DIY Pom Pom Flowers!

So I have been wanting to do Pom Pom flowers since I saw them in Country Living Magazine! Well I did them! And I am totally obsessed with them.. Great, another obsession.. Sigh. On today's blog I'm going to give you a quick tutorial on how to make them for yourself! So let's get started!

First you'll need yarn, any color you want, and any type you want! I went with some of my favorite colors, mustard yellow and a light teal. The mustard yellow was a regular yarn, the light teal was a wooly thick yarn. 

Step two of this process is to figure out what product you'll use to make them. I used something called, Doodle-Loom by Bucilla. You can find these at Micheals or Hobby Lobby and they cost around $10. You could probably get them for less on Amazon. This tool made making these Pom poms super easy and quick! 

Obviously the instructions on how to make the Pom Poms are with the package. Don't get discouraged when first attempting them, it gets easier once you've made a few!! The smallest "loom" was my least favorite, because I could never get the Pom Pom to look right! However, the medium and large sizes worked like a charm! 

I made my mom Valentines Day "flowers" instead of buying the typical roses. Here is how they turned out: 

Of course they were showcased on the mantle in a vintage Floraline pottery piece! Cute and vintage seem to go hand and hand perfectly! 

Here are the ones I made out of the original yarn I got: 

They turned out great! 

Step three is to go outside and find some smaller twigs. I used these to give it a rustic feel. Then I simply hot glued the Pom poms onto the small branch. See, super easy! And cheap! 

Of course once I got into the rhythm of making these cuties I went a tad bit crazy.. 

You may want to use more spring type colors. I prefer teals, grays, oranges, and yellows! 

So guys, I hope you enjoyed this post! If you have any questions or comments on tonight blog entry please comment below or feel free to email me! 

Happy thrifting, Y'all! 

Love,

The Old Soul

PS - make sure and be back here tomorrow night at 8PM for my first ever food blog! We will be joined by Kim Teasley, owner and operator of Kim in the Kitchen! She will be talking to us about her newest item, Sea Salt Dusted Caramels! Yum!! Perfect timing for Valentines Day, right?? :) more info tomorrow night on how you can order these for your sweetheart! 

Pottery, Chalkboards, and Spoon Rest. Oh My!

So today I spent the day with my grandmother. The things the two of us get into... :) While out and about we stopped by my favorite thrift store, Haven of Rest. I woke up this morning with a mission, to see what all I could buy with a $15 budget. So off we went to the thrift store.

Once we got to the thrift store my eyes immediately went to the "glass and pottery section". I usually luck up and find a few odds and ends. As I walked over I noticed a very cute vase. I could tell by the color, texture, and shape exactly what it was, Floraline pottery. It was $1, how could i pass that up?! A little back history on Floraline. They started in June 9, 1960. Nelson McCoy(founder of McCoy Pottery) wanted to create a line of inexpensive pottery that could be directly sold to florist. Little did he know that those "cheap" pottery pieces would one day be somewhat valuable and would make a total statement piece in someone's home. Here is the piece I found today: 

And here it is in full decor effect: 

I also have a few other Floraline pieces that I've found over the years:

Any Floraline you come across will be marked on the bottom with their stamp shown here:

So as I wondered aimlessly through the thrift store, peeking inside of different isles and shelves I spotted what in my opinion was the FIND of the day! And that would be this small vintage chalkboard:

I couldn't wait to get home to clean this bad baby up! And so I did. As I was looking at it wondering what I'd like to do to it, if anything. And then I suddenly remember, "Martha freakin' Stewart stencils!" So I pulled those stencils out and paint and went to town giving this little cutie just the facelift it needed! Normally when choosing paint colors for projects like this, I generally play it safe. Teal, yellow, etc. but today I wanted bold. Something that could stand out of this dark and dull chalkboard. Orange. Orange is the new black, right? So I laid my stencils out and painted away. This was the final product: 

I thought it turned out fabulously! And not to mention it looks totes adorbs on my desk. This chalkboard was $.50. May God strike you were you stand if you would pass by this in a thrift store! It's basically thrifting blasphemy. I want to know what you would have done with this chalkboard had you came across it! So make sure and leave a comment below or if it doesn't let you leave a comment(an issue that has been brought to my attention, my "tech team" aka boyfriend will have to help me figure this out!) then please email me! Just because the comments are on the fritz doesn't mean I don't want to hear your feedback! :) 

Okay, onto my last little find. It was $.75, and when I saw it I thought immediately to myself, "bff needs this! It can be a surprise present!" Well, I can't keep a surprise from someone to save my life. So naturally I bought it and sent a picture to my best friend saying, "I got you a surprise!!!" Followed by the picture... Sigh. Her response was, "you can never keep a surprise!!" So yeah, there you have it. I am unable to surprise anyone. Anyways! Back to the actual surprise itself! My best friend is from Sylvania, Ohio. She has lived in Atlanta, Ga almost as long as she lived in OH(which in my opinion makes you a southerner, though she'll never admit to it and she still to this day refuses to say the word, "y'all"). So anytime I am out thrifting I always keep an eye out for anything to buy my bff. So here is here surprise: 

Cute little vintage Ohio spoon rest! Totally cheesy and was probably bought at some rest stop in Ohio, but I knew right then and there that she would love it! And she did! :)

So that's my little adventure of the day, folks! As always, I hope you found some inspiration through my words and advice. Please leave comments below on what you thought of today's blog and maybe throw in some suggestions as to what you would like to see in this blog! I love/need feedback. Good and bad! And like I said earlier, if you can't leave a comment just hop over to my "About Me" page and click the link at the bottom of my bio and that will direct you to send me an email! I look forward to hearing from you. 

Happy Thrifting and Much Love,

The Old Soul

All You Need Is Love! - Valentines Day Special!

With Valentines Day quickly approaching I thought I'd take some time to give some advice of quick, easy, and affordable ways to decorate for this lovable holiday. 

One way to decorate is using vintage Valentines Day cards! You can find these at thrift stores or antique stores. You could also ask older relatives to see if they have held onto any over the years! A way to display these little cuties is with a vintage flower frog. Flower frogs are a flat disk with sharp spikes sticking out from the disk. The purpose of these were to hold the stem of the flowers in place in an arrangement. You can find these at thrift stores and antique markets.

You simply stick the card down in the spikes. Now if you have young children I would suggest keeping these out of reach as the spikes can be quite sharp! 

Other ways to decorate can be with using inexpensive materials that you may have around your house! They may not be vintage but they can be just as gorgeous! For example, by taking wax paper, food color, and a iron you can make the most adorable "stained glass" hearts! By using a piece of red, pink, or purple ribbon you can make a gorgeous garland! Here are a few of the ones that I made: 

These easy DIY projects are easy to do and are done in no time! Perfect for the mom or dad that doesn't have a lot of time or money to bring a little holiday cheer to their homes! 

Steps to making "stained glass" hearts:

1. Place two sheets of wax paper on a surface that won't be harmed by the iron. 

2. On one sheet of wax paper, put a few drops pink, purple, and red food color!

3. Place the other sheet of wax paper on top.

4. Using your iron, run it over the wax paper until the two sheets stick together.

5. After the wax paper has dried, then you can cut them into heart shapes! 

6. Use a hole punch to make the holes to string them together and bam! You've got an easy, cheap, and adorable Valentines Day garland! 

Another SUPER easy way to decorate is by using Valentines Day candies in vintage glass jars to display around the house. Plus, you can snack on them whenever you choose! Here are some examples of how I chose to use Valentines Day candies:

I think I paid $1.00 for the big bag of candies. I found all of the jars in an old run down barn that I went junking in! 

Some people may prefer a more elaborate design for their home when it comes to holiday decor, but for me personally I love simply and easy! So I hope that you have found some simply, cute, and inexpensive inspiration through today's blog entry! 

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns please feel free to comment below. Also, my email is in the "About Me" section so feel free to email me! I look forward to hearing from you all! Make sure to utilize the Google+ feature and recommend this blog! I thank each and everyone of you for visiting the blog today and I hope you all have a wonderful and love filled Valentines Day! 

Happy Thrifting, Y'all! 

Love,

The Old Soul