Thursday, December 17, 2015

Come on in... My Christmas Tour


 Christmas 2015
Keeping it simple!
















I hope you enjoyed my little Christmas tour.
***

Remember the reason for the season.


And don't forget to have a little fun!
I hope you were inspired!
Thank you for stopping by Thrift My House.
Have a Merry Christmas!

Linking here:

Monday, December 14, 2015

A Christmas Pallet, Curtains and a Prayer Request.

Do you love a good pallet project as much as I do?


Once upon a time a few years ago, I almost killed myself with a hand saw cutting apart this pallet. I ended up with the large part of the pallet hanging on the wall. It weighed about 5000 lbs and I wouldn't allow any of my kids to play or hang out near it for fear it would fall off the wall and well.... I didn't want to think about that so the rule of not playing under the picture pallet stood.

I loved it because it had 4 cubbies... a place to keep pictures of my 4 children. It hung there on the stair wall for about a year. Then it moved to the wall above the piano and then the piano moved, so the pallet moved...
It never ends.

Back to the story. 
The smaller part that I cut off and hurt myself over; I hung on the lower wall by the front door. It's one of those moments where I look back and say "What was I thinking?"  

Anyway, I wanted to show you how I stapled wire along the bottom of both pieces so that I could put stuff inside the openings, just in case you decide to tackle your own pallet project. 

Fast forward to this year... 

Most of my projects stem from a problem that I think I'm having... in this case, it's the lack of space on each end of our dining room table. I've hung pictures, put narrow tables etc... and nothing seemed right to me so... I decided to put this together.
Notice the narrowness...

And notice how I changed up my curtains. I lowered them thanks to Gina from Random Thoughts From An Incoherent Mind blog. Gina lowered the curtains in her living room and I was inspired! This room was always dark and I tended to keep the curtains closed because there was no privacy... I don't like being on display while we're eating dinner. This is perfect. There is always light shining in when the curtains are closed but it's still private.

Remember my chalkboard is on the other end of the table. You can visit that post here
Again, a big statement piece but narrow.

Between us, I've really not put a lot of effort into my Christmas decorating this year. It was almost 80 degrees here yesterday. 

It's hot again today, tomorrow and the day after that.

It. Does. Not. Feel. Like. Christmas. 

I made the home sign, stenciled the happy place quote, and then shopped the attic for some accessories. I don't own any Christmas plates so I used my black and white floral ones sprucing them up with the Christmas pinwheels that I made last year.

Christmas greenery and the word Happy are always a good thing.

I swirled some paint around the inside of some mason jars, tied on some twine, and added stuff from my Christmas stash.

Remember the ornaments that Julie from Julie's Lifestyle sent to me? I added them along with some rope to decorate these little pots. 

The bottom of my pallet is the perfect place for random leftover Christmas decor that I didn't use elsewhere.

I'm happy with this but to be honest I'm more excited to decorate this area for spring and summer. I have some ideas... 

I didn't buy anything for this Christmas project so I'm still thrifting my house. 
And I didn't hurt myself. Mission accomplished :)

I hope you were inspired!
Thank you for stopping by Thrift My House.
One more thing...
I wanted to ask all of you prayer warriors out there if you would add Mrs. Diana who blogs over at Nana Diana Takes A Break to your prayer list. She always asks her readers to pray for fellow bloggers and now she is in need and I'd appreciate it if you would visit her HERE and lift her up during this difficult time. Thank you so much!

Sharing Here:

Friday, December 11, 2015

Vicky's 2015 Annual Ornament Exchange

 My sweet friend Vicky who blogs over at Life On Willie Mae Lane hosted her annual ornament exchange. I participated last year and it was so much fun that I knew then that as long as she hosts it, I'll participate. It's a great opportunity to bless someone and make new friends. This year was just as exciting!
 It's always fun to receive a package in the mail! It makes me feel like a kid again. I wonder what's in it? I wonder who it's from? I can't rip the paper off quick enough!

Underneath the brown paper was this pretty paper hiding the goodies. So much fun!
 

There was a card with my name on it and a cute container which feels heavy...
More goodies to come :)

The card was from Julie. She wrote me the sweetest note introducing herself. Julie blogs over at Julie's Lifestyle. This was my first time visiting Julie's blog and thank goodness for this exchange! I'm so happy to be a new follower to such a talented and sweet lady.

Look at these beautiful ornaments! She crocheted these just for me and I'll always treasure them. I love homemade gifts!

She also sent these pretty white snowflakes. I actually used them in a vignette that I'll be showing you later.

She doesn't know it but my family loves peppermint, so this was perfect. 

This little dish is so cute. I'll be using this a lot.

These stickers will come in handy while wrapping presents. I love the cows and sheep :)

Thank you so much Julie! I appreciate and love everything. You did a great job putting this together for me. And I'm happy to have a new friend here in blogland. 
And thank you Vicky for hosting! All of your hard work putting this exchange together is much appreciated! 
Please visit Vicky to see more of the exchanges.

Thank you so much for stopping by Thrift My House.

Thursday, December 10, 2015

DIY Merry Christmas Sign

Have you seen this cute Merry Christmas sign? 
I saw it, I loved it, and decided to make my own. 

I took apart an old framed picture and used the back of the art for this project. 
It's a black thick piece of foam board.

I made up and painted on some white chalk paint. 
After it dried, I penciled around some stencils.

This is what I had. It's definitely not perfect. It's a little crooked because I didn't take time to measure accurately. But I finished it and it looked fine. It's rustic we like to say :)

I used paint pens to color it in. I then sanded around the edges of the foam board to let some of the black show through.

I think one reason I love to make things is to see nothing turn into something. 
And it doesn't have to be perfect to be pretty. 

I finally brought my husbands old ladder in the house. My friend Carol from Art and Sand is a ladder decorating expert and she inspired me to do this.

 This little spot is in the living room. I might leave the ladder there and see what I can come up with after Christmas.
I hope you were inspired!

Thursday, December 3, 2015

How to Make a Ginormous Chalkboard

Today I want to make a confession. I have a chalkboard addiction. I just might have one in every room of my house. I tend to do that. If I really like something; I repeat it... a lot :)

How to make a large, wow, it's really big (my mom said) chalkboard. My husband did the cutting and putting it together. Please forgive me for my lack of professional directions.

Supplies: Luan plywood cut to size at Lowes.
4 Pallet planks
Chalkboard paint, roller
Short screws, screwdriver
Some kind of saw...
Lots of coffee (save the grounds)

My husband cut the planks to fit around the edges of the board. He made the triangle pieces from the scraps to put on the corners. Now that he had the pieces ready but not screwed together yet; I took the plywood inside to paint it.

I placed the board on blocks and leaned it against a cardboard box that was hanging on a nail... We do what we have to do.
It took 3 coats and 3 days because the paint has to set 24 hours between coats. 

I decided to try a coffee stain on the planks. I saved my coffee grounds, about 5 days worth in the fridge. I brought them to a boil, let it cool and then slathered the grounds and coffee water all over the boards. I painted the water on and used my hands for the actual grounds.  I set them in the sun till they dried and then swept them clean. I guess you could use fresh coffee and grounds but I thought this was the thriftiest way.

Now, it's time to put the frame together. He turned it upside down and screwed the pieces together. The screws were short so they didn't go through the front. 

He sawed this piece off the edge.

Next he placed the board (already painted) on top of the frame and screwed it down.

He carefully cut the edge off of the plywood.

Flip it over and this is what I had.

I took it in the house and seasoned it. You have to completely cover the newly painted chalkboard paint with chalk before you can use it.

Now comes the fun part! I clipped some Christmas cards onto some lights that I strung around the frame.

This was a thrifty project. Less than $30.00 and 
you know I'll have fun changing it up with the seasons.

The best part for me is, it's narrow and doesn't interfere with the dining table chair, but it still makes a statement in the room.
I hope you were inspired!
Thank you for stopping by Thrift My House.

Sharing with these sweet people.