Christmas Hutch

Greetings Friends!

I hope all of you are enjoying these last few days leading up to Christmas Day. My gift wrapping is almost done, and the menu is set, no changes to be made at this point :) We are looking forward to attending the Christmas Eve service at our church then home to snack on some finger foods, my favorite is the shrimp cocktail my darling prepares every year...it is delicious! Today I wanted to share a Hutch that was made over back in the fall and now is decorated for Christmas. It really has added so much visual interest to the kitchen and provided a place to display things I love.

These little wreaths are from Salvation Army and I just hung them with some ribbon that closely matches the check pattern of the kitchen curtains.

All the items displayed are thrifted except for the cute Santa boots that my dear high school friend gifted me 2 years ago :)

This Santa basket was a gift from my mother many years ago.

Chef Santa is from Salvation Army.

I found Mrs Claus at Goodwill and gave her a little whisk to hold so she can help her hubby in the kitchen :)

They make a cute couple!

From our family to yours have a Merry Christmas and a safe and Happy New Year!
Karen

Card Holder and A Thrifted Little Tree

Hello Friends!

Today I will share some more Christmas projects with y'all. I have really been challenging myself this year to spend very little by shopping the thrift stores or spend nothing by using things that have been in my storage bins for years and years. Ya know, lots of decorations that look old and outdated can be fixed up with fabric or paint. This card holder was fun and super easy to make.

This is what it looked like when I found it at the back of our property...minus the dirt and debris that was covering it.

This weathered beauty was leaning up against the fence and behind a large shrub when I discovered it. Apparently it has been there for many years. It is weathered warped and just perfect! You can probably see where twine is already on it in this first picture. My excitement gets me going so fast sometimes that I don't stop to take a picture. All I had to do was tie twine around this wood-window-looking-thing at the top and in the middle. Next I had my darling cut a piece of scrap wood for me (still not comfy with that saw yet) and I stained it, let it dry overnight then painted it using white chalk paint. I used the Vaseline distressing technique for the first time and it works great. This will be a sign that attaches to the top.

Next came some red letters painted on it. When the letters had dried overnight it was lightly sanded.

To attach the sign to the top of the wood-window-looking-thing some hooks that are made for doing that would have been nice but...none to be found so here are my homemade ones  (don't judge me)

Some wire and a staple gun. Yes, this is probably a big no-no but it will do for now. First staple, not so good so maybe three more will hold? After that I added 2 nails to the wood-window-looking-thing and then hung my sign on it.

I added some little thrifted stockings with some old clothes pins to give it a fun look until Christmas cards start arriving in the mail.

Once the cards start coming you can just slide the little stockings over to make room. 

Now check out this little tree I found at Salvation Army for $2.07! It is woodland and already has the pine cones attached and a twig star on the top. 

All it needed was to be reshaped and some woodland ornaments to match the star.

 This adorable cabin was also an SA find and I sure do wish there had been more of these.

I had 4 little wooden houses that were pulled off a Goodwill wreath and now with some book pages and ribbon added they fit well with the woodland tree.

I needed a stand since the tree is so small so I borrowed an old crate from the garage and turned it on it's side. The tree fits well and is now just the right height. Can you believe this crate is used to hold scrap wood? What a waste, it will eventually come inside to live :)

I currently have my toaster oven on a small side table but this wall is begging for something more like a buffet! I am on the hunt for one that is old and scratched and needs new life. Hopefully it will be here in the kitchen by next Christmas.

Some Reindeer Art

Good Day My Friends!

I am back today to share with y'all some of the stuff that I've been working on for Christmas. It is hard to believe that it is less than 2 weeks away now. Geez! can we please slow time down...it is going way too fast! I really like the woodland/rustic style and wanted to try my hand at some reindeer art. I googled deer/stag print ables and found one that would work for a smaller scale project. I did not want to do anything large since it is my first time trying this. I used a small piece of board approximately 8" x 10" sprayed with some chalkboard paint and added hooks to the back so it can be displayed on the wall or I might put it on an easel. I traced around the template with a pencil and pressing down so it could be easily seen against the black chalkboard.

Then using a chalk marker I traced over the pencil line. This will be permanent unless it is sprayed again with chalkboard paint to do another design. I could use regular chalk but I don't get the nice even lines like with a chalk marker, plus this is small and will probably be used again next year. Mine is then filled in with diagonal lines. Maybe filling it in with polka dots would be a fun look too! I gave him a scarf from some leftover ribbon to give a little 3D effect.

 Some twine run through the hooks and it's a wall hanging or just remove the twine and sit it on an easel.

I have an old 8 x 10 frame and decided to use the same template to make a wall hanging for the kitchen. There was still some leftover fabric from the kitchen curtains I made back in the fall.

That fabric will be the background in the frame.

At this point is where things got real messy and I did not take pictures because my hands were coated in spray adhesive...Yuck! I took the backing off a panel from one of the old kitchen curtains and traced the deer template, cut it out, then used the spray adhesive. Getting it placed correctly before the glue dried was a real challenge! It turned out okay but not nearly as neat and clean looking as I would have liked, but you never learn if you don't try.

With a little more practice I would like to do something like this on a bigger scale.

Happy Thursday and hope to see you all again soon :)
Karen

My Thrifty Christmas Part 2

Hey my friends!

I wanted to come back and show y'all more of the thrifted and homemade decorations that have been in the works at my house.

I found a small box of vintage tart tins last year at Goodwill with the recipe page still in it. I hung on to them knowing that they were gonna be a Christmas ornament project.

I used a regular hole punch and then ran some twine through as a hanger.

Then I cut out some little circles from old book pages and glued them in along with some broken pieces of jewelry and buttons. I have seen many different variations of these ornaments and they are so much fun to make!

I wanted to do some other decorating with the tins and decided to try them on a wreath in the kitchen. This wreath came from Salvation Army and it was under  $2.00.

My idea was to create a baking theme so I started shopping around the house for things to use. These gingerbread pins were given to me by my kiddos when they were younger and instead of them sitting in a jewelry box they can be out this year for everyone to enjoy.

They are different in size and material so I cut some plaid fabric to make them all similar little clothes. Aren't they cute?

After the gingerbread people were dressed I painted the inside of the tart tins red.

After the tins were dry I punched some little tree cookies out of an old brown file folder and glued them in.

I don't throw away old decorations cause they can be used for other projects later. For instance, some gold berries are now red with just a little paint.

To add some contrast I dipped some old greens in paint. This was pretty messy but they dried nicely and came out looking the way I had hoped.

I remembered there were 2 plaid place mats in my boxed decorations. After digging around for awhile I finally found them. They were folded accordion style, gathered with old wooden spoons and tied to the wreath with some twine. It makes a really fun bow!

And that's it!

Thanks for taking time out of your day to visit with me. I'll be back soon with more thrifty decor for Christmas!
Karen

My Thrifty Christmas Part 1

Hey there friends!

Can you believe it?  2016 has just flown by, December is here and Christmas decorating is in full swing. This year I am making many of my ornaments and other decorations from thrift store finds or things I have had for a long time.

Anything woodland/cabin or rustic has really caught my eye this season, I love it all! This wooden deer is what got me started.

Mama gave this to me several years ago (she was gonna give it to Goodwill) and I have not done much with it until now. 

This poor guy is very old and wobbly and it was super easy to take him apart. So I unscrewed the head and will use the back portion for another project. There are lots of fun deer wreaths out there and I wanted to try and create my own from stuff in my craft stash. Two coats of chalk paint and some craft wire stapled to the back of his head and the neck (was not sure if this would work) to attach to an old wreath and we are on our way!!

I added some pine cones and a few twigs that were painted white and some small glittery stars. Keeping it simple gives it a much more natural woodland look.
That's it, he is finished!

This wreath is over my couch so to keep the theme going I decided to create some fun pillows!
I used an old blanket to stitch up the larger plaid pillow covers and purchased a checked throw with moose print from the Dollar Store for $3.00 to make covers for the smaller pillows.

There is leftover fabric from the blanket and that is being used to make some little stars for the living room tree. I also have a big piece of the throw remaining but am not sure what to do with that yet.

I used a stencil to trace the stars but cookie cutters would work well too. Mine are just two layers stitched together and some twine attached to the back. They are a good use of leftover fabric and will help to fill in the tree nicely.
Another pillow for the couch was made with one of my sweaters that got washed and thrown in the DRYER!! :(  I won't say who did it my darling but when it came out of the dryer it was looking like a nice sweater for a 5 year old...I was sick over it!

So here it is in it's new role. It was so small that there was only enough to make a lumbar pillow.

A candle centerpiece atop a buffalo check napkin on the coffee table and a winter white throw shows off the colors of the pillows.

So, my woodland/cabin look is completed in this part of the living room and it cost me only the $3.00 for the checked throw that was purchased. There are lots more things to show y'all next time. Thanks for visiting with me today and make sure to visit My Thrift Store Addiction Vintage Charm Party #61 where our lovely host Cecilia graciously featured this post today :)
Karen