Southern Scraps

Come on in, take a look around. It's a blue and green theme with a pop of pink.  The entry way is decked with mini trees. A miniture blue tree takes center stage while an ornament tree , yarn tree , and button tree flock the left.  On the right are some glass pebble trees and an old ceramic tree. I previously used these trees in different places and ways. We took a look at the dining room table last week. It's a blue and green winter wonderland tablescape .    Come a little further in. We'll sit by the fireplace and take in the glow of the tree. The garland for the mantel was purchased this year from Michael's and the stockings came from the Target Dollar Spot. More of the handmade trees deck the mantel. The candy trees were previously used in a tablescape. The ornament topiary is out in the morning room again and the windows are decked with wreaths , all made a few years ago. Hope you enjoyed the tour. Many of...

     I stumbled across a recipe for a Christmas candy made with just saltine crackers, brown sugar, butter, and chocolate chips on the web. It sounded like something that I wanted to try but we now eat 100% gluten free and about 80% Paleo since we discovered that the hubby has some major sensitivity to gluten and corn. He is also sensitive to butter. The Paleo diet overall makes us feel better and controls some health issues for us. But every now and again, we like a treat. So I set out the make this "crack" candy (as some call it) in a version we could eat. It took some trial and error. Just FYI, coconut sugar and ghee do not mix well. Since the purpose of the brown sugar and butter was to make a caramel like substance, I made myself some caramel sauce following this recipe and proceeded with my Christmas cracker candy. The sauce recipe only make a little bit so it was necessary to double the ingredients. Here is my final version: 1 box Organ rice crackers ...

  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...

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...

  I added a new Christmas swag to the Christmas front porch decor this year (see last year here ). I made mine loosely using the directions and photos from this year's issue of Better Homes and Gardens Christmas Ideas. You will need: a pine spray or swag* Christmas picks- berries, pinecones, etc ribbon floral wire *If you can't find one, get a garland and cut to desired length (from the end so you will have the loop for hanging). Add in pieces of cut garland until you get the shape want.  I picked up my swag at Joanns. I also added pine cone and berry picks. Just wire them in where you want them. Make a bow from ribbon and wire in as well. It was quick and easy to dress up the premade swag. Sharing here: Think Pink Sundays * Under the Table and Dreaming * Sundae Scoop * Suburb’s Mama Sunday link * DIY Sunday Showcase * Craftomaniac Monday * Make the Scene Monday * The DIY’ers * Masterpiece Monday * Motivate Me Monday * Market Your...

  These cute little cupcake liner trees are another idea I saw while perusing magazines. (We spend a good many evenings at Books a Million drinking coffee and hanging out. Of course, you can find me in the back looking at the eye candy magazines.) These are so easy to do.   Find some cute cupcake liners. I picked up mine at Michael's 75/$1.00 and they had a bonus mini liner set in them. If I get around to making treats, I'll use those mini liners. Cut the center circle of the liner out.   You will be left with a ruffle that you can then glue or pin to a cone. I had some styrofoam cones in my stash. I decided to pin mine on. (Less committment- I can take them off if I need the cone for something else.) When you reach the top you will have an adorable ruffled tree. I made two of them and they have a home on my Christmas mantel now. Thanks for stopping by. I'll be sharing here: Think Pink Sundays * Under the Table and Dreaming * Sundae Scoop...