O Christmas Tree... O Christmas Tree...

I thought it would be interesting to look up the history of the Christmas Tree.

This is what I found at Wikipedia ...
"The tradition of the Christmas tree as it is today known is fairly young. It was established by Martin Luther as a Protestant counterpart to the Catholic Nativity scene.
Luther established the Christmas tree as a symbol of the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden. "

That being said I'd like to share with you our little Christmas Tree, I found it at Goodwill a few weeks ago for $14.99. Similar trees can be found price for $69 - $89 new!

My original plans were to place it on our deck , but we're not having the big Christmas party at our home this year and decided to go with a smaller tree that takes up less space.

Here are a few close ups of the ornaments.
I placed the little hand painted one in the front for easy viewing.


Here are the little trees in our living room.
I shared these with you in an previous post ~ Silver and Blue Vignette.
You can read about it here.








O
Christmas
tree,
O Christmas tree,

Much pleasure dost thou
bring me!

For ev'ry year the Christmas tree,

Brings to us all

both joy and glee.

O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,

Much pleasure dost thou bring me!
!!!!
!!!!


(Source for the verses from "O Christmas Tree" - composer Ernst Anschutz via Wikipedia)

I'm joining the Christmas tree party @ Thrifty Decor Chick.
House of Grace: Best of 2010 - Twice Owned Tuesday

Shutter Card Holder

I recently visited the Habitat for Humanity store and this is what I found...

...an old beat up shutter!
(.79 cents)

As soon as I saw it I knew exactly how I would make it into something bright and new.
A Christmas Card Holder.



The first thing I did was sand it down, followed with several coats of spray paint.
Finishing it by adding a picture frame hanger on the back.
Before hanging it making sure the louvers were slightly open,
to create a space for the cards to slip into.


I thought about adding some sort of Christmas embellishments, but decided against it.
This way I can use it year round to display photos or birthday cards.
Doesn't it look pretty with all the glittery cards displayed on it.



Speaking of Christmas cards, another easy and thrifty thing I did was framing a pretty Christmas card we received last year.
I rummaged around the house and found a frame and some ribbon.


Placing the card in the frame and then added the gold ribbon to hang it.



Making the final cost ... nothing!



My Epsom Salt Ornaments &Candle have been featured
at Someday Crafts hop over to her blog to see them.
She has a great blog with a lot of craft ideas.

Thanks Michelle!

I'm linking this post to...
Thrifty Decor Chic before & after party

Saturday Night Special ~ Funky Junk Interiors

House of Grace: The Best of 2010 blog party -before and after

Pretty in Paint @ It's So Very Cheri

DIY Epsom Salt Ornaments and Candle

I know there's been candles and ornaments
made with Epsom salt floating around blog land for a while now,
but I thought I'd share my version which utilizes simple things most of us have lying around our homes.

Here is what I had and you'll need if you're going to make these.
1. Styrofoam balls
2. Candle
3. Paint
4. Mod Podge or Glue
5.Epsom Salt

I made this project for mere pennies because every thing I used I already had in my home.

Three styrofoam balls - from a "free" box at the local thrift store.



Paint (deco art) given to me by a friend who no longer had a use for it.


Glue

I didn't have any Mod Podge in the house, but
you can substitute glue watered down with a few
drops of water as a homemade version.

Begin by painting the balls.

Next, a rubber band was placed about 1/3 of the way from the top
of an old candle (left over from our daughter's wedding)...



.....and the bottom two thirds painted
(the rubber band acting as guide/stopping point for the paint).




After painting all the items, I coated them with glue followed by sprinkling Epsom salt on them.
(Removing the rubber band after everything is totally dry.)


I added some left over silver elastic ribbon to the top of the candle...




...and placed all the items on a heirloom tray
from my grandparents 25th wedding anniversary.









I'm linking this post to...

The DIY Club

A note of Caution:
I received a note from the Single Nester warning to use cation when
the candle burns down to the salt area...could cause fire.

Home for the Holidays

Between Naps on the Porch
Holiday Home @ Centsational Girl
Fingerprints on the Fridge Feature yourself Friday
The Scrap Shoppe
Polly Want a Crafter
House of Grace - Best of 2010 blog party -crafts

Silver and Blue Christmas Vignette

Today I'd like to share with you a few vignettes from around our home. We're not putting up a large tree this year, so I thought vignettes would be the perfect accents for our living room. The past years I've used gold and burgundy in the living room, but since I'm working on a make over in the room, I changed out the colors to aqua blue and silver.

This vignette was put together very inexpensively using ornaments purchased from Wal-Mart, the dollar store and a second hand store.
The mercury glass candle holders and candle were free or half price using coupons; and the silver snow flake fabric was 99 cents for two yards @ a second hand store.

I love the little lacy snowflakes and the elegance and sparkle
from the ornaments and mercury glass.

This area I created on an end table using a mirror left over from our daughters wedding, a snowflake mercury glass candle holder (purchased for 99 cents at a thrift store), sparkly tinsel and glass beads from the dollar store.
I hung a Merry Christmas ornament from Wal-Mart on my thrift store lamp.

I placed these cute little thrift store trees/candles on my coffee table.
They remind me of these @ Pottery Barn. Mine cost a mere $1.99 for all three!

On the other side of the coffee table, I placed this silver tray (.79 cent thrift store find)
adding tinsel and glass beads
along with ornaments, a candle and another small silver tree placed in a white bowl.

This similar vignette was placed on a side cabinet.

I placed this ornament filled jar on top of my corner hutch.

The shelf in the entry area was decorated with two 25 cent garage sale mercury glass candle holders, a 99 cent oil lamp and mercury glass ornaments from the thrifty store.
The blue glass ornament is the only thing purchased new from TJ Maxx.

Here's the little tree all sparkly and lit up.

I hope you enjoyed seeing my living room Christmas decor.
I'm hoping to share more of my home decorated for Christmas,
so please come back for more of the tour.

Joy


I'm linking this post to
Southern Hospitality Christmas Vignette
Hooked on Houses
Coastal Charm Christmas Open House
Kelly's Corner: Show Us Your Life -Christmas Tour of Homes