Southern Scraps

Occassionally the house just gets to smelling yucky! There is only so much human, dog and food smell you can take before you want something fresher and cleaner smelling. This was the case for us recently and my hubby had discovered reed diffusers through a coworker. So we went to Pier One and purchased a couple. They are a bit pricey and one isn't enough for our large open floor plan. However, they do sell the refill oils and additional reeds, so I decided to search the thrift store for a unique bottle that would work to make my own with the refills and reeds. Luck was on my side and I found these with narrow openings. I've read that the narrow opening will make your oil and scent last longer as less can escape through the smaller opening.   A slightly more artistic shot: Obviously the before shots are before I washed them. A good cleaning and they were ready for adding a little decorative touch and some oil and reeds. I pulled out my stash of beads and jute an...

Metal stamping has been on my list of things to try out for a long time. I have owned a set of metal stamps purchased from Harbor Freight for over a year now but just finally got around to using them a couple of months ago. I made necklaces for Christmas gifts for my mother and in-laws. These were a lot of fun and come together fairly quickly so they would aslo be great gifts for Valentine's Day, Mother's Day or anytime you need to whip a a gift for a special girl friend. My stamp set is 1/8 inch and I used 9mm sterling silver discs. I also used sterling silver chain for these since they were gifts. I purchased my supplies in bulk from  Silver City Beads on etsy so I have around $10 invested in each necklace. They can be made for less if you forgo the sterling. Other supplies included beads, charms, 4mm and 6mm jump rings. This is a great stash busting project if you are already into jewelry making or beading. Adding a bead to your nec...

  I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and found lots of Black Friday deals. We stayed in and started our Christmas decorating marathon. The outdoor decor is done except for a few touches to the porch and the tree is up and decorated! Prior to all that I managed to get some earrings made that will be gifts this year. Here' s a quick and easy DIY for a pair of angel earrings.

Mint is a very trendy color this season. While I don't have any mint skinny jeans , I do have a few other pieces in mint and decided I should make myself an accessory to go with them- mint earrings. I've had these beads in my stash for awhile and can't even tell you where I got them. To make your own mint earrings, you will need six beads, two each of three assorted shapes and shades, earring wires, head pins, and eye pins. Thread two of your beads on a head pin and make a wrapped loop. Thread your other bead on an eye pin and make a simple loop. Attach these two units and attach your ear wires. Simple! Sharing 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 at TGC * Masterpiece Monday * Motivate Me Monday * Inspire Me Monday * Market Yourself Mondays at Sumo’s Sweet Stuff * Pink Hippo Party * M...

In addition to all the great ideas and projects I come across in blogland that I want to try out, I collect various magazines with projects that I want to try. (Am I the only one addicted to magazines?) This week I finally tried out a necklace in one of my Bead Style issues. Here is the magazine project (it's from Best of Bead Style 2011) I'd love to create this one as featured with all the colored beads, but I was using some of what I had on hand, along with some extras I picked up on clearance at Michael's this week. That's the beauty of DIY- you can take an idea and make it yours. I followed the tutorial but substituted color and size of beads. I also tweaked the number of beads called for- the magazine projects calls for 12 20 mm round beads, rondelles, and pearls. I used all round pearls and my largest was 18mm. I used 10 instead of 12 of the 18mm because the strand in my stash only had 11 beads. I adjusted the other numbers by two less as well. ...

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).

Another pair of earrings in my March Madness earring posts. This set has a pop of color. To make these you will need: textured rings jump rings earring wires head pins beads ( I used round beads and Crystazzi bicones) Sorry I didn't take any photos of the steps along the way. I made most of these during my lunch breaks at work. You will string each bead on a head pin and form a wrapped loop. As you are making your bead units, attach them to each other before completing the loops. Then take the top one and attach it to your textured loop with a jump ring. Attach the earring wire to the tops of the textured loops with another jump ring. Still pretty simple. Sharing 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 at TGC * Masterpiece Monday * Motivate Me Monday * Inspire Me Monday * Mar...