Oh Christmas Tree

Oh Christmas Tree, how ugly you were to begin with! I should have taken a before picture of this tree, when I found it at a sale. It was sticking out like a sore thumb in the parking lot at the Junk in the Trunk fall sale. Holey and thin, with a plastic base, and one string of colored lights, the lady apologized and sympathetically said, "it can be a pretty tree." Of course, I knew it could be too! 

My first thought was, I can always cut it a part for centerpieces, but then I got to decorating around the camper and let's just say, she didn't get cut a part (yet!) Actually, I took fresh pine and cedar cuttings and added into the big gaps, to make it fuller and prettier. It added a little personality to the tree. 

I shoved her down in an old wash tub, tying two branches to the tub handles and draped two burlap coffee sacks in the tub to hide the base. Being outdoors by the camper, the bucket is heavy enough to keep it from blowing over. 

She got a grapevine garland, white lights and a few burlap ornaments to dress her up, rustic and simple. 

This is one of the trees displayed by my camper. The other two are simple as well, with just lights and some tinsel. 

More pics of Miss Gussie's Glamper Christmas, coming soon! I need to fine tune my camera settings to capture more... 

Vintage, Junky Christmas in my Gazebo

As promised, it's now time to show my completed rustic, vintage, junky Christmas/winter gazebo decorations! I'm absolutely in love with how it all turned out! 

Now pull yourself up a chair and grab a cup of hot chocolate, because there's lots of pictures to come.

Saturday was just about the perfect day. The morning started out a little cold, but I was able to finish up Tanisha's burlap and lace wedding order, made a couple of new Christmas wreaths, started some laundry and did some indoor work. Later, the sun warmed the day and I enjoyed some time outdoors.

As I went to open the gate for the mail lady to stop and pick up my outgoing orders, I walked down the road to gather some of my Christmas tree decorations. I love seeing all the wild grasses as I travel the back roads and this particular white fuzzy grass has been telling me it needed to be on my shabby chic tree. 

After the mail came, the girls and I went down in the woods on a nature walk to gather pine cones, holly, cedar, and pine.

Then the fun really began! I showed a sneak peek of my junk wreath last week. We'll here it is up close. Bed springs, a saw blade, washer, and medallion are my "ornaments" suspended by twine on the window frame. A swag of cedar and pine accents the window.

I filled my old crock with more greenery and pine ones. 

The base around the crock was a silk Christmas wreath that I added a few fresh clipings into.

I was kinda sad, trying to figure out what I would put in my tired looking flower buckets. Then it hit me, I poked the greenery into the dirt and instant makeover. I left the kale and begonias in the bucket and just added the greenery around them to make the bucket much fuller and hung them back up on their spring hooks. 

Some of you might know the story, but our gazebo was literally pulled from a trash ditch a few years ago! It really was someone else's junk. Everything was either pulled from someone else's trash- gazebo, buckets, crock, bike, springs, metal water cooler,  gym basket, tin on the roof or found at a garage sale - burlap, Christmas tree, 3 strands of C7 lights and quilts or made by me. Nothing store bought here! I prefer to keep my Christmas decorations that way- natural and rustic. We are not ones  to get into the commercialism of the holidays and no Santas will find a place among my decor this year.

Now here's my fuzzy grass from the side of the road! 

Anybody know what it's called? 

I simply tied in the grass stems with the branches on the tree. Since our house is itsy, bitsy, teeny, weenie, and we are so overcrowded (hey, we're junk collectors😉), I don't think I am going to put up an indoor tree. No one ever comes to our house during the holidays, so I think we are going to enjoy our tree outdoors this year instead. 

A few more clippings, a rusty Texas license plate, pine cones, and a burlap bow fill the gym locker basket on the front of the bicycle. 

As the daylight faded away, we grabbed a couple of vintage and tattered quilts, a cup of hot chocolate and enjoyed some time under the twinkly lights. 

I have a feeling most of the decorations and lights will stay up long after Christmas and we will enjoy sitting out in the gazebo in the evenings. 

Thanks for hanging around till the end! Hope you are having a fun, stress free weekend.

 Merry Christmas! 

A Burlap and Lace Christmas Tree

I think I finally finished decorating my little Christmas tree!

I chose a Burlap and Lace theme this year.

 I decorated the tree with a scrunched up red burlap garland, strips of a lace curtains rescued from the Goodwill, strings of pearls, white burlap roses, and various tan burlap flowers and ribbon. Three white feathers topped the shabby chic tree.  I thought I was finished, yet something seemed to be lacking.

 I came across a box of bling that I had  used last year and decided to pick in the brown, gold, and green glittery stems. Now it seems finished and there's no place to put anything else on the tree.

 We live in a small house and the little tree is perfect for our crowded home. The shabby chic mini tree sits on an antique sewing machine in front of our living room window.

 Everything that went on the tree was either hand made or recycled from years past, with no money spent on decorating the tree this year.

 

Click the links to see my Junky Little Christmas Wreath and My Vintage Typewriter decked out for Christmas.

 

Merry Christmas Y'all!

 

Linking to

Getting Ready for Christmas!

 

Its that time of year! A changing of the season as we say good bye to fall and hello to the holidays. A time when we clean and redecorate in preperation for Christmas.

 

I've been doing just that this weekend.

 

 Here's a little sneak peak of my Christmas Tree.

 My theme this year is Burlap and Lace! Everything on my tree is used for making wedding bouquets in my store.

 

I'll be sharing more pictures of my shabby chic tree this week!

 

I've spent some time this weekend *trying* to spruce up my blog for the season. I spent two hours this morning trying to change my background and layout. It would not do what I wanted it to do...So we'll just settle for a "winter white" look with a shabby chic bride's bouquet for a header. At least the orange and green are gone for now...

 

I also made a few changes to my etsy store and have several items on sale for the holidays. Several items are on sale from $5.00 off to 33% off. I plan to keep adding and updating items this week, so please check out my store for some hand made gift items. I also added lots of custom wedding bouquet pictures, so if you are planning a wedding in the future and like burlap and lace, please convo me and so we can create flowers for your dream wedding.  

 

We've also got a special project going on with this truck load of cedar clippings! I can't wait to share what its all about. Unless you've seen my Instagram pics, it won't be what you are thinking!

 

Well it looks like I have just planned myself a busy week and I haven't even thought about Christmas shopping yet! Yes, the holidays are here!

 

Hope you have a great week.

 

Thank you 2011

As the last few hours of 2011 come to an end, I think about all the events that occurred this year. A year ago, this blog didn't exist, I didn't have an etsy store, a Twitter account, Pinterest, or know anything about all the craft blogs that existed out there.

I am thankful for all of you that follow along with me here on my blog and all the other social media outlets, the customers who have purchased items from my etsy store, and the ones who have featured my work and pinned my projects. I appreciate your support as I venture along with my creative endeavors and share stories from our farming life.

I've yet to fully explore Pinterest, but am tickled these projects have been pinned this year!

The pictures above are from my blog and the items below have been pinned from my store!

I opened my etsy store, Gypsy Farm Girl on February 2 and my first item sold 3 weeks later...O happy day!

Spring is my favorite time of the year as flowers start to bloom and color returns after a long cold winter.

In April, we took two trips to view the Ennis Bluebonnet Trails. Our truck broke down the first day and Farmall Man used his incredible skills to rig our truck when the clutch bracket broke a hundred miles from home and all auto parts stores in the area did not have the part we needed. We had to drive home from Ennis without using the clutch. A hammer, channel locks, and card board from a clothes hanger held the clutch assembly in place. We had lots of rolling stops on the way home. That was an adventure, but the beautiful scenery was so worth it. I hope we can go back in 2012!

In May I shared some of my rustic garden decor and pictures from my yard. The drought hadn't hit yet.

June brought more flowers to the yard, but I was kept busy as Farmall Man was still recovering from his broken collar bone. The horses helped me mow the yard this summer! A motorcycle wreck slowed down his activity and I had to complete almost all the farm chores for a while as he heeled.

We celebrated the 4th of July by photographing a fireworks show on the lake. I learned about new camera settings for photographing the fireworks.

My Burlap and Belt Buckle Chair Covers from August were featured on Tip Junkies Top 10 Crafts to Make this Week and is my second most popular blog post to date! I jumped up and down and squealed with delight when I found out I had been featured!  

August also brought about an opportunity to be an affiliate with My Memories Digital Scrapbooking Software. I held my first giveaway on my blog thanks to My Memories, and anyone who uses the promotional code : STMMMS41634 can receive $10 off My Memories Software and a $10 coupon to the online store!

I've enjoyed working with the software and have actually used the scrapbooking software more for blog work (designing headers and photo collages) and for making my Christmas cards this year.

August also brought about a Makeover on our Gazebo. I love how it all turned out!

By September, the Texas drought was becoming drastic and wildfires were occurring everywhere. Our county was struck hard and one large fire happened less than a mile from our house. I was mentally making evacuation plans as we watered everything we could as the ashes dropped on our property. I've never been so scared of fire before.

December has been kind to us in the way of rainfall. Thankfully we have begun to see regular rainfall again, the burn bans have been lifted, and the ponds are filling up. I know that some of my plants in the yard have died from the drought, along with lots of trees in the area. Its sad as you drive down the roads and see the toll the drought has taken on everything. Many farmers and ranchers are hurting and hay for animals is in short supply.

I entered my moth picture in  our county fair photo contest and received honorable mention in October. 

In October, I received some photography advise from Donna at Funky Junk Interiors and in November, she featured my Rag Wreath on her facebook page. The wreath had already sold before her feature, but another fabric wreath from my etsy store sold that day! I love Donna's junky style and have linked to her Saturday Night Special several times. She suggested I take my photos with natural lighting and have started taking my product pictures under the gazebo.

Christmas shoppers purchased several items from my etsy store this season. I will definitely be more prepared with more items in stock for next years holidays. My rope wreaths were featured by Handmade in Texas and all the Christmas wreaths sold. I am making more wreaths and hope to get more items restocked soon.

I took down my rustic, junky, shabby chic Christmas tree today. I've never left my tree up this long and was kinda sad to take it down. I'm trying to figure out how I can decorate with the pattern paper ornaments and bed springs in the house. I'm thinking some type of wreath or garland. I'll let you know what I come up with!

 

I didn't realize how long this post would be or the time it would take me to write it, but as I look back on my blog and through my pictures, overall, its been a great year! Thank you from the bottom of my heart for following along on my journey and supporting me with your comments and encouragement. I appreciate you ALL! Now I can't wait to see what all 2012 has to offer! I'm dreaming big and hoping its a great year for us all!

 Happy New Year!!!