DYI Ceramic Firepots!

I just love these two little ceramic fire pots that I got for my birthday! Somebody really knows what I like!

They use gel fuel to create an instant fire feature....so fun!
Whenever we lit them.....I would think to myself-  there has to be a way to do a knock off version.
I researched the Internet and the only thing I could find was
the bigger fire pit version that
Karen at The Art of Doing Stuff  posted last September.

I you haven't visited Karen's Blog....I highly recommend you do so soon...she is sooo funny and does some amazing projects!

But back to my project!

Tonia and Michael's Wedding!

 What a Wonderful Happy Day!

A beautiful happy couple!

Family!

Friends!

Laughter!

Joy!

Brilliant!

Come along and share some of the images of this fabulous celebration!

Marimekko Art On the Wall For Less!

Marimekko — means “Mary's dress”

maybe that is why I have always been drawn to these iconic patterns!

I think I may be a little "old" to wear a Marimekko dress.......

BUT:

If you look around my house or in my fabric stash you will see that I often pick patterns that are reminiscent of the designs from this Finnish company.
My research for this post took me to the MarimekkoWikipedia entry and I found the history of the company fascinating.
Read on to see the way my daughter found to have a piece of Marimekko art on her kitchen wall!

Wedding Flowers for Less-Making it Happen!

If you are in the midst of planning a wedding, you are surely worried about the budget for flowers....and you should be!
I did a little research and discovered that the average cost for wedding flowers is a whopping $1500...Yikes!
Wait 'till you see what we were able to do for a fraction of that!


Tonia and Michael's Wedding was two days away.


We were off to Market Flowers at the Minneapolis Farmer's Market:

We had a plan....
We had vases.....
We had ribbon, raffia, floral tape, floral foam, packing boxes

And
The Bride and her faithful worker bees.

We just needed the flowers and some time to make the vision a reality!
Come along and see the fun we had!

Disguising a Goodwill Find!

I keep promising to share the ways I incorporate my thrift store treasures into our home.
I realized that I have not been doing this often enough!
It is time to fix that...so here is an example.

Take a look at this butt ugly end table!

Found this at Goodwill a couple of years ago,
Cost-probably $5 or I wouldn't have bought it.

Seems like there are lots of these 1970's end tables donated to thrift stores.
Don't let the missing hardware and cheapo Formica top scare you.











You can simply hide the ugliness with a little fabric disguise! Read on to see how!

Cute Little Gift Bag Tutorial

This little gift bag is made with a single sheet of 12 x 12 scrapbook paper.
With a few simple folds and  some embellishments you will have a inexpensive, handmade alternative to a purchased gift bag.

Read on to see how it is done.....

Recycle Your Yoga Mat-Make a Rug!

I used to make fun of my mom for reusing aluminum foil and washing out bread bags to use as plastic wrap.
Mom, it is your turn to make fun of ME!

I used my old yoga mat to back the new rug I made!

I did it the same way I showed on this post.


 Check it out if you need specifics.
 The really cool thing what I discovered about the new rug when it was finished and in place!

Happy Friday-Sharing TIme!

I am putting on my librarian hat!
I'm doing what all good librarians do....


".... picks liberries from wild liberry bushes and makes a liberry pie. Mmmmh! Mmmmh! So delicious!"
R. Lee Hadden


No actually a librarian's whole job is finding stuff  you just have to read or learn!

I have been doing my research just for you!



Isn't this picture interesting?
I made it using a new FREE App for my iPad.


Read on to learn more!

I Did It-Recovered An Ugly Office Chair!

The 12 year old blue office chair is the first thing you see when you come down the stairs to the lower level in our house.  Yuck!

I saw this tutorial at Made by Meg and knew that I could "just do it"!
Here is the inspiration photo. Meg's tutorial showed me the way! 

Photo from Made by Meg

Add caption

Here is our ugly blue chair!

See why it was bugging me!

You will have to read on to see how it turned out!

Fabulously Thrifty Wedding Mantle!

Isn't this great looking?

Tonia and Michael's wedding reception was held in the beautiful Theodore Wirth Fireplace Room in Minneapolis.  The backdrop for the head table was the fireplace.  We wanted to have a simple and elegant frame for the wedding party.  I think we nailed it!

Of course, we wanted to find a way to do this at minimal cost!

 Read on to see how we did it....