simple Christmas style

 

I just couldn’t bring myself to drag out all of the boxes, bags and crates to decorate this year. There were a few things I knew I wanted to decorate with, and I knew how I wanted to decorate. . . naturally simple. . so I got the pinecones, mittens, ice skates, a few lights and the old sled. I think my way of decorating is more for winter than Christmas. I figure if I keep with a winter theme all I have to do is take the tree down then I have a few more months to enjoy the rest of it without being considered a *redneck*.

We are going to Vegas Friday. But I wanted to get a few of the pictures up so you could see what I’ve been up to. Still no tree but that’s the easy part.

I’m not ready to show the whole room just yet but here’s few of the little touches I’ve put on display.

I always have such a hard time photographing the mantel. It always looks so pretty in person but when I look at the photos I don’t see the same beauty. But. . . here’s what I’ve done to it.

 

 

 

 

 

I love all things sewing, bobbins are some of my favorite things. I especially love them with candles in them.

 

 

 

 

This sweet little dovetailed crayon box is perfect for holding spare candles. The mini Norwegian Pine is a nice break from regular pine sprigs, it doesn’t smell as nice but I love the soft needles. 

 

 

 

 

I recently got this footed ironstone bowl on E-bay. I thought it was going to be taller and bigger, but I have come to LOVE the petite stature.  It’s so small in fact, I plan on using it in the bathroom to hold my French soap. Won’t that be adorable?  This is the first year my Christmas cactus has bloomed on time. I forgot it was a white one, so pretty. The ironstone butterpat is one of many butter pats I have. Since I don’t make *fancy butter* they have many other uses, such as pinecone holders.

 

 

 

 

And last is one (I still have a few more to address) shelf in the cupboard. Ironstone and Christmas just go together.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope everyone is enjoying a stress-free Holiday season. I’m off to warmer air. . . it’s been so cold here, I’m READY. . .

I can’t wait to see the inspiration I get from all of you. Please share my blog with your friends, it’s lonely over here, I need more peepers.

 

*~* Merry Christmas *~*

*~* Happy Holly~days *~*

 

~d

 

Fluffin the living room

 

I’m getting ready to decorate for Christmas so I had to rearrange the furniture to make room for the festive stuff. I leave today for my moms house and wont be home until Sunday, I just want to come home and decorate, the hard part is done.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is an old salesman sampler to be used in a mercantile for displaying wool samples. I love everything sheep. I’m quite smitten with this find. The inside is as awesome as the outside,the front is a door that drops down to show the samples and a description of each one.  I just wish it still had the samples, but I wouldn’t have been able to afford it if it did. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The white pumpkins and Indian corn had to be retired, so I did a little bit of winter decorating.

 

 

 

 

Christmas will be all around us by next week. I hope you stop by and take a look. Thanks for visiting my blog . . .

 

Happy Thanksgiving ~d

 

A sampler and new treasures

 

I’m back from our hunting trip. I won’t bore you with all the details, but I will say elk 3 us 0. We stayed in a mountain cabin that was so cute. Every cabin had a sweet old homemade bench, the cutest shaving mirrors I ever saw and an enamelware basin for washing up, since there was no running water. I think the reason I was so impressed was because these pieces were there for a purpose, not because that look is all a rage. I so bad wanted to bring them all home with me. . .

 

When we got home I found the sampler I ordered from A Crazy Quilt Journey,  a Netherlands shop on Etsy had arrived. I lOVE all things sewing, and have been looking for reasonably priced samplers for a long time. This one was perfect. Not only was it very inexpensive, but. . . red is one of my favorite accent colors, AND the date is my birthday.

 

 

 

 

Notice the letters “H and I “ are missing. The description said it was probably made by a child learning to do various stiches, thus the different samples on the bottom of the piece.

“1 April 1919”. Yip, I’m an April Fools gal. . . I have had every joke known to man played on me, I swear.

I haven’t decided yet where I’m going to display it, I’m just so excited to have it in my hands.
 

 

I found some treasures yesterday. I haven’t been out shoppin for a long time, I was ready ! ! ! Here’s a peak at what came home with me.

The red basket and pillow, the bed spring, twiggy wreath, blue banded bowl, ironstone tea leaf plate, lace linens and vintage elf are all my new treasures.

 

 

The plate was priced $4.00 but was on sale so it was $3.25. The linens were in a $1.00 bin. I can’t pass up a good piece of linen. The bottom one is either a sheet or tablecloth, it’s huge !

 

 

 

With Christmas decorating on my mind, I couldn’t pass up this homemade red wool pillow.

 

 

The bedspring will make a nice candle holder. And who doesn’t love a yellow ware bowl in cobalt blue? I’ve wanted to start the *Elf on a Shelf* tradition for my youngest Grandkids, but the new elves look creepy to me. I was so excited to find this vintage one with a cute face. I see trouble brewin, he looks mischievous.
 

 

And lastly, this cute farmhouse cupboard. It will go in our room, just not where it is right now. I was so excited to show it, I decided to go with an *as is* picture. It has a red and yellow decal on the door, I covered it with the French linen towel to hide it for the picture. It WILL get a fresh coat of paint. I like the color, but its really shinny.

 

 

 

I saw this cupboard on Pinterest. I want to do an arrangement like this in the new cupboard.

 

source

Here’s a close up of the linen. My Husband’s name is Roger and our last name is Rosin. Imagine my excitement when I found this monogramed towel with R R.

 

 

I’m off to rake leaves one more time, hopefully. Somehow Christmas décor just doesn’t go with fallen leaves.

Enjoy your day, thanks for stopping by.

Don’t forget to invite your friends to visit my blog.

 

 

This ones for Megan

 

 

 

I’m back home after a nice weekend with my husband. It was soooo cold there I was ready to come home, only to come back to 6” of snow. It’s supposed to be 60 today tho, go figure.

The reason I entitled this one for Megan, she offered her advise on how/what to decorate my Hoosier with. I took her advise and love the way it turned out. . . after a few experiments that is.

She suggested I fill it with zinc lidded jars. Now, Why didn’t I think of that, I happen to have a few dozen of them scattered here and there. At first I loaded it up with said jars, but it was too much. So I just picked some of various sizes and shapes, I like it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As a bonus I added the 3 tan and cream yellow ware bowls. Another great find at the Born in a Barn antique show. They were the first thing I spotted and of coarse bought. When I checked the price tag inside the smallest one, it said $25.00, I was so bummed, if the small one was $25.00 the biggest one had to be at least $40.00 and then there’s the medium sized one. . .but much to my surprise it was $25.00 for all three !! They are in perfect condition. Perfect for me anyways.

They don’t always live in the Hoosier, they’re just there for show purposes.

Here’s a few more pictures in different places.

As you saw in my kitchen post, I don’t have room for a dishwasher, I do dishes by hand several times a day. I use my old metal dish drainer to death. I like to use my cool old stuff when I can.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This crock shelf sets in the living room. It’s chippy, a tad tippy, and rickety but it holds a few of my crocks perfectly. The shabby topiary was on my patio all summer. I am managing to keep it alive, so far.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



I hope I didn’t disappoint, Megan. I just remember how much you like your yellow ware bowl.

Now, I’m going to take advantage of the warm weather and get my Christmas lights hung, I promise I won’t turn them on yet. I just hate doing it when its freezing outside, now’s my chance to be proactive.

Thanks for stopping by, and don’t forget to share my blog with your friends. Have a great week everyone. . . ~d

 

 

 

Dining Room

 

I had to get the dining room painted before Thanksgiving. I put it off long enough. My husband came home this past weekend so we did a little hunting, but mostly just kicked around and did a lot of nothing. That’s what I like to do when he comes home, which isn’t often enough. I’m going to his company Christmas party this weekend, I’m running out of time. Thanksgiving will be here before I know it.

Our dining room and family room are one in the same. Since our kitchen isn’t big enough for a table and chairs and our family room is HUGE, I decided to combine the 2 rooms.

 

 

 

 

The 6’ farm table was a Christmas present from my husband last year. I use mismatched chairs and a bench. That way I can switch them out in other rooms. Nothing ever stays the same in my house.

I made the table runner out of my specialty linen. . . canvas drop cloths. The bench is a tad chippy, but it sure is a sturdy little thing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(oops, I just noticed I didn’t crop out the missing trim. .  .)

These are a few of my *real* linen towels. This one actually came from France. I love the nubby texture.

 

 

 

R R is my husbands initials. I'm lucky to have several antique linens with his initials.

 

 

 

 

It’s a little awkward having the dining room so far away from the kitchen. But it gives me a place to have some of my favorite things. We actually only use it for playing games, working jigsaw puzzles and Holiday dinners.

Here’s some of my ironstone. I have a lot of it scattered around the house. I recently got this cute little shelf at an antique sale a few weeks ago. It was pale yellow and just screaming to be painted. I have come to love white ironstone with this blue~gray color. It’s not this blue in true light, it’s more gray.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This cupboard came out of a church in NJ. I bought it locally, I can’t resist antiques from back east, they’re just different than the things we have here. I just love that the metal tag is still attached.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It sets on a built~in shelf. I use the other side for my office area. What?? ! You don’t have an office in your dining room? ha ha.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This envelope is postmarked 1962. Both of my Grandparents lived in this small town, Winnett. My dads parents had a gas station, Cliff’s Auto Service. Back in the day they delivered gas to ranches for equipment fuel and home heat. This was a bill to my mom’s parents who lived on a farm and written out by my dads mom from the gas station. I love the connection that both of my Grandparents are present on this lil ol envelope. Notice there is no zip code.

 

The old house, as we call it, is still there. I have an open invitation to go there anytime and see if there’s anything I want from it. I need to do that. . . soon.

 

 

 

 

I hide my office supplies in this sweet metal industrial bin.

 

 

 

 

A 1943 Wyoming phonebook, old classroom photo, and old wall phone keep it from looking too modern. I found the buttock basket this summer, love it !

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now, I need to get in the Christmas spirit. I’ll show the other side later. I have a little somethin for Megan at 5540 farmhouse.

 

I hope you all have a good week. ~d