Christmas Sleds Stuffed With Stuff

My Christmas workshop in the cellar is running

out of "bits and bobs".  There were just a few misc

pieces left, and I decided to shove everything in these 

three little sleds.  

I bought all three sleds at a local antiques store,

for about what I would have paid at a yard sale.

Only one is old.   But I knew I had plenty of  Christmas 

"stuff" left to vintage them up.

The one above I entitled "Let Heaven and NATURE Sing".

So now my Christmas workshop in the cellar

is officially closed (and empty).

All three will be last minute additions to my

vintage booth at Camp Flea.

Salvaged Window Project

So we are getting work done in our mudroom.

This window had been covered with wood,

we weren't sure if the window was there anymore.

It didn't matter because we are putting corrugated tin over the 

entire mess anyway.  But there it was!

We are using the top one in the door of our chicken coop.

But the bottom one was fair game to re-purpose.

It did have a 2x2 inch chunk out of the wood in the bottom.

But I found hinges big enough to cover that,

and other vintage hardware bits to spice up the rest.

The window adhesive I purchased a year or so ago for $2,

Already in my antique booth!

Unconventional Christmas Trees

 I bought all of these metal wheels at a flea market,

and when I stacked them up -- VIOLA.

An industrial Christmas tree.

 We just recently tackled the "garden"

in our back yard.  After the previous owner

abandoned it, he used it to toss his old wine bottles.

I wish he would have drank about three more!

This screen has literally sat by our trash can outside since we moved in.

I knew I didn't want to toss it, but didn't know what to do with it.

Until now.

Book tree at the library.

Tin "tree" at local antiques shop.

Stonecrest Trail

 We knew that someday we wanted to make a trail.

But my husband got motivated after running on our

little road and almost getting shot by a hunter.
Now he has his own running trail.

Here you are looking at the "trail head" by the old barn foundation. 

 We are not the only ones using the trail. 

can you see the "v" of the deer hoof?

 The trail is about a quarter mile

and weaves around the perimeter of the property.

Most of it looks about like this.

 I love the mossy rocks along the border.

Even though we have cut the trail,

we will be adding more "interest" as time goes on.

Including adding more large rocks along the route.

 Almost all the trees have lost their leaves,

but we have some cedars.

So we will still have some green to look at this winter.

 Eventually there will be four benches.

This first one is in a rare sunny area for winter sunlight.

 Last week we snagged 10 "coral bells" from Lowe's,

for $1 each!  So they are the first shade loving plants

we added to the side of the trail.

Time magazine just had an article about doctors

prescribing walks in the woods.
A 2017 research review analyzed the effects of taking a woodsy
walk and concluded that the practice is linked to stress
relief, less depression and anxiety, lower blood pressure,
decreased heart rate and more.

Nice to have eco-therapy in our own back yard.

Garage Sale Finds In Mid-November

I am still adjusting to living in a new area.

Things are just a little different.

Like having yard sales in the middle of November,

on a lovely 60 degree day.

This painted folk art bowl was hands down my fave find.

I am putting it on ebay after enjoying it for the holidays.

(It may be my only Christmas decoration this year.)

I was thrilled to find vintage Christmas

stuff for my antique booth.

(I have set up a temporary Christmas work center

in the cellar, that you see in the background).

I bought an entire tub of old ornaments.

Super fun to sort through it all.

The nicer ones in this photo came from

Wildflower Vintage Market

(featured here in my last post.)

Wildflower Antiques Christmas Open House

Wildflower Vintage Market is a cute

little antique store near our house.

Just the owner, no booth rentals --

which is rare these days.

 She had a Christmas open house friday night,

and offered 25% off to the first 20 people.

So I was one of those standing in line.

 That night she had a local carver in-house.

He was very talented and fun to watch,

and a local baker supplied the lovely cookies.

But I didn't bring my camera until Saturday,

and of course the cookies were gone.

 Renee is very artistic and has a good eye.

Her sisters and mother contribute to the shop as well.

 She had two of these matching benches.

I didn't notice them until Saturday,

and of course they were already sold.

 Lots of cool hand decorated items.

 All with a great vintage flair.

 I bought some Christmas ornaments,

but there were people with armloads of purchases.

Stenciling Your Own Vintage Ornaments Tutorial

Last winter I got the notion to stencil on ornaments.  Not just any stencil.  I wanted the vintage ornaments to look like the old-time Shiny Brite stenciled ornaments.

Surely someone has made stencils for that purpose?  And, wouldn't you know?  We can always count on Martha Stewart.  She may have more than the ones I found on-line, but I was just happy to have come across these.  I knew the stencils needed to be small, flexible and have adhesive on the back.  Thank you, Martha.  You knew just what I needed.

I ran out of time last year, so I only recently had a chance to try out these little beauties.  I tried them this first time around on medium shiny brites.  Next time I am going to try larger ornaments.  I used a flat white house paint sample I had on hand, and it worked very well.  As usual with a stencil, load the paint sparingly on the brush and dab off excess on newspaper before lightly dabbing a thin layer of paint inside of the stencil.

While the paint was still wet, I sprinkled it (with stencil still applied) with fine white glitter (again,
to simulate a stenciled shiny brite).  Martha advises to take the stencil off while wet, but I did not read directions until later.  It was fine taking it off after it was dry.  (Martha also wants you to use her special Brush and Stencil Cleaner afterward.  That makes me laugh.  She is so intense.  She also says "Attach backing to stencil and store".  I am surprised she didn't tell us where to store it.)

Ceramic Tree Forest

 I was lucky enough to pick up three ceramic trees this year.

13", 19", 19".

I am selling them for $30, $50, $70 --

which is a steal if you see what they are selling for on ebay.

 I got the large white one at the

"Last Flea Market Of The Season"

(read that post here).

It had some damage at the top,

but my husband did a great job of repairing it.

The other two have music boxes.

I am looking forward to taking them into my new antique mall....

 where they can join their friends.

First Snow Of The Winter

 Fall is officially over, and winter is here.

Just yesterday we bought 10 coral bell plants on

clearance (for $1 each!) and got them planted.

But today is a different day altogether.

 Fortunately, most of the leaves fell a few days ago after

a hard frost.

It is very pretty,

but I am trying to avoid thinking about four months of winter.

Pre-WWI Navy Postcards -- One Man's Story

 I bought all of these postcards last summer,

and quickly stashed them away until I had more time to process them.

The same young man sent all these home just before WWI.

He was on the Battleship Nebraska (top pic).

 They range in date from 1908-1913.

Can you imagine being gone for so long?

Hopefully he got home before WWI started.

 The USS Nebraska played baseball against

the USS Missouri.  Nebraska won.

On the back it said that 7000 men watched the game.

He said "this is a pic of the turret that I am

training for gun pointer in."

This is actually a pic of him jumping off the boom.

So much history is lost in such a small amount of time.

Selling all of these postcards as a lot on ebay.

I know that the person buys them will value them.

Sold for $46.

Living Room Eyesore FIXED!

This was a window area once upon a time.

Then the genius who built the addition on the other side

made it shelving on both sides -- about 3" wide,

 so that neither side was completely functional.

And then put in fun house mirrors that made you appear

short and squatty.  Altogether a lovely effect,

and that was front and center in our tiny living room.

So it finally got torn out this week.

This is the view from the living room into the office.

This is the "after".

So soothing in comparison.

It will be our TV "nook",

and will save valuable floor space.

We used the boards that I had whitewashed in 

this post.  They are 120 years old, and look great.

I will show you in finished living room soon.