My Top 10 Christmas Rules

Everyone has their favorite ways to enjoy
every day of the holiday month of December.
Here are my 10 essentials.

Top 10 Christmas Rules
1. Listen to Christmas music every day.
Tip: find that radio station in the car that
plays non-stop Christmas music all
day all month long.


2. Change all my mugs to Christmas mugs. Dishes too.

3. Wear all our Christmas jammies.
(we get them every year)


4. Wear Christmas sweaters.
The "ugly" ones are back in style!

or at least wear lots of red. Fun hats, scarves,
and gloves too, weather permitting.
Santa hats are fun after the 20th.

5. Watch all my favorite Christmas movies.
DVR dozens.


6. Bake our favorite Christmas cookie. Snowballs.


7. Cook our traditional Christmas Eve
 or Christmas Day dinner. French Canadian Tortiere


8. Make a new Christmas craft or decoration.
DIY sign


9. See the Christmas lights in your town.

10. Throw all my change into the Salvation
Army red kettle whenever I leave the store.
It adds up!

Immerse yourself in JOY!


Cheers!


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Collecting Turkey Platters

 I've found all these turkey platters over the 

years at my favorite thrift store in 

Ft. Lauderdale, Faith Farm Ministries.

They have several big sales during the year 

and I love seeing what I'll find each time. 

These big platters were only $2-$3 each. 

They are great pieces to decorate for 

Thanksgiving. You can hang a grouping 

down a wall, display in a basket or box

 vignette, a plate stand, use to serve, 

lean against a shelf, or in the kitchen.

 My favorite place to display is to simply lean

 one against the back of the cooktop. 

It adds a good pop of color to the black tile. 

 Bold orange and brown with a raised pattern.

 Softer pastel colors, raised pattern.

 White is so popular right now. 

This is a nice platter for a neutral vignette.

This one is my favorite. The colors are

perfect to blend in with the rest of my

 Turkey Dishes, see those HERE. 

It has a smooth flat surface so I can

use it for serving as well as a tray for tea. 

Cheers!

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Give Me An M!

I love collecting the letter M. 

So when I saw the buffalo checked 

letters at Target for $1, I grabbed one.

I added it, along with two others to

the small plates I found thrifting

a while ago. The small plate rack is 

also a $1 thrift find. 

 This twine M is one I made years ago. 

It's simply an M cut out of cardboard with
twine wrapped and glued all around. 

You've seen it HERE. 

This galvanized letter is from Walmart's

after Christmas sale for 25¢. 

These inexpensive letters can be used for 

napkin rings/place setting charms, attached

 to a gift, ornaments on the tree, 

or collect several and spell out; JOY, 

MERRY CHRISTMAS, GATHER, HOME,

THANKSGIVING for a banner or sign. 

Be open to the letters you find. Have fun!

Cheers!

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DIY Easy Sharpie Tile Coasters

It's so easy to personalize coasters using 

a few pieces of leftover tile. 

I made these years ago when we still had
 our place in North Carolina.

We had a black bear theme in the guest 

bedroom and bathroom. 

See those rooms HERE and HERE.

Living room HERE.

I made a template of the bear using a 

piece of cardboard and traced it onto a tile

with a pencil. Then I just filled it in with

a black Sharpie. You have endless 

possibilities; monograms, words, names, 

and holiday images like, ghosts, 

Christmas ornaments, snowflakes,

Glue on a piece of cork for the back to

  protect furniture and prevent sweating. 

You can spray coat to protect the front 

or just fill it in if it gets worn. So easy!

Cheers!

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How I Found My Tobacco Basket

I've been keeping my eye out for a tobacco

 basket for years. I was hoping to find one

 on my travels for a good deal.

It needed to be authentic.

I was very lucky to find this one leaning
against the side of a dilapidated garage in
 a big overgrown yard in North Carolina.

We were storing our trailer there until
we drove up again to pick it up. 

The owner of the property didn't own the
basket.  He would try to contact the lady
that did. I was not leaving without a good
effort. We went to lunch in town and
I checked back with him later. 

Still no contact with the lady.

He promised to try again. 

We ran some errands...translation: I was
stalling to hit the road until all efforts
 have been exhausted.

Stenciled edges

On my next call he said that she was not
interested in selling. She knew what she had.
Now a normal person would give up at this
point. That's why they don't have elusive
treasures. I asked if she would be
interested in a trade. 

He'll get back to me.

Morristown, NC

We drove back to the lot and met with the
 lady. We chatted a bit and I offered her
the pick of any item that was in my trailer.

It was basically stuff I had accumulated
from garage sales and bulk trash days.
 Things I didn't want.
She liked a tile top table.

 DEAL! 

The table had a rustic North Carolina style
that wasn't going to work in Florida anyway
...PLUS I had picked it up for FREE on one
of my bulk trash day rounds.
So the tobacco basket cost me nothing.

Everybody was happy, as all deals should go.

Here's the best part. She had 2 baskets! 

TWO!

I basically got 2 huge antique tobacco
baskets for FREE.
But wait there's MORE!

 I sold one when we got home for $165.

Next, finding just the right spot for 

this 4' x 4' beauty. 

I first cleaned it up and oiled it up to

 protect the wood and bring out it's color.

  We first tried it in the family room 

on top of the wall unit. It looked
terrible there!

We strung little lights around and through.

After testing the lights first, they didn't

work in spots after we strung them...

as all Christmas lights do!

We finally found the perfect spot in 

the dining room above the large

antique cupboard. It was meant to

be there! The lighted pinecone basket

was already there. We took down the

antique beveled glass widow and

will use that in a better spot with

natural light. 

I just love, love it!

Cheers!

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3-Tier Galvanized Tray for Fall

The ever-changing 3-tier galvanized tray

got it's inspiration for fall from

 2 mugs I found thrifting.

 This handmade pottery mug beauty was 

only $1 at the thrift store! You know how 

much they sell for at craft fares and 

gift shops. I loved it the minute I found it

 because it's blue and ties in all my blue 

dishes and just autumnizes  everything. 

 Lucky me...I found 2 of them to perk

up our morning joe!

They are perfect for fall coffee, cider, 

tea, and hot chocolate.

That set the color story to orange and blue.

Those are very old napkins that I've had

forever. That Asian pattern was very

popular and is still a classic. 

More fall elements.

It's fun to grab this and that and see

what works. 

 Vintage salt and pepper set I use every fall.

 Another thrifted treasure that I found that day

 is this handmade pottery creamer. Blue too!

 It was also only $1. 

Old Ball jar, cinnamon sugar, and carved bowl.

Playing with mugs started this

all rolling. 

Cheers!

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