Recycle, eh

Who doesn't love footstools? They make great seating for the little ones and give a nice decorative touch to any room. They're easy to make and very affordable if you do what I've done and simply use an old wood picture frame, an unused foam pillow insert, wood curtain finials, and a piece of fabric remnant.

As you can see from the above, it's very easy to do. For my how-to instructions, go here.

Loved this idea when I saw it at the Ikea Livet Hemma site by guest blogger, Anna G.. 'Course the idea here is to highlite and promote Ikea products, but it was the recycling of newspapers as wall covering that I spotted and liked (you could also use book pages or black and white pages from magazines). If you are anything like me and can't make up your mind what to do with boring walls, it's one very inexpensive solution, and makes a fabulous temporary covering if you are in the process of redecorating. Great conversation piece for guests at a dinner party, too.

I'm still recovering from a bad cold that I think I may have picked up on the plane coming over to the UK but again, today I'm feeling a bit better. Cruising the web is always fun because there is so much out there (I know a lot if rubbish - but the creative folks out there make it worthwhile to take a gander at what they are up to).

I found this creative reuse of vintage crocheted doilies at one of my favourite bloggers, Anna Leena. She stitched a few doilies together to make this cute table runner. What a clever and practical idea! If you, like me, have collection of these doilies and are reluctant to toss them or leave them neglected and forgotten in some drawer, why not recycle them this way? It's so easy  and you can make it in no time at all. Instructions here. Skill level: nil!!

Halloween!! 

It's dark, cold, rainy, and very windy today. A perfect day to stay home and create your Halloween decorations. Here are a few more ideas that you can try out by unleashing your inner mad scientist. You can also find some more ideas at my other blog. 

My friends Neva, Sean, and I recently visited HighJinx, a shop on Somerset Street here in Ottawa, that gives shopping a whole new meaning in social assistance. Imagine a store that sells used furniture and decorative accessories and plows that back into helping those with little or no means to furnish a home of their own. Upstairs the shop sells an amazing array of eclectic goods and furnishings below most market prices while downstairs it stockpiles furniture and other necessities that are free to those in need. To find out more about this amazing store, read the Ottawa Citizen article here.

I was so taken with the concept and Karen and Leigh (the shop owners) that I offered to do their Halloween window display (also roping in Sean to help out). I'm looking forward to running some workshops at the store as well. 

Run, don't walk, to check out the goodies they're selling. They won't last long as the prices as just amazing! Oh, if you have anything you no longer need, why not donate it to HighJinx!

HighJinx

621Somerset Street West

613 864 4289

My Ottawa Citizen Thanksgiving decorating article is out today. Because I tend to reuse and repurpose things, I find it easy to make a table look decorative for any occasion. The clay pots are antique seedling pots that I've had for ages and reuse over and over again. If you don't have anything like this, you can always use those papier mache seedling pots or even the plastic ones. Tea cups or coffee mugs will do as well. Of course, I do add the gourds and leaves as I mentioned in my previous blog posting but once again, I will reuse these for Halloween (wait and see what I do).

All the ideas in the article are so simple that you could easily make any of them, no problem. That's idea # 3 above. A gourd idea (tee-hee, love a good pun!!).

The above shows you how to do idea #4. In the article, in the article, I mention the use of a glue gun as most folks use this tool. But I don't own one - I actually used bits of masking tape to hold the leaves in place on top of the masking tape edging. I did this as my table cloth is a lovely antique linen bed sheet I got in Brussels years ago and I didn't want to damage it in any way. So, once you've had your turkey dinner, just rip off the leaf edging. No mess, no fuss but somehow satisfying.

And here's another way to decorate your Thanksgiving table with leaves. Again, easy, peasy. If you're worried about using a real candle, substitute a battery-powered LED tea light instead. If you are using a real candle, pick one that has a lovely autumn scent.