DIY: Teacup Candles

In efforts to be creative and have a little fun (and of course save some $), my sister wanted to do as many DIY projects as possible for Christmas gifts.  She stumbled upon this idea a few weeks ago and we went this past weekend to get all the supplies for teacup candles. It was SO easy, and I think it would be a great  project for Mother's Day in addition to Christmas. All you need is teacups, wax & wicks, and a scent (and optional color).  We bought a container of what we thought was red dye for candles but it turned out to be coloring for homemade soaps - and if you're wondering if it works for candles too, it doesn't, and since food coloring is water based, that wasn't an option either. The color wasn't too much of a disappointment because we bought gel wax so the bubble effect was appealing as is. After we finished our spice scented teacup candles, I added little tags since the presents will all be signed "from Greyson". Definitely a project worth trying out!

Wax, wicks, scent and color (which you can see says Soaps - oops!) 

Our vast array of teacups picked up at a local antique mall

Pour your block of wax into a pan on low heat and wait for it to melt

Hot glue your wicks to the bottom of the teacup

Add your scent and CANDLE coloring to the wax when it's completely melted

Add Tags if you're giving the candles as presents

DIY: Reupholster Chairs

Original Chairs

After I came up with my vanity idea in the office I knew I would need a chair.  I also wanted to put a chair between the two big windows in our bedroom just as a decorative piece, and for an extra place to throw random things (like Shayne's suits when he comes home from work) so stuff didn't end up on the floor. My mom had these old chairs in the attic to an old dining room set, I believe from my aunt, so I took two and decided to reupholster them myself.  I chose the green and blue paisley design to match the vanity/desk and color of the office, and the geometric dark brown material for our room since all of our furniture is an espresso color.  The seats were harder to take apart than I anticipated; they were reupholstered twice before, and it was a bit of mess with the old foam underneath but it was otherwise simple to put together once I got down to the base. I loved the outcome and have been thinking about re-staining them so they have a fresh coat but that will be another DIY project down the road!

Tools Needed: Material & New Foam Inserts (for cushions) from here, Scissors, staple gun, screw driver

Unscrew the seat from the chair so you can rip off all the old material and cushions

Lay the wood base of the seat on your new foam cushion.
These seats were angled funny so I had to trim some of the foam off.

Cut your material and stretch it around to the bottom of the seat.
Make sure you're pulling the material tight while you staple.

Take your staple gun and staple every 3-4 inches the whole way around the seat

TA DA! Screw your seat back in and you have a newly upholstered chair!

I did one for our bedroom (right) and one for the green vanity desk in the office (left)

Decorating Continued...

Greens winding up the staircase. Hopefully stockings will be up soon!

Slowly but surely things are getting put up around the house for Christmas - and yes, I know it's only the beginning of December. Since our plans for getting the tree were delayed we decided to go get one this weekend, and while I impatiently wait for the tree, I'll keep putting more house decorations up.  As you can see, I changed the dining room table a little bit from this post by switching to a different cake stand and adding some branches. These are all small touches but sometimes those make the biggest difference. I'm thinking about wrapping the front door tomorrow or Friday (pictures will be posted via Twitter & Instagram) with gold paper and silver/gold ribbon I found at one of my Sam's Club excursions. More to come...

I added more of my silver ornaments to this large wooden bowl that sits in the LR.

My mom gave me a pile of these white branches. I added them to this vase of hydrangeas
but I will probably get a tall vase to put them in.

I added these icicles to the branches - so pretty!

Miniature snow covered trees for the bookshelf

My updated dining room table centerpiece.

An ode to Shayne B. in the kitchen - master chef!