Winter Scenes 2014

One of the most pinned things from our blog is our winter decor from two years ago.  I thought I would update it.  I never in my life changed out my decor until I started thrifting.  In fact I've had a strong loathing for knickknacks, gewgaws and tchotchkes since I was a child.  My mother never met a souvenir or memento that she didn't feel the need to display.  Dusting as a child was an unbelievable chore.  Consequently, I've never had a lot of stuff laying around.

Flash forward to getting bit by the thrifting bug and all of the sudden I have cupboards full of cake plates, vintage silver and vases.  Now, I change it up every season.  I get bored very quickly so things change a lot.

Right now we are in the middle of the endless snowpocolypse and polar vortex.  I have been out of school more than I have  been in.

I have a serious case of the winter blues and didn't really have a whole lot of inspiration this year.  I didn't even take down my outdoor Christmas decor because it was just too cold and snowy.

  

So my winter decor inside is not all that different except, I developed a slight obsession with pine cones.  I liked their rustic texture next to my tarnished silver.  Also, they are in abundance on our property so they are very cheap.   I am not in love with these looks.  I abhor crafty crafty stuff and all this feels a bit contrived to me, but it is what it is this year...winter is just not thrilling me this year.

 Everything on the mantle is from a thrift store or garage sale except the wooden reindeer.  My late father made it during his wood working phase.  When my mother was moving and cleaning out a few years ago, she had it in the "give away" pile, but my son rescued it saying that it could not ever be given away.  It has been stuck in a cupboard for about ten years so I decided to use it this year.

 I have quite a few blue mason jars.  I have been incredible lucky at finding them at thrift stores and garage sales.  My latest acquisitions were from a garage sale being run my a man (I don't think he knew what he was selling.)  They are harder to find now as everybody wants them.

I hope you are someplace warm and sunny.    By the way, my goal for this year is to learn to take better photographs!  I am not going to say my pictures are crappy because of the time of day or sunlight.  My pictures are crappy because I have a good camera that I have no idea how to use.


Patty

Snow Day, Snow Decor

Today is our first snow day of the year.  One of the best things about being a teacher is the occasional unexpected day off in the middle of my least favorite months.  In honor of the snow day, I am going to show you my winter decor.

 I am still very poor at styling a picture.  I forget to check and make sure my curtains are hanging nicely.  I forget to make sure the rest of my clutter is hidden or to clean.  See the dirty brick on our fireplace.  About two years ago we removed the dated brass glass cover and protector hood.  We love the open look, but I have to clean the brick more often (obviously I have not gotten around to that in a while.)  Let's just say I am a so so housekeeper and leave it at that.

 The ampersand was on sale the day after Christmas at Hobby Lobby.  I love their large letters, but I am not a fan of metallic anything (although I did read that metallic is one of the top trends of 2012...doesn't matter unless it is tarnished silver, I am not a fan.)  The snowflakes were three candle holders for $5 at the Goodwill half off sale.  I tried to take off the candle holder part because I just liked the snowflake part, but it was welded on there to stay for eternity. 

 

The silver pedestal is a Slavo find for 75 cents.  The chunky white candle holders I think came from Hobby Lobby's 66% off clearance aisle a few years back.  (Do you hit that aisle first when you go to Hobby Lobby?  Thrift Chick and I never shop the front of a store...we head right to the back for the sale racks)

   

This old church attendance/hymn number sign is one of my favorite purchases as of late and it was a real impulse purchase.  Last fall we were checking out of Salvo and I gave one last look back (you know in case I missed some treasure)  There it was leaning against a post.  I paid three dollars for it and left it in all of it's old shiny varnished state for my fall mantle.  I liked the height it had, but just wasn't sure about it overall.  Thrift Chick has been after me to put words in it.  I gave it a coat of spray paint and sanded it for this display.  I like it better, but I think it still needs some work.  For this quote I did each letter separately on velum to mimic the old letters churches used.  It was very tedious and I am not sure it was worth it...it may have worked just as well to do whole words.

 

 These weird wooden ball things are another so-so knock off I tried.  That post is coming up shortly.

Whenever I am doing these seasonal vignettes, I always worry that they are too crafty...those of you who are a little older remember when we all had tons of homemade craft goodies displayed for every holiday.  I don't want to return to those days.  However, I do enjoy changing things up every few months.

Mama Thrift

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