Old Containers

         Over the years I've managed to accumulate more than an ample share of items that lived former lives as functional servers, but now make great containers for Christmas decorating.
        I had wanted to put some holiday greenery out on the porch and went to my
            stash to see what I could pull together......

For as long as I can remember this copper pitcher sat on the hearth of my family
 fireplace,my mom always had some kind of dried arrangement in it.
Believe it or not I was never really crazy about it and it almost got tossed in a
yard sale years ago.  Luckily I came to my senses.............

                                                        token tea kettles and watering cans

                                            This wooden caddy gets a lot of use all year round

                                                          an old white window box planter

                                                 rusty tin pails make for a great primitive look
\

                              Here I took an old farm bucket and filled it with some holly
                               branches off a tree in our yard.  On one side the
                                bucket still has a  sizable "bite" taken out of it from
                              some hungry calf

                              For the planter I took some Evergreen boughs
                              and added in my mom' silver candelabras, I was
                              going for the "Jeanne d'Arc" look...........
                                  (minus a couple of candles, :)

                      For the tin pails I had found some miniature evergreen trees
                          that I thought would look good in them.  Of course,
                          they were COVERED with glitter, and I had to take them to the
                             back yard and tap a ton of it off.............

                       They're a little lopsided from their travels,
                                  but it works, i think.................

                                  So at least now I've got a few more Holiday accents outside.......
                                          I still have an old sled, vintage ice skates and
                                           little red children's skis to pull out and jazz up......
                                          oh that the Christmas season lasted longer!!

                                                          Wishing you a "Merry" Day!!

                                                                          devon :)

More Christmas Pretties

I wanted to share a few more of the pretty things I found while out in the stores earlier this month........all of these things were picked up at either Wal-Mart, Target, Hobby Lobby or Michael's craft stores.  Every year it gets harder and harder to resist, things just seem to be getting more and more beautiful (and affordable!!)

                                                            from Wal-Mart..........

                                                                A glittery acorn..........

                                                                   Sweet little owl..............

                                                                     a delicate angel

                                     and some beautiful small accent picks for packages
                                                                      and arrangements

 ornaments from Target with the Mercury Glass look...

                                            Michael's has some beautiful reindeer pieces
                                                     of all different poses and finishes

                         

                                  But I had my biggest field day when I went to Hobby Lobby......
                                        not only did I find hundreds of unique ornaments

                                                            LOVE this reindeer............

                         But I fell in love with a couple of items from the same "family",
                         they are all made of some sort of blue tin material and have
                         a vintage look to them.  I was going to get just one, then knew
                         if I didn't get the others I wanted I would end up coming back
                                  for them (and they would probably be gone.............)

It's really hard to get good pictures of these things,

 they are much prettier in person...

and I think they look great all tossed together

in my corner china cabinet!

                        One of my favorite things didn't come from a local store though,
                        I have one of those old Victorian "hands" pieces,
                        I think maybe they were used as ashtrays at one time.....
                        but I filled mine up with some of that glitter snow (last post)
                        and filled it with vintage jewelry pieces....

                    Hope you all are having a good evening, thank you for joining me!

                                                                          devon :)

Fun in the Snow

 Wow, I have been having so much trouble with posting all week..........does anyone else have trouble previewing their blogs??  I lost two posts earlier this week, but i think I've gotten a way around it, so without further adieu (YEA!!)

I'm off to a late start (for me), but last week I did a little decking of the halls around my house.  Last month I was in my local Ross store and saw this little cupcake stand.........

                                                      I particularly liked the price

                                                At the time I could see all sorts of
                                            possibilities for it.......like jewelry and pearls...    

        

                                                  Or an old photo with the pearls.....

                                                           or buttons, of course.......

                                        But I really wanted to do something seasonal.
                                  I had bought some bags of "snow" at Hobby Lobby to use as a
                                 dusting for some other projects. I just love this stuff,
                                it has that shiny-glittery look to it that makes it iridescent looking

                                       

                                                           

                                        I took a vintage ornament, added some snow..........

                                    It was o.k., but I took the ornament away
                                   from another display, so I looked around for something else.
                                 The day before I had received the most adorable little pair of
                               felt doll shoes from a seller off Etsy..... that's what I had in mind!

                                  I just love the look of stuff under glass, whether it's
                                   a terrarium or a cloche.......
                                   you all might remember some of my earlier attempts.......

                                                                                

                                                                           and

                          I just happened to see another type of apothecary jar
                           while in Ross that day, which I brought home
                            with every intention of filling........so, with a little more snow.....

                                                 some old vintage Christmas music

                                 a bottle brush tree ornament from Wal Mart (yes, Wal Mart)

                                                            and some silver beads........

                                                                          

                                                                           Viola!!

                                    So I've been playing in the snow a lot this past week.........

                             Next time (now that I can post again!!) I'm going to show
                                 some of the other cute ornaments I got at  Wal Mart,
                                     and Target too.  They have some really nice stuff!!!

                                                                             

                                      So glad you took the time to read my blog,

                                      with so much decorating going on around here
                                       it's been really hard not to post!!!

                                                             Until next time.............

                                                                          devon :)