Sweet Flea and a thankyou!!

First, I'd like to start out this post by saying thank you so much to all of you who left me a comment regarding the Christmas decor in my home. You all made me feel so great!! My hubby said that if you all weren't careful, I would not be able to squeeze my big head through our front door!! LOL!!  (he likes to tease me )  But I told him nahhhh.... we all like give and receive kind words!!! It's good for the soul!!

I wish I could have replied personally to all of you, but I just couldn't keep up, so thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

Now for my latest trip to Sweet Salvage!!!

 This month's event was called the "Sweet Flea" and it certainly was a flea market heaven!!

 They had their usual beautiful furnishings.

 But this time, they have bins, boxes and baskets full of the same or similar items.

 There are lot's of wonderful vintage cameras, and film accesories.

 Glass baubles, apothecary jars and cloches filled with goodies are everywhere...

 And if you are looking for silver trays, tea pots or candlesticks, this is the month to go!!

There are items marked down all over the store, and believe it or not... every day of the sale there are going to be things marked FREE!!!! I came home with a pretty silver tray and a Jeanne D'Arc magazine that the sweet girls at Sweet just marked for free as a thank you to all the wonderful support they have received from everyone!!

Burlap coffee sacks to make a purse or pillow.

 These mannequins were all dressed in vintage furs, ready for the New Year!!

If you want a vintage suitcase, they have them all over the store!!

And of course the pretty vignettes never disappoint!

 I saw several pairs of sweet baby shoes.  They are just too cute!!

 I love this china cabinet!! The inside color is divine and I love how the all white dishes look inside it!

 I love this cute little grey side table.  Seriously. I need a second home, so I can decorate some more!!!

 I know most of the pics I share with you are close ups, so I thought I would leave you with just a couple of long shots this time, so that if you haven't been there, you can get a better feel for the whole store. I hope you find some time to visit them this weekend. I am never disappointed!!

More Christmas!!

 Christmas at my house is a pretty big deal. It's my hubby's favorite time of the year, so between our love of the holiday and my love of decorating we have not one, but two trees that I do every year.

The tree in the Living Room has a bird theme.

 There are several birdhouses wired into the tree.

 I made each one just for this tree, and they get packed up every year.

 There are also several birds nests on the tree. There is an old Christmas Legend that says that says anyone who finds a birds nest in the tree the bring home for Christmas will have good fortune and prosperity in the coming year. 

 Handmade paper ornaments with birds are all over the tree...

 And I am in the process of making more of these little cuties too!

 There are doves on the table and a silver bowl full of pretty glass ornaments.

 This sits on my coffee table.

 My garlands are one of my favorite parts of the decor. They are just dripping with crystal garland and glitter and glass snowflakes.

During the day the glass snowflakes sparkle from the sun, and at night the lights from the garland twinkle behind them. It's so pretty.

 Here's a couple of night shots...

 The Dining Room chandelier gets pretty makeover for the holiday too. The brown tranferware creamers that I usually have hanging there, gets replaced with cut glass Christmas balls.

 I tuck in Christmas greens where ever I can. Unfortunately, it's so dry here I have to use artificial ones, because the real ones dry out too fast!!

See you in a few days! 

Tart Tin and Spool Ornaments

 I have been having so much fun making these ornaments!!!

Over the weekend, I had a little Christmas get together at my house for some of the awesome gals that have been taking classes from me. We had a little make and take ornament class, and a cookie swap and had the best time. Unfortunately I was so caught up in the fun, I forgot to take pictures!!!

One of the gals, a super cool lady named Earleen (who needs a blog by the way!!!! hint, hint)

gave me a very sweet and thoughtful gift...

She found this cute idea on Pinterest and made a Christmas tree out of spools (seriously, how cute is this??) and embellished the package with a sweet card and a cool little bauble made from a tart tin.

(Update!) While perusing Pinterest myself, I found the original source of Earleen's inspiration! If you click here and here you will find these the tree and the card on The Creative Patch!)

Well, I saw ornament spelled all over this thing, and so, because of her inspiration,  I set out to create some tart tin and spool ornaments. I've been making them for the last couple of days, whenever I have time and here are the ones I have come up with so far....

So not only did Earleen gift me a adorable creative gift, she also gave me the gift of creativity.

Now I just have to find a place for them on my tree!!!!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

The Christmas decorating is wrapping up (no pun intended, he he) here at my house. It's been a little hard to get into the spirit since it's been unseasonably warm here, but I got over it quickly enough once I started bring out all the Christmas goodies. My hubby and I just love the Christmas decor so I tend to go a little crazy. This is the one time of year that I am happy to have popcorn ceilings, as they allow me to hang my snowflakes/stars from the ceiling as a tree topper.

Bottle brush tree are one of my favorite things to bring out.

The mantle is covered with them, and I use silver tea pots, creamers and sugar bowls as stands. I'm still in need of a few more, but I'm sure I will find them over time.  My garlands tend to be very sparkly and very drippy with silver and crystals.

Since I don't have a young child at home anymore, I've really missed seeing toys under the tree. I've started collecting vintage ones to use as decor. My sweet hubby found this tricycle on the side of the road set out for the trash. Of course it didn't look anything like this when he found it. It was red and very sun faded, and the metal had lots of surface rust. My sweet man spend an entire weekend restoring it to this little cutie. I love it!!

 Here is the rocking horse that I got at Sweet Salvage last month. Now he has a little friend!

I love the way it looks under the tree.

 Here are some the ornaments that I made for the tree over the past couple of years. I am having a little open house and make and take ornament party next weekend and my guest will be making one of these.

 I made this one a few years ago.

 This one is new this year. I covered one of those paper mache' ornaments with music sheet paper, and used crepe paper, silver tinsel and mica snow. Then I topped it with a bleached bottle brush tree that was embellished with glass pearls and gave it a silver pipe cleaner handle.

 This one is a couple years old.

 I made this one last year. I have one with an S on it for my hubby too.

 This one is new this year also. I used a vintage tart tin.

 Can you tell I like layering???

 Another old one.

 I wanted a variety of looks, so this year I wrapped some balls, that were colors I'm not using anymore in macrame cord and added some lace trim.

 Another new one from a tart tin.

Yup. you guessed it... a tart tin.  :)

This is a shadow box I made a couple of years ago and felt very honored and excited when it got published in Sommerset Studio Nov/Dec. 2010.

This is some of the garland that hangs between the family room and the dining room.

I'll probably show more of it later.

Well that's all for the family room! If you would like to see Christmas in my Living room, click here!  And if you would like to see some cool wood spool and vintage tart ornaments, click here!
I hope you all are having as much decorating as I am!


 Too see lot's more beautiful Christmas decor, go see Kathleen at Faded Charm for a holiday home tour linky party!!!!