What Ever Happened to that Ballard Inspired Tree?

A while back, I participated in The CSI Project’s Ballard Inspired project.  I actually made the top 10, which I will admit was fun.  I think my husband and sister were the most relieved since I was such a crazy person trying to get it done on time! 

Anyway, I tried several different options to use it.  First, I painted it black and used it for my kitchen ornament tree.

I actually like this more than I remember.  But I decided it was too dark and I painted it white.  It did take up a lot of room and was difficult to move.  Also, I have found another way to use those ornaments (stay tuned!), so this did not make the cut.

Then I tried it with vintage ornaments in the living room.  Since I did a different type of tree for the vintage ornaments (again, stay tuned!), this didn’t make the cut either.

I was beginning to think that I wasn’t going to use it this year. And then, I thought of this…

I felt like the more modern ornaments fit the somewhat contemporary lines of the tree.  You can find all of the information about how I made this here.

This is in our basement family room where there is a whole different color scheme and style and I felt like it really fit it in.  In the next few days, I will be doing a posting about the whole basement and our white and colorful tree down here!

Have a great day!

Linking up at Centsational Girl's Holiday Craft Party, come on by!

A Big Giant Box, a Skunk and the Mother Load

So, yesterday, about a half an hour after I finished submitting my post to the Ballard Inspired project at the CSI Project, the door bell rang and it was a big giant box from Ballard! What is in the box? It is the final major piece to finishing up my family room. Hopefully in the next two weeks, I will finish all the last tweaks and then can show you the before and afters. Until then, what do you think is in the box?

Next, I would like you to meet an important member of our family, Bailey Rose. My youngest daughter was very worried that she would be sad if she didn't have a middle name like the rest of us, so we added Rose at the last minute to the already decided Bailey. Just like our children, when she is in trouble, she is no longer Bailey, she becomes BAILEY ROSE!

Well, for the second time since August, my lovely BAILEY ROSE, made friends with a skunk! I never had a dog growing up, so I am still learning my way in the dog world. I thought I would share something with you.

If you don't own a dog, or your dog doesn't like to play with skunks, go ahead, skip down to the next section, I won't mind.

If you own a dog who ventures outdoors always keep baking soda and hydrogen peroxide in your house. Why? Because that is the cocktail that does a pretty good job getting rid of the smell.

Last time she got in the house which was a whole other disaster. This time, my husband kept her still and not rubbing herself all over. I ran inside, mixed a whole bottle of peroxide with two big scoops of baking soda, couple of squirts of dish soap and a little warm water, but not too much to dilute it. I put on rubber gloves, got an old towel and covered her and her collar in this concoction, rinsed her off with warm water. Toweled her off and let her sleep in the garage. I know, so sad, but we left her with lots of blankets and towels to snuggle up in. By morning she was fine and just needs a good brushing.

There are more specific recipes for the concoction online, but in the moment, I did what worked, and it did.

One more thing, my dog is already a blond. I have heard that dark color dogs, if left on to long, can be discolored from the peroxide, but I do not know for sure if that is true.

Okay, now for the Mother Load part, I hope you are all back with me.

This picture is all of sheet music! I had seen the request from Miss Mustard Seed for some sheet music. I had put my feelers out to a couple of places, but came up empty. I went to an estate sale this morning and pretty much cleared them out for a really great price. They knew there weren't going to be too many people who were going to come along and buy this much of it.

Sorry it is not a pretty picture, but I actually loaded it right back in my car. My Dad is a musician and when I told him about it, he wanted to take a look at it when I see him tomorrow.

Once I bring it in I will show some more detailed pictures. The most interesting was some great children's books with amazing cover artwork. I can't wait to figure out what exactly I am going to do with all this, but I am sure I will figure it out. Of course, I will be sending a delivery to Miss Mustard Seed as well.

This is just a picture of a couple of the other fun finds from the estate sale, taken outside since it is such a beautiful day.

Off to clean my house and prepare some lasagna for a weekend gathering!

Why not another Ballard Inspired Tree?

So project number 2 is inspired by the Ballard Tree Card Holder. It measures at 26" x 16" and sells for $79. I purchased a piece of aluminum sheeting in the cloverleaf pattern from Lowe's. It was a 36" x 36" sheet and cost $26.77, however I used less than half of it. I simply cut out a cone shape with metal snips. I then used what is called metal repair tape (found by the duct work in Lowes) to seal the bottom sharp edges from and to seal it together in the back.

I am sorry that I do not have better "in process" pictures, they just were not usable. If you want more specific information on making this project just let me know and I will get back to you.

Here it is with some cards and pictures posted on it.

The best part is that the pattern is a Quatrefoil!

Here it is on its own, which I almost like better.

I am featuring this project at:

and

The Evolution of a Ballard Inspired Ornament Tree

So this was my inspiration.

The beautiful Ballard Ornament Tree.
I know, we are still in Halloween mode, but I figured it was about that time to get started on Winter Holidays.

It is available in two sizes. 41" x26" for $199 and 62" x 36" for $349.

This where I started. Please ignore the dowels. After quite a few attempts, I decided they just were not going to work for what I was trying to achieve.

What you see are 4 crimped ductboard collars (the 5th one is not in the picture) purchased at Lowes. The are sized at 4", 6", 8", 10" and 12". The five of them cost just over $30.

After failing with the dowels, I remembered I had this medal garden piece and realized it was perfect!

I literally just slid them over the top in graduated sizes and then the tension in the garden piece held them in place. If you didn't already have something like this, you could also try using a tomato plant stake. There are several varieties that would probably work well for this.

I then spray painted the garden piece and each of the collars black to replicate the Ballard piece. The finished size of my piece is about 46" x 14". I also folded down every other of the collar tab pieces to give a little more design and to hang ornaments on them.

I had been planning to do a kitchen tree this year. At Brimfield in May, I purchased a variety of smaller sized kitchen utensils to use as ornaments. I decided to try these out on my newly made tree.

After much consideration, I decided I was not sure how I felt about the black, so I decided to paint it white (of course, this was at 10:00 at night!). So here it is in white...

I also wanted to try in with some of my vintage ornaments, so I moved it into the living room and hung vintage ornaments on some pieces of white tulle ribbon.

A valuable lesson was learned. The 99 cents clearance spray paint at Michael's is not worth even 9 cents. So I am going to have to do another coat of paint. So, I need your help..

Black or white? Kitchen tree or vintage ornaments? What do you guys think?

I am posting this at the CSI Project, so go check out all the other Ballard inspired projects.

and here...

and here..

Ballard Knock-0ffs From Home Decorators Collection - Is it worth it?

As I am shopping for clients, it is always important to me to find the best price. I am a hug fan of Ballard Designs and have purchased many items both for my own home and for client's homes. (I am actually hoping to be able to finish a project or two to submit to the CSI Project before the deadline passes!) I have been noticing over the last few months that there seems to be quite a lot of similarity between the Ballard Designs offering and those of Home Decorators Collection. I have been wondering if they are just low-balling Ballard, but it seems it depends on the item. Here is a comparison of a few of their product offerings.

The Le Poem rug from Ballard is offered in 4 colors and 6 sizes. In the 8 x 10 size, the price is $428.

The Poetry rug from Home Decorators is also offered in 6 sizes, but only two colors. As you can see, it is the exact same rug. Their 8 x 10 price is $389 and they are currently offering free shipping on orders over $299. We are really just talking about a $30 difference here, but the shipping can make a big difference.

Here is the Stella Mirror from Ballard. It measures 40" x 27" and is priced at $249. Here is the Gella Mirror from Home Decorators (could they have been more obvious with the name?). It is selling for $289, so this time Ballard's price is better. I am not sure why they would so obviously sell the same item, with a similar name and not offer a better price. This is the Sabrina Mirror from Home Decorators. It is available in two sizes, 35.5" x 45.5" and 28.5" x 35.75". It is available in distressed Mahogany and Ivory. The larger version is $199.



This is the Ballard version and it is called the Charleston Mirror. It is available in one size, which is larger than the other version, 56" x 45.5". The finish is Black with red undertones. It was originally $399, but is now on sale for $239.99. This is kind of a wash between the two because you would make your decision on what size and finish works best for your space.


These are just a few comparisons to give you an idea. In the end, I guess the lesson learned is to look at all your options. Home Decorators does offer a lot of great products at reasonable prices, so they are often my go to for items. However, I am always more partial to Ballard and they do also offer a generous and easier to use Designer discount program.

Just thought I would share some thoughts to help you in your own decorating projects.