It's Christmas Time in the....Rental.... Bah Hum Bug!

I love Christmas... it's my favorite time of year.  I love the lights, the smells, the hustle and bustle and all the happy faces at the toy stores... I love it all.  So, this year being in a temporary rental house with no place to put anything and all my good stuff still in storage bins, my Christmas spirit has been dampened.  I have, however, managed to display a few of my favorite red and white pieces and a few of my new thrift store finds.  Take a look.... just ignore the bare walls..... a renters nightmare.... not being able to put holes in the walls.

My Santa collection- the locomotive Santa and the Fishing Santa were found last week at the Goodwill by my mom. She is a good finder.

My Santa Collection on top of my antique china closet.... I hate the bare wall.....YUCK

My dried arrangement in the foyer with a hint of red for the Christmas season.

My new bookcase and my collection of red and white Santa mugs and other pretties.

I love my Harry and David cups and plates. 

A better view.

The mantel.... don't know why I hung 2 stockings... ONLY one of us has been good.

My Santa tree.

My new Santa vase.... A gift from my mom... I love her!

Two of my favorites.... The red one was a gift from my daughter. Love her too!

The kitchen beverage station... ready for Christmas.  Well almost, I need some goodies for the cake stands.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Thrifty finds at the 3 hour store

I guess we all have stores we frequent more than others....my store of choice happens to be the Goodwill or as we refer to it... The 3 hour store.  I'm sure no explanation is needed.

On a recent trip I found this:

So I picked it up and walk around browsing and thinking... what sort of plates would I ever find to fit a rectangle shape like that. I thought some more and then I placed it back on the shelf at the store. No, I would never find anything that would work on it.  Up and down the aisles I go still thinking about the cute rack I just placed back on the shelf.  All of a sudden something white catches my eye...

Looks like the right shape, the right size. Now where did I put my rack?  It better still be there or else....

Whew.... a match had been found. What are the odds.... well, my theory is it was a set that somebody had taken it apart and they just needed somebody to find and put back together.

 I'm glad I was the matchmaker... cause look what a little soap, water and spray paint did for my little find....

A nice addition to the coffee bar on my counter....

Thrifty finds

I love summer and summer activities.... like yard sales and thrift store shopping. I took Friday off this week and my intent was to clean my house for a cookout on Saturday but I got side tracked and I spent the day hopping from the thrift stores to the consignment stores to the Goodwill stores. What a fun day and I found some really neat and cheap items. Take a peek.


I can't believe I found this. I had just looked at one at Amazon and was seriously considering buying it but the $42 price tag said hold off.... and I'm so glad I did cause this little gem was only $7.98 at the consignment store. Yay me!

I found this at a yard sale on Saturday morning.... It just screamed BUY ME! So I did. The girl having this sale had at least 35 designer purses and all of them were $35 or less. She had Dooney and Burkes, a small Coach bag, and Kenneth Cole ones. I think she was purse obsessed but I don't care... I made out.