Ice Skate Winter Centerpiece

Before I introduce my latest creation, I'd like to thank you all for bearing with me while my posting efforts have been a little lax. Weather was crazy here in the Northeast last week - for the second time this year and I've been getting increasingly tired as my belly gets bigger!

I'm happy to be back in action and show you a centerpiece that I've been working on. I'll be honest here and admit that I started this project last year but couldn't get inspired to finish it until recently. I went to Goodwill looking for the ice skates and shockingly, was able to find a size 4 girl's set of ice skates in white. I still took the time to spray paint them white to make sure they looked perfect. After that, I positioned them in a basket, surrounded by greens...and that was where I stopped last year. 

I recently rummaged through my Christmas accents and decided that I was going to decorate the corners and make a sort-of arrangement in the skates to make a centerpiece that will look beautiful throughout the entire Winter season. 

I started by using my trusty hot glue gun to secure poinsettia leaves, pine cones and ornaments in alternating corners.

Next, I used some faux glitter flowers, holiday accent pieces as well as some wood, swirly picks to fill out the openings of the skates. Again, using hot glue to make sure everything stayed in place. 

Because there was soooo much glitter on the flowers, I managed to get quite a bit of it on the skates. Rather than try to tediously remove the glitter, I decided to embrace it. I mixed some loose red glitter with clear, silvery sparkle paint and painted a thin coat all over the skates. 

To finish off the piece, I glued single gold bells in the greens and attached a small painted slate to the front that said "Let It Snow", which I think tied the whole thing together. 

Considering this project could have ended up in the "craft fail" pile, I was very pleased with the way it turned out. If you would like to try this project on your own, definitely check out your local Goodwill or Freecycle.org for the skates, to keep your costs down. Also, find plenty of Christmas pics and accent pieces at Michaels, either at the end of the season or with their regular 40% off coupons in the Sunday paper. 

I just wrapped this piece in cellophane with ribbon to sell at the craft fair I'll be doing on November 19th. I'm excited because it is usually a great show and it's the only one I'll be showcasing in before this little peanut arrives!!