Eagle Scout Court of Honor Papercraft Decor

Congratulations to my nephew on earning his Eagle Scout Award! I had fun coming up with two banners, table decor and centerpieces for his special night. 

Sources:

Free Printable Banner Letters

Red, Blue and Kraft color cardstock for banner, table confetti and centerpiece flags

2" Fiskars Circle Punch for table confetti

Blue Table Cover

Paper Straws

Pottery Barn Inspired Wood Tealight Candle Holder

This is a really easy project I came up with after lusting after a $70 PB one for a couple years and having some scrap wood I wanted to do something with.
I started with a 15" 4x8 wood beam. It would have been awesome with a longer length also. Sand it well. Mark where you want your candles. Take a 1-1/2 or 2" drill bit and drill how deep to where you want your candles. I used a 2 inch so I could put the candles in glass. I had a dozen Ikea Glimma tealight holders I had previously bought on hand. I wanted the candles above the wood a little, not flush with the wood. Then sand the cutouts. Then stain or paint - I love the look of dark brown "espresso", so I used Ace Walnut Stain with an old rag. Let dry, insert glass, then tealights, light, and enjoy! I threw together a super simple
Autumn tablescape, but it looks good on its own as well! I think in the Spring it would be cute surrounded by moss. I just love my new candleholder and so glad I didnt have to pay $70!

Quick Craft: Recycled Plastic Eggs

I took four extra large plastic Easter eggs....

#1 got some twine hot glued to it...

#2 got some moss hot glued to it...

#'s 3 & 4 got wrapped with pretty ribbon scraps and hot glued with leftover silk flowers...

Can you find the 2 "natural" eggs in my centerpiece?

And I printed up a little quote for the "faux" flower eggs to give as gifts. Here is the word block:

This Easter egg is hollow

like they found the tomb

because He has risen

for me and for you.

Matthew 28:6

Not a bad egg, eh?

I love recycling and making stuff with zero cost!

CENTERPIECE: New Year's

I made New Year's dinner festive for my family by creating this centerpiece in mere minutes. I used my "snow" vase filler, saved a snowflake ornament from the Christmas tree, and lit tealights in my new Glimma tealight holders from IKEA. Simply beautiful.

Another idea from Crate and Barrel: Hurricane filler

You might remember this fun idea from two holidays ago which I stole from the Crate and Barrel store. Well I couldn't wait to go again and see all the lovely displays for this holiday.

Well they did it again, using the hurricane and adapting it to the season. Here is the next idea stolen from my visit. (sorry for the bad pic). It is supposed to look like *snow*.

Can you guess what it is???

Sea salt! What a great, organic, easy way to "fake" snow in some pretty glass containers!
Of course they were selling theirs in pretty packaging for 10 bucks, but you can pick this up for about $2 at the local grocery. I only used a fraction of the container and my husband uses this for cooking! If I didn't have kids, I'd be tempted to just scatter it around all decorated surfaces for that fun "fallen snow" look!
Happy December!

ANOTHER LOOK: Thanksgiving Centerpieces

The first picture from Country Living is my original inspiration. Notice the Indian Corn.
The second picture is what I threw together with what I had.
The third picture is what I came up with using my New Blocks and the beautiful fall floral arrangement my SIL brought last weekend. So basically, I couldn't have done this without my SIL's! Thanks, girls, you're the best! :) I love how it turned out.
I took a smaller vase to put the flowers in, and then put them in a bigger hurricane with rafia and fall leaves. Then I took my indian corn and "scattered" it around. The tablerunner is a little number I put together with some fabric given to me, years ago. I love it, it seems to work all year round.
So this is the view I will be enjoying for the next couple of days until the big feast!

LOVE FREE DECORATING

Remember when I showed you this? Well, it's as easy as shopping in your backyard!
Check out the eye candy below for some beautiful, simple, and FREE ideas- just use whatever containers, vases, seasonal decor, ribbons, and fabric you have!

Real Simple

Real Simple

Pottery Barn

Pottery Barn

Pottery Barn

Country Living

Country Living

MY FAVORITE THING TO DECORATE WITH

*sigh* Don't you just love them? I love how they come in all different shapes and sizes, colors, textures... they are organic, inexpensive and beautiful. They perfectly define the season. And I love that my daughters love them as much as I do. That makes me wonder, is there any person who DOESN'T like a cute pumpkin?!