FAKE IT 'TIL YOU MAKE IT!

One of the challenges decorators face (if they're like me at least!) is making what you have work if it's not quite the right size or color or height.  As I was decorating last night, I used a few tricks that I thought I'd share with you.

First off, how many of us have countless little projects that would take two seconds to finish but never quite seem to get done?  Yesterday I checked one of those off of my list.  This spot on my brick fireplace has bugged me for years. 

It looked like a bird flew through the living room and bombed the brick.  I always kept something tall there or photographed the mantel from creative angles to try to hide that spot.  It drove me crazy.  

Well, when I started putting Christmas on the mantle, enough was enough.  Faster than the time it took me to gather the supplies, it was fixed.   I found some acrylic paint that was a close enough match and with a damp sponge rubbed a bit over the light spot, then blended and wiped some paint off with my hand.  Done.  

The spot is still there if you want to look hard enough, but it doesn't stand out like a neon light like it used to.

Secondly, I wanted to use this little silver plated cake stand for some candles on my coffee table.  The bottom inside wasn't flat, so I found a wooden trivet that fit perfectly and slipped it inside.  Then, all of my candles were the same height and I wanted to raise one a bit, so a can of tuna came to the rescue!  I covered all of the props underneath with some spanish and reindeer moss.  

This is the ONLY spot in my house that I'll declare done for Christmas so far.  The rest is a disaster and I had to move 4 things out of the shot just to photograph that tray. :)

By the way, have you seen the jumbo plastic animals in the $3 spot at Target?  A little gold spray paint and he fits in perfectly for Christmas.  I want to run back and get the giraffe after spotting one on Cassie's shelf yesterday.

Next up, I wanted some natural looking stems.  I usually go out back and cut fresh greenery, but for this arrangement I didn't want to mess with switching it out when it gets dry.  So, I saw some good long stems at HL for $5 each, but then found these picks for $2.50.  

Not too different from the long stems I found, but the stem was shorter, and I wanted to buy several so that $2.50 difference added up fast.   I'm using them in a big metal vase, so to lengthen the stem I wired it to a wooden skewer.  And, I couldn't find my floral wire so I used a pipe cleaner.   The skewer will stick down in the vase far enough to not be seen, and add the height I needed to the picks.

That's it for today.  I looks like Hobby Lobby exploded around here and I've got to get busy.  Have a great Thursday!