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Birch Wood Candle Holders

November 16, 2012

It seems like I’m making or attempting to make things all the time.  My projects don’t always come out the way I envision them in my head, but this one’s a winner!  I LOVE how these turned out. 
When our birch tree died, I cut up some of the smaller branches and put them on our mantel in the living room.  I’ve been trying to figure out how to use the rest of the tree.  I decided some sort of candle stick or tea light holder would be great.  So, this is what I made.

Last week I started working on these candle holders.  I made them in sets of 3.  I cut an 8″, 6″ and 4″ piece of a branch and then I drilled out the top with a 1 1/2″ bit.  I had to figure out how to clamp them down for the drilling, so the I bought a large C clap, that only cost $12.  Then I just fit placed a tea light in each one.  Now when the candle burns out, I can just replace it with another one.  These are going to last for years and years.  I’m just so pleased with myself.  Do you ever do that?  Surprise yourself with a “Wow, I did it!”.

These are going to go really well with all my Christmas decor.  I have a lots of woodsy, pinecone and nature like decorations with some sparkle of course.  I love natural elements in my home.

I’m selling the sets at a craft fair tomorrow and my family might be getting some for Christmas.  Don’t birch trees just have the most beautiful bark?

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Thrifting Thursday: Miniature House

November 15, 2012

I picked up this little miniature house display for $1.  It was just so charming.  I decided I could make it into some sort of Christmas display.  I have these tiny bottle brush trees to start with, but I’ll be on the look out for more miniature thinks to put in it.  

Olivia really likes it.  She spent quite a while taking out the little trees and then putting them back in, over and over.

Do you think it has possibility?  Should I maybe paint it white or paint all the rooms different colors?  I’d love to hear your ideas.  

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Salt Dough Ornaments – How to video

November 14, 2012

Are you ready for Christmas?  Because I think it’s here.  I’ve heard Christmas carols in shops, I’ve had a red cup at Starbucks,  and there is definitely Christmas decorations everywhere.  I’ve put together a how-to video for one of my most popular posts, Salt Dough Ornaments.  These are easy and inexpensive to make. I hope you find this helpful.

I’m getting ready for our Church’s Craft Fair this weekend (Olive Knolls Church of the Nazarene – 8am- 2pm, Sat. Nov 17th).  I’ll be there with lots of yarn wrapped wreaths, some of my prints and other little treasures.

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Give Thanks Plate

November 12, 2012

I had so much fun making my Ceramic Beakers that I’ve been looking for something else to paint on ever since.  Then I decided just a simple plate would be fun.  This Give Thanks plate was simply a dollar store white dessert plate.  Wouldn’t it be fun to make these for everyone’s slice of pumpkin pie?  But, it’s also just sweet as a decorative accessory.

I sketched out a couple ideas first on paper, so that I had a guide to follow.  I decided to add a leafy garland, similar to the one on my October Memory Verse.  And then as easy as could be, I just drew on my design with a Sharpie Oil-based Paint Pen.  Let it dry at least 24 hours and then it’s ready to go.

What other fun things could be written on plates for this Season?  I’ve been sketching acorns and bunches of wheat.  I’ll share some of my other designs with you soon.

If you like what you see, BE A FRIEND!  Leave a comment, follow Oleander and Palm by email, Pinterest, Facebook, or Twitter.

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Setting the Thanksgiving Table

November 9, 2012

How about something fresh for this year’s Thanksgiving table?  Here’s some of my fave finds for a crisp, clean Thanksgiving look.  I do love Fall colors, but I’m just drawn to simpler color palette right now.  If you remember, I shared how I was drawn to unique designs for Halloween with the modern pumpkins I made and found.

Be sure to visit these links and share some love with a friendly comment or some pinning.  Are you starting to think about Thanksgiving?  How do you like the decorate for this family feast?   

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Fall Acorn Garland

November 8, 2012

I recently saw a cute acorn garland at Paper Source.  I thought it would be a fun to make one for our home. Once Halloween is over, I’m not totally ready to dive into Christmas decor. I still like to enjoy a little Fall decor until Thanksgiving.  But, I am a tired of orange and black.  
This color combo is one of my faves – gold, grey and linen. Using a couple pieces of scrap booking paper (2 shades of grey, metallic gold and silver, linen, and glittered gold paper), I cut out 12 acorns and 12 acorn caps. I quickly drew an acorn template on Adobe Illustrator. I made it into a downloadable file for you too. Just print it off and cut away. I really did nothing fancy with the assembly. I just taped the two pieces of the acorn together ad then just taped them all to a piece of bakers twine.  
Get the free printable template and instructions HERE.

Are you still in the mood for Fall, or are you just ready for Christmas?  I’ve heard that people are playing Christmas carols already. I’m not there yet.  But I am starting to think about Christmas present shopping.

BE A FRIEND!  Leave a comment, follow Oleander and Palm by email, Pinterest, Facebook, or Twitter.

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Neon Pink Party

November 7, 2012

Here it is!  You may want to grab your sunglasses, it’s bright.

The inspiration fabric made it’s appearance as the table cloth on the dessert table.  I had so much fun setting up and decorating for this party.  My grey dining room walls looked so great with the neon pink.   I used the neon surveyor’s tape to make a backdrop of streamers.  I also printed a large number 11 on neon poster board.  It made a great photo backdrop for my beautiful birthday girl.    
The dessert table featured a few of Deanli’s favorites.  For the birthday cake, I made a New York style cheesecake and topped with my blackberry curd and fresh whipped cream.  I also made this neon Happy Birthday bunting cake topper using paper clay.  I’ll share a step by step of how to do this later this week.  
And I made Concord Grape Marshmallows.  Lately I’m been making a lot of marshmallows, they are really easy to make and a new party favorite. 
The super colorful squares are Trix Treats (like Rice Crispy treats, but made with Trix).  They are really pretty yummy.  My personal favorite was the Chocoholic Push Pops.  My mom got me a set of these push pops and a cook book to go with them for my birthday this summer.  These are great to make for parties because they can be made a couple days ahead and then just stored in the fridge.   I made a little stand for them by drilling holes in a piece of wood and then just painting it white.  I little washi tape around the push pops kept them in the color palette.  
Paper straws got a quick neon touch with little neon pink washi tape flag.  And glass milk bottles got a length of mason’s string (that I used on the invites)  tied around the neck for a little pop of color.
I kept the goody bags simple.  White paper bag got a simple neon circle attached to the front.

We had fun roller skating and we were totally hungry for dessert when we got back.  It was a great party!

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Neon Party Invites

November 6, 2012

I wanted to share the invites I made for Denali’s neon party.  I have been pinning a lot of Neon and Neutral combinations.  And as you know I LOVE grey.  Neon pink and grey actually look so fantastic together.
I came across a grand opening invite done by Mint 102 that had a length of neon string wrapped around the center of it.  I also loved Mint 102‘s layout and use of different fonts.  So,  I made my own version using some of my favorite fonts (Hominis, Rosewood Std, Homestead, Learning Curve, and good old Helvetica).  I printed the 5 x 7″ invites on grey card stock and then simply wrapped my mason’s twine around them a couple times. 

I think invitations are quite important.  They set the mood for the party and give guests an idea of what is to come.  With my limited Adobe Illustrator skills, I’ve had fun creating my own designs.  But, I’ve also made invites with cute scrapbooking paper and rubber stamps and used inexpensive companies such as Shutterfly to create custom ones.  Do you think the invitation is important?

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Neon Party in the making

November 5, 2012

I love everything about parties.  I love the process of planning, the hunting down party supplies and then putting it all together.  I shared about a month ago, when I was planning Olivia’s Scooter themed party, about how I like to gather supplies for quite a while before the party.  We had decided on a Neon theme a few months ago and I had the inspiration.  So, the hunt for all things neon pink began.  It was actually harder then you think to find fluorescent party supplies.  But, I think I found some really great things.

The color palette for the party started with the fabric.  What’s more neon then glow sticks? So, those went in the gift bags.  I also put Chiclets, a neon pink lip gloss from Forever 21, and a pair of hipster/nerdy glasses from Target in their goody bags.  We had purple striped paper straws and I made a neon pink Happy Birthday banner for the cake topper (I’ll share how I made that later this week).  For decorations, I used washi tape from Paper Source, a string of pom poms for Michaels, and neon pink surveyor’s tape and mason’s line from Home Depot.  My Home Depot finds are my favorite.  The tape was under $2 and the string was about $5.

Sometimes I buy party supplies knowing exactly what I’m going to do with them, but more often then not, I figure out what I’m going to do with them in the last couple of days.  My advice for party planning is to buy, buy, buy when you see something that might work and keep your receipts.  You can always weed out and edit things before the party, then return the unused supplies when it’s all over.  Last minute trips for supplies are not fun, it’s so much better to be prepared way ahead of time. 
You know, neon is totally weird to photograph.  I tried all kinds of light settings, changed my aperture and fiddled with my camera a lot.  For some reason the neon just blurs and looks like it’s glowing in all the pictures.  If you have any experience with neon in pictures, I’d love some advice or suggestions. 

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November Memory Verse

November 2, 2012

Where has the year gone?  This is the time of year when I start to panic a bit about all the things that need to get done in the next two months.  I’m sure I set expectations of myself that are way too high.  But, every year I think I can get it all done.  I am slowing down long enough to be thankful though.  Be sure to read about my Instagratitude Project, and come join in on the gratitude fun we’re having together.

I hope you enjoy the November memory verse print.  You can get the free download HERE. I illustrated these feathers a long time ago and have been itching to use them.  Have you been to Target recently?  All the Christmas stuff is out, and feathers are everywhere (I kind want this platter). I do have so much to be thankful for and I’m so glad a serve a God who is good, all the time.

If you want to know more about my Monthly Memory Verse, read here.