Dollar Tree Painted Glass Plate

After I made the ‘Give Thanks’ glass plate, Summer Rae left a comment that she had seen similar plates at her local Dollar Tree and sure enough I found a whole bunch of them at one of the local Dollar Trees in my area. At $1 a piece I could afford to create a new plate for each Holiday and change of season. Be sure to visit Latasha’s blog for her Dollar Tree gift card giveaway. Hurry though because it ends soon!

I started with this 10” clear glass plate.

I had some vinyl lettering that I had never used that was the perfect size for the plate. The only catch was that I like to decorate the back of my plates to allow the embellishments to show through the front of the glass. This normally wouldn’t present a problem but vinyl letterings come with the adhesive on the back of the letters and I needed adhesive on the front of the letters. So instead of removing the backing of the vinyl letters, I removed the front paper. I then used spray glue to coat the front of the letters and applied them to the back of the plate. This technique worked but I was left with a lot of left over adhesive on the plate. I used glass cleaner to remove the glue once I thought the letters were secure but that didn’t work out so well. I suppose some of the glass cleaner got under the letters and a couple began to peel off. I had to reapply spray glue to the individual letters and attach each one to the plate. This is why some of the letters aren’t perfectly aligned. I am going to have to find a better technique next time.

Here is the plate with the crooked letters attached. I just refused to abandon this project!

I added two coats of Rust-Oleum Metallic Gold Bright Coat to the back of the plate and finished it off with a coat of clear protective spray. I love this color – it is such a rich beautiful gold! I see many more future Christmas projects using this color.

I am linking up to Transformation Thursday at the Shabby Chic Cottage.

I am adding this project to Shanty 2 Chic’s Rust-Oleum Revamp party.

O’ Christmas Tree! Part VI – The Finished Tree w/ a Quick and Easy Tree Skirt

I finished the final step in decorating my Christmas tree. I created a quick and easy Christmas tree skirt.

I started with two packages of this shimmery brown fabric mesh garland I got for 50% off at Hobby Lobby.

I didn’t even cut it! I just draped both pieces loosely around the tree stand. That way if I decide to use these pieces for a different purpose next year, they are still intact.

I then took some leftover ribbon and pinned it in a couple of places to the mesh garland. And there you have a quick and easy tree skirt!

I'm linking up to The DIY Show Off's 3rd Holiday Highlights Party. Go check out the other great holiday projects.

Bargain Find of the Week

Although this weekend is the granddaddy of shopping bargains, I really didn’t feel up to leaving the house and battling the crowds so I don’t have any spectacular bargains to share. But Latasha was hitting up a few stores on Friday and I asked her to pick up this pair of 4ft pre-lit topiary trees from Wal-mart for $25.

I had been looking for inexpensive taller topiary trees for awhile now and $12.50 each is the lowest price I have ever seen for these.

Right now I have the pair flanking my TV console and I will probably decorate them with some ribbon, but I have a feeling that they will probably grace many different areas of my home before the Christmas season is over.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I wish everybody a joyful and blessed day! And thank you Amani for your lovely turkey hand drawing. I love you, kiddo!

O’ Christmas Tree! Part V – Topping Off the Tree.

If you think I overdid it on the tree – wait until you see my topper! This topper was really an accident. For some reason, I never seem to find nice tree toppers on post Christmas sales so I have always used a bow or something else as a temporary solution until I found the perfect topper. Over the years I have accumulated a large selection of Christmas floral stems and leaves. Well last year, I decided to stick a couple of the floral stems into the top of the tree. I decided I like the look and just kept going until I had created a large Christmas floral arrangement on the top of the Christmas tree.

I start with these two glittered floral sprays. I have a plastic tie loosely wrapped around the top of the tree and I use it to hold the stems in place.

Next, I start randomly placing stems throughout the top of the tree as if I was arranging florals in a vase. I have picked up all of the stems from places like Michael’s, Target, Garden Ridge, etc. for huge discounts after the season. I have actually purchased some before Christmas at a discount because they were considered Fall clearance. So if you use a lot of browns and copper in your Christmas decor be sure to check out the Fall clearance for items that you can also use for Christmas.

These glittered sprays are the only things I have purchased recently to decorate my tree this year. I found these glittered sprays at the Dollar Tree a few weeks ago and I bought a dozen of them. I wish I would have bought them all because I went back to get some more and they were all gone. I could really use some more for my mantel garland.

I think my topper adds a good foot to my 6.5ft tree! Next – A Quick and Easy Tree Skirt!

O’ Christmas Tree! Part IV – DIY Bling Ornaments

Since I am not using any glass balls on the tree, I wanted to make sure that the tree still has some sparkle. I accomplished this by making some tree jewelry.

I found these Gem Stones and Gem Drops at Z Gallerie a few years. They are acrylic instead of crystal but they are faceted and they do sparkle a bit. They could have easily been used as a vase filler but they came with holes in them also to allow them to be strung up for garland or such. So I used my jewelry making supplies and extra beads to create a number of these drop ornaments.

I think they add just the bit of sparkle I was looking for.

Next – Topping off the Tree!

Linking to Kimba's DIY Day at a Soft Place to Land.

O’ Christmas Tree! Part III – Oversized DIY Ornaments

After the ribbon and floral picks, I start placing my large size ornaments throughout the tree.

I love to use large glass ornaments, but every year I have lost more and more of my beautiful glass ornaments due to breakage. Only the glass ones seem to ever fall off the tree! So this year I am using my glass ornaments on more level surfaces only. As a substitute I am using these large plastic ornaments I bought for $0.79 for a pack of three at last year’s Hobby Lobby’s after Christmas clearance.

I bought 5 packs of these and I have decorated them in different ways. I have spray painted some, embossed some, glittered some and beaded some. It was fun trying to come up with different ways to decorate them.

I also used four of these oversized crosses that I purchased at Garden Ridge’s after Christmas clearance a few years ago. I liked these so much that I went to every Garden Ridge that was within a reasonable driving distance to find more of these, but I could only find four.

I know you are probably saying to yourself that I should really stop now - add a topper and call it done. Not yet! Next – Bling Bling!

Bargain Find of the Week

This week’s bargain find comes from Hobby Lobby’s 80% off Fall/Thanksgiving clearance. These bronze beaded trees costs $4.80, $4.00 and $3.20 after discount. I would have liked to wait to purchase them for 90% off but I had a feeling that they wouldn’t last that long. Although Hobby Lobby considers them Fall decor, I think they could be easily pass as Christmas decor in my home.

O’ Christmas Tree! Part II – Nontraditional Ornaments

I like a very full and lush Christmas tree and even post Christmas bargain shopping and DIY ornaments can still add up in price and be very time consuming. So I use nontraditional items as ornaments to add to the fullness of my Christmas tree.

One of these nontraditional items is candle rings. I purchased these from Michael’s at a 90% off after Christmas sale a few years ago. I think they cost $0.49 each and I use about 10 throughout the tree. I place the rings around a group of tips and push it towards the trunk of the tree.

I also use Christmas floral picks in the tree also. I lay the larger ones of top of the branches and the smaller ones are great for covering up the twisted tips that hold the ribbon in place. I also purchased these at 90% off a few years ago from Michael’s at prices varying from about $0.19 to $0.59 each. I use about two dozen picks throughout the tree.

Next – Oversized DIY Ornaments. Are you wondering to yourself yet “Where is she going to find room to put anything else on that tree!?” I am only halfway finished at this point. I told you I like a full and lush tree!