Peppermint Candy Stand

Have you ever seen a a picture in a magazine and said “I have to make that!”? That was exactly what I thought when I was flipping through December’s Copy of
and saw this
The 1997 “Good Thing” feature. Living was featuring one “Good Thing” project from each of the past 20 years. I love decorating with peppermints at Christmas and I love glass and pedestals together sooo I started looking through my stash of pedestals. I’ve been collecting them for about almost a year ever since I saw the DIY apothecaries and cake stands. Now I “shop the closet” first when I  want to do a glass project.
  
What I couldn’t find in the closet, I found at the Dollar Tree!
From Dollar Tree:
1 Clear Glass Dinner Plate
1 Clear Glass Dessert Plate
1 Sundae Glass
1 Set of 3 small glass bowls (originally from DT but were in the closet)
3 glass tea light holders (originally from DT but were in the closet)
Plastic twisted candy ribbons 
From the closet (thrift store):
2 glass taper candle holders
Candy Canes and Peppermints
From Walmart:
Gorilla Glue
This is a pretty self explanatory project, so here it is in pictures:

 


It took about 15 minutes to put it all together and it looks fun and festive!  The only problem is that the candy doesn’t stay in it long! I’ve been through several bags of peppermints already. I think the kids think they have to grab one every time they walk by! I may have to switch to all plastic candy!   Fast, easy and inexpensive….my kind of project!
I will be entering this in Dollar Tree’s Christmas Craft Challenge. Voting will begin on December 17th and end December 28th.  Naturally I think this is an awesome project….if you agree,  I’d appreciate your vote!

I’ll also be linking up to the many of the parties in my sidebar as well as the ones listed below.

Roeshel from The DIY Showoff is having a Holiday Link Party!



Don’t forget to enter my CSN giveaway by clicking on the banner at the top of the page.

Great Time for a $45 CSN Giveaway!

It’s two weeks before Christmas, cold and snowy and a great time for a CSN Giveaway, don’t you think? With over 200 online stores, CSN is a great shopping resource! They have everything from a laptop messenger bag to stocking stuffers and are offering “Stress Free” shopping with “no hassle returns” and free shipping (on most items). Check them out by clicking on the ornament below!

Could you use a $45 CSN GC for some last minute shopping? Or maybe you could save the code for yourself just in case Santa doesn’t leave a certain something under the tree? To enter the giveaway, please follow and then let me know that you are are a follower or that you have been one and whether you have all your shopping completed! For 2 more entries, please ”like” Keen Inspirations on Faceboook and leave me two separate comments with a simple “FB” in each. That should be stress-free and easy enough! The giveway will end Friday night December 17th at nine pm and I will do the drawing through random.org and get your code to you ASAP!
Happy Stress Free Shopping!

Getting the word out here:

3 Redbox Movies for $1 With Groupon!!!!!

I have heard alot of talk about Groupons and seen them on many coupon sites as well as being advertised on this blog, but have never taken advantage of one til now! This is makes a great deal even better! Redbox is already affordable and convenient, but throw in an extra 2 for the price of one and I'm really sold!

We are expecting more  really cold weather ( I didn't think it could get much colder here...) over the weekend, so it will be a great time to watch movies and keep my sick kiddos entertained. We've been struck with what I'm calling "Co-op Flu". After our last homeschool co-op meeting at  least 6 families have come down with flu-like symptoms and one family has had a postive type B flu diagnosis. I'm praying it runs it's course for everyone by Christmas!

Whether you need indoor activities, something to keep sick, little (or not so little) ones occupied or just some Christmas entertainment, you can get it at a great price from Redbox and Groupon!
If you've never used Groupon before, get started here at Groupon  and if you already have a Groupon account, you can go right to the deal:

Get your Redbox Groupon here!

 

I'll be back with some exciting news later....think great GIVEAWAY!!!!

CATASTROPHE!

What is  a catastrophe?
Dictionary Definition:

ca·tas·tro·phe

[kuh-tas-truh-fee]
–noun
1.any misfortune, mishap, or failure; fiasco: The play was so poor our whole evening was a catastrophe.
Definition from Jennie in The Trumpet of the Swan by EB White (my all-time favorite children’s book and required reading in my home):
“When you get ready to go on a picnic with your father and  mother and you make peanut-butter sandwiches and jelly rolls and put them in a thermos box with bananas and apples and some raisin cookies and paper napkins and some bottles of soda pop and a few hard-boiled eggs and then you put the thermos box in your car and just as soon as you are starting out it starts to rain and your parents say there is no point in having a picnic in the rain, that’s a catastrophe.”
Definition from the Keen home last week:
“When you want to make a gumball machine and all the pieces come together and it turns out better than you expected and so you enter it  at The CSI Project and it makes the TOP 10 and your are very excited…and THEN…it ends up falling victim to a very intense game of “Nerf War” and the glass bowl shatters into a million pieces and you are left with this:
 
Now that definitely qualifies as a catastrophe!!
I didn’t take any pictures of the mess as my son was standing in the middle of all that glass and peppermint barefoot! So I didn’t think about pictures until after we got him out of there and I assured him that although I loved my shiny red gumball machine, I loved him more!

I am now on the hunt for another large glass fishbowl. I will be going near my closest Michaels, Joann’s and Hobby Lobby on Thursday. I’m hoping one of them will have something similar. I’m glad that none of the pottery broke and the knobs just popped off.
So, I guess this will have to be a tribute to my first Mr. Gumball machine:


You were fun while it lasted, Mr. Gumball Machine…RIP!

Christmas Candy “Machine”

I didn’t  post a teaser about this project yesterday, but I was so excited about how it came together that I had to share it first! My inspiration for this came from A Pumpkin and A Princess’s Fall Candy Jar:

I thought it was adorable!! I really wanted to make one, but I was thinking more along the lines of a traditional gumball machine in red, and maybe even on a stand. Then, I found this  glass bowl at the thrift store and knew I had to do one!
 
It is a little bigger than the “ivy” bowls or very small fish bowls, so I got an 8” clay pot and 6” clay saucer. I already had a wooden bead for the top…thank you favorite thrift store! I let my idea set for a while because I wanted to find a way to make it more realistic with a “knob” and “flap”. When I was cleaning out my utility room, I found this small handle that had broken off of something and knew it would be perfect for a knob.
 
The final ingredient came to me when I was thrifting with my niece (Hi Melissa!! ) over Thanksgiving. Here is the “stand”.
 
I just love it when things come together like that!! I gave the clay and wood a couple of coats of red spray paint and the knob a coat of Krylon’s Matte Nickel.  When everything was nice and dry, I glued the knob on with Gorilla Super Glue.
 
Then I used a silver Sharpie to draw on the “flap”.
        
When everything was dry, I put them together with a little Gorilla Glue.

I filled it with starlight mints and put the lid on!

The Clay pot fit right down over the top of the candle stand. Perfect fit!
 
I think I will fill it with red and green Christmas M&M’s when my grandsons come for Christmas! MMMM……





This was so easy to put together and looks so cute when it’s finished! My teenage girls were giggling……”awww it’s a gumball machine!” :-)


      ********Mr. Gumball Machine made the Top 10 at the CSI Painted Holiday Project*******

Thank you folks at The CSI Project  for the honor and thank you to A Pumpkin and A Princess for inspiring me!
I will be sharing this at some of the weekly parties in my side bar and the special events listed below. Click on a few of them and find lots more fun ideas!

Be sure to visit Life as Lori's "Get Your Craft On" and enter her  $65 CSN Giveaway!

I'm entering this at The CSI Project:



And at the DIY Project



















I found some new places to Party!




























Some Holiday Parties