Mantle Monday No. 6 Valentines Day

Hey! I feel like it really has been forever since I shared a mantle for mantle Monday! I was excited to do something valentines Day themed, but also wanted to spend very little doing it. So I scrounged all over my house for things that would fit my chosen color scheme and style. I went with simple, and not too much pink, just a little "kiss"" of it..( pun intended...) So here it is!!

Entire front view of the mantle... The wall is looking more grey everyday! I love it...at first I thought it was too blue, but it is so calming....

Side view:  White Distressed Candlestick- Goodwill-$3.99 Brown Candlestick base- Goodwill $2.99
Tin bucket small- Ikea Frames and white artwork- goodwill all less than $8.00 together.

I took this photos to spell love. I have been trying to build a "photography alphabet" and recently finished. I sold some at my recent craft fair and had these left over. They are just found objects that looked like letters. Love the way this turned out. I found this frame at a local thrift shop for $3.00 ! matte included. I snatched it up having this in mind from the beg. I will display it way past the holiday. The frame on the left was another goodwill find. I cut out some card stock hearts, and sewed them together using a chain feeding method( just feeding the hearts into the needle in one continuous thread.) Then I cut and taped them into the frame. I like how the brown frame matched the brown candlestick. Tried to have at least 2 of every color I used so there was familiarity.

I had this base which was a $2.99 find at goodwill. I wanted a pom or ball on top and was going to make one, them I remembered I had these. I used them for my daughter's birthday in December and I had two pink and two white. I got them at walmart for 0.99 each I think. They come flat and you open and they have sticky stuff to hold them open...EASY!

More of the pomander balls from Walmart  and a cute little wire basket I found at .... yes goodwill again....I LOVE IT. Looked like a little basket to collect farm eggs or something but I ADORE IT> Love keys to and had this laying around and threw it in.

I Found this urn at a thrift store and re-painted it. See tutorial HERE. I made this garland out of old book pages and just sewed them together on my sewing machine.

A view of the book page garland hanging in the front. Love it, and will display probably often.

Well that is it! Happy v-day!

-Amanda

Linking to:

Tidy Mom

Mantle Monday No.5-What I am thankful for...

Welcome to Mantle Monday no.5 I thought in light of Thanksgiving this week, I would do a mantle including some of the things that I am grateful for. I wanted to keep the colors pretty neutral, and fresh. So I chose brown and white as my color pallet. Here it is...

This frame is one that I made for a recent craft fair. I hung pictures of my daughter, and me holding her on it, because she is literally my everything, and I can never have enough pictures of her displayed throughout the house.

This is my newest little wreath I made. I am going to give it to my sister for Christmas  she just does not know it yet:) hee hee(!) I am thankful for talents, and the time I get to create.

This is my newest lamp creation. I really enjoy lighting and everything to do with it. This one I did for fun a few weeks ago. It is made out of old book pages. For this one, I am grateful for education, and the opportunity that I had get a good education. There will be a tutorial for this light and one like it very, very soon.

wanna make a pedestal ? tutorial HERE

so, my sister Heather Carey was in town for thanksgiving. It was time for Mantle Monday and I wanted her help with it. Well she actually did this whole thing, and I love the way that it turned out. I chose the color palette  and laid out a bunch of stuff, and she did the rest. I wanted the mantle to showcase things that I am thankful for, and I think she did a great job. She also has a blog with lots of crafty things HERE. Check her out. She is great agt couponing, creating, and has a cool old house they are fixing up. She also takes special orders if you see something that you like. Well that is it!! HAPPY TURKEY DAY!
-Amanda

Mantle Monday No.4- Hint of green

Here is my newest Mantle! I have been dying to do something with chevron, and here it is!! Just a hint of fresh lovely green......

The entire mantle from the front..
 I tried to make three things at least the same height all the way across so that it looked like there was some similarities between the items. The apple barrel basket, white vase with flowers, and twine wrapped bottle were all about the same height. I started by centering the vase and wreath and worked out from there. I wanted a variety in height and texture. I also wanted to have it be a little more minimalistic than my previous ones. So I left a little wall showing behind things, and a few spaces. As far as texture I love chevron, and having it look distressed. I like the look of the two colors brown and black together. Since everything else was brown and neutral though I needed another black grounding item, so I added the lantern on the opposite side of the black and white chevron. The music print wreath and burlap added some intresting texture and the poms added a hint of softness. I like this mantle and wanna keep it up forever. It makes me think of fall but a fresh fall, and different than the traditional oranges and reds...

I got these little woven apples at goodwill 3 for 3 dollars!!! love the hint of green:) I also repainted this gold lantern black I got it at a thrift store for 75 cents!! I made the chevron  board using painters tape at 4" pieces, I eyeballed the pattern, painted it and then distressed it. 

I got this apple barrel basket at a local shop for 50 cents. I cut up some burlap, placed it over something in the barrel to give height and stuck some apples on top so they could be seen. The green frame was black and I dry brushed it with this olive green color. I like how the apples and the frame were different shade of green. They kinda tied together a fresh look in a different way. I got the letter "c" for Conley:) for 50 cents at goodwill, just how it is.

This vase also again came from a thrift store. Love it... I made the burlap rose and "wish poms" as I call them. The total cost was super cheap because I cut the branches out of my front yard to glue into the yarn poms. I will do a tutorail soon. They are super easy. The roses I learned awhile ago. There is a great tutorial for them HERE.

I made this music sheet wreath with an old music book that I got a a local thrift and it  was already looking kinda aged. I like how it turned out.

I made this black and white chevron, using an old IKEA board that I got for super cheap, and then repainted. I tried to layer and lean a lot of things over each other to get a more interesting look.

close up of the apples

I wrapped an old soda bottle with twine, and hot glue, and stuck a wish pom in it. The great part is that it can hold water, because it is glass, so I can put real flowers in it too. I thought the color of the twine matched the apple barrel basket nicely.

Both chevrons together. One black and white, and one brown and white.

Well that it is! Happy Mantle Monday!!

Fashion Friday- casual/ comfy

Hey everyone!

 Here is fashion Friday this week. It was a super comfy outfit, and super casual. My baby is also stylin' her new carters outfit that her Nana got for her at the beach. I love the little rosettes on the cardigan, and of course, animal print pants out control ;)

Shirt/ really really short dress :) Forever 21.  Jeans- Big star. Shoes- converse


I really liked this outfit, it was totally functional for everyday, and still a little dressy. All of it, except the shoes, was thrifted. I seriously love thrift stores. I found the jeans and shirt at different times, and wear the jeans like crazy. They are so comfy. The shirt, is actually a dress I think. A short, short, clubbing kind of dress. So I made it a long shirt.I liked how it bunched at the bottom, and my fav part is the long zipper down the back. The converse are my favorite pair of shoes and are clearly well worn. I have had them since I was 17. So....9 years!! ( crazy.) They have held up pretty well, but it is time for some new ones. My favorite part is the cool texture, and black laces. They are my go to shoes. Well that is it!! Happy casual friday!

-Amanda

Mantle Monday No.3- Spooky candlelight and Crow Love

Hey everyone!! 

Welcome to mantle Monday No.3

This week I wanted to still go with the fall theme, but slowly start mixing in some Halloween stuff. ( I have a great white and black mantle coming soon:) I thought that it would look a little more spooky with some real candle light. So this week I tried to incorporate some tea lights throughout the decor. Here it is:

I made these blocks the same way I made the family sign... see HERE. wood was scrapped in a construction dumpster, and painted...

the whole mantle: mirror: thrifted. orange lights:porters craft store. pumpkins: Styrofoam garage sale

candlestick and orange wire pumpkin: thrifted. orange candles: Fred Meyers I wrapped raffia and ribbons around them.

Crows: The Dollar Tree $1.00 each :)



Here are a few shots of the candles:

wire candle sculpture: gifted to me by my mom:)

I love the glow of candles....

spider Tea light holder: Michael's craft store -$5.00 ( clearance after Halloween)

Have a happy Monday!!
-Amanda

Mantle Monday No. 2- Autumn

 Hello everyone!! Finally here is the 2nd Mantle Monday. The last one never made it up. It was a crazy Monday.  We got our family pictures taken last week, on Tuesday. So... I spent my Monday making a little pea coat for my daughter for the pictures. I had seen them, and wanted one, but they are super spendy... So I made one for the cost of the buttons. I will share it here soon. For now.. onto the Mantle!!! I know it is October, but I have not had the chance to do a Fall mantle yet. So here it is:

So I tried to remember where I got stuff, here is the breakdown:

 ok so lots of pictures, but there is a lot going on:) I love fall. I am excited to do a few more this month. Have a happy Monday!!

-Amanda

Mantle Monday No. 1

Welcome to the very first Mantle Monday!!

 Every Monday I will be showing different mantle decor here. I hope to share the different things I decorate my mantle with, and also share mantles that inspire me from friends in town and around the blogosphere.  I will try and share where I got things and how much they cost. If I had to refinish or make, I will try and refer to a post of a DIY. Okie Dokie... here we go!!

No. 1:

full shot of the whole fireplace. One day we will put in a gas insert.

Wanna make this pedestal? go here:  http://smalltownsmallbudget.blogspot.com/2012/07/diy-pedestal.html 

http://smalltownsmallbudget.blogspot.com/2012/06/subway-typography-art.html

Here is where everything came from!!

Ok! have a happy Monday!

-Amanda

Loving to link up here:

I Heart Nap time

 Tatertots and Jello

I'm Lovin' it Party