Welcome back! I hope your weekend was great. During our pretty Saturday snow, I got caught up on emails and let my brain storm for some upcoming events. I am getting approached with some great projects and my brain is on overload with the possibilities. Why is it that projects/clients have a way of landing in your inbox all at one time? Careful what you ask for, right :)   

I had such a great time coming up with fun inexpensive 'sporty' ways to serve up our food at last weeks reception. I wanted to share my how-to's because so many of you have shared with me that you are sports moms, too. So, if you have sports banquets coming up, you may want to try making one of these. 

 

 

This one cost all of $1. The foam balls are what our cheerleaders throw out at games. Big hint: ask the schools cheerleading coach for any props or extra marketing material they may have. They're a great resource!  We took a dowel rod {which we had} and with a sharp knife, whittled the end until it was sharp. Then, we slipped it through the middle of each ball. I liked the height that using 3 balls created, but you could make several and they could all be different heights.

Wooden bases can be bought for a few bucks at Michaels, but we have so much scrap wood that Robert used a 1 x 6 and routed the edges. I primed it and spray painted it white. Then we drilled a hole in the middle of the base, the same size diameter as the dowel rod. When you push the dowel all the way through, cut off the excess with a hand saw.        

 

 

I hot glued a 'spacer' from a curtain rod finial that I didn't use on the top of the foam ball. {I throw nothing away. My husband loves this about me. sarcasm.}  

 That bottom part of the Allen & Roth finial is a separate piece and screws off. I usually don't use them.

 

 

Using the lid from an empty paint can {nope, I don't throw them away either} I spray painted it black {not a necessary step, but it just makes it look better if someone were to look under neath it}. Because the finial spacer didn't provide what I thought would be enough support, I hot glued the paint lid on to the bottom of a Dollar Tree silver tray. The tray is the only thing we had to buy.

 

 

Then, the paint lid was hot glued onto the finial spacer.

 

 

Another serving piece was created by using a fat clear vase filled with small volleyballs.

 

 

With some hot glue around the top edge of the vase, a gold Dollar Tree Charger was glued on top. The 4" volleyballs and 6" basketballs were found at The Swim Outlet. When you are done with your party, the plastic plates can be popped off and the hot glue also pops off the glass. This way, no fear, you can reuse your volleyballs and your vases are not damaged.

The Dollar Tree had a great selection of serving pieces {a lot more to choose from in-store than on their website} and obviously you can't beat their prices. They had clear, colored, metallic, oblong, rectangle -- soooo many to choose from.   

Tomorrow, I'll show you how I made the trophy servers and the basketball hoop server.  

 

This should have been posted yesterday--blame it on Blue Monday or a confused blogger...you pick.

I thought I would share a little round-up of what's been going on 'round these parts.

We have enjoyed cheering at some great basketball games.

  

{Maris is on the far right]

{Jack is in the middle, surrounded by 2 of his good buddies}

We were excited to see this shot in the Sylva Herald.

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 We finally found a free afternoon on Saturday and we were able to get Maris to Wink.

   A little wash, loads of layers and 6" lighter, resulted in this.

  

So much healthier.  

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We got to run into Target. I spotted some really cute items, which may be old news to you guys, but, I can't even remember the last time I was in. 

Mirrored cubes.

  

Mirrored trays and tables.

Sweet little vintage inspired dishes

Silky chevron

Pretty covered books and crystal bottles.

Pretties for the wall

 

Love the shape and the color of this lamp.

Great X-bench

These lamps look just like vintage hob nail milk glass! I should have taken these home. {And notice the little chevron boxes that I stuck behind the lamps--I should be a stylist}   

Good stuff, Target.  

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We also got to enjoy Maris' new Christmas present.

Maris loves to bake. Do you remember this great cake she made last year? Robert gave her this neat cake slicer for Christmas. It comes with a slicer, a lifter and an adjustable mold.     

Her impulse to bake usually hits after 9pm...much to my chagrin. We didn't have a cake mix in the pantry, but this didn't stop her, she made the cake and the chocolate icing from scratch {thanks pinterest for great recipes!}

 

She used vanilla pudding as her filling in between the layers. It was delicious.

Do you have or know about some great cake decorating tools that Maris would enjoy? Please share!

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 Ok, friends, I feel that we are caught up!