Sassy Brassy

I love accessories!  I love all the fun things you can do with them.  Put them on bookshelves, end tables, night stands.  The possibilities are endless.  When I'm out at thrift stores I really have to control myself because I might just turn into a hoader.  Especially when it comes to brass accessories. 

I don't mean brass like the old outdated light fixtures or doorknobs.  I mean like real brass.  You can always tell real brass if the item is heavy.  The fake stuff will be light and not weigh as much.  So while I was out recently I have found some really great brass accessories. 

While I don't have a place for them yet, someday I will.  And I won't care if brass is not in style anymore because I'll always love it. 

Check out the examples I found on the quick Pinterest search.

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So what did I find?  Take a look.

 

 

 I LOVE this vase.  On the bottom says it was made in India.  The intricate details on this vase are just beautiful.  It was dirty when I bought it from Salvation Army but I polished it to look new again.  I really can't stop looking at it because it's so pretty. 

 This tree was just funky and unique.  The brass is in perfect condition and so I didn't have to do anything to it. 

Back during Christmas I found this cute little reindeer at Salvation Army.  There was a red bow on the reindeer but I took it off.  Sidenote...this reindeer has been sitting on my microwave since Christmas.  Colten has recently discovered it and now carries it around singing "Jingle Bells". 

So what I'll do with these I don't really know yet but I'm just glad I found them.

I hope you find some awesome treasures too.

Teacher Valentine's Gift

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!  I hope your day has been filled with lots of love and kisses!

I know this is super late but I wanted to share what I made for teacher's gifts this year.  Maybe someone can save it for next year.  Heck, you could give this teacher's gift anytime really.  My inspiration for this came from A Night Owl.  I did a few things different so I'm sharing how I made these.

Aren't these super cute??  I just loved them plus they're really easy to make and put together if you are a procrastinator like me.

So here's what you will need:

mason jars with lids
graham cracker sticks (or Goldfish Crackers)
chocolate candy (I used m&m's and Hershey's Mini Milk Chocolate bars)
mini marshmallows
scrapbook paper
glue
string
Valentine ornaments (Mine are from Joann Fabric 60% off)

 

Once you have all the supplies you can jump right in and get started. 

Fill your jar with graham cracker sticks, marshmallows, and m&m's.  Gently shake your jar so everything is mixed up or you could do it all in layers.  I liked the mixed up look so that's what I went with.  I picked out the mini milk chocolate bars from the bag and put those on top of everything in the jar.

Trace your jar lid on the back of the scrapbook paper.  Cut out the circle(s) and glue it to the lid.  I filled my jars first then screwed the lids on.  This secured the paper and kept it from moving around.  I left them to dry overnight.

Once the lids were on I cut the string off the ornament and used a longer string to tie the ornament around the jar.

The cute tag you can find over at the blog I mentioned above.  Print that out on cardstock and cut them out.  Punch a hole in the tag and use more string to tie around the jar.

That's it!!  You're done!

I made 5 of these in about an hour.  All of the teachers loved them and thought they were so cute.

Enjoy and have a great weekend!

Flip flop bling

Good Monday morning ya'll!

I was in Hobby Lobby recently and came up with an idea while strolling through the jewelry section.  I'm sure this has been done before and you can find it on Pinterest but I haven't run across it yet.  So I wanted to share this easy way to bling out a pair of flip flops.

The possibilities are endless at Hobby Lobby or Michaels.

 

The next row behind this one is the flip flops.  Pick any color that you like.  These are $1.99 when not on sale.

 

 



Once you have your color(s) selected go back to the jewelry section and pick out a coordinating jewel to go on the flip flop.  Make sure the jewel you choose is not too big and that it will be comfortable when you put the flip flops on.  I picked my jewel and placed it on the flip flop then put the flip flop on to see how it would feel.  Also, the jewel needs to have a flat back so that it can be glued on. 

 

 

 

I ended up going with the blue and picked out a pretty jewel to go with that color.  My jewels were not on sale at the time so try to catch these when they are so that this can be cheaper.

 

 

Cut off the little ring if there is one.  I used pliers to pry the ring open.

 

 

Use some sort of heavy duty glue to attach these to your flip flops.  If you don't have any then just go by the glue section while at Hobby Lobby and see what they have.  I used J-B Weld.  I also used a clip to add extra pressure to make sure the jewel got a good grip on the flip flop. 

 

Let these sit for 24 hours.  I'm very impatient and didn't let mine sit long enough and it came off.  Then I had to wait another 24 hours.  Ugh!

 

When it's all dry this is what you end up with.

 

 

How cute are these?!?  I love them.  It takes a boring flip flop from drab to fab! 

 

My total cost was $10 but if everything was on sale it would have been much less.  You could also do this if you had a pair of flats like ballerina slippers. 

 

Have fun! 

**Updated**
I've worn these flip flops several times and the J-B Weld did not hold.  So I tried regular super glue.  That did not hold the jewels.  So then I tried Liquid Nails and Gorilla Glue (it's for wood but I had it on hand so why not) and that didn't hold either.  Now I'm trying Loctite Flexible Adhesive.  This is for use on plastic so hopefully this will hold.  I'll keep you updated on what works.   



 

 



Placemat pillows

It's Friday...Friday...gotta get down on Friday!  Everybody's looking forward to the weekend!

Yeah, I channeled Rebecca Black for that one.  Now you're going to have that one in your head.


Reason #5452 why I love Target.

The clearance sales.  Swoon!

While in Target recently I went through the summer clearance section.  They had these placemats on clearance for 70% off.  That made them $.88 each. 

Sold!

When I saw these I knew exactly what I wanted to do with them.  Pillows on my bed!  Now, I'm sure you've seen it done a million times but what's one more?

Use a seam ripper and make an opening big enough to get your arm in.  Stuff a bunch of batting here there to make the pillow fluffy.

If you are anything like me and can barely sew a button on then use fabric glue to close up the seam.  I made sure my opening was on the bottom of the placemat so you can't tell where it was open.  Run a line of glue as close as possible to the edge.

Ta da!  A nice pop of color for our master bedroom. 

The pillow I had been stalking at Target that was a coral color was bought by a certain friend of mine and returned to a different store.  Now that pillow is clearanced out and gone forever.  You shall remain nameless but you know who you are.  :)

But I like this better.  Especially since it was only $.88 instead of $20.

Come back soon too see my master bedroom and the changes we made.