For those strolling in from Between Naps On The Porch the instructions for the eggs are towards the bottom of this post. Thanks for stopping by!
Christmas is past and ornament placeholders are now passe. BUT, if you will scroll to the bottom I will show you how to make a placeholder out of just about anything. If it has a hole, or you can make a hole and it is able to stand upright you're in business!
I loved the ornament place holders on the tablescapes of
BNOTP and the
The Tablescaper. I loved them so much that I thought I would make my own and share that process with you.
The first way is the easy way and works great in a pinch.
You'll need
1 ornament
2 wire ornament hanging loops (scavenge the second one from another ornament)
Sand, bath crystals, rice, peas or what have you to use for ballast to keep the ornament upright.
I used
Ok, it was all I had on hand! Sand or bath crystals would be best if you are going to make them ahead of time or leave them out for a few days. Ants or other bugs crawling out of your place holders wouldn't be a good thing during dinner.
Here are your parts. Remove the top and pour your ballast into the hole in the ornament until it is about half full. Put both loops into the top and replace on the ornament. Gently shake your ballast to even it out so the ornament will stand upright. You may need to do this a few times until you get it just right.
Viola!
The second method is more fiddly and is great if you need to get your craft on.
You'll need
1 ornament
Thin wire. I used 20 gauge for this demonstration.
1 pencil
Wire cutters
Needle-nose pliers
Ballast
Cut a length of wire that is comfortable to work with. I cut mine to 9 inches. Straighten the wire as much as possible. Place the pencil against the middle of the wire and wrap one end around the pencil twice to make a double loop.
Remove the pencil. Leaving about about 2 inches of tail on each wire, trim the bottom of your wires evenly. You will want these rather long so that they expand against the inside of the ornament. If you cut them too short your wire loops will wobble around in the top of the ornament and aggravate you to death
If you need to, slide the pencil back through your loops and adjust until even. Then slide the wire through the ornament top. Pull the wires apart to create a little tension.
Replace the top on the ornament being careful not to bend your wires in too much.
You're done!
This method also works for plastic Easter eggs. Use a hot ice pick to poke a hole in the top. I used a cork screw as someone took mine out of my toolbox. I wonder who that could have been?
cough Jeff
cough. The corkscrew left a ragged hole on the top so if you have to use that you'll want to cover it up with some decoration. You'll need to experiment to find the right length to cut the tails. I used the wire loop from my ornament demonstration and it's a little long but it demonstrates the concept. Why an Easter egg? Christmas is gone for another year and there is a whole year of tablescaping ahead. I just wanted to give you an idea to get you started.
Labels are easy. I would suggest a sheet of blank business cards and your printer. I don't have pretty handwriting so that is the route I would take.
You could dress up plain ornaments with glitter, paint, lace or fabric. Let your imagination guide you and have fun!
Please visit Susan at
Between Naps On the Porch for more great Metamorphosis Monday!
Unfortunately it has some stains that I haven't been able to soak out. I think it's beautiful anyway. Speaking of Battenburg, I need to repair the lacing on my tablecloth. Not a hard repair, I just need to do it. Along with a hundred other things LOL!
One of these days I will excavate my sewing room and drag out the lace trim to show you all.
How much? $1.50!
It has a pattern of white on white with platinum trim. I tried to capture the pattern but couldn't quite manage it.
8 dinner plates, 8 B&B plates, 2 berry bowls $5.00
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I gave the middle daughter, Richelle, a demonstration on the care and feeding of silver-plated flatware. She will be inheriting this set and with proper care it will last to be handed down to her children.
Close-up of the frame
Remove the pencil. Leaving about about 2 inches of tail on each wire, trim the bottom of your wires evenly. You will want these rather long so that they expand against the inside of the ornament. If you cut them too short your wire loops will wobble around in the top of the ornament and aggravate you to death
If you need to, slide the pencil back through your loops and adjust until even. Then slide the wire through the ornament top. Pull the wires apart to create a little tension.
I started with basic white ironstone for the plates and added some sherbet cups that were a garage sale find. Green glass ornaments were added for a shot of contrasting color to a predominantly red and white table. (I'm still working on bringing back the sparkle to the sherbet cups. I've picked up several pieces now that have a slight yellow cast. You can't see anything on the glass but whatever it is gradually washes away. I call it cabinet funk for the lack of a better term.)
In this view you can just barely see the gold bottoms on the ornaments. I found them at Dollar Tree and I wish I had been able to get more than one box.
This is my favorite shot. The centerpiece is in focus while the surrounding objects are softened and a little blurred. I made Jeff drag out ALL the boxes of decorations this year so I could find the little ornament candle holders. I haven't seen them since we moved here and I wanted them for my tablescape. I bought them at Hobby Lobby aeons ago.
The little flameless votives were half price at Big Lots. The design is flocked and not painted. Makes for an interesting texture but I hope I never have to wash them.
The ice tea glasses are from the Nanny Collection. She used them at holiday gatherings and so I included them in my tablescape in her honor. I don't know who made them or what the pattern is. My Dollar Tree ice tea goblets don't really coordinate but I needed some filler.
Here is a shot of a couple of the serving pieces. The set came with two serving spoons. I've added two meat forks and a casserole spoon. I almost had a pierced serving spoon in an e-bay auction but lost the bid. I still need to add the ladle, pierced serving spoon, cake/pie server and a bon-bon spoon.
Another addition, individual butter spreaders. This silverware was introduced in the 30's and was offered again in the 70's. This set was purchased in 1974 for her birthday. We still have the card that his Papa gave to Nanny with the set. We keep it in the box with the silverware.
Someone loved this bowl and took care of it. It polished up like a dream. Too many times I've brought home something that took an hour or two of polishing to make it look half this good.
I think the garage sales have shut up now. I don't have the money and it's more fun if I have 20 dollars to spend. If I go sure as anything I will find at least 5 things that I've been looking for and will have to leave them behind. Which is why I had to leave behind the green glass Wexford salt and pepper shakers I saw at that garage sale yesterday! Grrrrrr!
This is the lamp cleaned up and ready for assembly. I painted the metal parts an antique bronze. I felt this color was more suited to its age and dignity than shiny fake gold. The football lamp was intended to supply replacement parts but the socket was riveted together and I couldn't get at the wiring. Instead of spending 10 dollars on a replacement kit and another 10 dollars on a shade I thought I would save some money and buy a cheap lamp and use its innards instead. Well that didn't work out but the cheap lamp had a shade that was perfect for my lamp. I have quite the collection of spare lamps so I was able to scavenge the wiring and fitting from one of them and Viola! A new old lamp!
Look at that molded edge! I'm sure there is a technical term for this but I don't know what it is.
And speaking of molded edges, this came from an estate sale. I think it was 75 cents. This was a purchase I made several weeks ago but since we're talking molding it was appropriate
Plates - White ironstone, International China Works (Inherited from Jeff's Nanny.)
I haven't been able to locate the pattern yet. Any ideas my fellow glass aficionados?? There were 4 of each and despite telling myself I was NOT going to spend any money they were my favorite price. So, well, you know how that went. If it's a dollar I have to have it. I'm going to have to figure out a way to store glasses now LOL!
