Using What I Have Celebration, Pt. III

I've continued to take my time decorating.  The mantel got a little decor.  I've since added the two quail to the mantel (they are visible to the left on the small shelf on the wall).  What's on the little shelf now?  A pretty little red bird sitting upon snow covered pine cones. 


This week I focused on two areas: the back door and the dining room table.  Last year I used a pine swag on the back door and covered it with copper cookie cutters and cinnamon sticks.  Two years ago I decorated it with sugar plum fruits (beaded fruit picks).  This year, I wanted something else.  Here's what I came up with:

I added one of the pine picks I bought this year ($3 at Hobby Lobby) to the original pine/berry swag and the porcelain quails I'd been using on my autumn wreath this year.  I love the creamy color on the birds. Not only do they really stand out against the green swag they are gorgeous up close as well. 

You can see the quails  here on the autumn wreath.  At the time I just whitewashed the birds.  The original finish on them was flat brown paint.  I like the cream colored paint much much better.

I was so happy with that, I decided to redo the dining table centerpiece.  Originally I set up the cornucopia with beaded fruits, just as I'd done last year.  I thought it was pretty then, but this year...It just seemed fussy compared to the simplicity of the buffet.  I was setting the table for Shabat this afternoon and happened to see the little green urn I bought at the local flea market.  Wheels began to turn and here's what I came up with:

I had a Styrofoam ball that I'd never used, which I covered with glue and moss.  And in the true spirit of 'use what you have', when the moss failed to stick to the glue, I used floral wire to craft my own u-pins to hold the moss in place.  Then I stripped down the fruit picks and began to work my way around the moss covered ball.  This is the result.  You can see the hurricanes on the buffet in the background match the green urn rather nicely. (I had John move the poinsettia/pine arrangement from the center of the buffet as it kept competing with the urn in the photo.)  John says he likes this much better than the cornucopia which seemed strange to him for Christmas. 


And that's this week's "Using What I Have Celebration".  I'm linking to: