Pretty Little Things and Two Easy Projects

I spent most of the day cleaning today! My daughter scrubbed the grout in the shower (I hate tiles) and I scrubbed floors and cleaned bathrooms among other things. My reward or incentive (however you want to look at it) was that when I was done I was going to be able to do some fun stuff. Which to me means fluffing and take pictures. So here are a few pretty little things around my house.

This cute little fabric sign was only $1.99 at TJ Maxx! It sort of looks like burlap but it's a softer material.

Some blooms from my garden.

My husband said we needed some coasters out on the porch since that's where we have our morning coffee. So I made some really easy ones. Here's how:

Get some cheap tiles, any stamp you want, and a stamp pad. For this project I bought a StazOn stamp because I wanted blue and I only have two ink pads - red and black. They only had two kinds at Michaels and this one said for all surfaces. I much prefer the Archival Ink (waterproof & non smear) that I've used stamping plates (which I got from Hobby Lobby). But the StazOn worked o.k. All you have to do is wash the tiles, dry, stamp and let dry. We've already used these and they wipe clean just fine.

I have to show you the inside of that apothecary jar because it's one of my favorite things! I filled the jar with some blue sand and stuck some really interesting shells in there. We have a bag of really cool shells and we've been having fun rearranging the shells as we feel like it. I never know if it's been changed and it's fun to have a look to see if it has!

I saw a really big shell ball when I was at TJ Maxx and I thought "I can do that"! Holey Moley -those two shells look like they have eyes! I used what I had - you use nicer shells!

I already had some small Styrofoam balls. I hot glued shells all the way around the ball. Let me just say this...... I burned my fingers so bad with that hot glue!! Put the glue on the ball and then put the shells in the glue!! Why I tried putting the glue on the shell is beyond me. There's not enough surface on these small shells for glue. So save your fingers and either use a different glue or do it as I told you to not as I did!!

A nightlight in my hall bathroom. There are so many pretty ones these days there's no reason to have just a plain one with a bulb!

A little $4.99 stitchery from TJ Maxx - I really love the sentiment!

After I cleaned the glass door I took down the forsythia wreath and put up my favorite one - hydrangeas - I added a little starfish on the top.

Lastly, I changed my Maxie statue's bow (Maxie is our Golden Retriever for those of you new to this blog). I like to coordinate it with the wreath on the door.

I hope you try one of those projects! They're really quick and easy to do. I haven't had time to paint my potting bench yet but hopefully I will tomorrow if it doesn't rain. Thanks for stopping by and have a great week everyone!