country living

Great Christmas Find – $1.49

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I wanted to post a picture of my newest find at the local thrift shop. These little Christmas trees have such a wonderful vintage look to them with their creamy color & hints of sparkle. I only paid $1.49 for both of them! While I was there, I saw HUGE piles of Christmas items to choose from.

Think about it… people everywhere are pulling out boxes & boxes of Christmas decorations from their attics. As they sort through it all, they decided that it might be time to finally get rid of some of it 🙂 So – they pass it on to the local thrift shops. This is your opportunity to pick up some very nice things at VERY nice prices!

If you enjoy vintage style decorations you will find some very nice finds, because many times, people want the “newest styles”. But, I did find a BRAND NEW Martha Stewart wreath made up of silver bells for $1.98 – so you can find new things as well.

Enjoy & be sure to come back & post your newest finds!

Re-purposing – Vintage Sewing Machine Drawers

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While visiting local yard sales, auctions, thrift shops, etc, look for items that catch your eye! You might think to yourself… I really like that piece, but I don’t really have a use for it. I want to encourage you to look through “creative eyes” when you are making a decision about a particular piece.

If you really put your mind to it, you could almost always come up with an idea about how to use a piece creatively.

As an example, here is an item that I picked up at an auction for just a few dollars. It’s original purpose was a set of drawers on a vintage sewing machine, but I have found many other uses for this piece!

I’ve used it as a place to store silverware, cloth napkins, napkin rings, letters, lace, and most recently it is standing in as my tea caddy 🙂 I love getting up in the mornings, opening a drawer & selecting whatever tea I happen to be in the mood for. There is lots of room for many different types of tea, as well as tea bag holders & a tea ball for the loose leaf varieties.

Here are the main questions I ask myself before purchasing an item.

1. Can I afford to spend the money on this piece?
2. Do I really love it?
3. Do I have room for it?
4. Then – what can I use this for?

I have found, that if I really love a piece, I usually find many different uses for it over the years.

Now… I think I’m off for a cup of tea 🙂

Color Inspiration For Whole House Decorating

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Here is the color inspiration the we’ve used for the whole cottage! This set of boxes was a gift from my husband, and I love them so much, that I am using them as a color jumping point for the whole cottage decorating scheme.

Do you have something that you love such as; a vintage quilt, a set of dishes, an old post card, a set of stationary, a children’s book?

If you take a look at these boxes, they are made up of many colors, but somehow they all go together beautifully!

So I can look at the boxes & pull one or more of the colors out to use in each room of the house. I could decide to accent any particular room with all of the colors if I wish, because I can already see how nicely they all go together by having this “mental picture” to go by.

Having trouble deciding what colors to use in your home? Go find something that really “speaks” to you & use it to wash your home with color!

Happy Thanksgiving!

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This morning my husband & I woke up early to pray & give God thanks for everything He has done in our lives. As we were sharing all of the things we were thankful for, the sun starting waking up as well. We’ve had quite a long season of rain, so you can imagine the joy of seeing the sun – especially on this joyous occasion of giving thanks.

I decided to put on my coat & shoes and go out to save a few memories with my camera.

This is one of the beautiful views from my office window. I love the way the sun was sparkling like thousands of tiny dancing crystals as it kissed the frosty blanket that the forest woke up with this morning.

As I was walking through the woods with our 2 little dogs, I could hear the church bells playing Thanksgiving hymns such as “Great is Thy Faithfulness”, and “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” down in the little village below. I love to hear the bells, especially on holiday mornings such as this.

It has been our tradition for the last several years to come together as a family at my brother’s house to celebrate Thanksgiving. This year we will bring, sauteed green beans, candied carrots, and apple crisp. It is always such a wonderful day.

I tend to cook a lot like my great grandmother Pearl. I usually go by how something feels & tastes more often than what the recipe says 🙂 My family really enjoys these carrots, so I wanted to share them with you. They are so easy – but so yummy!

Candied Carrots:

– Peel & chop carrots (I like to use baby carrots)
– Cook in a pot with water until tender – but not to soft
– Drain water
– Mix equal amounts of maple syrup & brown sugar enough to coat carrots.
– Add to the pot
– Add 1/2 stick of butter and salt/pepper/garlic to taste
– Heat through

A few thoughts for the day…

No matter what happens, always be thankful, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.
~ 1 Thessalonians 5:18

“For each new morning with its light, For rest and shelter of the night, For health and food, for love and friends, For everything Thy goodness sends.”
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

“The Pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts. No Americans have been more impoverished than these who, nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving.”
~ H. U. Westermayer

Items From the Garden Make Nice Indoor Displays

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I like to bring garden items inside to enjoy. That way, no matter what the temps are like outside, you can enjoy the garden feeling all year round! I’ve paired up a vintage watering can ($1 at yard sale), a cast iron bunny ($4), and some clay pots (a few cents each at the end of the year sale in the garden centers!)

What do you have in the garden that you could bring inside to add some “life” to your winter decor? Plants, clay pots, watering cans, benches, bird bath, fountain, topiary, or grapevine wreaths are all good examples of things that you could bring in.

A simple decorating idea that goes a long way is…

Take one of your clay pots where the flowers have finished blooming & the plant is gone. Remove the spent stems, add a nice piece of moss from the woods to the top of the pot. You can display several of these (could choose different sizes if you wish) along a window sill or down the center of the table just as they are, or you could add different things to jazz them up a little. Here are a few examples of some things that you could add on top of the moss; a piece of fruit, a candle, ribbon, pine cone, acorn, small twig with lots of branches to hang things on, a single rosebud, a small vegetable, etc.

Just a few ideas for no cost seasonal decorating – my favorite kind 🙂

Sitting Area With Grapevine Garland

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I Love this sitting area in the dining room – lots of light & big windows! When trying to decide what to do about the window coverings, I decided to leave them open. At the end of the season, I went outside & gathered some vines from the cottage garden. Then, I simply took some small gage wire & hung the garland up on some small nails that were placed every few feet near the ceiling. You can see the little white birds that I added. They clip on & add a nice natural feel. During the Christmas season, I hang our Christmas cards along the garland using an opened paperclip place in a hole in the corner of each card.

Here’s a picture of one of the birds close up, although this one is on the primitive Christmas tree on the side of the room.
It’s so easy to add a natural feel to a room. Here, I’ve used a harvest basket, plants, vintage watering can, clay pots, birds, and a cast iron bunny.