Hot cocoa.....

When the weather outside looks like this...

there's one thing that will warm me up...

a nice warm cup of hot cocoa......

only a couple of minutes to heat up...

nothing like some whipped cream and chocolate syrup on top....

Sit back and enjoy - while I search some beautiful blogs.....

Valentine jar....

Well I know I said I wasn't going to buy any more things. But I don't think this counts. I wasn't looking to buy any more stuff, I went to Marc's for groceries

 and then I saw this....

I wasn't quite sure what it was, but then I saw this....

still not quite sure, until I saw this in the next isle...

did you figure it out?

It's an apothecary jar in PIECES!

I couldn't believe it. The top was marked .99 cents as was the base.

The center jar was only $2.99! So for only $5.97 and a little glue ...

 a few red apples...

a Valentine ribbon...

I get this...

Now that's a deal I couldn't pass up!

I hope there's a Marc's near You!

Before and after candlesticks....

I'm joining Sarah for her before and after party. Had to think for a minute -  just thought to do something simple. That's my favorite kind of work anyway - SIMPLE!

Bought these candle sticks at Goodwill for cheap....

BEFORE...

Took them apart and filled for Christmas...

AFTER....

Could probably redo them again for any season.

                                                                  

Check out other before and afters at :

http://thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com/2010/01/before-and-after-party.html

Craft - Calendar box

Okay, well it's taken me a while to get back into routine. All the inside Christmas decor ( the outside will have to wait until it stops snowing!) is put away and I'm geared up to start cleaning and sorting out my stuff. I started in my craft area.

 Remember I told you I have enough supplies to open my own store. Well I took out all my containers and am starting to straighten and get rid of ( put away for yard sale) my stuff. I found these old calendars I had bought because I loved the pictures...

It has all these great garden pictures...

I'm sure there are a million and one things you can do with them.

For one, I thought I could use these to cover a box that I was storing some old picture frames in.

All I had to do was cut the box down to the height of the calendar and then glue them on.

 I was fortunate the box was just the right sized square.

All four sides get a pretty picture...

And now I have a pretty box to store my frames in.

Happy New Year!

2010

Well, another year over. Time to start a new. I always like the way I feel when a new year begins, a fresh start. I'm sure my resolutions are like most... eat better, exercise, lose some weight. One of the new resolutions for me though is to stop spending money and start using up the things I already have, especially craft and home decor. I love going to the thrift store and finding bargains but I have been doing that way too much. I have to go through all the stuff I have and use it. I need to change some of my decor with some of the pretties that I bought and are just sitting and I need to start using up my craft supplies. I think I have enough to fill a whole store! Since the weather is cold and gloomy it's a great time to clean out and sort through.
How about you? Any new resolutions!

Why do you......

To all my friends out in blogland......

   Why do you celebrate Christmas?

" for God so loved the world, that He gave his one and only son, for whoever believes in Him will not die but have ever lasting life"

JESUS is the reason for the season!

Merry Christmas!

Chair pads...

One of my favorite things to look for at the thrift store is fabric! I'm always checking out the sheets and pillow shams for beautiful patterns. Sheets work great if you need extra large pieces and I've found some quilted pillow shams that I've used to decorate with. But this time I needed something to cover my dingy chair pads. I thought about buying new but they were all too thick and at $12.00 each - no thanks. I got lucky with 2 red pillow shams. I could of used this material in a multiple of ways but I decided to cover my chair pads with them. Here's what I did...

This is what my old chair pads looked like...

These are the red pillow shams I found ( not bad for $2.00 )

First I laid my old pads on top of the fabric and cut out the shape.

There were 2 shams so I was able to get 4 pads out of them...

Next, I used the extra fabric to cut strips for ties.

Fold them in half and sew them right sides together.

I find the easiest way to turn them is to use a safety pin.

Simply pin it on the end and then push it through.

After I sewed the pads together and sewed on the ties,

I inserted my old pads, kind of like a pillow case.

Sew the opening shut and your done!

Not bad! 4 new chair pads for about $2.00 total. The pillow shams had a trim on the edges which I just left on. I think they turned out pretty good. And the red is great with my Christmas decor.

The next time you are at the thrift store check out the bedding department,

you might just find some fabric.