Just a Little Sparkle

I have been a silver girl for as long as I can remember, but lately I have jumped head-first on the gold-lovin' band wagon!  

I shared with you my fall mantle a couple of months ago, but last week I got the itch to add just a little sparkle and shine.  A last minute something before the day we gather. So, after a quick trip to Hobby Lobby and about 45 minutes of crafting I had this lovely gold, sparkly banner.

Here are the supplies that I started with.

Some scrap canvas (dropcloth of course), gold spray paint, gold glitter, jute, and a set of chipboard letters.  If you are a crafter like me, you probably have most of this in your stash. The only thing I had to purchase were the letters, and they were half off - so I scored some sparkle for less than $3!!

First I cut the canvas into rectangle pieces that were a little bit bigger than my letters. (I really eyeballed the first one by finding the widest letter in the bunch, laying it on top of the fabric, and cutting.)  

Then, I folded a piece in half long-ways, again using a letter as my guide, cut a triangle off the bottom to make the notch.  I used that first piece as a pattern to cut the notches from the rest.

Next it was time for sparkle.

The letters got a coat of gold spray paint, and a generous sprinkle of gold glitter.  If you spray and sprinkle quick enough, the glitter will stick just fine to the wet paint :).

Attaching the flags to the jute is fairly simple.

Apply a thin line of hot glue, and fold the edge over the jute.  Done.  Well, after you repeat this for all the flags.

Then I used hot glue to attach the letters to each flag.

If you've been around here long enough, you know that I don't require anything to be perfect in this house, so no two letters have the same amount of glitter.  I did not take the time to hem the edges of the flags, or even fray check them.  I rather like the raw edges.

So, for 45 minutes and $3 I added just the special sparkly touch my mantle needed!

I'm taking some time off to finish getting ready for Thanksgiving, and to spend time with my college boy on his first visit home!  Praying everyone has a blessed and safe Thanksgiving!!  

Linking up with Frugal Crafty Home Blog Hop / Inspire Me Monday / Tutorials & Tips Link Party / Take-A-Look Tuesday / One Project at a Time / Wow Us Wednesdays / Hit Me With Your Best Shot / Work It Wednesday / Frugal Friday / Link Party Palooza / That DIY Party

Thanksgiving Table Two Ways

Last Thursday we had a wonderfully fun ladies dinner at our church!  To get everyone in the spirit of the holidays, several (as in around 50) ladies volunteered to host a table. The job of the hostess is to decorate the table - from linens, to centerpiece, all the way down to flatware.  We do this at least once a year usually in the spring, but on occasion we get to do it twice!!!  It's so much fun to see everyone's talent and interpretation of the season.  :)

Since we are hosting Thanksgiving dinner at our house this year, I decided to go with a fall theme for my table - knowing I could carry over some of those decorations for our dinner.  Here is what my table looked like that night.

Since the table are round and seat eight I decided to use four gingham runners, so each place setting had that black and white background. The black and white check that Lindsay used here was my first inspiration and these napkins I spotted at Williams Sonoma

were my inspiration for the plum accents.  I love plum for fall!!

I brought everything home and decided to play with what things would look like on my table. Since my table is black I first needed to lighten the background.  I have searched for an inexpensive square tablecloth for years.  They don't exist.  This year I had an epiphany! Canvas drop cloth = tablecloth.  Perfect neutral color, good size (cut-down to a square) and perfect price!!  {just make sure you don't get one that is too heavy because it will be very stiff - mine is 7oz and a good weight}

I decided to keep it a little simpler at our house and only use two runners.  Most likely there will be an additional table that will get the other runners.

The place settings are very simple - gold charger + dollar tree white plate.  Plum napkins that I made myself with gold top stitching, small grapevine for napkin rings, and DIY gold-tipped feathers.

Then I decided to play around with some other pumpkins that didn't make the initial table cut.  

Don't forget to try using different things to vary the height of your items.  A candle stick and a cake plate do the trick here. :)

I'm still not sure exactly what will show up on our actual table, but it really helped to try things out.  Visual, visual, visual.  I can't help myself!!

We are gearing up for some cold weather here in the next couple of days.  How about you??  I know some parts of the country has already seen snow - not ready for that at all!!

Linking up with Inspire Me Monday / Tutorials & Tips Link Party / Take-A-Look Tuesday / One Project at a Time / Create It Thursday / Hit Me With Your Best Shot / Wow Us Wednesdays / Frugal Friday / Link Party Palooza / Share Your Creativity / That DIY Party / Frugal Crafty Home Blog Hop / Party In Your PJ's / Show Me Saturday