Dollar Store Christmas Wreath

Day five of the 12 Days of Christmas is the Dollar Store theme project. This one gives you bang for your buck. Insert Chuckles here! This time we will learn how to take your creativity to tweak a Hula Hoop to make a big wreath for Christmas. The bow is ribbon from last years Christmas clearance sales. Lets save money while learning how to make a large wreath from the Dollar Store!

Rust Ravaged to Beauty Salvaged Lamp

     This poor lamp was ravaged by the salt air of sea side living in Florida. Now I realize these are not glamour shots but, I was working under difficult conditions. This sweet Lamp was used to stage a home I was tasked with getting ready For Sale in less than two weeks. The lamp was in the home as you see it in the before getting ready to paint. I bought two types of paint the gray that I decided to use the Bronze hammered.  I did not use it in this project.

It was a gorgeous sunny day so I had to keep the lamp in the shade of the carport so it would not dry

The Best of 2014 a Year Review!

  This is my first year in review since I started blogging. I am excited to bring you the top ten posts of the year. Together we have accomplished more then I ever dreamed of when I started Dragonfly & Lily Pads in October 2013. I want to thank each of you for support.  As this year ends I have a sense of relief, excitement, and a positive outlook for the coming year.
Why relief you ask? Because we all have times that our life takes us in a totally different direction. I believe in helping when there a need from some one you love. Family has taken on a whole new meaning to us this year.
Excitement now your wondering? Making that day in Oct. 2013 count as Something New each day by writing DNLP blog. This blog is a bit of a gift to myself, as I express my creativity, share my love by inspiring others, and transforming all of us into the people and lifestyles we strive for in everyday life.
   OK! A little deep I  know but, it is truly how I feel.
Positive outlook is pretty easy because, this year has been a difficult year outside of these pages. 2015 is going to be different. I have learned a few valuable lessons about who I am and where I want to be this coming year. I will be sharing more about these goals during the coming year.
Today is about the closing the past year 2014 and opening a new door to 2015. Choosing what I want to carry with me as hard taught lessons, and what to Let Go! Yeah I went there...LOL
  Today I am sharing the top ten posts of the year chosen by you .

1. Sweet Baby Love Quilt  

Red Solo Cup Ornaments

 

     

A DIY Stenciled Inspiration Board

    We look for inspiration everyday, in many places. I have read about achieving your goals, by placing them on a board, and looking at it daily. A place to organize your thoughts, where, what & how will you get to your next goal. The far off future goals too. Now you can see where the idea for the DIY stenciled inspiration board came for this post. In my Fall Mod Podge Pumpkin post I mentioned buying two carts of goodies at +Michaels Stores. I bought several framed cork boards that were on a great clearance sale.
To be honest I struggled with what would be the best approach to make this board inspiring. Then in a series of unrelated life circumstances, I was in Pompano Beach, FL. looking for document boxes with Prince Charming.The Office Depot was having a clearance sale because, they were moving. I found what I needed at the store 30% off and Gelio Gel pens for 50% off. Hmm. This would work on the cork board but, now what should I stencil?

I chose the inspirational phrase by Kolette Hall and +Silhouette America Flourish design.

Showers of Love for Baby Dove

      Last year we celebrated with the lovely pair of Doves as they married. Fast Forward one year and we are Showering Baby Boy Dove, who is on his way. My BFF, her Daughter-in- Law, Mamma Doves  sister,  I were off to the races with finding ways to decorate, games, and gifts. Pinterest was a great resource but, I did not find the items. That is the only reason I did not attach the appropriate credit. I helped with the +Silhouette America Cameo making some of the decorations. This was one of the most coordinated, detailed baby showers I have been involved in to this date. 

Tis The Season Nifty Thrifty Gifts

     Tis the Season to find creative ways to give gifts to friends and family that are well made with love of course and useful. In this economic time we are all looking for ways for our gift budget to stretch as far as we can but we still want a thoughtful gift. Last week I went to the Dollar Store to see what I could find for my gift giving project this year. I have to say the thought crossed my mind to use one of the many cost effective gift ideas I have seen on the other blogs, Pinterest, Facebook, Google+ but , I wanted an original idea.
   I shopped around and found silver, metal, mesh, pencil holders. Ahh! This would be my container for the gift. Then what would I put in the holders along, with adding a my creative design, to make this a special gift?
 I spotted the butterfly type paper clips 8 count in the large size and 10 count in the smaller size.
The last few items I need for this gift I already have in my stash at home. Yippie! I have a plan, a nice gift to give, with a little of my creative love thrown into a pencil cup holder.
Can you guess what the gift is yet? Hmmmm. By the way the last few items are scrapbook paper, glue, twine, and I will need to purchase some tulle to use for wrapping because I think it will add a nice touch. I will show you that later on another day.

 Yard Sticks have Character

 Now I need to measure the large and smaller clip, to figure out how much paper I will need, for each size clip.* Disclaimer your paper clips will need to be measured because sizes will vary.
Here are the measurements for the two size clips I bought at the Dollar Store. The Large is 1 5/8" wide, the smaller one is 1 1/4" wide. Now I need to measure the length of the paper I need for each, after some trial and a lot of error. I found that cutting a strip the width of the paper, wrapping it around the clip, making a indent with my finger nail by pressing the paper tight into the top of the clip. This gave me a good place to start. Then I cut the paper a few times until I found just the right measurement, 2" for Large, and 1 5/8" for the small. Out of one 2" strip of paper in 7 different color I was able to make 35 clips. Out of the 1 5/8" strip of paper also using 7 different colors I made 49 clips.

I bought this at Micheal's on Sale

I used my paper cutter to cut out the sizes needed. You can use scissors but it is a lot of cutting. I thought about using my Silhouette paper cutting machine and might in the future now that I have the measurements calculated. I plan on cutting all of my paper out mixing the colors and patterns. I used 7 smaller patterns because large patterns would be lost on this size project. I choose paper not card stock, because it would be to thick to work with folding around the clips. Below is an example of the papers I used. I thought the patterns and colors would be a bright spot on a desk or in a craft room.

Bright and Cheerful Colors

My next step is covering the black clip with the scrapbook paper. I uses E6000 glue on the Large clips, because the paper did not fit in my Xyron. Bummer, I should have bought the bigger Sticker maker. Christmas present for me???  I did use the Xyron permanent sticker for the small clips. It took less time, was less mess, and turned out nicer, in my opinion. This picture shows the paper cut ready to be glued to the clips.

How do you like the finished Clips?

Now I filled the pencil holder with 10 small plus 4 large Fancy clips. Add some Colorful twine to the container. I will wrap with the tulle, twine and a gift tag later.  Here is the final product. Would you like to use these on your desk? Some people even use these for clips to close open bags of snacks,, or chips too. Then I would keep the container in my kitchen, near my Ziploc Bags, Foil, Wax Paper.                                                                                            

A view from the top

Front and Center

    When ever I start  project the ideas still bounce around in my head. I am going to make a few variations of this project in the near future. Do you have any suggestions? I already know I am skipping the E6000 glue on this next time. Great product but not the right one for this application. I also tried Washi Tape on this one and that was not the best for this project either. I am thinking of attaching magnets so you can use the clip to hang something. What do you think of that idea? Share your thoughts on these ideas or any suggestions. I look forward to seeing your comments.

I am Blessed my family is at home.  My cousin, with his family will be here tomorrow.

I am a happy girl!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Here is a list of items used and where I purchased them:
Dollar Store
 1 package Butterfly paper clips Small 10 count  $ 1.00
 1 package Butterfly paper clips Large 8 count    $ 1.00
 1 Pencil Cup Holder ( Wire Mesh Silver)           $ 1.00
 Michael's
 I used Xyron Permanent Sticker
 Scrapbook Paper
 E6000 glue
 Steals.com
 Twine
http://wonderfulathome.blogspot.com/2013/12/wonderful-wednesdays-15.html?showComment=1386202147418#c2527398334266671696