Merry Christmas!

Wishing you all a blessed day....

When my grandmother (baba) passed away 12 years ago, I got the wedding picture of her and my grandfather (deda).  I didn't like the frame so I'm ashamed to say, I put it in the back of the closet for another time.

Well, about one month ago, I pulled it out and was going to mount it on a wooden door.  I kept procrastinating, which isn't like me, and it didn't get done.  The other day, a customer came into the Carriage House and bought a wooden pew end from me and right next to the pew end were two doors from an old cabinet that I kind of forgot about.  I thought one would make a perfect frame for the picture.  So yesterday I went to the shop and measured the door but still wasn't sure it would work. Last night I couldn't sleep and decided that I would go to the shop before it opened and take another look at the door.  This time I took the picture with me and it was then that I knew it would work perfectly.

Sometime in the past, the picture was mounted to heavy cardboard so I needed to use a utility knife to resize it.  It looks beautiful!  The door is the perfect frame for the picture.

I called my mom to tell her that I reframed the picture.  I felt so desperate the past two days to get it done.  Kind of an uneasy feeling.  That was when she told me that today is the 25th anniversary of my grandfather's (deda's) passing.  To me it is a Christmas Eve blessing from him to be remembered.

Decorating for Christmas

I wanted to share some pictures of my friend Joy's house from savvycityfarmer http://savvycityfarmer.com/.  Her house was beautifully decorated for the holidays.

What a great idea for using a high chair to hold books.

I especially love her mantle.

Here is a cute display.

Simple greenery really created a wonderful farmhouse look.  I love seeing how Joy puts things together.  It's never the same.

Since I have been feeling the holiday spirit along with some creativity, I created some tree decor with bottle brush trees and thread spools.  I loved using the darker spools that still had thread on them with vintage jewelry as an embellishment.

I only had 2 larger thread spools and thought that they would make great looking trees.  I also used a miniature oil can for one of the tree bases.

I created three of the trees with vintage trim and vintage jewelry as an embellishment.  I found a few metal paper holder stands to use as the base for the trees.  

Merry Christmas.  Happy Holidays.  Wishing you peace and endless creativity!

Creatively Inspired

Ever since I went to that open house last week, I have been coming up with creative ideas.  I have been inspired.  I'm going to try to "create" more in the new year.

I decided to chalkboard paint some white doors that I have for sale at the Carriage House.  This time though, I kept one for my front porch. I stock up on wreaths that I find at garage sales.  I always find a use for them. The iron candle holder was a find years ago at Autumn Drive in Woodstock for $15.  I love its rusty patina.

It's simple, but the look that I was after.  I painted a smaller one too and have two of them at the store now for sale.

It was such an easy project.  I still have some white doors and windows that I haven't painted yet. Just in case I come up with different ideas.

My friend Cecilia has been having creative moments too.  She did such a nice display of vintage Christmas ideas in her dining area.

With a lot of snow forecast for this weekend, I may just be creating all weekend.

Happy treasure hunting!  There are still sales around.....

Repurposed Open House

I wanted to share some pictures of an open house I attended last night.  Terry, a customer from the Carriage House, invited me to this event that she and a friend have.  They repurpose items to sell at this 3rd year open house.  It was fun to see what they imagined as a finished product.

Terry bought this white screen from me a few weeks back.  It makes a wonderful card holder.

The red door was so cute.  So many wonderful ideas in this area.

This area is part of the house year round.  Instead of hanging art work, the windows and shutter are used as the art. 

This was one of my favorite pieces (not for sale).  Quilt blocks were used with an old window.  

I just had to take a picture of the living room.  The fireplace mantle was super!  Makes me want to redo my home.....

There were so many great ideas at this open house that I'm inspired to start working on my own ideas. Sometimes I forget to keep items or repurpose them for my own home.  I'm so focused on bringing treasures to the Carriage House for others to enjoy.  I guess a little of both wouldn't hurt.

Happy treasure hunting!

My Favorite Time of Year

I love Christmastime!  Now that the open house at Carriage House is over, I can try to focus on my own home.  I am so behind this year on just about everything.  Usually I'm done shopping for gifts by October, but this year I'm just finishing up now.  I want to make sure that I have time to enjoy the season, so I want to be caught up soon.

Right after Thanksgiving, I start to decorate my house for Christmas.  Vintage Christmas usually.

I love to go through the boxes to see what treasures are inside.  I'm always in awe at what wonderful pieces I have.  I set up three aluminum trees with each one having their own theme.  This one is vintage glass ornaments.

I love to combine vintage with newer vintage looking pieces like the Merry Christmas star.  The red truck was a find in January that I have been changing each season.  I love it!

I found a box of vintage ornaments recently at a sale for $2.  They look great in the Westmoreland milk glass sleigh that was also a garage sale find a few years back for $10 and the reindeer sleigh was 25 cents.  Too cute to pass up.

The ironstone pitchers that I found this summer at garage sales look nice on top of the piano in a simple vignette.  Once again, vintage with a newer Peace dress form works well together. I also like to change my doily seasonally.  Right now I'm using vintage Christmas towels in place of a doily.

In the bookcases, I just like to overfill them with my collections of Santas, elf figures and angels. I pick a few every year to bring out.  There is always way too many to set up so I try to rotate them every year.

I added a Santa to my aluminum piece that I purchased at the Wendell August Forge showroom in PA this summer.  The piece is too lovely to put away and was the perfect stand for Santa.

A few years ago, I made quite a few felt stars with a vintage piece attached to the front.  I needed something extra to decorate a few packages this year, so I made a few more.

I found those vintage star ornaments in different colors at a garage sale this year and knew that they would be perfect.  Next I may try the blue or pink ones.

I still have a few more packages to get ready, but with some holiday music and creme brulee coffee, I'm ready for anything.

Happy treasure hunting!