Friday, December 20, 2013

Tinsel Tree Dressed in Vintage Jewlery

 I found this silver tinsel tree on Monday at Saver's and knew as soon as I saw it that it was coming home with me.  The price tag said $4.99 which is a great price, but I only had to pay $3 for it!  I knew exactly how I was going to decorate it when I got it home.  Today after work, I finally got around to doing it.
 
The first thing I did was gather all my strands of vintage pearls.  There are about 7 strands on this little tree.  The bottom is just a strand of opalescent beads. I love the different colors that the pearls add.
  
Next, I went through my massive collection of vintage jewelry and started adding pieces to the branches as ornaments.  I used only pieces that were silver, gold and white toned.  The clip-on earrings were easiest to attach.  I simply clipped them on and bent the limb a little to make sure they stayed on.
 
Every time I go through my jewelry, I find more amazing pieces.  I think every piece that I used on this tree has a match which is always nice.
 
The jewelry is the perfect size for this tree.  I was able to find a piece to go on each little limb.  
 
I just love the way these pictures turned out so there are a lot!
 
The silver tinsel and pearls are so dreamy looking, don't you think?!
 
I don't have a tree skirt for it so I just used a vintage table runner with a crocheted edge.  It is loosely wrapped around the base of the tree and looks nice and casual.
 
There aren't a lot of lights on the tree, but the lights that are on it are just right.
 
The perfect place for this sweet little tree just happens to be a sweet little spot in my home-my reading nook!  It needed a little Christmas and this tree did the trick.  It lights it up with just the right amount of light and cheer.
 
See what I mean, PERFECT!
 
I do believe that this tree will quickly become a favorite decoration at Christmas time. It is so sparkly and pretty even when the lights aren't on. I am already head over heels about it!

Today begins my 12 days off for Christmas.  Although I have nothing planned, I couldn't be more excited! 


Linking up with:
The Tablescaper: Seasonal Sundays
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
Lavender Garden Cottage: Cottage Style Party
Cozy Little House: Tweak It Tuesday
Rooted In Thyme: Simple & Sweet Friday  
Common Ground: Be Inspired
French Country Cottage: Feathered Nest Friday 

 Have a wonderful weekend!
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Saturday, December 14, 2013

Simple Christmas Mantle

 Cody and I just got back from driving around looking at Christmas lights.  We stopped and got some hot chocolate, listened to Christmas music and took the dogs along for the ride.  We saw a few pretty light displays and enjoyed our time together.  Now we are home watching Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman.  No matter how many times I have seen these movies, I always look forward to watching them this time of year!  I wanted to share with you my simply decorated Christmas mantle.

 I don't have much fancy stuff for the mantle but I like the simplicity of it.  My electric candlesticks look perfect lit up on it.  I kept the colors pretty much in the white and silver range for now.  The stockings and vintage Santa are the only color I have going on right now. 

 I made this pretty SNOW banner today and I love the way it turned out.  White cardboard stars with lace, silver and glitter is the perfect piece for my mantel.  It will stay up through January
 I can't decide what part of the banner is my favorite: the lace, the silver beads or the glitter?!
 My curvy white candle holders have a simple little spray of blue, green and white bulbs.  The framed snowflake was a gift from a friend a few years ago.  I might have to steal this idea from her!
 I got this vintage spaghetti trim Santa bank last year from my parents.  My mom has a Santa just like this and I always loved it.  She knows how special things like this are to me so she was able to find me one of my own.  He is in almost perfect condition and has a place of honor on my mantle!
 Since we now have a mantle, we needed stocking holders to hold our stockings.  These snowflake holders are from KMart and of course I love the glitter on this one.  Hopefully next year I can get new stockings.  I am thinking something with burlap and ruffles!
 I hope you enjoyed seeing how I decorated my mantle for this Christmas.  I think it needs more but I will wait and buy stuff for it when it is on sale after Christmas!

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Sunday, December 8, 2013

Tiny Christmas Scenes


 Just when I think I am all done with my Christmas decorating, I think of something else I want to do.  My latest fun decorations are these little Christmas scenes in glass. 
 This old gumball machine is just perfect for Christmas with its pretty red color.  I used Epsom salt for the snow and put a vintage Santa, bottle brush tree and tiny little wrapped presents.  It's just too cute!
 I found this sweet little cupcake dome at Ross and have put it on my stove.  I had a Santa toothpick holder in it but it needed something more.  This was the first little Christmas scene I created.  I borrowed the lamp post from Cody's Christmas village.
 This little apothecary jar holds a tiny Santa and bleached bottle brush trees.  Anything like this can be turned into a perfect little Christmas scene!
 We got our first snow storm of the year on Friday.  It dumped about 9 inches over night.  Cody and I went to a Christmas party at his sister's house Friday night and left about 11.  There wasn't much snow on the freeway but I went very slow anyway.  We saw about 4 wrecks in the 30 mile drive.  About 10 miles from home, I suddenly lost traction and started to spin.  Everything went into slow motion as the truck swerved all over the freeway.  We finally ended up in the median turned the other way.  How we didn't roll, I have no idea!  I burst into tears and Cody drove the rest of the way home.  The next morning when he went to shovel snow, he saw this huge dent that I put in the bed of the truck.  We guess that I must have hit a mile marker.  I feel awful for doing damage to his truck that we just paid off, but I am so thankful this is all that happened.  Good thing Cody works at a collision repair shop and can easily and cheaply fix this.  Someone was looking out for us that night!  It was one of the scariest things I have ever experienced.  Please be safe out there!
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Sunday, December 1, 2013

Christmas Candles

 I went on a crafting spree today and I love what my crazy mind came up with.  Candles are always a festive addition to any holiday and I think the ones that I came up with today are perfect for Christmas!  My fleur de lis bucket is the perfect vessel for holding my candles and mini match boxes.
 The little round candles in the glass I have had for awhile now and the pillars I just got today.  Both of them are from the Dollar Tree.  I almost went back to get more but I will wait until tomorrow.  I have wrapped them in vintage sheet music that I tore for a rustic look then took some twine and wound it around a few times before tying it in a knot.  The little round one has a snowflake, the pillars have a star and the matchboxes have sheet music, a twine bow and a little rhinestone.  They are so adorable!
 I only had one candle left but will be getting more so I can make more of these.  This pillar is wrapped in sheet music and twine and has a vintage button.  I then put some moss in the bottom of one of my vintage tart tins and placed the candle in it.  Isn't it cute?
 Next, I took some jars that I have saved and placed some sheet music inside.  The top of the jars are wrapped in twine and then I hot glued a frosty white rose to the front.  These would look so sweet with an electric candle flickering on the inside.
 I made over some more of my electric candle sticks as well.  These are wrapped in sheet music and have twine accents.  The silver glitter star is a perfect finishing touch.  I didn't paint these white, I left them their old, yellow color to better match the sheet music.
 And these ones are very Christmasy.  Again, they are wrapped in sheet music (I told you I love using sheet music in my crafts!)  Red velvet ribbon goes around the top with a sweet green button, red pearls go around the bottom and a little greenery makes them perfect for Christmas.  (Don't mind the orange light bulb, I need to get some more clear ones.)  By the way, Dollar Tree sells night light bulbs in packs of 3 and they work perfect for these candle sticks.
 I plan on selling all of these things at the craft sale on Thursday.  I hope people like what I have created and want to buy some of my things!  

Did you have a wonderful Thanksgiving?  I did!  Cody and I really took advantage of our 4 days off of work and were pretty lazy for the most part, which we totally deserve to be!  I can't believe that Thanksgiving has come and gone already but I am ready for Christmas.  We put up our decorations and have been enjoying our festive home.  Here is the view from where I sit and relax in the living room.  It doesn't get much better than this!  Have a great week!
Linking up with:
Sunday View: Inspired Sunday 
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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

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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!
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.
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!
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!
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
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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.
 So far it is really keeping our house nice and toasty.  It also makes our house feel extra cozy and homy.  I am so glad we finally got a fireplace.
 Here are a few pictures of my corner all decorated for fall.  This really is my favorite time of year for so many reasons!
 Do you think one can decorate with too many banners?  I hope not because I love making them!
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