Today I’m really excited to share my new thrifty pillar candle holders with you! I found these guys for $6.99 at our local Value Village. They are actually solid wood, and are hand carved… So my dream-style!
So they started out looking a little purple in color when I first found them… Not one hundred percent perfect for me, but I’m sure they were perfect for somebody else at one point in time! Continue reading
Have you noticed lately, that everyone’s clocks seem to be a lot bigger than they used to be?! They are huge these days, and in my opinion, just beautiful!
The only problem is, that they tend to be on the more expensive side… That’s why I decided to DIY my very own giant patio clock, out of an old tabletop!
This summer, I’ve really been trying to make my porch and patio the perfect outdoor family relaxation space…
My budget was pretty tight this year, so I pretty much tried to DIY just about everything that we needed out there, including my latest addition, my DIY Giant Patio Clock!
I had this old table sitting out in The Project Pile, that I had picked up on the side of the road for free, probably before I even had kids… Wow – that seems like forever ago!
The tabletop was in kind of rough shape, and was also the perfect size to hang right above my DIY Bench, so I decided to go for it! Continue reading
Oh Christmas! I started decorating for Christmas really early this year, and shopping! But somehow, I’m just finally finishing now… And Christmas is almost here! Oh life!
This year, I decided to head out to The Project Pile sitting out in the garage and pull out some of my favorite pieces that I have been saving for certain rooms in my home, that I just have not gotten to yet. And I’m actually really excited to finally share some of my precious finds with you!
Now, let’s get to the home tour! (Lots of pics for you this year!)
I started out with my tree this year. I posted about this earlier, in an article called Why I decided to spend a little more money on my Christmas Decor!
(And oh my goodness… I just noticed the little red fuzzy hanging out in this pic! Photo fail! LOL!)
My whole “white-feather” Christmas tree was inspired by this mini white feather Christmas tree, that I purchased last year at the end of the season.
This little tree gave me the idea to create a garland out of white feather boas. If you like this look and would like to learn how to create your own, you can check it out here.
I put my tree in a new spot this year. (I think I actually might have put one tree here the first year that we moved here, and had three trees because I was in some super-crazy Christmas-spirit-trance! That was also back in the days before kids…)
I’ve started referring to this section of the house as the “teacup room”, since this is where I now am able to display my beautiful antique teacups.
Two from my grandmother, and two from my mother-in-law, Judy… I just love them!
I also have my barn windows hanging in this area of our home.
These were used for the seating charts in our Autumn Harvest Barn Wedding!
Now… moving into the dining room!
I really wanted to incorporate a few of my antique pieces into my table setting, so I used this antique wood and copper tray that I was able to pick up a few months ago… And I finally got to use my antique bowling pins! I picked these up in Michigan a couple of summers ago, and they’ve just been sitting in The Project Pile, waiting for the perfect moment to shine!
Over on my antique buffet I finally decided to pull out some beauties that I have been saving for my laundry room… But it currently has a leaky ceiling, so that definitely needs to be fixed first!
(Psst! Like my pears?! They’re kinda Christmasy, right?! A partridge in a pear tree!!!)
I found this pretty glass washboard at a flea market two summers ago! It’s going to look pretty stellar on my laundry room wall! Someday…
I also found this beautiful antique laundry roller at the same flea market. I paid $50 for it, but I have seen them online for up to $600! Total score! It’s also going to look awesome in my future laundry room makeover!
Up above on my oak shelves, are some pretty stoneware plates that my good friend gave me to put up there when I first got the shelves. I haven’t done any research yet, but I’m betting that they are pretty old too!
I’ve also got a few pieces from my antique bottle collection mixed in on these shelves, as well as the massive cast iron and wooden antique pulley from the farm where I grew up.
All of these bottles were personally hand dug from the fence-lines of the 179 year-old farmhouse. These are just a few of hundreds that have been found! (Someday maybe I’ll actually get to cataloging them!)
I’m so happy that I’ve finally started pulling some more collectibles out of The Project Pile, so I can actually enjoy them in my home, as well as share them with you!
Here’s to looking forward to seeing what I can dig out for next time!
Last year during the end-of-the-season Christmas sales I happened upon this beautiful white feather Christmas tree… Even though Christmas was over, I decided to purchase it and save it for next year. So when Christmas rolled around this year, I was so excited for it! And I actually decided to use it as the inspiration piece for the rest of my Christmas décor… Light, white and airy!
I started thinking about how I would incorporate the tree into my décor and think about what other elements would go nicely with it. It hit me at about 2am in the morning… I woke up, and thought feather boa garland!
And where is the best place to get white feather boas from? Why, the dollar store – of course!
(Notice that there aren’t any white boas in this pic… that’s because I already bought them all!)
And that’s how my white feather boa idea was born!
The next day I headed out to the dollar store, and purchased 8 white feather boas. I brought them home and was so excited to add them to my tree!
All I did was add them to my tree…
And then tie the ends together! Yes – it was that simple!
I found that it was actually easier to add them to the tree before tying them together. Then I fluffed up the feathers to hide the knots.
I really love how this DIY garland worked out… It certainly is light, white and airy! When the lights are turned on it kind of looks like a nice fresh snow has just fallen onto my Christmas tree!
Next year, I’m thinking of doing the same thing, only maybe trying a different color… like black, or red, or even purple! (Psst! Do you like my tree? Check out why I decided to spend a little more money on my Christmas Décor, this year!)
Just to summarize, I ended up using 8 boas on my seven and a half-foot tree, although next year I would probably add a couple more to the total… So if you try this yourself, just keep the size of your tree in mind!
Merry Christmas & Happy Decorating!
Now, don’t get me wrong here, everything that I try to do is always on a budget… but this year, I made the decision to finally spend a little bit of money on my Christmas tree decorations.
Last year I did my tree in 100% Dollar Store decorations, and I completely loved it! Every year, I pick a theme or color that I would like for my tree, and then go out and buy a whole bunch of really cheap décor. It seems like I’m saving money at the time, but when I tally up the total cost of the past years, it really isn’t very great at all! It actually seems a little outrageous and ridiculous… therefore, I decided to put a stop to it this year.
After thinking about it long and hard, I figured out that if I spent a little more money on decorations that I actually love, that I would actually want to reuse them for years to come. This epiphany sent me on a new mission!
My mission was simple:
1. Find tree ornaments that are pretty neutral and can be used with different color schemes throughout the years to come.
2. Find tree ornaments that I really love, and that I would never get tired of looking at!
My mission started in the little, tiny village of Stirling, Ontario where I grew up. Although I no longer reside there, my parents still do and over the last couple of years Stirling has put on an “Over the hills for Christmas” tour. The tour for this year featured 15 different little shops that all get dressed up for Christmas and offer beautiful Christmas décor for purchase!
Unfortunately, with our busy schedule I only had time to make it to two of the shops this year. I actually had to sneak away and tell my husband and children that I was going grocery shopping… Oops!
The first shop that I visited is one of my most favorite shops ever, The Vintage Junction! It is here where I found these beautiful ornaments! I instantly fell in love with them and purchased all that they had in stock!
Just down the road from The Vintage Junction, there is another one of my favorite shops to visit called Rustic Routes & Hi Country. This is where I found these decorations. I carefully selected them because they are neutral and will work with other colors in the future. They are also super sparkly and super pretty!!
I also decided to spend a little money on my garlands… I chose this beautiful silver, sparkly garland for my tree, to add a little shine! I also bought lots of burlap because, let’s face it – burlap is just classic, and it’s never going out of style! And then I made this DIY White Feather Garland!
Another thing that I finally decided to purchase for my tree this year, is a tree skirt! For years and years I have been using table cloths under my tree… slightly embarrassing, or maybe super thrifty! Either way, I tossed in the towel and decided to buy this faux fur tree skirt. Again, it’s super neutral and should be able to work nicely with any future decor schemes!
So there you have it! Even though I spent a little more on my decorations this year, I am actually going to be saving money! A lot of money!
EDIT: Silly me… It was brought to my attention that I forgot to put a picture of my entire Christmas tree in here! Oops!
Here you go!
