Thrift Shopping My Way Through The Holiday Season

This holiday season, I had a very particular problem--how was I going to keep our beloved rescue Beagle, Bernie, from snatching ornaments from our Christmas tree?  All of November, I wracked my brain for ideas on how to Bernie-proof the tree. I needed something functional and sturdy, without being an eyesore. And while I was thrift shopping the weekend after Thanksgiving, I found just what I needed.

I didn't expect a secondhand solution to come my way. But fortunately for me, a trip to Good Stuff Thrift of Fairless Hills, PA yielded this beautiful vintage fire screen. It guards the tree, and in my opinion, may even add a little nostalgic flair to it. 

To think that I almost passed it by. But after stepping back to let a crowd of thrifters pass, I gave it a second look and sent a picture to my Dad to see if he thought it was too big for the job. He thought it was a perfect find...and a total bargain for $10. I gave it a thorough clean and polish. And now I consider it the crowning achievement of my holiday thrift haul. 

My entryway table, which is usually a catchall for mail, keys, cups of coffee and whatever else I have my hands filled with...is looking especially festive. And though it's not entirely secondhand, I do love the various shades of metal we have here. The worn looking galvanized metal star bucket, the mercury glass bottle, the golden bowl of fruit. 

When it comes to decorating, I love featuring a mix of colors and textures. 

Even our key bowl is spruced up with $1 golden grapes.

Maybe it was because I started early, or maybe it's because I went often. But between my crafty Christmas up-cycle featured in the last blog post, and the gorgeous fire screen...I feel that the Ghost of Christmas Past paid me a little visit...or at least the Ghost of donor's Christmas Past. 

Stay tuned for one more crafty Christmas post prior to the big day...featuring lovely pieces of ephemera and Grafix Shrink Film.  In the mean time, I'd like to know:

From decor to gift-giving, has thrift shopping helped you this holiday season?