American Honey Home: November 2013

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Makeovers part 1

I finally got around to making over some of my recent Vintage Christmas Finds. With the temperatures here starting to be in the freezing zone, I have to have a lot more patience when waiting for the paint to dry! But it was worth the wait when I finally got to add some bling to these candlesticks!

Some white paint, pearls and a few vintage pieces of jewelry make this candlesticks so pretty! I only made these three for now but I am excited to finish the rest of the ones I have and maybe even find some more!

I painted the orange bulbs white but will have to find some clear ones since the orange light shines right through. I didn't make them too Christmasy in hopes of keeping them out year round on my mantle. I even added some white glitter to the "drips" to really make it shine!

I still have so many tart tins left over after making these trees and ornaments. I guess that is a good thing since I have so many more ideas in mind for them.

I love using vintage sheet music in my crafting and part of the fun is finding different ways to incorporate it into my project. You can see here how I used it in a couple different ways.

Clearly I am in to white and silver this year! Maybe I should add some Christmas colors as well, just to spice things up a little bit.

I still need to figure out what I am going to use to put on these ornaments for hanging them. Should I use ribbon, twine or something else that I haven't thought of? Each little tree is decorated a little differently and they are all tiny and sweet!

I have been having so much fun creating all of these things and I am not done yet! On December 5th, there is an arts and crafts show at the college I work for that I will be participating in. It doesn't cost anything to sell your stuff, but 10% of your proceeds go toward a scholarship. I can get behind that! So I better stay busy and get as much ready to sell as I can.

Thanksgiving week is finally here and I am so excited! Not only do I get a 4 day weekend, but I get to spend it with people that I love. Wishing you and your family a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Linking up with:
The Tablescaper: Seasonal Sundays
VMG206: DIY Sunday Showcase
Dwellings: Amaze Me Monday
Boogieboard Cottage: Masterpiece Monday
The Dedicated House: Make it Pretty Monday
Home Coming: The DIY'ers
Coastal Charm: Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
A Stroll Thru Life: Inspire Me Tuesday
Knick of Time
Savvy Southern Style: Wow Us Wednesday
The Style Sisters: Centerpiece Wednesday
Ivy & Elephants: What's It Wednesday
Lavender Garden Cottage: Cottage Style Party
Rooted in Thyme: Simple & Sweet Friday
French Country Cottage: Feathered Nest Friday
Common Ground: Be Inspired
The Charm of Home: Home Sweet Home

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Vintage Christmas Finds

Having a friend who runs estate sales could be a very bad thing for me. Or it could be a good thing, I guess it just depends on who you ask. This weekend they had a Christmas sale. They buy all of the leftover stuff from the sales and decided to put all of the Christmas stuff together and do a Christmas sale. I got lucky and found some great stuff! I have been looking for these things and have big ideas for them.

I love these electric candle holders. Most of these are vintage and are in wonderful shape. I have always loved how The Polka Dot Closet transformed hers and I want to do it too. Now that I have a mantle, these will be perfect for it. The possibilities are endless and I can't wait to get started transforming mine!

{Image via Pinterest}

They had 5 bags of these bottle brush trees and as much as I would have liked to buy them all, I only bought one. My friend said she would save any leftovers for me though. I can't believe how hard it is to find these, at least around here, so I was happy to find these. I already started bleaching them and am looking for lot's of ideas to use them in decorating and crafting.

I have also been saving jars and this is the perfect idea. The glitter, the white...it is all so beautiful and I am so excited to start creating some of my own.

{Image via Pinterest}

These tart tins were a great find. All shapes have 6 tins, so I have 36 altogether. I can really get creative with these. Ornaments, magnets, fun little baskets. I see so many ideas and want to make them all!

This little snowman sitting in this tart tin is too cute. Definitely going to try and make this!

{Image via Pinterest}

I got some great sheet music books so these trees will have to be made. And see what they are sitting on-a tart tin! Another great idea!

{Image via Pinterest}

Vintage Christmas ornaments are one of my favorite things to find. I don't really have any plans for them, I love them in in a glass bowl or in an apothecary jar. I don't think that I will ever have enough!

And my last find was this sweet vintage angel tree topper. This is just like the angel that would sit on top of our Christmas tree when I was growing up. Putting the angel on the top of the tree was always the best job. I love that angel and want it for my own one day. But for now, I found one of my own! This is in the original package and was never used. I paid $4 for it and the original price tag on it said $5.99. I can't wait to put it on my tree this year! I paid less than $20 for all of this stuff!

I won't be putting any of my Christmas decorations up until AFTER Thanksgiving. I hate when people skip past Thanksgiving to Christmas, probably because I love Thanksgiving so much. But once it is over, I am all about Christmas!

Linking up with:
Sunday View: Inspired Sunday
Boogieboard Cottage: Masterpiece Monday
Dwellings: Amaze Me Monday
The Dedicated House: Make it Pretty Monday
Coastal Charm: Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
A Stroll Thru Life: Inspire Me Tuesday
Knick of Time
Have a Daily Cup of Mrs Olson: Share Your Cup Thursday
ColoradoLady: Vintage Thingie Thursday
Common Ground: Be Inspired

Sunday, November 3, 2013

Finally...I have a mantle!

It's funny how you can take a break from something without meaning to. That is kind of how October was for me. I didn't mean to neglect my blog, it just sort of happened. I found myself being asked by several different people if I would take their family pictures so every weekend in October consisted of taking the photos then editing the photos. That left very little time for me to do much of anything else with my slow little computer. But it was definitely worth it because I got to spend time with family and friends capturing this time in their lives!

One thing that I have never had in all the houses that I have lived in is a mantle. Having one has been on my wish list for a very long time. We thought about building a faux one but we really needed a fireplace to help heat our house this winter. With oil heating, anything is better than paying $500 for half a tank of oil that only lasts a month or two. We finally decided to bite the bullet and buy an electric fireplace. I am so happy that we did!

We ordered it online through Lowes and got free shipping, 10% off and interest free financing for 6 months. Even better! The picture on their site just doesn't do it justice, it is so much prettier in person! It arrived on Halloween so Cody spent the evening putting it together. He has been playing with the thermostat all weekend and I think he finally has it figured out. This fireplace is going to be so nice to have this winter!

Of course I am most excited about decorating it. I have put together a few things on it for Thanksgiving but I don't have much. I have big ideas for it and can't wait to decorate it for every season.