Organizing and Cleaning Out

At this time of year after I'm finished shopping for gifts, I like to get my house organized.  I started cleaning out the file cabinet in my basement and organizing past paperwork.  I am usually very organized but things started to slip away from me a little.  It felt really good to get back to being organized.

I usually start going through my closets for items to donate (and sell to Clothes Mentor in Algonquin/Lake in the Hills) and then I work on the rest of the house. It feels really good when the clutter is gone.  (I will start working with the boys on their rooms over the holiday break from school).

During the summer, I found a wonderful cherub lamp that needed to be rewired.  I put it away for a future project.  (I have one more lamp that I need to work on soon).  I had been saving a shade that I had from another lamp that I thought would work well with it.  And it does!  I finally rewired it and I'm so happy with how it looks in my bedroom.  I needed something more.  I was tired of the lamp that I had been using since my childhood.  This cherub lamp works well with what I had in mind.

The basement will be on my list next to reorganize.  I will bring in the new year organized and happier with less clutter.  With more time to craft and hunt for junkentreasure!

Vintage Christmas Decorating

The snow is falling today in Woodstock.  We are not supposed to get much accumulation.  I love the snow (when I'm watching it from home).

I didn't put out as much vintage Christmas decorations this year as I had in the past.  I chose the treasures that I hadn't set out for a while as well as ones that I found this year.

A few of the bottle brush trees were found this year.  The pink one was a gift from my friend Cecilia. It is on an oil can with rhinestones around the base.  She had it wrapped with the most beautiful ribbons.

My three small aluminum trees come out every year.  Each has a different theme.  All Santa:

Round/shiny ornaments:

Vintage figure ornaments:

This wind up musical Santa is a favorite flea market find from last year.

We put up our Christmas tree (a real one that we usually get at Menards) early this year.  We had time on Sunday so we decided to decorate it so we could enjoy doing it.  My friend Mary, who also likes to knit, gave me this wonderful felted ornament that she purchased at the Woodstock Farmers Market.

My tree is usually decorated with an assortment of ornaments.  No theme really.  The ornaments were found on travels, memories of the kids activities or ones that I just really loved.  The tree is always full and we have fun talking about them as we put them up.  Each year different ones go up depending on which ones we like at that moment.

Enjoy this wonderful season of decorating with treasures that you love!

Bargain Holiday Decorating

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

I usually host Thanksgiving, but as soon as the company leaves, I'm taking down the decorations and getting ready for Christmas.  I really love Christmas and all that goes along with it.  I didn't put out as many decorations as I used to, but it was fun to look at all of the vintage Christmas treasures that I have.  It always amazes me what I have found over the years (and what someone was willing to part with.  I guess that's why, "One man's trash is another man's treasure.")

This year I found some really inexpensive fake trees, garland and wreaths at the thrift stores that I frequent.  I really like the plastic holly anything, especially for outside.  It looks nice, but withstands the harsh weather.

The wreath on my garage only cost me $6!  It shows up well against the color of the garage.

I try to put something decorative over the well cover so that area of the yard doesn't look so bad. I just wrapped that plastic holly garland around an ice cream parlor chair and stuck a fake tree in the mix.  This cost me $3.

On my front porch, I keep a black iron bistro table and chairs with a decorative iron stand on top of it which I decorate seasonally.  I used a plastic wreath and stuck a fake tree that was decorated with fruit inside the wreath.  This cost me $2.

It doesn't have to cost a lot to decorate.  Since these are outside, I don't feel bad if they get ruined by the weather since I don't have that much money invested in them.  I usually can use these things for something else, even if I break them up and use them in a different decoration.

On Friday evening, the Woodstock square had it's lighting ceremony.  This year we took along Austin's friend David.  He had never seen it before.  He was delighted, as we were.  Getting in the holiday spirit gets an early start.  (And it's for free. Another bargain!)  The Opera House has trees decorated by various organizations and there is always a line to get in to see them.  The display is also open for the rest of the holiday season.

Have fun getting ready for the holidays.  Take some time to hunt for that treasure!  Many stores are having holiday open houses and are stocked with that one of a kind item.  Enjoy!