$2.92 Roses for Valentine Vignette

I always gaze at the fresh flower section when I enter Wal Mart.  On the bottom shelf, they will have discounted flowers that need to be moved quickly.

This morning I saw these beautiful pink roses for $2.92.  Knowing that these could fill in for an added feature in one of my Christmas displays, I scooped them up.  On the way home, I realized that I could fashion a quick Valentine flower tray for a future blog.

                                                                       
This next trick I learned from the Leisure Arts staging designer.  She told me that she rarely buys fresh flowers.  She would go to Krogers or Walmart, look in the discount section to buy fresh flowers for photo shoots.  The key is to hurry home, peel off at least 3-4 of the outer petals and the flowers looks fresh as can be.  Place them in water and you are ready to go.

                                                           
Once home, I pulled out a lion handled vintage silver plated flower urn with a built in frog(that device that holds the flowers up).
The flower frog helps to keep the flowers in place better than just putting them in water.  This frog is wire wrapped.

                                                             
Here is another take of the frog as it is sits in the silver plated shabbily looking bowl.  A point I would like to make here is how you can find an item not in the best of shape, but still use it and camouflage the warts.  Many people would have walked by this piece at an estate sale because of this damage.  I knew that no one would ever see the inside.  Take a chance.

                                                                            
Using a Goodwill frame bought for $1.00,  I placed a piece of  lovely Anna Griffin scrapbook paper under glass and a quick easy tray is made.

                                                                      
  Going to my armoire, I remembered a tea cup set bought at an estate sale in Little Rock for $3.00.

                                                                 
                                      The decanter of flowers is the icing on the cake. 

                                                                        
        Wouldn't this just look spectacular on a bedside table for a dear friend or family member?

Valentine Raspberry Mini- Cheesecakes

Wanting to come up with a Valentine dessert that wouldn't be too many calories, I found this recipe on the Internet.



RECIPE:

I used Valentine paper cupcake liners.  Silver cupcake liners would work well too.

3 T. raspberry syrup(used for coffee drinks)

2-8oz. blocks of cream cheese, softened

1/2 c. sugar

2 eggs

12 Oreos

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Makes 12 mini cheesecakes.

Beat cream cheese, sugar and syrup until blended.  Add eggs, one at a time.

Place one Oreo on the bottom of a foil muffin cup.  Cover with batter.  Bake for 20 minutes or until center is set.  Cool, and refrigerate.

To plate your dessert first, drizzle chocolate syrup in squiggly lines all over plate.  Place a mini-cheesecake in the center of the cake. Add a dollop of whipping cream on top of the middle of the cheesecake.   Place one raspberry on top.

*These cheesecakes can be made one day ahead.

Note:  Thanks to my sister Merri for giving me the Valentine plates.

All Things Love-Part II

Deciding where to place my Valentine vignette was pure happenstance.  Two weeks ago, we had to move the vintage princess dresser out of the spare bedroom.

I moved it into the great room until I could have help to hike it up to the bonus room.  Instead, I took the swing mirror off the top of the dresser and moved the base into position.

I needed to move the blue and white china mirror out of the way in order to hang my giant Valentine.  The Blue Willow plates were taken down and replaced with 1) a heart shaped shimmery plate that once held a candle and 2) an oval platter purchased at an estate sale for $2.00.  Here is the before picture of this area.

 

 

                    I found a gold triangular piece at an estate sale last summer for $l.00.  Turning it over, I realized that it was a Victorian picture hanger.  I'm not sure if you are familiar with these. 

                                                                    
                                               Turning it over you will find 3 screws.

                                                                    
A braided cord would connect the bottom two screws to the picture.  Then the top hanger would hang the picture from the ceiling molding.  Instead of using cord, I just positioned this piece above the frame to add some embellishment.

                                                                
On the dresser top I  placed 'all things love' to the max.  Years ago, I bought a vintage business card holder at an estate sale and placed a picture of my girls in their flower girl dresses from a friend's wedding.

                                                                 

                                                                       
             A beautiful glass heart that my friend Tara sent me hangs from the fisherman's basket lamp.

                        

  My girl bust is decorated with mostly Tara and Maureen's beautiful charms, pearls and a vintage pink Victorian necklace.

                                                                     
                             The last setting is a silver plate tray filled with my ruby glass eggs.

                                      
It was hard to get a picture in the daytime sunlight with the rainy days(and a bit of snow) that we have been experiencing the past 10 days.  This was the best I could do.  Hopefully, the sun will again shine over Alabama and I can take a better picture.

                  I love bringing my  pink reading chair into the great room for the month of February.

                                                            

                            ALL THINGS LOVE

                                     p.s.   The sun came up this morning.  Here is the picture.

                                                                            
                        At night, the Valentine vignette adds a beautiful glow to the Great Room.           

                                                                             

All Things Love-Part 1

I realized this morning that if I don't start doing my Valentine projects on the blog, it might be too late to share these ideas with all of you.  So I will postpone the remaining office blog ideas and begin my February posts.

I am so excited to share this new and unusual slant on a Valentine card.  This post will consist of two parts.  Part 1 will show you how I started with a concept and  began its creation.  Part II will show the completed Valentine vignette.

 Since Christmas, I wanted to make another original collage.  This time I wanted more impact thus a much larger collage was in the plan.

The base of the project was this picture frame found at an estate sale for $1.00.  When you see the before picture you will understand the price point.

 

 

However after I took the print out of the frame I was intrigued with the subject matter.  After getting a closer look, this is what I saw.

 

 

 

A mother was taking her child on a walk and carrying a basket.  Was she delivering a lunch to Grandma?

 

Looking further at the frame, I noticed a very large gash in the embellished edge. 

 

 

This would add more to the character of the vintage Valentine.  I didn't even want to fix it.  Then I noticed that the embossing on the frame was in the shape of hearts.  Isn't that crazy?  Now I know that this frame was meant to be the base of my Valentine collage.

 Because this collage is All Things Love, I wanted to incorporate all textures with a smattering of hearts.

 

To begin the first layer, I pulled some scrapbook papers.  I had a piece of Victorian scrap bought at a garage sale for .25.  I have kept this up on my idea board for years.

 

 

 

To the side, I added a Jolee's dimensional cherub holding a limb of glittered hearts.

 

Last year I made Mr. Thrifty a vintage Valentine.  Also an enlarged image of the back of a Valentine's envelope is scattered on top of the scrapbook papers.

 

 The next addition was a very old metal Immaculate Heart of Mary medal that once belonged to my Grandmother.  It was lying in a kitchen drawer when I bought the house.  Even though this wasn't a Valentine, the fact that it contained a heart and was vintage and it belonged to her was the connection that I needed.

                                                        A vintage piece of music......

                                                                                      
A vintage Valentine,  a ribbon of felt hearts, glittered letters spelling out AMOUR and my Wizard of Oz heart clock filled in spots on the background.

 

 

                                                                    

                                                                      

                                                                                   
And the final piece, a vintage flowered envelope complete with dimensional stamp, trimmed in delicate lace topped with a silver filigree heart shaped button completes the collage.

                                                                             
I'm sure you are thinking, what a busy piece!  Here is the whole picture.  How is that for a fabulous Valentine?  The funny part of this is that when Mr. Thrifty saw the completed valentine, he said that his block was checked for MY Valentine this year.  I think he is very wrong!  We both laughed about that.

                                                                        
                               The next post will complete the entire Valentine vignette.

Military Coins Display

For those of you that have a soldier in your house, you might wonder what you can do with all the military coins that they have received.  For those of you not familiar with this tradition,  military coins are awarded to a soldier by a higher ranking officer for a job well done.

The following idea came from my friend Tara.  I think it is an excellent way to display the coins.

Normally, these coins are laid out in shadow boxes that are made of wood.  This one was  pictured in a catalog on the Internet.

                                       I think my display is quite a conversation starter.  

 I took a footed silver plate cake dish and laid the coins out and then placed the dish on the mirror/sewing machine base coffee table. (See Marriage of Guilded Mirror and Sewing Machine Post dated March 7, 2012.)

Since this room is all things military, I thought this idea was a great way to incorporate them into the office.  Thanks again Tara!!!

And another view.......

Images are Back

Thanks to my hero, Mr. Thrifty figured out how to add images to the posts.  It takes about 5 times as long, but until Google fixes the problem, I have an alternative.  My life blood is surging through my veins again.  I am so excited to start posting again.

Gold Slipcovered Office Chair

I needed to find a stately chair for the  new and improved desk/table.  I didn't have to look farther than my junk pile to find an upholstered, but rather ratty wing back chair.  This particular chair was found at the Prince William County Dump.  It was given a good steam cleaning  and a heavy dose of duct tape before going further with the project.  Actually, my part was done.  I just needed to purchase fabric for a slipcover and call my friend to sew it up.

 

 

  When I showed my slipcover lady the chair all taped up with duck tape, she

 said she had seen worse.  Unbelievable!! 

I needed to find a upholstery fabric that would compliment the black and gold colors in the room. I can't believe that Hobby Lobby would come to the rescue. This fabric was masculine enough to pull off my plan.  It also had shades of gray, black and gold which would tie into my vision for the office.  With a 40% coupon on the fabric, the cost came to under $90.00.

My slip cover friend is very economical when it comes to telling me how much fabric to purchase. She does this trick on the seat to save the good material.

                               Once slip covered, the feet were looking rather shabby.

 

  A quick trip to the garage and  two added coats of Lamp Black paint, and the chair looks almost brand new.  Love it!

With the new slipcover, life has brought another forlorn piece of furniture into a stately chair for a retired officer.