In the Spirit of Christmas ...

Thanksgiving has past, along with the turkey and sweet potato leftovers, and I'm in full swing for Christmas. A few months back Nate and I purchased our very first Christmas tree, and yes it surely is a fresh cut fir wannabe. There is much to be desired ... fraying multi-colored fiber optic lights and all. But, the price was right at only 6 George Washington's. Here's our baby standing tall in all of her (too pretty to be a boy) two and a half feet of blinking glory the day we brought her home. (I was pretty excited)

and here she is after a loving touch and few combs through her tangled branches.

I've always been a "white light" kinda gal, so I strung a white mini-light set on it instead of using the fiber optics. We even have a few presents by the tree already.

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As you can see I have been busy creating Christmas cheer in our little home

1. I decided to forgo my pottery barn tablescape after I happened upon the discovery that a candlestick fits in my old oil diffuser bottle. I love the mix of heights and shapes.

2. So, after making my wreath, decorating the Christmas tree and filling a bunch of decorative glass vases with that bargain lot of ornaments, I STILL had some to spare. It felt like the ornament well was never gonna go dry! So, to add a bit more Christmas spirit in our little apartment (which after my last decorating spree is pretty much bursting at the seams with jingle bells) I threaded some ribbon through the remaining ornaments and now our door is all decked out in it's Christmas best!

3. Lastly, (for this post) I crafted some fun wrapping paper out of newspaper that was waiting its days in our green bin and added some cute hand-made tags.


That's all for tonight ... stop by soon for some more of my Christmas projects!

P.E.A.C.E. ... ... La Paz ... ...

Four For Decor...

U.n.o

My Christmas wreath was seeming a bit drab. Pretty, but not enough W.O.W.But luckily the Goodwill fairies were looking out for me. For just 49 pennies more I added a nice Christmas-y touch. I also added in a few more of the ornaments, and after 15 minutes, and hands sparkling worse than a pageant queen's dress, I had this beauty to show off.


D.O.S.

Since I happened upon such a large lot of ornaments I didn't want to see them go to waste. One evening, some white & gold paint, and 2 more glitter covered hands later, I now have these babies to "deck our hall"(less) apartment with.
T.R.E.S.

So you all know that I LOVE to thrift. There's something about it that gets my heart singing the happy tunes. You never know what you will find and you can't beat the price tags. Of course, there's always that popular phrase to fall back on too - "your junk is my treasure."

One other thing you should know is that Goodwill is in a program with Target- see.spot.save. Other than resembling my alma mater's volleyball slogan, it means Target donates their slightly damaged, returned and overstock seasonal items to Goodwill who distributes them to all of their locations. And for me, it means my thrifting is a whole lot more rewarding. Welcome home, stockings! :-)
These 2 were Target's last season's rejects and my season's projects. Since we don't have a mantel for them to crown, our bookshelf might be their place to "hang" out. :-)

Q.U.A.T.R.O.

Lastly, but certainly not least, these were 3 happy purchases today. I love the colors, shape, and how they reflect the light on the windowsill. For only 47 pennies each, Pretty, Pretty!

Happy weekend.

P.E.A.C.E.

I hear those Christmas bells ringing...

Okay, maybe they're just in MY head. Is anyone else getting bit by the jingle bells bug yet?

Over the weekend I took a trip to the grandparents-in-law house. We arrived to a cozy house warmed by an open fire and a yummy dinner... and surrounded by family at the dinner table it just felt like Christmas! We stayed up late playing games and reminiscing over old photo albums... it doesn't get much better than that. Here are a few pictures from the trip.





My Christmas spirit, aided by some good ol' silent night melodies, continued on into my evening as I completed one of my challenges! Goodwill and 2nd Ave thrift stores were like giant sized presents! And the store displays were proof as Holiday memorabilia littered their shelves. I returned home with:

2- green Christmas wreaths.... a steal at 97cents each
1- big box of shatterproof Christmas ball ornaments in varying sizes and colors... 5 buckaroos
1- roll of leftover tulle from our wedding in March... free! (well, kinda)

After wiring each of the ornaments onto the wreath I wove the tulle throughout the wreath. I ended the night with this... I think I'm going to add more of the ornaments since I have 1/2 the box left.

L.A. P.a.z. P.E.A.C.E.