Metal tree Transformation!

Good Morning Friends!

Here's an idea that I came up with that I am pretty excited about.....

Are you ready for this?I was given two of these standard white pre-lit metal Christmas trees....
I took it out of the box and easily assembled it and let the branches fall and then "fluffed" them into place... I made sure I plugged it in to see if all the lights were working.....

I tore a GAZILLION of these. Most of what I used were old vintage flour sacks that had stains or holes. Each strip is about 4- 5 inches long. You can use muslin, an old sheet, vintage curtains, whatever floats your boat.
After you get all these together you just start tying them onto the metal branches.....


and after a million hours you arrive at

THIS!

I am in LOVE with how it looks.

Ages ago I used to tie rag strips around a tomato cage frame and made trees out of those.

Still a great idea~ they just take forever to get done.

One day while I was at the shop I was moving these trees around wondering how I would be able to use them for decorating INSIDE.That's when I decided to give this look a try and see how it turned out.

It does take some time to get done but the project itself is easy and the results are

awesome!

So far it's been pretty popular at the shop....

It's our first Christmas decoration that we have out (the Christmas chaos starts next week!)

We plan on doing the 6 foot tree next.....


to use in a Shabby winter wonderland display!

Every once in a while the stars align and a great idea is born!

(either that or my vitamin must have kicked in that day...lol!!)

I was excited to share this with you!

Let me know what you think!

I am linking this to

Air Your Laundry over at Freckled Laundry.

Have a great day!!

Concrete Facts.......

Concrete fact #1: Today I turn 43.

No doubt about it....(the wrinkle on my forehead is a dead give away)

How did 43 get here so fast? In my heart am still the little girl playing Space Invaders on Atari with my brother and buying Forenza sweatshirts at The Limited!

Concrete fact #2: Time goes by WAYYYYY to fast. It's not a cliche but a cold hard fact.

Sooooo, since there is not a dang thing I can do about it~ I am just going to embrace the whole 43 thing and count all my blessings and look forward to this whole year.

There is ALOT to look forward to!

I have a nephew who is set to be born any day now....

Russ's niece is going to have a baby girl in November....

I've got a grandson coming in March from my beautiful step daughter Erin....

Russ's nephew is getting married in September....

and my other beautiful step daughter Shawna is getting married in Oct.!

So much to be thankful for.So in the spirit of Birthday's and all that goes with them....

I decided to get myself a present.

I knew what I wanted for months now( but have been too cheap to get it.)

Ta-Da!!

My Jeanne d'Arc Living arrived

and

I AM IN LOVE!!!

Oh my gosh. What a magazine.

The pictures, the articles , the inspiration.

Everything is so beautiful.

And ...my good friend Joy from savvycityfarmer is featured!!!

I went outside on the porch to read it this morning and as the sun was coming up it inspired me to take you on a stroll of all the different concrete pieces that I have in my flowerbeds.

(See...that magazine works fast!!)

This little girl was a bargain because she doesn't have a hanger on the back.
That's alright by me...I think she looks great resting at the base of my tree as my garden path winds around her.....





this stepping stone greets you at the start of the path.....

my favorite birdbath was handmade....

can't possibly have a flower bed without bunnies.....

my English Puddler is a fav with the butterflies....

(and also looks great when I bring it in the house for winter and set a candle in the center!!)

You can't have a garden without this guy!

Concrete pinecones are really for a gas fireplace but I found them at Goodwill for .49 cents each and thought they would also look good in a garden...

My concrete mushrooms are all over the place...I love um!

THIS is my favorite and to be honest it's not concrete at all

But solid rock! I lugged two of these back from Valley Forge Pennsylvania years ago and have carried them to each house I have moved to.

My hen and chicks planter is another piece that I have had for years!

These hen and chicks came from the first house I bought and have been with me ever since.

Thanks for looking!

Have a great day!!

Just a thought....

Just a thought for today...Never underestimate the power of one broken seed.

One thing I don't do.....

Hello friends!

I was recently on a mission......

For a good pair......(no scratch that) a GREAT PAIR of shoes.

I headed out Friday night...to the MALL (which is a huge deal cuz unless the word ANTIQUE is in front of MALL...I usually stay away.)

Now, one thing that I don't normally do is spend alot of money on myself.

This had to be an exception. I am on my feet ALOT and with the holidays coming and the shop needing decorating and my current pair of shoes are in the process of loosing the left heel~ I knew I needed to make an investment.

And so I did......

in THESE!I was introduced to Alegria Shoes and I am never looking back.

Oh~My~Gosh~Golly.

Do you have a pair of these?

Am I like that only person to not own these yet?

THEY ARE AWESOME (and I am not being paid a single solitary cent for going on and on about um either. However, I am available to discuss opportunities....LOL!)

They are worth every penny (110.00 worth of pennies) but I am thrilled that I bit the bullet and bought them. My legs, back, feet, earlobes, eyebrows, fingers, etc...all felt GREAT at the end of a "very busy on my feet all day" kind of day yesterday.

This is a great example of "getting what you pay for."

Don't get me wrong~ cheap shoes that look cute will still find a way into my life

BUT.......

I am officially an Alegria girl from here on out!!

Guess WHO I found in the trash today???

HER !!!!

No Joke!!! I couldn't believe my eyes!!!

There she was just hangin out in a dumpster!!

I was soooooo excited to get her out!

The rescue went off without a hitch (for once...haha!!)

and she is thrilled with her new digs!!!

I let her bask in the sun for her photo shoot!

We were friends right from the start!

Plus we've got sooooo much in common:

We Both Love to dumpster dive apparently.....

She's spongey......like me

We're both short....

Her dress has stains.....like all of my clothes

and the list goes on!

She stands proudly on a rusty metal base!!

Perfection!
Now...what should her name be??

A Good Old Fashioned Antique Fair

Hello Friends!

I recently had the opportunity to head out to a wonderful antique show in a little town named

Cameron here in North Carolina.

Since moving here 6 years ago I had always heard about it but never had the chance to get there until now.As soon as I rolled into the town I got that nostalgic feeling.

Actually I got extremely home sick.

It felt like the antique shows that I was used to back home.

I couldn't wait to get out of the truck.

There was stuff as far as the eye could see!
I thought this little sign was adorable!

I felt like the girl in the drawing!

The crowds were plentiful......



The junk was superb......
(should have bought this cabinet base)



piles of it everywhere.....

there were old street signs....

(these were still in use...not for sale)

adorable old homes lined both sides of the street.....

old buildings sprinkled about....

I loved the doors on this one...

not to mention all the chippy old paint!!!

And the food! You KNOW the food was FABULOUS! Look....a whole turkey drumstick for only 6 bucks!

It was a beautiful day with lots of sunshine!

I'm so glad I finally made it there.

I did find a few treasures and would have bought ALOT more if I wasn't by myself.

You can be sure that Mr.OTM is going to be tagging along next time.

He just doesn't know it yet.