county fair centerpiece

when planning for our recent campout with our Lemon Drop Divas group,
i knew i would incorporate the 'county fair' theme in our trailer decor
along with lemons and yellow - it's a thing with us ;) 

so i did what i always do - looked around my studio
and house and garage and backyard
to see what i already had that i could incorporate into the decor.

it wasn't hard to find useful items,
especially considering that i have an entire studio filled with yellow stuff i've made!

continue reading to see how it all came together...

easy-peasy county fair bunting

it's not a party without some fun decor,

and this easy-peasy bunting project is perfect for summer fun!

whether you're hosting a backyard bbq, a block party, or a birthday party,

making cute pennant bunting banners doesn't have to be hard.

i hate hard. i love easy.

so i'm always trying to find the easy way to decorate!

i recently made these bunting banners and they came together really quickly -

without sewing!

continue reading, and i'll show you how...

county fair award ribbons

these fancy 'county fair'-style ribbons appeared in my last post,

as accents on the 'Dime Toss' game sign and the end of the game table.

they were pretty easy to create  - and are MUCH larger than anything i could find

in stores or online. plus, they had to be yellow!

so in typical Deb fashion, i made my own

using the fabric, ribbons, and other detritus stashed in my creative studio.

do you have plans for games at a Fourth of July or summer birthday party?

these could be the perfect decor accents -

or use them as actual prize ribbons!

continue reading to see my easy tutorial...

county fair dime toss game!

it's SUMMER and time to party!
and quite by accident, i just created a HIT of a party game...

when our fabulous girl camping group the Lemon Drop Divas plan an event,

we go ALL OUT. WAY over the limit. everything is themed, with coordinated decor.

a campout in May was themed 'Lemon Drop Divas County Fair'

and it was packed with references to old time fairs. 

including a midway. yep!

we were all given the opportunity to create a 'carnival games' booth

as part of our own fair midway, to enjoy with our friends.

i was stumped... until i was sorting through a bunch of stuff we had here at home

and realized 'we have a LOT of wine glasses that we don't use!'

and when that thought combined with the carnival game concept,

i had a light bulb moment.

continue reading to see how easy it is to set something like this up!

sweet sparkling new year!

we arrive at the end of the year, and the start of a new one...

we've made it, and that's cause to celebrate!

whether you gather with family, friends, neighbors, or a special person tomorrow night,
or spend a blissfully cozy evening alone in a bubble bath or watching The Ball drop,

i have a few last-minute ideas to share for making your New Year's Eve sparkle!

speaking of lifting spirits, continue reading for more...

NEW! Sweet Sweater Sips!

oh, did you think i was DONE??? LOL. never!
i'll never run out of ideas for turning sweaters into decor...
and this one, well, it's just the perfect whimsical accent for winter!

this one actually isn't made from sweaters... it's something else.

but you certainly COULD use sweaters to create something similar.
(and don't miss the 'links to previous related content' below this post for even MORE ideas!)

so, grab a cuppa' something sippable, and
continue reading to see my newest original Sweet Sweater creations!

give 'em pumpkin to talk about!

for my final 'Halloween' post, i'm sharing some costumes!
they're a bit different that what that word might cause you to expect...
because they are all for pumpkins!

i dressed up my white pumpkins in hats, glasses, bow ties, lacy ruffs, masks, crowns,
and one spectacular wig.
they're ready for the costume parade - and they serve as great inspiration
if you're still looking for last-minute decor ideas!

continue reading to see how i raided the costume box and dressed up my punkies!

decorate pumpkins with stickers!

Halloween is comin' up quick... 

and if you're still looking for easy ways to decorate, i've got 'em!

this pumpkin decorating method ticks all the boxes:

fast✔     cheap✔     easy✔    no-carve✔     no clean-up✔   kids can do it ✔

and the results are loads of fun, too!

continue reading for a really sneaky way to get fabulous 'last minute' pumpkins!

NEW! Sweet Sweater Spookies!

this is quite possibly the EASIEST project i've ever undertaken...

and it was an idea that popped into my head as i was washing dishes!

i re-use plastic storage bags, washing them after use (unless they are greasy)

then placing them upside-down over a glass to dry.

as i did that one morning, i absentmindedly thought 'hah ha! he looks like a ghost!'

and then i stopped, looked again, and this crazy idea hatched in my brain.

so bear with me, and come along for the craziness!

continue reading for the details...

Sweet Sweater Scoops!

the heat of summer is upon us...

and lucky for us, this 'tasty treat' won't melt as the temperature rises!

as soon as i saw a very simple item at a thrift shop,

i knew i would make it into some of my original Sweet Sweater Scoops TM

(part of my 'foofoo faux food' obsession)

reminiscent of icy lemon sherbet, just looking at these cools me down...

continue reading to see how to make them -

and you won't BELIEVE what they started out as!

scrap wood tikis

last winter, i created a lot of tropical & tiki decor
as part of our fun 'Happy HULA-days' Christmas theme.

you've seen posts sharing most of it appearing in our current summertime decor,
bringing a tropical vibe to our home and yard for us to enjoy
during this 'staycation' that is lasting a whole lot longer than anyone anticipated.

one of my projects during quarantine has been the front entry of our home...
which isn't a porch but a 'vestibule' - and is really hard to decorate.

i came up with a simple solution using last December's holiday entry decor:

continue reading to see how i re-used my own tikis made from scrap wood!

repurposed wire lampshade mobile

wire has made an appearance in my projects on this blog many times,

from the various ways i have used wire tomato cages and wire lampshade frames,

to the simple crowns, cages, and domes i have fashioned from this inexpensive material.

earlier this summer, i grabbed some wire items that i've created in the past,

and combined them with wire lampshade frames and a few new finds

to create a whimsical wire mobile in my studio.

i love how it adds movement and color to the room

and because it's overhead, it takes up no space at all!

continue reading for the incredibly simple way it is suspended...

metal chair = magnet board!

a spur-of-the-moment solution to a project i'd been considering took over my weekend!
making a change to the black metal chair in this photo has been on my mind,
but i wasn't sure about the method. or the outcome. mostly, the permanence of it.
so it's been 'on the back burner' for awhile. um... years.
then a solution presented itself - and in less than ten minutes, i had done it!

continue reading to see the final colorful outcome of this crazy-easy undertaking,
and hear a tale about the chair in this photo. it's been on a journey to get to me...

tiki garden markers

in March, we worked on the raised herb garden in the backyard,
ordering plants online from our local nursery - who offered curbside no-contact pickup of our order
during our state's 'Shelter at Home' quarantine.
social distance gardening - who knew??!

the garden needed some plant markers,

so i came up with a way to utilize an item that we have a plethora of around here.
and that worked great - for awhile.
but with the recent infusion of tiki decor in our yard,
those original plant markers just didn't fit anymore. so i gave them a makeover!

continue reading to see their old and utterly ridiculous (and FUN!) new look!

junk makeover: beachy wood signs

many many many vacations have been cancelled or rescheduled this year,

by many many disappointed people. myself included.

there were no planned excursions to Hawai'i this year for us,

but because it is a place that my Mom and Dad loved, and now i love,
it has a special place in our hearts. even if we can't GET there.

here's my take on that: if you can't go to the islands, then bring the islands to YOU!

and that's exactly what my Mom and i have been working on in our backyard.

continue reading to see just one of the recent projects we've undertaken
to add some tropical charm to our 'staycation location'...

cinco de mayo mayhem!

I know, it's weird out there. All kinds of celebrations are cancelled.
We're allllll ready for this coronavirus quarantine to end. 
But hold on, my friends, there is a way to find the happy while we wait:

*This year, Cinco de Mayo is on a Tuesday. TACO Tuesday!* 
It's the perfect reason to celebrate, right in your own backyard!

SO, today I'm dipping back into my blog archives (about seven years back!)
to share three different ideas for fiesta-style tablescapes and bar setups.
With all of us staying home, these ideas will help you
to see 'what you have at home' in a fresh new way to create something fun!

continue reading for a peek at three different themes for Cinco de Mayo Celebrations:

yes, you can paint a lampshade!

this colorful lampshade was a spur-of-the-moment weekend project, 

an idea that came to me as i collapsed into a chair 

after the second day of my weekend studio/office overhaul project.

i was scrolling through Instagram and saw an image that completely delighted me - 

and solved my problem of 'what can i do to this plain ol' lampshade?'

paint it, of course!

so, i put down the phone, grabbed my paints, and gave this old thrifted shade a makeover.

i really love the way it turned out, and it was an easy way to add color and pattern to the room.

continue reading to see what started this whole thing...

create a cozy home with repurposed sweaters & blankets

on a cold winter-y January day, 
we can always count on a soft sweater and a fuzzy blanket to warm us up.
why not incorporate that into our HOMES?!
in my decor for the winter season, i did exactly that -
and let me tell you, it panned out much better than i ever could have planned!

continue reading to see how a fabulous thrifted find brought it all together...

copper 'junk' trees

paper trees aren't enough for the 'tree' Christmas decor theme i dreamed up, oh noooo...
i had to go rummaging through the kitchen cabinets (and, i admit, a few thrift stores)
to find MORE STUFF to make trees out of!
and THIS is where my crazy imagination took me:

stacking copper kitchen molds (usually used for gelatin, ice cream, cakes, even meatloaf)
into tree shapes.
although there was one that didn't need to be stacked... it already looks like a tree.
so i topped it with a snowflake cookie cutter.

i call 'em 'copper junk trees', even though this isn't really JUNKY junk.  

from the bottom of this stack, we have:
a copper cookie tin (from Costco, two years ago)
a large copper fluted ring mold
the LID from the copper cookie tin, flipped upside down
two medium-sized copper fluted molds
a copper funnel

i admit to gluing the funnel on with a dot of hot glue
because it just would NOT stay on there!!

on glass cake stands on the kitchen island,
they add the perfect bit of whimsy to the room.
(that wood fencing is just there for the photos)

OH! here's a thought... if your style is totally kitsch,
you could make these with shaped Tupperware pieces, too!
or use tiny little tart pans & containers to create small versions of these,
and hang the lil' trees ON your real Christmas trees.

yup. deb's really gone over the edge with this one, friends...
but hey, it's fun. and i think decorating should be fun.

shared online:

funky junk interiors | diy salvaged junk projects #505 

featured!

oh my goodness, thank you Miss Donna - TWO features!

diy salvaged junk projects #506

tiki punch!

this recent project in our backyard makes me feel like we're time-traveling back to the sixties!

remember these guys? 

these Tikis were in Mom & Dad's backyard for over 20 years, and i featured their first 'makeover'
as part of my 'Thrifty Weekend Makeover' series here on the blog a few years ago.
(that post is really gettin' hits right now because of the 'one step bamboo fence makeover tip' in it!)

well, we saved those tikis when we moved to the new house, 
but we didn't think we'd use them... except for a party, maybe.
here in the desert /wine country, it just seems out of context to have Hawaiian decor.

then i saw some photos from Palm Springs Mid-Century Modern Week.
and an idea came to mind for an area of our backyard that needed a little punch.

... keep reading to see how i created some TIKI PUNCH!