Southern Scraps

A couple of years ago, I started collecting vintage brooches and earrings with the idea of repurposing them to other pieces. I fully intend to make a necklace. Here are two for inspiration: This one uses other pieces, but brooches would work: Welcome to the Good Life Two Butterflies

GIVEAWAY CLOSED! Just a quick reminder of my giveaway going on now. You could win one of these pairs of earrings (your choice) Dotty A little color Kate Spade inspired Circle and rectangle Click over HERE and comment to enter (you must be a follower).

The hubby is a huge Star Wars fan so naturally these cuties caught my eye on etsy- Star Wars Owls Darth Vader and Storm Troopers Tooth Fairy Pillow Aren't they cute? That's it for this week's fabulous Friday finds. Have a great weekend.

After a lengthy search in all the thrift shops, I found a wooden serving tray in need of much love and attention. It was pretty dirty and needed cleaning and repainting. Here is the tray I found. Here is my after: I painted it with several coats of lime acrylic craft paint from Joann's. I lined the inside with fabric. I used a spray adhesive to attach the fabric. My initial thought was to use scrapbook paper, but it would not have been long enough and would have required two pieces. I wanted it to be seamless, so I turned to my fabric stash. I think the black and white goes nicely with my dark furniture and the green gives a nice pop of spring color. Now I just need to put it in use and style a nice little vignette with it. I'll be sharing my tray here: Think Pink Sundays ** Under the Table and Dreaming * Sundae Scoop * Creative Bloggers Party and Hop * Craftomaniac Monday * Make the Scene Monday * Making the World Cuter * Just Something I Whipped Up

It's time to start thinking about what you will make or purchase for mom, sis, aunt, and all those special women for Mother's Day. It will be here before you know it. How about some earrings? Even the mosts inexperienced crafter can make them. Here's a dainty pink pair I made: To make these you will need: 4 beads (these came from Michaels) 2 silver spacer beads 2 6mm ribbed round spacer beads head pins earring backs (I'm using kidney ear wires this time. You can also use hook ear wires) On a head pin, place a round silver bead, bead one, 6 mm spacer and bead two. Begin a wrapped loop . Slip it over your lever back and complete the wrapped loop. Done. One of these would make a great mother's day gift for yourself or someone else. If you don't want to make your own, you can also purchase a pair in my shop . I'll be sharing my tutorial here: Think Pink Sundays ** Under the Table and Dreaming * Sundae Scoop * Creative Bloggers Party and H

I'll admit I'm way behind on this trend, but seeing that it has remained popular for a couple of years now, I might be inclined to try some chevron projects. It's a fun pattern, but when it first hit, I just didn't see it as fitting in with my decor or style and I actually do use or give most of my projects, so I don't make something just because it's popular. I do now see some ways I could incorporate it and it has grown in me quite a bit, so here are some projects I like. Chevron decorative tray via Martha Stewart DIY chevron lamp shade by Pomp and Circumstance

This week's P52 challenge is things that grow. The flowers and trees are all budding and blooming so photo opportunities abound. This is my lantana with buds that will soon form blooms of flowers.

Hey everyone, and a special hello to my new followers. Thanks for your interest and I hope you find a little inspiration here. This week I came across something that I absolutely fell in love with - crocheted beads! Okay, some of you have probably seen these before but I tend to be behind the times and trends, so it was new to me. I first discovered this beauty by SvetlanaN : Crochet bead necklace - Beige pale pink white Shabby chic I was intrigued to know how to make these beads so I googled crochet beads and found some tutorials. I don't know how to crochet (yet- I have hooks and hopes to learn), so I decided I'd see if I could buy some already made. Sure enough, there are lots of listings on Etsy. What can you not buy in the handmade market on etsy? by AllEarzJewelry Wouldn't it be fun to make a bright spring or summer necklace with some like these? What fun thing did you discover this week?

Techically, I took this photo a day late. The challenge for the week ending April 14 was Sacrifice .   I did not get to take the photos I had in mind for that and I didn't take any Easter photos. But I did take pictures of my friend's baptism on April 15 and the linky is still open so I'm going to slide it in. I just came inside from snapping a few shots for this week's theme and saw this photo lying on the table. It hit me like a ton of bricks! This SO fits the theme because Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice for our sins. At the end of each Baptism, our pastor has the congregation cite Matthew 5:16 " Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." He has the candidate light a candle from the red one which signifies Jesus just prior to being dunked and then they exit the pool with their candle afterwards. This is what I captured here.

Remember when I was searching for recipes to use buttermilk so I wouldn't waste what I had? Here's another recipe  that uses buttermilk. This one is from and then I do the dishes. Buttermilk Oatmeal Muffins (adapted from Sweet Savory Southern ) Makes 16 muffins 1 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats 1 1/2 cups buttermilk 2 eggs, beaten 3/4 cup packed brown sugar 1/4 cup vegetable oil 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce 2 tsp vanilla 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 3/4 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt Handful of chocolate chips (optional)- I used peanut butter chips. Preheat oven to 400 F. Grease a muffin tin or line with paper muffin cups. In a bowl, soak oats in buttermilk for 15 minutes. Stir in eggs, sugar, oil, applesauce and vanilla. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; stir into oat mixture just until moistened. Fill prepared muffin tin three-fourths full. Sprinkle with

Hi. I don't regulary do WIWW posts here anymore, but thought I'd play along today. Here are a couple of outfits from last week, one work and one play. Left: Cardigan- Old Navy; blouse- Sear's; skirt- consignment; shoes- Target Right: Blouse- Chico's-thrifted; sweater- Talbot's- thrifted; Levi's jeans, shoes- Payless I decided to try out some trends I've been seeing- the shirt tail out and cuffed jeans. The cuffed jeans remind me of being a kid, so I have not been quick to embrace it. I also realized most of my jeans are boot cut or flare, so I can't cuff them. What do you think of these trends? Linking up at The Pleated Poppy.

It's a way to follow your favorite bloggers. I just discovered this through The DIY Dreamer. There's a hop going on so you can find others there and gain some followers. I decide to play along because it's always fun to meet new creative minds! You can follow me at hellocotton through the link in my sidebar.

I love accessories! They can make or break an outfit sometimes, and a key accessory is the belt. Here are five ways to make one: Elastic flower belt from Sugar Bee Ruffle belt by Amy Cornwell Rose belt by Emily Sparks Grosgrain belt from Ruffles and Stuff or make a flower attachment for a ready made belt No sew by Less than Perfect Life What do you think? Are you ready to make a belt? If you pin these, please pin directly from the source, not here. That's the proper thing to do.

Hello and Happy Friday! In place of the Friday features, I'll be sharing neat things I find on the net during the week. Since Easter just passed, I thought this was an appropriate find to share. Real Simple has 25 new uses for Easter things . My favorite is using Easter grass for packing material. Genius! I have some old blue grass that I don't care for (blue grass? what was I thinking) and now I know how to use it. The empty egg carton? Paint palette! Source Do you have some additional tips? Please share in the comments! 

Seems like birdhouses are all over blog land these days. Most are using their's for home decor. You may have noticed mine in my Easter mantel . The first one you see below was purchased from Michael's unfinished but already on a pedestal. I painted parts of it and then used Mod Podge and scrapbook paper for the roof and sides. The next two also came from Michael's but they were not on pedestals. I purchased the wood bases at Michael's and already had a dowel.  The hubby cut the dowels to the length I wanted and I glued the dowels to the bases and birdhouses with wood glue. Drilling a hole first would have been better, but we didn't have a bit in the appropriate size. Again, acrylic paint and scrapbook paper brightend up each one. Just an FYI- some light sanding is needed on each birdhouse before you start painting. I didn't sand enough and up close you see I have some rough edges. Sharing here: Think Pink Sundays ** Under the

I'm not sure I even have the space for a caddy right now, but if I do (and my craft space sure needs revamping), these three DIY tin can caddys are certainly inspiring. Maybe I'll make one of my own. by Cynthia Shaffer Coley's Corner Shabby Chic Inpsired