Cozy Corner: With New Green Vase Arrangement Tutorial Video–Also, Links To My Local Craft Store Tour Videos

On February 5, 2017 By ArlynnIn Country Decor Ideas2 Comments

Big vases, my gracious I’ve been seeing them everywhere as of late…And when I went to visit my cousin Donita last week and I saw a couple in her home and was wowed by them, and then I remembered the large vase that my cousin Stacey has displayed in her home so prettily…Well, I was hooked, I needed to get myself one too! 🙂 So when I walked into our local Home Goods store the other day to do a tour for my YouTube channel, I eyed one that I knew would be perfect for our home and I immediately knew where I wanted to display it.

Here is a video of me arranging the flowers in that vase and getting it into place there in that Cozy Corner in my living room:

And while I’m at it here, I will go ahead and give y’all links to all of my Craft Store Videos that I’ve been working on this week:

Hobby Lobby:

Michaels and Home Goods:

And That:

All righty, as you can see, I’ve been a busy lady, I’ve been trying to fill up these winter months that admittedly are not my favorites of the year with being productive and creative. 🙂 Next, I will be working on doing some organizing of craft supplies and beyond (Lord help me) in our garage…I have several shelves out there that desperately need my attention. I’ll be making a video of the process as well and when I’m finished I’ll share it here too. 🙂

Until next time, y’all take good care!! ❤

~Arlynn ❤

Burlap & Birdhouse Wreath & Room Decor (Soft Green and Cream)

On May 31, 2016June 2, 2016 By ArlynnIn Country Decor Ideas, Wreaths4 Comments

As y’all know, our living and dining rooms sit on the front of our home <link to home tour> and are separated by our foyer & front door. I have found that I really enjoy putting a wreath on the inside of the door. I have a pretty large foyer and that wreath helps to carry the decor theme from one room to the next. I use a pretty green color–I see it everywhere–along with cream & burlap as my accent colors in those rooms. These colors lend themselves to a soft, pretty, warm and cozy design that I have fallen in love with since moving into this house. Also, using these softer colors while incorporating my other favorite design accents into these rooms presents me with a bit of a challenge being that they are not necessarily your typical country themed colors. In this post, I will highlight a wreath that I made while on a ladies craft day last March; I made it especially to hang on the back of my front door. I will also show you some other soft country design elements and techniques like I’ve used in my family room/kitchen area (that are decorated in the more typical country colors of burgundy, green, blue, etc…) and carried into these softer hued rooms.

Okie dokie…So, first, let me list some of my very favorite accent pieces that I usually will use to augment my decor:

Pip Berries (picks and garlands)
Lanterns
Burlap
Gerber Daisies
Dickens Houses
Candles
Family Pictures
Rod-Iron Accent Pieces

As you will see, I’ve tried my best to try and incorporate some of my favorite things into my room designs and into that huge wreath on the door. Speaking of the wreath, let me describe how I made that real quick…

Here are the supplies that you’d need if you wanted to try to make this wreath, also here is a link showing you a bit more detailed directions as to how to make a burlap wreath:

24″ Work Wreath
2 Skeins of Burlap ‘Runner’
Pip Berry Garland
Accent burlap ribbon (or whatever accent you might want to use)
Wooden Birdhouse
Resin Flowers
Burlap Daisies
Rod Iron Flower & Accent flowers
Floral wire

The first thing that I did was to glue pipe cleaners onto the back of the birdhouse and the wooden daisies:

And the Birdhouse:

Then I added the burlap to the work wreath:

Next I turned the wreath over and attached the rod-iron flower using floral wire:

Then it was time to make it pretty, so I went about adding the pip berry garland simply by adding it in on top of the burlap, attaching it into each outer ring’s pipe cleaner…

Then I added the bow, birdhouse, all of the daisies and other accent flowers…

And here is the finished wreath:

Here I am at Karen’s house in the middle holding the wreath, I’m flanked by my sweet friends Karen and Katrina who worked on their lovely crafts on that nice day:

Here are a few more pictures of that wreath in place:

And of course, the pups always love to pose prettily for a picture–Left to Right–Gracie the Golden, and the Newfoundlands, Sophie and Samson. ❤

Here are some pictures of some of the other wreaths that I’ve made to go on that door at different times of the year:

And now to show you how these rooms are pulled together using that pretty green color, cream, and burlap. I’ll start in the dining room with the tablecloth, lantern centerpiece, flanked by rod-iron candle holders and green candles. OH I also made that wreath hanging on the wall between the windows…

The table runner on my Sideboard matches the tablecloth. I also was really happy when I found those sconces that are on either side of the mirror at Hobby Lobby for 1/2 price:

And then a few decor elements in the living room:

If you’d like to read more about these rooms, here is a link to my Living & Dining Rooms blog post describing them in more detail (like where we got those rugs from, and more about the living room furniture, that lamp on the side board, etc…<here is a link>.

I’ll tell y’all, I’ll just go into those rooms and drink in the softness of the design…I love it, truly. It calms my very soul. 🙂

Until next time, y’all take good care! ❤

And remember!

**In crafting there are no mistakes just unique creations**

Pick A Theme & Carry It From Room To Room

On March 23, 2016March 25, 2016 By ArlynnIn Country Decor Ideas4 Comments

I’ve spent a ton of time here in my Blog showing you how I transition from one Season/Holiday to the next via my decor. But, I have not shown you how I came up with my generic/every-day decor and how I made it work through-out our home. When we were building our new retirement home…

I spent the months that it was being built trying like heck to figure out how I was going to decorate. In my other home, I admittedly went a smidge overboard with my decor–in other words, I filled every single wall/corner/shelf that was blank and available. Don’t get me wrong, I think I did a good job, I just think I didn’t need to do quite as much…less is more and all of that you know?! 😉 SO, I knew that I loved “country” decor, but not the primitive everything looks really old kind of country–I do love that look too, but, I didn’t think it would be appropriate for this home. Okay, so I was getting frustrated trying to hone in on exactly where to start, after all, I was going to have to recreate the wheel so to speak–start from scratch–pull my hair out and…well you get my drift. One day, I finally sat myself down and listed the things that I love and things that I’d used throughout my many years of decorating that always turned out nicely. My list included:

Pip berries (garlands and picks),
Lanterns
Gerber daisies
Fleur-de-lis
Baskets
Willow Tree Figurines
Dickens Houses
Wooden Plates
Mini-lights

That was rather an eclectic little list I had going, but, as you’ll see, my “theme” became all of those things rolled into one cohesive design that has worked out beautifully in this home. I will highlight the back part of our home in this entry where I’ve used burgundy, khaki, & cream as my major color scheme. The staircase separates the family room/kitchen/eating area from the living and dining rooms that sit on the front of our home. I’ll do a separate post describing those rooms at another time; I use khakis and creams in there as well, but my main accent color in those rooms is a soft green.

Instead of explaining each and every decor element, I think I will just show you some pictures and give you links to my blog entries that will show you how I put certain things together.

Let’s start out with the kitchen, as you can see by the pictures below, I incorporated lanterns, baskets, wooden plates, and dickens houses among other things to create the Above The Kitchen Cabinet Decor…

I love to work with those kitchen windows; I’ve incorporated wooden plates, gerber daisies (wooden and silk), pip berry picks…Here is my The Ever Changing Kitchen Window Decor post:

Moving on into the family room area, our staircase is such a focal point, and my daughter actually gave me the idea to hang pip berry garland wrapped in white lights onto the railing. Talk about warming up a large space, adding that lit garland and then making bows to go at the swag points has become one of my favorite design elements in the house (we do switch it out for Christmas with pine garland); the entire idea started by me using burlap and swagging it onto the staircase). Here is a link describing all of the different ways in which I’ve switched up the Staircase Railing…My most recent design is pictured below…

I made all of those bows, and then I made a swag our of pip berry picks and gerber daisies to attach to the bullnose…

The fireplace is another focal point; I typically decorate the mantel and hearth. I have utilized, a pip berry garland, dickens houses, willow tree figurines, wooden plates, and a few other accent pieces to pull it all together.

I made the wreath that is hanging on the mirror above the mantel…If you’d like to try one for yourself, here is a link as to how I created it…

Creating Cozy Corners is another little design trick that I’ve honed over the years…I implemented my little trick on either side of the hearth as shown above, and also in the corners on either side of the credenza as shown below…

As seen in the picture above, I have found that adding Rod-Iron Scroll’y’ Pieces and Accent Lighting to my space helps to pull everything together nicely…

Lanterns are some of my most favorite things with which to work…I use them to create table centerpieces and have them scattered about throughout our home…

I found that flour-de-lis candle holder in Hobby Lobby and I used it much like I do my lanterns…

Here is the Powder room, I have tried to decorate it in much the same way as I did the kitchen and family room areas as it is close by. I just made this wreath right after Christmas, I tried to pull in all elements of my decor, i.e. gerber daisies, rod-iron (owls), pip berries (I used a pip berry garland)…OH goodness, why don’t I just give you a link, here is how I made that Burlap, Pip Berry, & Rod-Iron Wreath. 🙂

Lastly, one other way that I pull all of my decor together is my incorporating some of the same accent elements into my little flower arrangements, for this decor theme, I’ve used pip berries, gerber daisies, and that same burlap ribbon that I used to make the staircase bows.

I made these little arrangements for the kitchen window decor:

I made this basket arrangement to sit up on a shelf in the family room:

And one more, I made this arrangement to sit on a table in the family room:

My goal is to always create a warm, cozy, & welcoming space and I think I’ve accomplished that goal nicely–I sure stressed for a long time while trying to pull it all together in my head though. It wasn’t until I got moved into this home and started to work with the different spaces that it finally all came together into one cohesive design. I hope that I’ve helped to maybe give you an idea of how to incorporate your favorite things into your home decor and in turn how to make one cohesive design–You can do it, all you need to do is to start compiling a list of the things that you love. 🙂

Until next time, y’all take good care! ❤

~Arlynn ❤

Rebuilding My Lil’ Red Wagon Decor

On February 29, 2016February 29, 2016 By ArlynnIn Country Decor Ideas, Wreaths2 Comments

Our weather has been crazy around here as of late. One day it is 20 degrees and then the next day it is 60, no wonder everyone is sick! We had an awful storm go through here last week and it decimated the decor that I had in my Little Red Wagon (<~~~Link to show you all of the different ways I’ve decorated up this wagon in the past). This is what it looked like before the wind lifted everything out of the wagon and broke some lantern glass and carried some of the other accent pieces through the yard and beyond…sheesh!

Regardless of the mess I found after the storm, I had already planned to redo the wagon decor for the rest of the winter months. I wanted to get rid of the pine ‘Christmassy’ looking garland as well as create a new small wreath that would pair nicely with the front door wreath.

Here is a quick synopsis of how I put together that small grapevine wreath…

Supplies:

One small grapevine wreath form
One pip berry garland (it was one I had leftover from another project)
Gerber Daisies
Metal three tiered sign w/chain
Red and burlap chevron wired ribbon
Old Boyd’s Bear (that I literally just found while I was cleaning out some stuff in my basement)

This little wreath went together very quickly…I started by hot gluing the pip berry garland onto the wreath form

Then I used a pipe cleaner to attach the 3-tiered sign onto the form…

I glued the bottom “Laugh Often” section to the wreath…

After that was completed, I made a bow out of the ribbon and I tied the bear onto the wreath with floral wire (I didn’t want to glue him on just in case I might want to use him for something else in the future). Then I placed the gerber daisies where I thought they looked nice and glued them into place.

Here is the finished wreath…

So, now, let’s move out onto the front porch and I’ll show you how I built that wagon decor…I started by collecting a few items that I thought I might use…

Then I placed the blanket into the wagon…

I put a large picture holder that would hold that little wreath into the left corner…

Then as often happens to me, I totally got into the creative process and FORGOT to take more pictures of each step! Grrrr…As you can see though, I have a white crate sitting on top of a milk can sitting behind the wagon, I love to use that to add interest and a little bit of depth to the project. Then I started building the rest of the decor starting inside the crate with that wooden heart, moving into the wagon and placing the bigger bear on a little stool in the right back corner and adding metal star stands and garland, metal butterflies, a solar lantern, and a tuft of reddish berries. 🙂 When creating these types of grouping, I usually build from left to right, back to forward, and then up and work my way down…to the ground this instance..I hope that made sense…lol. Here is a link to one of my posts that describes how I put together groupings like this, it is entitled How To Create Cozy Corners & More. 🙂

In the end, this is what I came up with…

And here it is paired with the front door wreath…

I also wrapped a string of brown corded white lights around the wreath and wrapped a strand around that pip berry garland that I have draped over the white crate. (If you are interested in purchasing brown corded white lights, here is a link to Factory Direct Craft, that is where I always get mine. 🙂

Here is the wagon in the evening hours…

You can even see it from a distance, it just add a bit of warmth and coziness to the entranceway. 🙂 As y’all know by now, I’m all about warming up my spaces and trying to make them as welcoming as can be. 🙂

Until next time, y’all take good care! ❤

~Arlynn ❤

Home Goods Haul: It’s All About the Green’ish’ Color

On February 14, 2016February 14, 2016 By ArlynnIn Country Decor Ideas6 Comments

My daughter Christin came to visit us yesterday and she and I went to my local Home Goods store to do a little (a lot!!) of shopping. She had a new idea of how she wanted to redecorate her bedroom and bathroom a bit. She and I share a love for this very pretty green’ish’ color that you see everywhere now-a-days and that is the color that she wanted to utilize in her space. I have decorated both my dining and living rooms using this green’ish’ color as my accent color.

There are three stores that I regularly frequent when I go to do a bit of tweaking to my decor, Home Goods is definitely one of my favorites…Hobby Lobby and Michaels are my other “goto” stores for crafts and accent pieces. Christin really loves T.J. Maxx and Home Goods carries a lot of the same things that T.J. Maxx sells. We were happy campers as we walked around with *that* green color in mind.

**I will admit, that when I get a color into my mind, I am very good at finding it in all sorts of different accent pieces.**

The first thing that she picked out was a new comforter set…

It came with a king sized comforter, 2 king size pillow shams, and 3 throw pillows.

It cost $100 but, it is made from a really nice quality material and shoot, those 3 throw pillows would have cost $30 – $40 by themselves if she had to purchase them separately.

Once she picked that out, we were off and running, we built the rest of the decor around that comforter set. 🙂 The next thing that we picked out were curtains; we ended up buying 2 sets of these panels; she has a large window in her bedroom. They matched the comforter set to a tee. 🙂

We found this chevron rug runner to go in front of her bed…

Christin also found these sweet shelves…

Her plan is to print off some inspirational quotes and some pictures to go in those clips…such a cute idea!! 🙂

I was sauntering down the bathroom aisle and practically ran to this shower curtain when I saw it. If Christin hadn’t of liked it, I would have purchased it for myself and redone one of my little upstairs guest bathrooms using that as my inspiration. OH I do love this curtain…and…well…Christin did too, so we picked it up to go into her bathroom. 🙂

We also picked up a curtain liner, great quality at a great price!!

Then we found this spiffy memory foam rug to go on the floor beside her tub…

While we were in the rug aisle, we both gravitated to and picked up this very fluffy round rug…Oh my goodness gracious, it is so soft!!

We also found that little toothbrush holder to match; you can see in the picture above to the left of the round rug….

Once we had all of this stuff piled into out cart, we thought we’d better head to the checkout counter. 😉

Notice the roll of wrapping paper that Christin grabbed up on our way to the register…haha…She does love this green color (I do too, I cannot tell a lie). 😉

As I was setting all of this stuff up so that I could take pictures of everything, guess who showed up to “help”…LOL…These pups are always afraid that they are going to miss something…;)

ANYway, Christin gathered everything up and headed out to her own place, she lives in a neighboring County about 40 minutes away. She started placing her new stuff once she got home. Her bedroom and bathroom look so pretty now, this green color is so soft and welcoming, it just warms up a room so nicely. (It pairs beautifully with either gray or khaki or a combination of the two…it is so versatile!)

Here are some pictures of everything in place…

She wants to get a few “Euro” pillows to add to this look…

Here is a closer look at those pretty pillows. I love the ones with the inspirational quotes on them…

**I must take a moment to say that Christin is one of the most giving, sweet spirited people I know. Yes, I know that she is my daughter, but, she honestly doesn’t have a mean bone in her body and she would do ANYthing for ANYone! She is a phenomenal teacher too and was awarded “Teacher of the Year” for her entire County in her 5th year of teaching! A-m-a-z-i-n-g!! She is an awesome individual that I am honored and blessed to call my daughter. Those pillows on her bed speak volumes about how she approaches life on a daily basis.**

~~~LOVE you to the moon and back Christin Dani!!!~~~

There is a view looking into the vanity that then leads into the bathroom…

I made her that wreath on the wall there, if you’d like to see how I did that, check out my post entitled Whimsical Burlap Wreath. Here is what it looks like up close:

And here is the bathroom…Wait, first, there is where she placed that fluffy round rug…:)

Now, on into the bathroom…

Isn’t that shower curtain pretty! It adds just a touch of sparkle…

Everything looks so pretty and I think Christin feels a bit better that she has included her favorite color in so many different ways into her space. I think she has a lovely theme that she can build upon as she continues to tweak her decor.

I’m not sure where she will place those two shelves with the clips, but, they will really add interest wherever she hangs them. 🙂

One more thing, here is a shot of her vanity…It used to be my Mom’s and it fits beautifully into Christin’s bedroom…It is so nice to see something that my Mom used all those many years ago still being utilized. It just touches my heart. ❤

And Christin has great organizational skills like my Mom did too, check out these couple of pictures and the way in which she creatively displays her belongings…

Well, that does it for our Home Goods Haul. 🙂 I had a great time helping Christin pick and choose such pretty pieces with which to decorate her sweet home. I was definitely in my ‘wheelhouse’ and enjoyed every second of our time together.

Until next time, y’all take good care! ❤

**In crafting there are no mistakes just unique creations**

Seasonal Mailbox Decor

On February 5, 2016February 5, 2016 By ArlynnIn Country Decor Ideas, Home Tour, Transitioning Seasonal Decor7 Comments

I was so excited to move into our new home a few years ago for many reasons not the least of which was where our mailbox was located and that in our neighborhood it seemed to be a *thing* to decorate on and around mailboxes. YaY!! Of course this idea fell right into my wheelhouse so the creative juices started to flow and I started to plan out how I would be changing my mailbox decor as the Season (or in most cases the months) change. The first thing that I came up with was that I was going to utilize all of my wooden hanging signs that I’d been collecting for over a decade. I used to hang them on a bracket off of the front porch of our other home. Here is a link to where you can find the sign bracket. I do not use the bracket on my mailbox, but you could use it on your front porch, on a fence, or on any number of other places. Here is a picture of the bracket–that is not my sign though..;)

Here is a picture of all of my signs save for the wooden heart that is hanging out on my mailbox right now:

If you’d like to purchase them they can be found at here at PiperClassics.com…

All of the signs come with little chains attached to the top of them so we screwed little hooks into the underneath wooden portion of our mailbox. This made the signs super easy to change out.

You’ll also notice that our mailbox has a trough that juts out of the back; that is a pretty spiffy little addition and it provides me with another receptacle with which to decorate. 🙂

I found this solar mason jar to sit in that trough at Home Depot, gosh it does look pretty in the evening hours.

For a little while, I had two of them sitting in and on the trough…

I’ll now show you how I change out the mailbox decor as we go through the months and seasons of the year. 🙂

Both of these pictures were both taken the very first January that we resided in our new home:

There are our Newfoundland doggies Sophie and Samson. ❤

February:

March:

April:

May and June:

July:

August:

September:

October:

November: **I received Mr. Turkey this past Christmas, so he’ll take his rightful place on the mailbox next November**

December 2014:

December 2015:

And then back to January again:

And just the other day, I changed things out for February:

For years and years…actually for decades…when we lived in our other home, our mailbox was located across the street from our house and it was situated immediately next to another mailbox. Its location didn’t lend itself to festive decorating hence my excitement about being able to decorate this new mailbox. My hope is that this silly mailbox might provide folks with a warm, welcoming feeling as they enter our driveway; as y’all know, bringing forth a “warm & welcoming” feeling through my decorating is always my goal. 🙂

Until next time, y’all take good care! ❤

**In crafting there are no mistakes, just unique creations**

~Arlynn ❤

Quick & Easy Rag Lap Quilt: With Guest Blogger Billie

On January 24, 2016January 24, 2016 By ArlynnIn Country Decor Ideas, Uncategorized2 Comments

I admit it, I am not a quilter! I can do pretty much any other craft, and yes, I can sew and have sewn many things in the past, but, quilting, well, I’ve just never had the patience to sit and learn how to do it correctly. I envy those that have the talent, the expertise, and yes, the patience to create something that evokes such a warm, very special feeling. One of my dear friends *Billie* is a wonderful quilter, so when she asked me for some instructions as to how to make a burlap wreath, I was touched and humbled that she liked my stuff so much that she might like to make something like what I create. I was thrilled to give her a little extra help and I provided her with a shopping list and some basic instructions and pointed her to my Front Door Burlap Wreaths Blog post in hopes that it might help her put her wreath together. She was making it for her Mom for Christmas, and she ended up doing a fabulous job!!! Here is a picture of her finished wreath, this is the first burlap wreath that she has ever made and I think she nailed it perfectly!!

Billie has been kind enough lend her quilt making expertise to my little ole Blog here; she has sent me instructions and some accompanying pictures that might serve to help one of y’all out there to make a Rag Lap Quilt. First though, let me show you some of the other quilts that Billie has created over the years, she does gorgeous work! **AND don’t miss Billie’s little pup Penny who obviously loves her Mama’s work too…LOL…She is so stinkin’ cute in these pictures!! ❤

My gosh, aren’t those quilts just the prettiest things you’ve ever seen?!! I can’t choose a favorite…I honestly can’t! I know without a doubt that I could find a special place for each and every one of them in my home…what a TALENT!!!!! Wow, wow, WOW!!!

So, here are some instructions that Billie sent me and she has graciously given me permission to pass on to y’all as to how to make a Rag Lap Quilt. Before we get started, she wanted me to assure y’all that this project is a great project for beginners and advanced sewers, any imperfections in cutting and sewing are forgiven when all is said and done, beginners can enjoy sewing without having to worry about making mistakes and advanced sewers can sew without being perfectionists. Here is Billie’s friend Alexis who is only 11 years old sewing for the very first time ever making herself a fun, fast and easy rag quilt. It’s just a wonderful and adorable project for all levels!

Fabric requirements for this project include:

2/3 of a yard of 6 different coordinating cotton fabrics for front of quilt
or 4 yards of any fabric of your choosing 4 yards of coordinating fabrics for back of quilt
4 yards of flannel for inside of quilt
Rotary cutter
cutting mat
acrylic ruler
rag quilt snip scissors
and of course a sewing machine 😉

Cut all the fabric for the front and the back of the fabrics using your rotary cutter into 10 1/2 inch strips by WOF (width of fabric) and then sub cut these strips into 10 1/2 inch blocks. You will have 8 blocks for each coordinating fabric you chose for the front of this quilt and 48 blocks from the fabric for the back of your quilt. Cut your flannel fabric into 9 1/2 inch strips by WOF and then sub cut into 9 1/2 inch blocks. This project is one of those that you just can’t go wrong, the accuracy on cutting and sewing doesn’t show, which makes it that much more fun.

Take your flannel square and sandwich it between your fabric squares for the front and back of your quilt, you should have 48 of these…

Sew a diagonal line from each corner to create an X on each one of these sandwiches…

This project is great for chain piecing just keep feeding one sandwich after another into the machine (also a walking foot on your sewing machine during this project is nice you don’t have to have one, but it does make it easier to feed the fabric through the machine)

After finishing all 48 blocks lay out your blocks 6 across and 6 down this is where you can create a pattern with the different fabrics I did a diagonal line with matching blocks in mine.

Now you’re ready too begin sewing your blocks together with 2/3 inch seam, place one block on top of another with the fabric for the back of the quilt facing each other so that the seam allowance will face the top of your quilt; this is key because this is where the rag comes in on the rag quilt. You will sew 6 blocks together to complete a row.

Now that a row is finished you can take your rag scissors and clip towards your seams be CAREFUL not to cut your seam, you want your cuts to be about 1/2 inch – 1 inch apart, if you do this as you go it’s less tedious to do after your finished putting everything together.

Make 8 rows and then sew your rows together the same way you sewed your blocks, again with the fabric for the back of your quilt facing each other so that your seams are facing the front of your quilt and clipping as you go. You’re almost finished, you’re going to need to place a 2/3 inch seam all the way around the edges of your quilt this closes up the blocks on the top, bottom and sides of your quilt, clip those seams and now it’s time to wash and dry your beautiful creation so that all those clipped seams rag up and make your quilt absolutely adorable!

OH my gosh, that really is completely and totally adorable!!! I LOVE IT!!! Thank you so very much for showing us how to create this fast and easy rag lap quilt Billie!!!! You are a-m-a-z-i-n-g!!! I might even give something like this a try!! 🙂

Until next time, y’all take good care! ❤

~Arlynn ❤

Staircase: Lit Pip Berry Garland

On December 31, 2015December 31, 2015 By ArlynnIn Country Decor Ideas, Transitioning Seasonal Decor5 Comments

My hubby is awesome! He knew that I was ready to transition from my Christmas decorations to my more multi-Seasonal (generic) decor. He is always up really early in the morning so before I opened an eye one morning, he had taken this Christmas ornament garland off of the bannister…

…and replaced it with our pip berry garland. When he removed it back in November so that I could decorate for Christmas he had put a marker at each swag point so he said it was a pretty easy task. Regardless, I was SO appreciative of his help and self-motivation to go ahead and do that big job while I was still sleeping.

So once I was up and moving, the first thing that I needed to do to complete this job was to make new bows to tie to each swag point. I had found this new burlap berry ribbon online at “The Paper Mart”, here is a link. It took me quite a little while to create all 9 bows…talk about some hand cramps, yep, I was definitely a hurtin’ pup at the completion of that task.

Thankfully, our daughter was here to help me when I tied all of the bows onto the garland; she was able to tell be if I needed to angle the bow up or down or if I needed to straighten a tail here or there. I appreciated that so much as I have bad knees and going up and down stairs multiple times to check to see if I have everything situated just so is not tops on my enjoyable things to do list. 😉

The next task was to put together a little spray to be placed on the bullnose (bottom of the stairs). There is really no specific way that I put this together, I just gathered pip berry picks and gerber daisies together in a bunch and arranged it till I liked how it looked, then I tied it all together with tie wraps and added a bow…

The stems snug down into the bullnose nicely and because the lights are plugged into the extension cord below it stays put…

Here is the completed look…

I am so happy that this task is complete, the pip berry garland will stay on the bannister until next Christmas (unless I come up with another bright idea before then). I might change out the bows to match whatever season we are going through, but that would be the only change I make.

I’m so happy that we’ve decided to decorate up this bannister, I feel that since this staircase is such a prominent feature in the house it lends itself nicely to be adorned with prettiness. 🙂 It completes the entire look and brings a warmth and coziness into the space…And as y’all know, I’m all about bringing warmth and coziness into our home.

Next, I’ll be telling you how I transitioned the mantel and hearth from Christmas to my multi-Seasonal decor…Here is a sneak peek:

Until next time, y’all take good care! ❤

*In decorating there are no mistakes, just unique creations!*

~Arlynn

The Ever Changing Kitchen Window Decor

On September 30, 2015October 15, 2015 By ArlynnIn Country Decor Ideas3 Comments

Hi Everyone!

I think we are having a monsoon here in the South, it has been raining for days and it is predicted to rain for many more days to come. I am one of those people who really likes to see the sun shining, so all of this rain has me clambering to do something productive inside; I will definitely get to that productive project soon (maybe..haha), but in the meantime, I thought I’d show y’all how I decorate my kitchen windows throughout the year. I love my kitchen windows, they open by using a crank so that design lends itself to me being able to place decor on the wide window sills.

I have tried really hard not to over-decorate this new house, in the past at our previous home, I *might* have been known for decorating every available wall and surface and admittedly, it got to be a little overwhelming. So when we moved here, I’ve tried to minimize my decor yet still put a touch of *somethin’-somethin’* on most available spaces; this house has a very open design so there really isn’t a lot of wall space to utilize and I don’t have a ton of tables just sitting around to be used solely for decorating upon, so these windows are a pretty place to pull some seasonal accents into the kitchen.

So here we go, this is how I had them decorated in the Fall of 2014:

I placed plates at either end to anchor the look, in this case I used very cost friendly plastic chargers–I think I paid $1.99 for each at our local Michaels. I also have 2 tin ‘boxes’ for lack of a better word, and I change out the flowers/pip berries to match whatever decor feel I’m trying to capture. The lanterns on the two end window sills stayed there for a while, but honestly, I removed them when I decorated for Fall this year because the complete look was getting too busy (I’ll show you a picture of this Fall’s window decor at the end of this entry). In addition, the country vase and candle holders are always there and I change out the candles and the vase contents as I go through the year.

Next was Christmas, as you see, I changed out the chargers for Christmassy ones; still plastic and bought at Michaels as well. I changed out the flower/pip berry arrangements in the tin boxes and the vase and just added a few little snowmen wooden plaques and ceramic snowmen ornaments:

After Christmas was over I wanted to create a look that would carry me through the winter months. I found those two awesome wooden plates at a local craft store, so I placed them to anchor the look, and then I just changed out the arrangements in the tin boxes and vase for something a bit more generic, added stars and some wooden words and called it done. (I did take the lanterns away for this look, they were blocking too much of the windows)

Now it was time to decorate for our family reunion/spring/summer (haha…I really did leave the same stuff up there from May-September). By now, y’all know that my theme for the family reunion (see link for all of that decor) was red and white gingham, red and white gerber daisies and mason jars. I made new arrangements in the tin boxes and the vase utilizing burlap and silk gerber daisies and pip berries, and I added a resin cream color gerber daisy (found at Hobby Lobby for 1/2 off) in front of/beside each tin box. Yep, those lanterns showed back up for this grouping…;)

Last but not least, I just decorated for Fall and I’ve changed out a few things. I found 2 wooden Fall themed plates at a local country store and bit the bullet and purchased them (they were about $15 a piece, I rarely spend that much on a Seasonal decor accent, but I couldn’t resist and I will reuse these every year moving forward). I, again, changed out the flower/pip berry arrangements in the tin boxes and vase, changed out the candles, and added a few scarecrows and fabric pumpkins here and there. I’ve removed those lanterns for good now, I’ve found that I like it much better without them.

I’ll be decorating for Christmas next, so I’m on the lookout for a couple of wooden plates with which to replace those Fall themed ones. And who knows what else I’ll come up with once I get started designing; I try not to look back on past design pictures, instead I start each new project by gathering everything that I want to use for any certain grouping and let the creative juices flow…I love the process and will tweak and tweak until I love the end design. 🙂

Well now, there we go, I did do something productive inside…I wrote a blog entry…Each one of these is a little project in and of itself. 😉 🙂

Until next time, y’all take good care! ❤

**In crafting there are no mistakes just unique creations**

My Little Red Wagon Decor

On September 19, 2015December 7, 2015 By ArlynnIn Country Decor Ideas6 Comments

Hi Y’all!

As is quite often the case, I tend to stumble upon the best country craft decor items when I’m not really searching for them. This red wagon was one such item and I found it at our local Plow and Hearth Outlet. Trust me, it took me about 10 seconds to decide to shell out the $$ for this. And yes, to let you know, it was a little pricey, <sigh>, it cost a bit over $100, but it was well worth the cost as I will utilize it greatly as each Season passes for many years to come.

To say that the creative juices started to flow when I laid my eyes on this beauty is an understatement. I knew that this awesome find would take permanent residence on our front porch and it would become one of my “staple” (my word for an item that remains in place as an anchor piece within or on which I build Seasonal decor) pieces moving forward in time.

It didn’t take me long to get this sweet little wagon out onto my front porch and decorated up for the winter months. Notice the gerber daisies, I swear I use those puppies all through the year because I love them so much. 😉 Regardless, I did utilize my grandmother’s milk can by placing a wooden crate on top of it to help me add a bit of height and structure to my grouping. (You can see a milk can on the left side of the front door in the picture below–the one behind the wagon looks exactly like that one) I also placed another wooden crate on the back corner edge of the wagon, again to help with height and to add interest and depth to the final decor. Those crates and that milk jug have become staples for each and every wagon grouping that I’ve created so far. Knowing me though, I will eventually use different staple items to change up future groupings within the wagon, but for now, I’m quite happy with the diversity that the milk jug and crates provide while bringing all of the finalized creations to fruition.

As far as the grouping inside and around the wagon goes, I truly just gathered a bunch of stuff out of bins that hold all of my extra generic country decorating items, hauled them all out to the wagon and started placing them in the wagon and on and in the crates. I placed the red and white plaid throw blanket first, then the wreath and bear which is sitting on a little red stool, and then I added the other items. A couple of lanterns (one of which is solar and I have a battery operated candle in the other one) rounded out this grouping. Oh, one more thing, there is a battery operated candle sitting on the large burgundy candle stick that is sitting on the crate and in front of the big star.

**A little note**– I did make that burlap wreath that I placed in the wagon. I had some ribbon left over from making the front door wreath so I decided to make one to match to use in the wagon. Here is a close-up of that wreath:

Patriotic decorations are some of my very favorite items with which to utilize. And there are times of the year that I will pull out the patriotic decor just to have something different to gaze upon.

I decorated the front of our home with a patriotic theme starting on Memorial Day and I left it up until after the 4 of July. The first thing I did was to make a new burlap wreath.

After the wreath was completed, I used some of the left-over chevron and burlap ribbon and added it along with flags, stars, hearts, and red, white, and blue flowers to create the wagon decor. **And yes, I did indeed mix checks and stripes…;) 😉 **

I think I should let y’all know that I am forever taking pictures of my pups and this day was no exception. I brought all three of them out front and clicked off a few pictures of them in front of the decorated porch. They were so good, and they actually obeyed me when I told them to “stay”! Yippee skippee!! 😉 Here is just one of the photos I clicked off of Sophie, Samson, & Gracie. ❤ ~~~>

To finish the off the front porch, we added a patriotic bunting to the porch overhang. Notice I said “we” ^^^, I should have said “my hubby” as I do not climb up very tall ladders no matter how badly I want something placed somewhere..haha. Thank goodness, my hubby is willing to take care of such precarious tasks. 😉

Here is a shot of the house decked out in its patriotic garb right at dusk:

Between Seasons Decor:

What did I do when I found myself between Seasons (after Labor Day but before Fall decorations go up) and I was itching for a change of decor for out on the front porch? Well, to start with, I decided to make yet another wreath, there it is on the door behind Samson and me.

I then decorated the wagon with some more generic feeling items using the left-over wreath ribbon as an accent. This decor held me over until it was time to decorate for Fall…

Fall!

The first thing I did was to start digging through my old Fall accent pieces. I found that throw, and I had made that wreath last year, so those were two of the first things that I placed in the wagon, and then I added scarecrows, a fall leaf garland, some pumpkins, a couple of scarecrows, and a picture/plaque with a Fall theme depicted. Then I added that “Welcome” pumpkin plaque on the ground in front of the wagon and it was done, done, and done. 🙂

I found that large “Count Your Blessings” fence plaque (sitting on the left of the front door) in Hobby Lobby for 40% off. I made a new burlap wreath to finish everything off and it all came together quite nicely.

The pups and I took advantage of another photo opportunity…haha…They are such sweet, loving puppy doggies! ❤

Here are a couple of pictures of the Fall adorned house at dusk.

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As y’all can see, I have already utilized the little red wagon in 4 different ways for 4 different Seasons so to speak. I can’t wait to decorate it for Christmas! The creative wheels are already turning as I contemplate what might end up in there to celebrate that glorious Season! 🙂 The possibilities are endless…

Fast forward 3 months…

AND I finally got to decorate my little red wagon up for Christmas! YaY!! Here are some pictures, and here is a link to show you how I arranged it and the other Outdoor Christmas Decor:

Until next time, y’all take good care! ❤

**In crafting there are no mistakes just unique creations**

⚜️ Arlynn's Country Craft Corner ⚜️

Category: Country Decor Ideas

Cozy Corner: With New Green Vase Arrangement Tutorial Video–Also, Links To My Local Craft Store Tour Videos

Burlap & Birdhouse Wreath & Room Decor (Soft Green and Cream)

Pick A Theme & Carry It From Room To Room

Rebuilding My Lil’ Red Wagon Decor

Home Goods Haul: It’s All About the Green’ish’ Color

Seasonal Mailbox Decor

Quick & Easy Rag Lap Quilt: With Guest Blogger Billie

Staircase: Lit Pip Berry Garland

The Ever Changing Kitchen Window Decor

My Little Red Wagon Decor

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