Did you pull your wreath out of storage this year and realize it looks sad, tired and pathetic? I did. With about 10 minutes, some florist wire, glass ornaments, and some ribbon, you can bring it back to life. (Did anyone get my ER reference in the title?) Here’s how the wreath looked when I pulled it out of storage. Pine cones were missing, some berries had “burst”, and it was so dull you could hardly see it from the street. The first sign of a tired wreath is when the coating on the faux berries chips off to expose the foam. There were only a few, so I cut the offending berries off with scissors. I then needed to address the large holes that exposed old & crusty glue. I had some frosted white and glossy red glass ornaments handy, so I decided to use those. In addition to

Don’t forget to enter the Frog Tape Giveaway! It runs through Monday night at midnight, so go and leave a comment. I’m sure everyone has “that” place in their house (or a few) that they just don’t know what to do with. You can arrange and rearrange and never quite get it right. My family room fire place mantle is one of those places. I have had an antique medicine cabinet there, two different mirrors, a painting, topiaries, hurricanes, plates, you name it. Nothing really sings. Part of the problem is that I want to take a sledge hammer to that fireplace, but that’s not going to happen for a while. Until then, I need to adopt the principal that if you can’t change it, decorate it. Here it is…blah. I love the auction mirror ($1.00), the concrete chicken ($15.00), and the yard sale ironstone platter ($2.50), but I’m just

Everyone can relax…I survived shopping on Black Friday. The worst places were Kohl’s & Toys R Us, but everywhere else I walked right up to a register. The silly thing is, I waited in a line wrapped halfway around Kohl’s to get 50% off a pack of play dough and Shake ‘n Go Mater. The sales clerk said, “You waited in that line for this?!” “Yes. Yes, I did.” I found some great toys for my boys and nephew at Toys R Us, but I don’t think I’ll be venturing out again in future years. I really don’t like malls, I hate feeling rushed & pushed, and you can get great sales online in your pjs. So, now that’s done…on to the BJ & PB inspired makeover. (BJ & PB…that almost sounds like a sandwich…or am I alone, here?) When I was growing up, I always remember having this big,

I just realized tonight that I totally missed the 1 year birthday of my business, Mustard Seed Creations! On November 12, 2008, I registered my business with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the United States of America. This is a huge thing and I can’t believe I let it pass without a special dinner or at least a cake. This year, I sold my first piece of furniture, had my first client, painted my first mural (for someone else), was a vendor at my first antique fair, and started my first blog. In addition, I found a great partner in business, Denise, who owns the shop that sells my stuff. It was a big year for my business. If you’d like to read more about the start of MSC, you can check out my post on how it all began. In order to celebrate this milestone, I’ll share pictures of

I am currently in Raleigh, North Carolina with family for the holidays. Although I am a homebody, it is always relaxing for me to get away. My home is my work, plus I work out of my home, so I really have to get away to “get away.” I must admit, though, it was hard to leave all of my projects and not be home for the day after Thanksgiving to put up the decorations and tree, but I really did need the rest. Today I got a long hot shower, made my great-grandmother Rosa’s Congealed Fruit Salad, played with my boys, and took a leisurely trip with my hubby to B&N; Books. This is quite a change of pace from diapers, breakfast, get ready, get to school, grocery store, paint, pick up son, fix lunch, bottles, naps, more diapers, squeeze in a little more painting, bills, clean, laundry, pick

I was traveling south of the Mason-Dixon line today to visit family in Raleigh, NC. I took some pictures and worked on some posts before I left (and they have WIFI and I brought my laptop), so my blog and readers will not be neglected. Don’t forget to enter the Frog Tape giveaway in the post below! I’ve mentioned using my Cricut in a few past posts and had some questions about what it is and how it works. Basically, the Cricut is a cutting machine. It’s primarily geared toward “scrapbookers“, but has many home decor applications. I purchased one when I started Mustard Seed Creations, my decorative painting & mural business and it was a smart purchase. I’ve used it to primarily cut vinyl lettering (pictured below), but I have recently experimented with chipboard and card stock. The vinyl lettering is a great enhancement for murals, like this verse

You girls are good. That’s all I’m sayin‘. There was some great stuff to look through this week and I am getting so inspired through hosting Furniture Feature Friday. Thanks again to Caroline for sponsoring last Friday and providing such a great giveaway. On to my favorites! White Cupboard by Marianne from Songbird. What can I say? This is just a pretty piece of furniture. I love the glass door, the slight distressing, and the subtle details. Such a delicate and unique piece of furniture. Marianne is in love with it and so am I. Donna from Funky Junk Interiors’ White Trash Bedroom. There are so many things to love in this use-what-you-have makeover and lots of unique furniture ideas. Do you like the door & garden gate headboard? Check out the full post to see the table turned vanity and other great ideas. Gorgeous job, Donna.Angie from Slipcover Diva’s

One of my new readers left me a comment on the post about my office that shared a ribbon storage idea. She thought I might like it. She was right and I was inspired to store my ribbons the same way. This clever idea was found at Inspired Apertrey Ink, a beautiful stamping and scrapbook site. ~ Photo from Inspired’s website ~ I had the spools of ribbon…I had vintage clothespins that have been sitting in my basement for 3 years… The only thing I had to purchase was a gallon sized glass jar with an aluminum lid and I found one at Wal-Mart for $6.00. About an hour later, I had all of my ribbon neatly wrapped around each clothespin and inside the penny candy jar. Isn’t this a great idea? It is such a space saver as well. I fit about 25-30 spools of ribbon in the jar