Shelf Re-VAMP

The landing going downstairs to the basement has this weird built in shelf.  It's about 6 inches deep and I've never known what to do with it.  I had a big basket on the wall and a few candle holders, but it just wasn't quite doing it for me.  In comes my obsessive blog stalking reading, and I got some great ideas. The clock face idea is from Alchemy Junk, a super awesome site that has TONS of inspiration. I made mine a bit differently and I messed up a few of the numbers and didn't notice until I was all done .... GRRRR!!!  I don't want to talk about it anymore because I may cry, SERIOUSLY... so, let me show you what I did:

The Topiary I made  myself with 2 lrg decorative wicker balls I had around the house, a little bucket from the thrift store and some moss from the dollar store.  I already had the dowel, the rocks and the wooden knobs I made the finnial out of so this project cost me $3.00

Cute blue bucket received a light sanding and then a few coats of flat black spraypaint.  I first tried to use my acrylic paint and a sponge brush, but the strokes were visible and it was nasty, then I remembered I had spray paint in the garage.

I had a bunch of these wicker balls from when I worked at Pier 1 and they were on sale for dirt cheap ... They've been in a box for years and I've never really known how to use them, but I'm glad I kept them.

Now for attaching the moss, I tried hot glue and that just wasn't working because the moss isn't one big piece.  So out comes the spray glue and then I rolled both balls in the moss and pressed it down to help it stay on.  After they were both covered I sprayed them with a sealant to give the moss a better chance of not falling off, it seemed to do the trick.  Then I painted the dowel to a creamy white color (same as the color I used on the clock) and stuck it in some foam in the bucket, then I glued in some more moss and rocks.  I stuck the balls on the dowel and then hot glued them so they wouldn't slide down.  Then, I painted an oval on the fron of the bucket using the same creamy paint then painted a black S (for our last name) in the mdidle.

After It was all put together I decided I wanted some sort of finial on top, so I glued 2 smaller knobs to a large one and painted them the creamy white and glued it to the top of the dowel.  Tied a black ribbon around it and called it good.

The finished product

The glass candle holders are just 2 glass $1 thrift store vases glued to 2 $.75 thrift store taper candle holders. I know this isn't  a new idea, everyone does it but I'm so glad my stalking reading led me to find the idea!!  The little frame is from Dollar Tree.  It started out a brick red color, but I painted it black, then the creamy white and sanded it down to show some of the black through the white (everyone knows how to do that).  I'm sure most of you remember the Literate Pumpkins that were EVERYWHERE last year. I kept them and just took the stems out of them and stacked them on the shelf.  The Eiffel tower candle holder is a $5 thrift store find, a bit pricey in my mind, but I had to have it just for this!!  Then I threw in an old Wire topiary that I spray painted black, it use to be silver and was filled with decorative Eggs. Added 2 more candle holders (again from Pier 1 days) and same black and white candles and that was all the wrote.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE how it turned out!! The best part of the project was the cost, you ready for this??!! Ok, it's too much to handle, so make sure you are sitting down:  Since I already had some of the stuff at the house the total price tag for EVERYTHING was about $17 and that's including paint, sandpaper, glue etc.  AWESOME!!!

HERE ARE SOME FABULOUS PARTIES I'M LINKING UP TO!!! CHECK 'EM OUT!!