Titus 2 Tuesday @ Cornerstone Confessions
Lil' Luna Link Party @ Lil' Luna
Home Decor and Organizing Link Party @ Organize and Decorate Everything 
The Creative Spark @ Clean and Scentsible
Wow Me Wednesday @ Ginger Snap Crafts
Whatever Goes Wednesday @ Someday Crafts
Delightfully Inspiring Thursday Party @ Delightful Order
The 36th Avenue Party Time @ The 36th Avenue
Frugal Friday @ The Shabby Nest
Finished Friday @ All Our Days 
Feature Yourself Friday @ Fingerprints on the Fridge 

Welcoming Fall

 Alrighty folks!  Here's my fall mantle.  You want to know what the best thing is about this year's fall display?  I spent NO $$$!  Yep, that's right.  I didn't spend a penny.  Here's the breakdown of the items I used for this year's mantle:

1. Large black 8 x 10 frame - I've had this frame since high school.
2. Natural frames - 2011 fall decor purchase at the Dollar Tree.
3. Simple black 8 x 10 frame - purchased earlier this year.
4. Black 5 x 7 frame and mat - purchased earlier this year.
5. Green and gold ribbon - 2011 fall decor purchase at the Dollar Tree.
6. Mason jars - given to me by a friend.
7. Split peas and white beans in mason jars - 2012 summer decor purchase.
8. Photos - Prints from our 2011 trip to Brown County State Park.
9. Fall Subway Art - Made by yours truly as seen here.

 A picture of me on a small walking bridge at Brown County and my Fall Subway Art printable.

 My handsome hubby!  Love this picture of him with the beautiful view in the background!

I love the way the black and natural wood frames look together on our mantle.

The natural frames are a simple way to bring the outside in.

Happy fall decorating!

Linking at:

Craft & Tell @ Cherished Bliss

Lil' Luna Link Party @ Lil' Luna 

The Creative Spark @ Clean & Scentsible

Home Decor and Organizing Link Party @ Organize and Decorate Everything

The 36th Avenue Party Time @ The 36th Avenue

Delightfully Inspiring Thursday Party @ Delightful Order

and

Mantel Link Party

Summer Mantle

As I was preparing to take down my summer mantle and put up my fall display I realized I had never shared my summer mantle with you all!  Shame on me!  So, I snapped a picture and here it is.

I chose to use black frames to coordinate with our monster clock.  The pictures are from our Memorial Day weekend trip to Spring Mill State Park and the Hilltop Restaurant.  I like these pictures because the clothes we were wearing were bright and summery, that and I love nature photos!  I accented the photos with mason jars partially filled with split peas and white beans.  I really like the color the split peas added to the display and the white beans added some nice texture, too.  I like to keep my decor simple, inexpensive and most of all, versatile!  I think I only ended up buying the beans, a couple frames, a mat or two, and the photos which I had printed at Walmart. 

Come back tomorrow and I'll show you how I used many of these same pieces

plus items from last year to decorate my mantle for fall!

Fall Subway Art - Free Printable!

The wonderful month of September welcomes in a new season, Autumn.  Leaves begin to change, cooler weather creeps in, and the wonderful works of God are ever before us.  September is also when many of us switch out our decor, putting away the summertime flowers and bringing out fall leaves, pumpkins and gourds.  I have yet to make the transition in our home, but I've been working on it.  Here is the Fall Subway Art I just finished.  I plan to place this on our mantle in the upcoming days.

Free for personal use only.

Background:  Mel Stamps: Ombre Chevron Collection

Fonts Used from DaFont: FFF Tusj, KG Be Still & Know, KG Sweet N Sassy, & Pottery Barn

Linking @:

The Creative Spark @ Clean & Scentsible
Whatever Goes Wednesday @ Someday Crafts
The Sunday Showcase @ Under the Table and Dreaming 
Making the World Cuter Monday @ Making the World Cuter
Tutorials and Tips Link Party @ Home Stories A to Z
Take-A-Look Tuesday @ Sugar Bee Crafts
Craft and Tell @ Cherished Bliss
Lil' Luna Link Party @ Lil's Luna
Home Decor and Organizing Link Party @ Organize and Decorate Everything 
The 36th Avenue Party Time @ The 36th Avenue

Entry Table

 As you can see above, our front door opens into a kind-of long hallway.  I decided to place an extra desk in the hallway between the bedroom and bathroom doors to use as an entry table.  I wanted a place to showcase some of our photos and to bring some life to our otherwise bland hallway.  This table does just that and MORE!

Winter Entry Table Display

We decided not to hang anything on our textured walls (which we have in this hallway, downstairs bath, stairway and upstairs landing) I’ve placed a large antique mirror I received from my grandfather and covered in chalkboard paint.  I love having this piece, as it’s a nice reminder of my wonderful family and my beautiful grandmother who has gone on before us.  I haven’t been too creative with what to write on the chalkboard just yet, so for now it says, “Welcome to our Home.”  We have hosted a prayer night, which we titled “Sweet Hour of Prayer,” so for this event I wrote “Welcome to a Sweet Hour of Prayer” on the chalkboard.  I’m sure I will become more creative as time permits.

Here are some little tid-bits about some of the items on the entry table:

- Flowers on the left:  My wedding bouquet

- Photo on left:  One of my favorite engagement pictures

- Photo on right:  One of my husband’s favorite engagement pictures.

- Dried roses in vast on right:  The first roses Ryan ever bought me.

The drawer stores postage stamps, return address labels, pens, rulers and other odd-and-end office supplies (which I really need to clean our and organize!).

The space underneath houses two stools we bought at a yard sale for $1.00 each.  With some new fabric and cushions, ribbon and some paint we now have two beautiful, versatile stools that have served as extra seating, foot rests, and side tables.

Spring/Summer Entry Table Display

 I love these simple paint sample glass jars.  I can easily change them out to fit a specific event, season, or use it to remind us of how we should conduct ourselves.  Here are some other words/phrases I plan to make and use in the glass jars:  Pray, Be Kind, Love, Give, Read, Obey and Do Good.  I am sure I will come up with many more as time progresses.

Linking @

The Sunday Showcase Party @ Under the Table and Dreaming

Tutorials and Tips Link Party @ Home Stories A to Z

Craft & Tell @ Cherished Bliss 

Linking Up With Lil' Luna @ Lil' Luna

The Creative Spark @ Clean & Scentsible

Home Decor and Organizing Link Party @ Organize and Decorate Everything

Delightfully Inspiring Thursday Party @ Delightful Order

The 36th Avenue Party Time @ The 36th Avenue

Spring Mantle Update

After looking at our spring mantle for several weeks (and the purchase of a beautiful HUGE square clock) I decided it wasn't really working for me.  The colors were too bright and bold to go with our living room decor.  I decided to go with a muted green and yellow color scheme.

I grabbed some paint samples from a local shopping center and refreshed my spring word art.

Here's a reminder of what it looked like before:
 
And here is what it looks like now!
 
I also re-did my spring subway art.  This time I used a digital paper design from MelStampz and used PowerPoint to create the art.  I downloaded several of the fonts from dafont.com 
Here's what my original attempt at subway art with paint samples looked like:
 
Some of you may have already had a sneak-peak at my new subway art, as I posted it as a free printable in later April:

Here's an overall comparison between the two spring mantles.

BEFORE

AFTER

The new colors work so much better in our living room and help the room feel more welcoming.  The bright colors (though I do love them!) were just too much in-your-face.

SPRING! - Decor on a dime!

It seems that Spring has already arrived here in Indiana, and so it's time to create a warm, sunny atmosphere inside the Pugh home!

Since my husband works 56+ hours a week at a factory so I can stay at home and be the homemaker God desires me to be, I try to make each dollar stretch as far as possible to show him I value the hours he spends working to provide for us.  With this in mind, I searched the house for items I could re-purpose as decor pieces and found several glass bottles/jars I had washed out and saved.  I also remembered seeing several projects on Pinterest where people had used paint sample cards from a local paint department.

On my next trip out I stopped by the paint department and picked out some springy paint sample cards.

I decided I wanted to spell the word "Spring," one letter per glass jar.  Fortunately, I had ample glass jars to choose from, and in a variety of sizes.  I arranged the jars how I thought they would best showcase my letters and please the eye.  This is the arrangement I came up with.

Next, I arranged my paint sample cards somewhat randomly.  I didn't want there to be a pattern to the color arrangement because I wanted it appear "relaxed."

I then went to my laptop to find a font!  After trying out several fonts, this is the one I chose:

 I set my laptop on the table next to me and using a paint pen, painted the letters on the paint samples I had select.

Once the paint was dry, I simply slid the cards into the glass jars.  I curled them just a little to get them into the jars without bending them.

A few days after I finished the project I picked up some spring flowers from The Dollar Tree and added a couple to the "SPRING" piece by sliding the stem of the flower behind the paint sample card.

My final product! ...and the only cost was the flowers!

Our Spring Mantle