Recent Thrift Store finds & Projects

For some reason as of late I have jumped in with both feet into trying new crafts and learning how to make all these great prims I see everyone else making.

I have learned I LOVE making stitcheries! Here are the two I made for Christmas gifts.

The santa is my very first one, so lots of mistakes and such. But I gave that to my mom and she loved it anyways. These were also the first frames I ever painted. I love how they turned out. I just used basic craft paint. Painted a coat of black then a coat of dark green or red. The second one is a close up photo of the one I made from a coloring book page I found online for my mother in law.

Here is a picture of our Christmas tree this year. I need to make or find a different tree topper for next year and find a way to keep the tree skirt on since the cats always destroy it the first day. The santa I found at the dollar store and tea strained him. The tags and candy canes were from the Christmas swap I received this year. I made the mittens (my own design) and painted them. I cut the strips of muslin and draped them around the tree. Next year I plan on having them all stitched and tea stained. Plus adding strings of dried cranberries.

I have been in a huge thrifting mood as well. We tried to stop at a few thrift stores and antique shops in Pa but most of them were closed for the week due to the holidays. We did find 2 thrift stores that were open in PA. I also had some time to kill before I picked Aaron up from work the other day. So I went thrifting again at one of my favorite local places.

Here are pictures of all my goodies.

The saltbox house needs to be redone, I am looking for a vintage honey label for the honey jar. The frames will all be redone of course, and I could not pass up that little tin for .25cents to make mini pantry cakes with.

I have been looking high and low for cutting boards. When I went there were 2 sitting right next to each other at the same TS. The uncle sam shelf sitter needs tighted but for only .25cents I snagged him, along with the horn for a whole 10cents!

The white hanging basket I love, but it has been painted with a shiny white gloss paint. Do I just repaint it? Or is there a other way to prim it and get rid of the glossy look?

Dh loves the watermelon the most he says. The heart wreath was a splurge for me. I have been eyeing a twig and berry wreath that just arrived at Joann's. But they want $35! Yikes!

So I decided to settle for this one for now since I do not have any Valentine decor and I figured $4 was much better then $35.

Today I am working on drying fruit, taking Christmas decor down, and I might try making a pantry cake. Depends on how much energy I have. I fell the other day at Aaron's work on the snow. I had parked on a small slope and I slipped right next to the car, sliding half way under the truck. By the time I was up on my feet again I was covered from head to toe in snow. I have been pretty sore since then.

God Keeps Blessing Us

With the holidays fast approaching you would think I was would be busy with all the hustle and bustle of shopping, decorating and wrapping gifts. Although in all honestly I have not been much in the holiday spirit this year. I am not sure what has brought this on. I am certain the lack of money this year has put a huge damper on things.

We did finally get the tree up and few decorations as well. Which did help to put I think myself as well as Aaron into the Christmas spirit a bit more. Turning the Christmas music on and making some cookies always helps too. :)

Although the Christmas spirit has been greatly lacking in our home. We have been greatly blessed the last several weeks. God has been showing us His wonderful love in various other ways.

First I won a wonderful blog giveaway of the 2 most adorable handmade Christmas mice.

Kim over at Old Road Primitives made this stunning little creatures. Be sure to visit her blog and grab up some of her other handmade goodies for your home.

This was my very first time ever winning a blog giveaway which made it even more special.

I only have a very few prim type Christmas decorations so I was so excited to add them to my prim decor. They are sitting up on a shelf in my living room for everyone to see, and so my 3 cats do not think they are dinner. :)

Thank you so much Kim for offering these cute little mice as your giveaway. They arrived safe and sound to my door step on a day I truly needed a lift of Christmas spirit and prim cheer.

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I received a email last week which I almost deleted thinking it was spam. Thankfully I took a second look at it. I won a $100 American Express Gift Card! I do surveys and this one your name was thrown into a hat to win a amex GC. I was so thrilled. It should be here in the next 6-8 weeks.

My dh and I have changed how and what we eat. To help us lose weight and become healthier.

In the last 45 days I have lost 14.5lb and my husband has lost 36lb.

That does seem like a lot of weight loss to some people but please understand my husband and I are plus size people. We are also losing the weight in a healthy way that we can live with for the rest of our life. You can read more about it on my husbands blog Losing 200 Pounds 1 day at a time.

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I am praying that God continues to bless us with a promotion for Aaron at work. Please keep Aaron's job and our family in your prayers.

Here are a few pictures of Christmas this year at our house. It is pretty bare since we have very limited prim Christmas decor.