I mentioned in my first post about the Large Candy decorations that was inspired by decorations I saw outside my local Pike Nursery last year.  It took me forever but I finally found those photos….see aren’t these huge candies fun?

You can  see that they used large white saucers to make 24 inch pieces of candy to decorate the front of their store…who says businesses can’t be creative & crafty!  I’ll have the second large candy post up later tonight or first thing tomorrow and photos of how we used some of them.

How has a local businesses decorations inspired your own holiday creativity?

We don’t like coasters.   There…I’ve said it out loud.  That’s not to say that we prefer to place our sweating beverage glasses or bottles directly onto surfaces, I’m just saying  we haven’t found any that we BOTH found aesthetically pleasing.  Then something happened…we stopped shopping for them and instead focused on things we could make into them.  This is the story about how we used these little guys from the local dollar store to solve our coaster dilemmas.

Last year while on a bit of a family vacation with the boy’s family we noticed this fun piece of flattened pottery on a deck side table in the house we were staying in.  It was the perfect size for a couple of glasses and still appealed to both our senses of design.  Interestingly enough we already owned a bowl in a similar pattern from the same pottery studio that the boy uses on his bedside table to store the contents of his pockets each night.  Do you see where I’m going with this?  Yep, we looked around the shops that weekend in search of a plate to use as a coaster on our living room end table. We ended up choosing the small triangular plate from The Good Earth Pottery, their stuff is great in not only is it appealing to the eye, it is also dishwasher and oven safe as well.

Then to keep our fun new find from scratching up our tables we just added one of the little felt pads to each corner.

Instant extra large coaster!  What’s really nice is when I am lazy and fill up a Nalgene bottle with water…it fits on the coaster with no worries as well.  As do ice cream bowls, large coffee mugs…you get the picture. You can see in the next photo how the colors in the plate match our rug, but sadly what you can’t tell is how nice it looks on our end table.

Overall, I’m really pleased with how our initial attempts to use something not originally intended as a coaster worked out.  The benefit we never considered when we initially picked this piece was how any sweat from glasses placed on top would pool in the small groves of the pattern , this means the bottom of the glass stays drier than if the piece were a completely flat surface.  Plus, the coaster also serves as a very useful reminder of our trip to Highlands, NC. 

Come back tomorrow and I’ll show you round 2 of our coaster experiment!

How have you re-purposed items to create the “thing” that seemed to elude you otherwise?  Was it a success?

Last year the day before Valentines I saw this adorable template for making a larger matchbox style paper box with matching candy wrappers to fill up the inside with.  I quickly downloaded it, printed it out…and hit a roadblock.  No matter what I did with the settings it was either too small or too large and I deleted it and gave up.  (sidebar:  I honestly don’t remember where I found it last year since I didn’t save it and I’m also quite positive the problems were with our old printer).  So this year I wanted to do something similar to send my swap partners for the WB Valentine’s Swap…so I sat down with some scrap paper, a ruler, and a pencil.  It took an hour or so…but I ended up with a box template that would hold 8 Hershey’s nuggets.  

I went to work decorating the boxes and their chocolate cargo…and I think they turned out quite cute!  Each includes a Shrinkey Dink magnet on the front with a familiar little bee for them to keep to remember their fun ‘bee times with for years to come.  I hope they like them half as much as I enjoyed making them!

PS.  I’ll be posting the templates & instructions for how to make your own matchbox style boxes later tonight

If you aren’t already familiar with Whitney at Whisker Graphics you are already missing out…but as of today she is my hero because she brought new colors of bakers twine to the masses.  I’m seeing the apple green working well with many things in my future!!

(source: Devine Twine)

Click the photo above to check it out and order yours!

**Note: I am in no way affiliated with or receive nothing in return for this post.  It is based purely on my own opinions!”

A while back I mentioned a stack of vintage Christmas postcards I found while cleaning out at my grandmother’s house.  With Christmas approaching I’m trying to think of a way to include some of them in our decorations. 

So…my question is:  How would you suggest using these fun vintage postcards?

I keep drifting to fun pieces of “french wire” this fall.  I think they would be wonderful for a fall wedding or your Thanksgiving spread.  I also think they are timeless pieces you could use for years to come.

(source clockwise from top left:  Wire Sculpture Frames from Anthrpologie, Wire Pedestal from Crate & Barrel, French Wire Place card holders from Pottery Barn, Wire Tray from Crate & Barrel, French Wire 3-Tier Stand from Pottery Barn, French Wire Pillar Holders also from Pottery Barn, and French Wire Basket with Handle from Pierre Deux)

Why do I love french wire so?  First up, I posted about these Wire Sculpture Frame from Anthropologie weeks ago and I’ll admit that I’m debating ordering a few for our guest room.  Then I ran across this wire pedestal and tray from Crate & Barrel.  It will hold a 12 inch cake with style, and for $18.95 it’s a deal as far as pedestal’s go.  I could see it with a vintage lace doily on the pedestal with cupcakes stacked on top (or a yummy carrot cake).  And wouldn’t the tray be fun for holding cookies or other baked goodness?  It’s also only $18.95.  Then there are thesese place card holders from Pottery Barn.  They would not only make nice place card holders, but I could also see them holding table numbers, menus, food labels, and even photos on my mantle!  Then a simple search for French Wire on the Pottery Barn site yielded more goodness in the 3-Tier Stand, Pillar Holders, several baskets and even a French Wire Chandelier. And you can’t beat Pierre Deux for French Wire Baskets. 

What’s new out there right now that just screams fall decorating and parties to you?

I’ve been looking for something that involves cork boards to use in office for ages.  I wanted a way to post pieces of ongoing projects in an organized, yet attrative fashion (important since I sometimes hold customer meetings in my office as well).  I had decided on two large cork boards that I would make out of two large frames, with the corkboards covered in fabric…but that still didn’t solve the part about how to break down the different projects.

Then yesterday the Pottery Barn Kids catalog arrived.  I always think it’s funny that we get both these and the Babies version when we are so, so far away from even thinking about the little creatures…but sometimes I glance through them for birthday present ideas for my little cousins.  And there it was…I think I might have to change it up just a bit since I don’t want days of the week…but now I think I have an idea up my sleeve!  Now to find two large frames similar to these from Ballard Designs on the cheap!

(Source: Ballard Designs)

(Source: Pottery Barn Kids)

Has anyone else seen the new Pottery Barn catalog for Fall 2009?  I’m loving all the vintage looking inspiration (even through it doesn’t fit the “look” of our house).  Something that really caught my eye was this recycled wine bottle light fixture.  It reminds me of the cute wine bottle vases and candle holders some of those crafty ‘bees whipped up.  Wouldn’t this but fun hanging at a vineyard wedding?  or on my back deck…ok it’s a bit pricey so maybe not but it’s seriously fun.

(Photo Source)