Christmas Home Tour 2015

Hello All!

Well, in typical fashion, here I am to share Christmas decorations AFTER the grand holiday!  They stay up through New Year's so I am happy to post so timely - ha!

I always hang garland on the staircase but Dan doesn't like it on the hand rail.  Thanks to Pinterest, I found the perfect compromise.

With the exception of it not being as visible on the inside of the stairway, I like it.  Next year, I'm going to try hanging it on both the inside and outside.  I'd also like to hang ornaments between the balusters.  

Looking at these pictures convinces me that 2016 will be the year the staircase gets a makeover!

The antique mantel hosted a cadre of glass finials this year:

They are so pretty!

They mimic the clear glass candlesticks in the window

The tree is decorated with teal ornaments and glass drops.

The electric fireplace is on a setting for just lights and sound of a crackling fire.  It's 70+ degrees here in Virginia.  On Christmas day, with the oven on and all the hustle and bustle, we needed the air conditioning on for a bit.  That's nuts.  It was damp and warm so opening windows and doors wasn't helpful - yuck!

The family room got the most attention this year.  I was thrilled to find these two leaping reindeer on super clearance at Hobby Lobby.  I say super clearance because I got them for 70% off because they were broken :)  It wasn't anything a little glue couldn't fix!

They tie in the reindeer art over the fireplace:

I haven't shown you the chesterfield sofa yet!  It was a closeout because of the color--can you believe that!?  I LOVE the color!  It's called "honey" (isn't it more like camel?)    It is also the most comfortable piece of furniture in the house...well, besides our bed...ha ha!

The sugar pine cones came from A.C. Moore last year.  They were on after-Christmas clearance and were $1.25 each.  I wasn't sure what to do with them until I consulted Pinterest!   The icicles are a little much but considering the weather we are having, I'm using anything I can to bring the winter to Virginia - ha ha!  Overall, I think the room is very cozy.

Do you see the Lucite quilt rack the stockings are hanging from?  It's a thrift find from earlier this year--$20 from BThrifty.  It's awesome.  I needed something to hang stocking on since the mantel is packed!

I found ornaments for the sun room Christmas tree this year!  This little tree was a thrift find in 2013 (details here).  There was going to be a new tree in here - one that was 10 foot tall --but it just didn't look right to me.  It felt too big and I had to move out the coffee table and rearrange the furniture.  It just wasn't worth it.  So, it was returned and I put up my little thrifty tree!

I love the texture of this tree.  It feels and looks so soft.  Since I didn't have to trade my coffee table for more real estate for the bigger tree, I could put out the Windstone Edition polar bears (another amazing thrift find HERE).

A couple other random snaps...Shelly bought me this adorable metal house at Thanksgiving:

The glass evergreen was a thrift find from the Goodwill Outlet in Richmond a few years ago.  It looks so cute with this house :)

I like to have fresh flowers in the house so when I grocery shopped last week, I picked up a couple of bunches from WalMart.  I was surprised but delighted to find a bouquet with white hydrangea!  

The vase is one I found at Goodwill (here) a few years ago.  It has become my go-to vase because it's so tall and roomy.  I just love this arrangement!

This silver plate champagne bucket was a thrift find this year (from BThrifty).  It was one of the things on my thrift bucket list!  It's beautiful and not engraved!  WooHoo!  

Here's a better look:

It was $10!  

The dining room was pretty much the same as the year before too:

One of my favorite decorations is the nativity I bought the year Jenna was born:

I like to display it with the (thrifted) antique Indiana Glass compote in the Bethlehem Star pattern.  I put an electric tea light in it so it glows!

 So that's Christmas :)  I hope yours was wonderful and peaceful.

I'm linking up!

Elizabeth & Co:  Be Inspired Features and Link Party #190

A Thrift Store Fur Repurposed!

Hi All!  Last week I showed you the vintage fox fur coat I found at the thrift shop for $60.

This is what it looks like now:

The original label and monogram are stitched into the back:

It's quite gorgeous!  

It's about 5' x 5' because the coat was only a size 8.  I wasn't interested in adding to it to make it bigger, only re-purposing what was there.  I am thrilled with this find and will do what is necessary to preserve and care for it but considering how much upkeep there is with fur, I don't intend to take on any more.

Merry Christmas!

Thanksgiving

This year, for the first time ever, I hosted Thanksgiving for my parents!  My sister came too and it was a charmed week.  I felt so blessed to have us all here and I loved hearing the sounds of all of us talking and laughing within the walls of my house!  It was important to me that my Mom and Dad got a vacation.   I wanted specifically for my Mom not to think about meals--actually--NOTHING to do with the kitchen or housework!  She was a stay-at-home Mom and managed taking care of my sister and I who are only 1 year apart and keeping a spotless home, plus put 3 meals on the table each day.  I work outside the home and I marvel at that.  Someday, I will retire from my work duties but when does my Mom get to retire?  She just laughs at me when I say that to her (with notable horror in my voice - ha ha).  My Dad has only just retired.  He has worked since he was 16.  When he and my Mom had us, he was the sole financial provider for our family of four.  We didn't want for anything.  My sister and I often talk about the wonderful, stable childhood we had.  We realize how rare that is and how blessed we are.  I feel even more blessed that my daughter gets to have them as her grandparents. 

I have a few pictures of the Thanksgiving table.  I loved the more neutral centerpiece of white pumpkins and cream, green and brown hydrangea.  The tableware is a combination of Grammie's china and my china.  The goblets were thrift finds (that post here) and are Indiana Glass in their Nouveau pattern (1968).  The flatware came from eBay - $9! almost as good as thrifting!  The copper footed bowls were a thrift find from this year as are the place card holders. The napkins are from Crate and Barrel, the centerpiece and chargers are from Joss and Main.

The glass pumpkins are from Pier 1.  I had them out for Halloween also.  The glass candlesticks were thrifted a year or two ago.  

Oh and I just remembered as I looked through these pictures that I haven't shared my new buffet!  I found it at Bthrifty on 50% off day.  I paid $80 for this baby:

Bob Timberlake Lexington Furniture cherry wood TV media cabinet but I'm using it as a buffet because it matches my table perfectly!  Here it is dressed for Thanksgiving:

Speaking of thrift finds on 50% off days, I took my parents to Bthrifty on black Friday.  I really wanted to go thrifting with them and when I heard my favorite thrift store would be 60% off the day after Thanksgiving we made the plan.  I found a couple small things but this was the find of the day for me:

It is an authentic fox fur coat.  The pictures are terrible --the fur is white with champagne-colored chevrons - it is absolutely GORGEOUS.  It has a monogram:

and a furrier label:

As it turns out, this is one of the best finds I've come across to date.  It's worth way more than the $60 I paid for it.  I am having it re-worked into a throw blanket.  The monogram and label will be incorporated into the blanket lining.  Apparently, reworking vintage fur is quite common.  There are all different options besides wearable ones --teddy bears, pillows, etc.  You can also have the fur coat's style updated or turned into trim for hats, gloves, even raincoat linings.  I've seen plenty furs at the thrift stores but none as gorgeous or well-maintained as this one.  I cannot wait to get it back!  I'll be sure to share it once I do.  

The week after Thanksgiving, Mom was going to go to a baby shower.  Since I don't get to craft for her often, I built her a diaper cake.  We had to pack it in layers so she could get it home and here it is back home after she put it back together.  She did a lovely job!  I just love the leopard print!!

It was nice to relive my wonderful Thanksgiving!  Now it's the Christmas crunch with it being only a week away!  At least I'll have a few days off to try and get some posts done on the great thrift finds from this year.

Have a great rest of the week!