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?

How I'm Getting Crafty This Christmas...With Just $10

This piece of holiday decor just has...a little TOO MUCH Christmas going on. 

A few weeks ago I hit up a few thrift stores in hopes of finding some fun fashion, and maybe a few pieces of thriftspiration for the upcoming holiday season. And for under $20 total, I came home with a few bags of decor and more. A few of those finds are saved for upcoming posts. but this particular piece is something I can feature in all of its merry detail. 

Overall I like the shape, or what I can see of it under the heavy-handed application of faux poinsettias. The candles though...a little dated. And all together...it's a little...much. Okay, a lot of much. It's just too much. 

But the key to thrifting for anything, whether it's fashion, furniture, or even holiday decor...is to see the item beyond its current state. 

Look at any secondhand item with an open mind. See it not just for what it is, but for what it COULD be. 

The first thing I had in mind was to swap out these dated trumpeting angels with something simpler. To me, the shiny brass of the tree is elegant enough that it doesn't need two gigantic glass candles flanking its sides. It's time to tone down the Christmas and to bring this holiday castaway into the 21st century. 

After a quick trip to Michael's Craft Store for some supplies to make my creative Christmas vision a reality, I busted out the hot glue gun. That's all it took...a hot glue gun, scissors, and just a bit of burlap. 

Simple. Modern. 

And there it is! My too-much Christmas decoration, modernized and re-imagined. Two white taper candles (cut down a few inches to not dwarf the tree) and a garland of faux pine needles from Michael's...a total of about $6. 

After cutting the candles to size, I glued them to a small square of burlap, and glued both to the candle holsters. I also used a tiny glob of hot glue to hold the ring of garland in a circle around the base of the tree. That's it! I love, love, love how the garland is light enough to not overpower the piece like the poinsettias had been. Because the base of the tree is actually very pretty. 

$4 for the Goodwill rescue piece and $6 for the supplies (with garland to spare)...this $10...and ten minute up-cycle is a Christmas miracle! 

There's so much holiday spirit at Let's Go Thrifting headquarters that I can't even squeeze it into a single blog post. So stay tuned for more ho-ho-ho-liday thrifting magic...AND for a special crafting post featuring Grafix Shrink Film! 

How are you getting crafty this Christmas?