Valentine's Day Candle Vases

Is it just me or have you, too, felt you fall behind on decorating for the holidays (aside from Christmas) and the season changes? Because I feel like it's just me. Or it could be I spend too much time on Pinterest. 

This year I'm determined to be on top of decorations. Like. ON. TOP. OF THAT. I even got my Valentine's Day Pinterest board going strong after Christmas. Overboard? Probably. Do I care? Nope.

I'm super excited though because I'm getting stuff ready slowly but surely. Starting with this candle vase I do every year. I got the berries off a Currant wreath I bought one year after they started falling out. I de-berried the wreath and put a bow on it instead. I got the vases at K-Mart when we were testing out centerpieces for my wedding. HELLO WEDDING-CYCLE. That's definitely not a word. But I feel like it could be. 

It totally could be.

Since I received the best gift ever for Christmas (my camera), I have been taking pictures like mad. To the point I'm dragging out chairs, climbing on step ladders, and laying on the ground in ridiculous positions to get "good" shots. I've been having a blast. Ryan? Not so much. I think of the 400+ pictures I've snapped so far, 200 or so are of him. Some of them may be while he's naked. But it's just for testing the light! I swear. Okay - they may be for blackmail later down the road. Right now I'm loving learning how to use the thing. 

Some other things I'd like to use...the freaking candles I seems to collect. I have about five dozen little ones, a couple pillar, and a dozen of the tall Yankee Candle jars. Yet I was still tempted to buy some at the store this past weekend. If only I didn't have to voice of reason standing next to me reminding me of my hoard...

Three down, countless to go.

What about you? Decorating for Valentine's Day yet?

What can I craft this Tuesday? A Fall Centerpiece

I have been seeing so many things on pinterest for Fall and it's lovely! Of course, I want to go out and purchased everything I see to completely decorate the apartment. The budget, and the hubbs, does not allow this. So I used one of my favorite fall tablescape pins to serve as pinspiration. Also, I just want to note that I couldn't find the original post as I searched through that blog behind the link. That is a HUGE pet peeve of mine! I want to see the original! Not the whole damn blog. Ugh.

Anyway, here's what I did.

Step 1. Use wood form an old deconstructed pallet. I wanted mine to be approximately 30" long. I measured those out and then enlisted Ryan to cut and nail those suckers together. Now you may notice a general lack of pictures between step 1 and 2. This is because there was mishap. It involved nails going through the sides of the wood, a board breaking, giving up hope, and a mini internal meltdown. But the hubbs being the amazing man that he is kept working and building until he built my dream centerpiece box. Thank you cutie!

the wood that Red turned into my centerpiece box

Step 2. Sand, sand, and sand some more. I originally planned on sanding this sucker by hand because I had the sand paper, the sheer determination to do it, and I couldn't steal find my parents' mouse. Again, Ryan swoops in and saves the day. Finding not only the sander, but also the sand paper.

the wood was extremely rough cut and needed about 25 minutes of sanding

make sure someone's on hand to take extremely unflattering pictures of yourself

Step 3. Dust that all off and wipe it clean. I was so excited about this I didn't want to wait to put it on my table. Next year, before it goes up, it's getting stained a nice dark walnut color.

Step 4. Gather together all your fixin's. I had candles, acorns, pine cones, dollar store gourds, a piece of white birch bark, and a black walnut to fill this bad boy with. My candle holders were a little short so I folded up some cardboard to jack them up a little. Then spend an crazy amount of time staging it all to look fantastic.

Step 5. Marvel at your beautiful new centerpiece and light the candles. Wait and waft the beauty that you have just created. I'm waiting to see how long it takes the hubbs to realize the smell of the candles (fine merlot by Colonial Candle). It's his favorite. (That's sarcasm folks!)

What do you think of my new centerpiece? Does it remind you of fall? How are your fall decorations shaping up?