Christmas Decorating!

It's my favorite time of year to decorate! I am so passionate about creating a warm inviting space all year long, but I can't even tell you how much I enjoy creating a winter wonderland in my house this time of year!

I am on a budget, so when it comes to decorating, I get thrifty. I have been collecting Christmas decor since the day I moved out of my parents house at 19... so let's just say I've been collecting for a decade! I try to add something new every year. Some of my favorite Christmas pieces are hand-me-downs from my grandparents. Grandma was always coming up with new ideas and Grandpa would put them to life in his wood shop. They made everything from the Santa, Sleigh and Reindeer, Toy Soldiers (that I have pictured below), and much, much more! I could do an entire blog of the things they've made!

I do have a quick, sweet story about the things they have made though.....Growing up we didn't have a ton of money. My Grandpa worked for many years and hurt his back on the job many, many years ago. He had to have major back surgery and has been disabled ever since. Since he couldn't return to work he enjoyed making things out of miscellaneous wood around the farm or if a family member or friend brought up spare wood from a project. My Mom knew how much he loved to create things and with funds being limited, she did something very sweet. Have you heard of Sunny 95's Christmas Wish? It's a local radio station that would grant someone's Christmas wish once a week during the month of December. She wrote to them about my Grandpa and everything he had gone through with his surgery. Now that he was home and disabled, she told them about him loving woodworking and that funds were limited and that she wished he could have more tools and supplies to work with. One evening my mom received a phone call from Sunny 95 and they decided to grant her wish for him! I've never seen my Mom cry so hard with excitement when they called and told her... I'm actually crying now just thinking about it... I remember when my Mom was on the phone with them, she was trying to be quiet and hide but my Grandpa could hear her crying and was getting upset and wanted to know who was on the phone making her cry!

With that being said, my Christmas decorations are not just decorations, they are years of wonderful memories that I cherish. Hope you enjoy!

This is my snowman tree... if you couldn't already tell..lol. Growing up I thought that blowmolds were so ugly and now I LOVE them and can't collect enough!

I topped my snowman tree with a top hat and filled in the empty space with glass ornaments hung with Christmas plaid ribbon from the ceiling.

This is my Santa Corner. I know most people put their blowmolds outside, but I love to fill the inside of the house with them!

I have them stuck everywhere!

I took a break from decorating and decided to decorate our dog Max... He was thrilled :)

I NEVER throw away a burnt out bulb... throw them in a jar and they make a perfect Christmas display.

Vintage Santa

To add to your everyday decor, take your extra bulbs and stick them around the house.

I like to use candle pillar holders for other things besides candles. It adds height to your decor and makes a lovely display.

Santa Boot and Greenery

Bathroom Christmas Decor

More bathroom.. Add greenery from your bathroom lighting fixture, then take extra bulbs, hang them from ribbon and attach.

This is my dining room tree with the theme of wine and martinis!

I used my corks I've collected, stuck toothpicks in the bottom them and then stuck them all around the tree.

This is my bedroom. White, Sliver and Black Theme. That's a photograph of my grandparents on their wedding day.

Bedroom Tree

This is my Vintage Tree, filled with pixie elves, vintage ornaments and vintage lights! I LOVE Bubble Lights!

The Buckeye Tree in the basement and our Max :)

Instead of storing away my flower hanging baskets for outside, I decide to go to my Grandparents farm and cut down greenery to fill them and added a few bulbs here and there.

More flower pots on the porch.

More of the front porch

Hand-me-down washtub from my Mom filled with greenery from the farm.

This our Tucker watching us decorate the outside.

Vintage wood Santa cut out from my wonderful boyfriend!

Outdoor Christmas Tree

This is one of the Toy Soldiers my grandparents made. They stand about 8' tall and I have them on each side of my garage.

This is the Santa, Sleigh and Reindeer they made years ago... They are my favorite!

Merry Christmas to All and to All a Goodnight!!

Don't forget to stop by and check out my Etsy Store... Zassy's Treasures & Design! http://www.etsy.com/shop/ZassysTreasures

Making A Family Photo Tree...

I was lost on what to get my grandma for her birthday this year... since it is so close to Christmas I decided to make her a family photo Christmas tree.

My grandparents used to deck the halls every Christmas season from top to bottom. We always had an adult tree in the living room and a kids tree in the family room. For years my entire family would gather at my grandparents on Christmas Eve and stay the night to wake up the next day to celebrate Christmas morning. Over the years, as our family grew larger we outgrew my grandparents house. My grandparents stopped decking the halls from top to bottom and no longer put up the two trees.

We now celebrate the Christmas holiday at my house. My grandparents were nice enough to hand me down a lot of their old outdoor Christmas decor that they had handmade throughout the years when I asked them for it and I absolutely cherish it all.

I decided to make the tree because I wanted to give them something back in return, that they could enjoy throughout the Christmas season.

I used a wood M cutout for their last name and peacock feathers as a topper. The peacock feathers reminded me of the farm.

I purchased a 4' tree at Family Dollar, it was on sale for $10, and a box of 100 lights. I then picked up flocking in a can to add to the tree. I LOVE flocked trees. I stopped at my local art supply store and found burlap on sale for only $2 a yard and a yard was plenty. I cut the burlap into 3 - 4" strips and wrapped it around the tree like garland. I also added some country lace as garland.

I used scrapbooking paper, scrapbooking scissors and tags to create the frames for my photos.

Tacky Glue was the best thing for me to use to glue the paper pieces and photos together, although you don't want to use a lot of glue, a little goes a long way..

After I got all my pieces glued together I then coated them with Mod Podge using a sponge brush. This will seal all the pieces together and give it a texture.

I punched holes in the top of my paper frames with a hole punch and then threaded twine through to create a loop, then tied in a knot.

This is how they turned out. I made about 25-30 of them and that seemed to be enough to cover the 4' tree.

This was a pretty inexpensive project and I had a lot of fun making it... it brought back lots of family memories. <3

Growing Up On My Grandparents Farm

There are so many reason why I LOVE my grandparents farm. The memories my family has created there for over 27 years, are absolutely priceless to me.

We moved there Thanksgiving of 1984, when I was two years old. My grandparents reside there to this day.

Growing up, we had every animal imaginable, from horses to peacocks. They only animal my grandparents never homed was a cow... not sure why. Every animal we had were pets to us. Imagine growing up having 3 horses over a dozen turkeys, 6-8 goats, 30 or more rabbits, over a dozen chickens and ducks, 6 peacocks, pigs, potbelly pigs, 10-20 cats and 3 dogs all as pets... It was so much fun! I imagine it wasn't as much fun for my grandparents and mom, who had to take care of them, but I always had something to play with..lol.

The farm has changed over the years... The animals have sense moved on, but the beauty and character of the farm still remains.

I will always consider the farm home.

The view from the front porch of the house.

Present Day

The Outhouse

Present Day

The fence leading into the horse field.

Present Day.

The gate leading into the field.

Present Day

One of our horses Roo... shorter for Rooster because my grandma said I could pronounce Rooster when I was little.

The puppies and the hen and rooster house back in the day.

My horse trainer Bryan.. I think I had a little crush on him back then...lol

The duck house years ago, before we had ducks.

My first time on our horse Cotton with my grandpa.

Grandma and her favorite horse Taffy.

Grandpa and Cotton

The ducks and their pool..

The duck house

Present Day

The back field behind the barn many years ago.. we always loved going sledding back there.

The back of the barn

Present Day

The End.