My Rusty Junky Shabby Chic Christmas Tree

I finally finished decorating my Christmas Tree today! I don't think there is another tree like it anywhere! The best way I can describe it is Vintage, Rusty, Junky, Shabby Chic with a touch of Bling! The best part - it cost me less than $10.00!

I found this tree at a garage sale for $5.00 when I was on vacation a few weeks ago.

Our house is too crowded for me to put up our big tree this year {read we have way to much furniture in our little living room.} I set the tree on our antique Queen Sewing Machine that came from my Father-in-Law's Step Grandmother.

I found 2 vintage patterns at the Goodwill and made lots of tissue paper flowers. The patterns were from the 70's and cost 59 cents each. I made tissue flower balls, rolled roses, a star flower, and little puffs from the patterns. Not a single piece of pattern went to waste.  That was over 40 ornaments for $1.18!

 I found a few springs off of a seed drill for rustic ornaments while bed springs made a rusty garland circling the tree.

 I used a few of the ornaments I already had and then tied some of the strips of material that I use on my rag wreaths to the branches.

 I came across three vintage, cross-shaped rug beaters recently and had intentions of listing them in my etsy store, but they found their way on the tree instead!

 This ornament was made by my sweet Grandmama. I would stay with her at night (because of her health)and we would make ornaments together. She made this one just prior to her last Christmas. I will always cherish those memories and even though the ornament is not perfectly stitched, its perfect to me.

This little angel was given to me many years ago by an elderly man at church. We shared the same birthday week (coming up soon) and we would always stand up together as the church sang Happy Birthday to us.

 

 I made a star flower out of the pattern paper and added touches of gold, brown, and lime glitter branches for a little sparkle.

 My only other purchase was one string of lights. The tree was pre-lit, but needed some more lights.  Everything else on the tree is upcycled and reused.  I used an old burlap potato sack for my tree skirt.

I got a few gifts wrapped today and now I have to get busy making the rest of my gifts! So what do you think about my rusty, junky, shabby tree?

P.S. Please come see my Gazebo decorated for Christmas. It has some unexpected decorations as well!

I'm linking my Christmas tree to :

Sew Woodsey










Savvy City Farmer Thrift'n on a Thursday

New Rope Wreaths

If you missed the western rope wreaths that sold in my etsy store last week, I made a couple more new cowboy Christmas rope wreaths and listed them this week!

They are rustic with a touch of bling, because all cowgirls and cowboys are rustic and one of a kind, but always in search of a little fun and bling!

You can click the link on my side bar to go straight to my store so you can have one of these country wreaths hanging on your door to greet all your Christmas guest!

Christmas in the Gazebo

 When we completed our gazebo makeover in the summer, I knew that decorating it for Christmas would be so much more fun! Now I've had a few months to plan...but I didn't...I just flew by the seat of my pants decorating it this weekend! That's the way I roll and when I feel the most creative!

Last month, while looking for a place to take photos with indirect, natural light for my etsy store items, I propped this door up in the gazebo. Its been a great backdrop for my wreaths and to be honest dragging it back and forth is not appealing, so I have left it in the gazebo.

I started decorating by hanging my garland up around the gazebo and found an old green wreath in storage and tied it to the old window frame and hung on the door, but it was just too blah. So I set out to spruce up the wreath. I went out back and clipped a few snippets off several cedar and pine trees and gathered a few pine cones. The fake green wreath provided a good base for the fresh greens and I was able to tie the fresh sprigs to the base with the wired branches. A wide scrap of burlap provided the finishing touches to the fresh Christmas wreath.

 While I was digging out my decorations, I decided to place my pencil tree in the gazebo. (Its the tree I usually put up in the house.) It already had lights on it and I placed it in my wash tub along with a few pots of fountain grass. I decided to display some of my watering cans on the tree as ornaments. Then I placed my small gardening tools on the tree as well. After all, its the time of the year when the garden tools aren't used for anything, so on the tree they went! The pencil tree looked kinda blah as well and I had a few extra cedar sprigs left over from my wreath, so I started tucking in the fresh greenery into the fake tree. Ahhh, that made it look so much more natural and fit in with the outdoor rustic feel. Why haven't I done this before?

 Suzy always finds her way into a gazebo photo shoot! She loves this place!

 You know, I might just have to add fresh Christmas greens to my junky tree in the house! That would give the house a wonderful "Christmas" smell....the wheels on the bus are spinning right now!

I had a customer at the flower shop tell me today, that a Christmas Tree Lot give her a few broken tree limbs for free. She was going to make her own centerpieces with free Christmas Greens! We have plenty of trees on our property, but if I didn't I would certainly stop by the tree lot to get a few branches to decorate.

I'm tickled pink how it all turned out and you know the best part - it didn't cost a penny! A nature inspired tree and wreath with fresh tree clippings and ornaments straight out of the greenhouse - no trip to the store for this project! I've had the garland since our very first Christmas here and now that I look at it, fresh greens would be so pretty added into it as well. Hmmm...my next day off project!

I'm linking to: