Don't underestimate the Dollar Store!

I had to go the Dollar Tree yesterday to get some things, and I saw these cool little trees. I saw some little trees similar to these last year for about $5 each and I didn't buy them in enough time because they were all snatched up by the time I went back. I planned to make some this year with styrofoam cones and glitter, but when I saw these at my Dollar Tree, I had to buy them because you can't make them for that cheap! I love how they are so simple and cute! So seriously, don't underestimate your dollar store! There are great finds in there!

Have any of you stumbled upon the website, Dollar Store Crafts? It features crafts that you can make using items from the Dollar Store! I think it's so clever!





Here is a picture of our Charlie Brown Christmas tree! We have a tradition of going up into the mountains and cutting down our own tree. They are never lush, but hopefully we are providing some good memories for our kids!

Sweater Re-fashion

I love thrift store shopping. I love giving things a makeover, including clothes. I found this sweater at my local thrift store for $0.75! I really liked it as a sweater, but it just wasn't quite long enough...I like my sweaters to cover my bum.

So, I decided to turn it into a sweater vest that I could wear a cute belt over.



I cut off the sleeves.



Hemmed them.



...and now I have a sweater vest!



Then my husband took the leftover sleeves, trimmed them properly and cut two holes for the front legs of our puppy, and now she has two cute new sweaters to wear! :)

Color-Coordinate

Please pardon my absence during the month of November...I was feeling very uninspired and not very creative! I need to get my booty back into gear though because I have many Christmas presents to craft and sew for my friends and relatives. I love this time of year. My house has been filled with warm fires in our wood stove, hot chocolate almost every night, and family movie nights watching our favorite Christmas movies. After Balck Friday, I am officially done Christmas shopping for all three of my kids, and now I need to focus on my husband Danny! It feels good to be done with the kids...it's easy because they are all so young still.

One thing I wanted to talk about today was color-coordination. Oftentimes, when you see a beautifully decorated room for Christmas, it is usually color-coordinated which makes it look very cohesive. Last year, I decided that I would stock up on Christmas decorations right after Christmas, when they were all on clearance. I wanted a pretty, color coordinated theme, and I went for greens, silvers, and golds (Mom has blue and silver, and I wanted to be a little different). Although we haven't decorated yet, I am excited to bust out all my new decorations I purchased. We always cut down our own tree up in the mountains, and so we don't want to do that too early so we'll still have a tree on Christmas day! If you are having to shop for decorations this year, or are even waiting until the after Christmas clearnance, like I did, then think about a color pallette that you'd like, and stick to buying decorations in those colors. Variations of the colors look nice too. Here are some examples of some different color palletes...








See what I mean? See how pretty it looks when they color-coordinate?

All images courtesy of Martha Stewart