Southern Scraps

Another year coming to a close! And I'm looking forward to a new start, a healthier year. Not sure what the next year holds for the blog, but it's always fun to look back and see what you viewed. According to my blogger stats, here are the top ten viewed posts of 2013. Ten Healthy Pumpkin Recipes   Better than a tie- 10 Father's Day gifts     9 Painted furniture transformations     Homemade air freshener     Polka Dot planters     Homemade taco seasoning mix     5 Ways to decorate for fall     Craft room bar stool makeover     10 DIY Headbands and wraps     Fast and Easy Fall Craft     So... you guys like pumpkin, fall, healthy and natural stuff, round up posts, and quick and easy! I'm with you.   Did you have a favorite post on SouthernScraps that didn't make the top 10? I'd love to hear in the commen...

*This post contains affiliate links. Here's a festive little project that will work for any holiday or occasion. I didn't get around to sharing all of the few Christmas projects that I did or all of the decorations,  (I've got to start earlier on preparations next year) but I'll go ahead and share these glitter striped votives because they work for more than Christmas. Matter of fact, I made these as a trial run for some I'll be using at an upcoming 50th wedding anniversary reception I'll be hosting, and used them on my Christmas mantel. I started by taking some 1 inch painter's tape  and placed it on a self healing cutting mat.  I used the lines on the mat and a ruler to cut the tape in half so I would have narrower strips.   Then I took my thinner strips and placed them on my votives.       I first tried this with two different kinds of glitter paints. I did not like the results, so I turned to good ol' trusty Mod Podge ...

  This year I went back to a traditional theme of red and gold for my Christmas decorations. My husband has a collection of ornaments that date back to his childhood and I really wanted to use them on the tree so I decided this year we would go with a more traditional look. Originally I was thinking more rustic and I wanted to use burlap, but after checking with Michael's and finding out that their wide burlap ribbon is not flame retardant (and burlap is very flammable), hubby vetoed that idea. He was afraid the lights might get too hot. Better be safe than sorry. So I used plaid ribbon as a garland and the rest of the tree is filled with ornaments. Nothing fancy, but I love the way it turned out. We even put out hubby's holiday train this year around the base of the tree.   Here are some of our favorite ornaments:   Vintage santa and note the cross stitch ornament from 1983. Clothespin nutcracker/solider- My absolute favorite. Hubby made these as a chil...

Still need a last minute gift? Need it to be budget friendly? Run to the Dollar Tree. For a dollar, grab a plastic bucket/basket. I bought the ones I used back in the summer, but I've seen them in other colors. I bet they have red right now. Design a monogram in your Silhouette SD/ Cameo, etc or other digital cutting machine. I made mine by drawing a circle and the filling it with my initials. Once I had the letters the way I wanted them, I erased the circle. I cut the monogram from vinyl and applied to the basket.   Don't have a cutting machine? Design a monogram in Word  and trace it on vinyl. Or print one and apply it using this method.   I'm using mine in the place of "stockings" this year and the basket itself is a gift since it has been personalized for the recipient. (You could put their name instead of initials.) Fill it with their favorite things and wrap in a basket bag tied off with curly ribbon and you've got a fun gift! Or ...

I had given no thought to naming this tablescape until I went to write this post. It seems to fit since I used the santa hat chair covers (from Dollar Tree) and my Georgia santa as a centerpiece. What? You didn't know Santa was a Georgia fan? Some years I'm really put off by red but this year I've used it in all of my decor and carried it out in this tablescape. I created the centerpiece with a couple of diy pedestal plates, ornaments, berry picks, faux greenery, and of course, UGA santa. Red placemats, gold charges, white and red plates, red glasses, and some red leather jingle bell trimmed napkin rings that I found at the thrift store complete each place setting.     I placed a couple of more red and white ornaments along the table and called it done. This year was all about simplicity, but with all this red, I didn't really need a lot of items. You might also be interested in Christmas cloche  or my Christmas swag . Linking up to Tabl...

  Just a quick post to share some of my Christmas decor. I've had decorations out for over two weeks but I've been too busy with other preparations to share them. I found this cloche for 50 cents at the thrift store months ago. It did not have a bottom but I knew I'd be able to use it somehow. It came in perfect for this year's simplified decor.   I purchased a wood slice from Michael's. I placed a berry and cone pick, a bottle brush tree and an ornament on the slice and covered it with the cloche. So simple and quick and it is one of my favorite things to look at this year. I then surrounded it with a forest of bottle brush trees. I purchased several of these last year on clearance with mantel decorations in mind, but forgot about them when I started on the mantel. Thankfully I came across them in time to incorporate them in the vignette. When we rearrange for the tree, my Grandmother's vintage sewing machine gets put in a more visible spot,...