A Thrifted/Upcycled Kind of Christmas - (Part 1)

Greetings lovely friends & readers

I have lots of Christmas Creations to share with you so I plan to be posting quite often throughout December.

Today I wanted to share some thrifted & upcycled Christmas makes to hopefully inspire you that you don't need to spend alot of money - just a bit of imagination & time.

 Although I have forgotten to take a Before Photo, the wooden Angel above left was picked up in the Stratford Hospice Op-shop for $1.50. She was a pale denim blue in colour. I painted her in 2 coats Antique White chalk paint & then decoupaged a Christmas serviette on to her dress. She makes a sweet display on my table along with a vase of Seafoam roses  💗

Remember back in * this post * when I won the breadboard at a Pink Ribbon Breakfast fundraiser.  It had sat in the back of my craft cupboard so I added a pretty poinsettia transfer & gave it 2 coats spray acrylic varnish so that food can still be placed on it.

The Reindeer above was white - he was on clearance (50 % off) in a local Variety Store last Christmas.  I painted him in red to fit in with where I planned to display him. The cherubs above right were purchased from my local SPCA store in mid winter.  Although they look plaster they are not & were only $4 each. 

The poor Angel above was a sorry sight in my local St Johns Oppy.  She was $1.50 & looked most unloved.  I pulled her to bits by holding my hair dryer over the star & wings to loosen the glue - this did not come away as successfully as I hoped.  But a sand, some chalk paint & decoupaged tissue, new hair,  then wire added to hang her with & some pip berries wound around the wire ... a huge improvement don't you think ??!!  💕

Frequently in thrift stores they have bins of kitchenware for very cheap as they seem to get so much of it donated.  I found the sifter & the vintage grater in Mums Hospice a couple of years ago.  Looking back through my photos I first attempted this in August 2022!!

 

I filled ziplock bags with cheap toilet cleaner purchased from the $2 shop & left each item in it for a couple of days, turning frequently.  I wanted them to rust really well!!  Once they'd reached my desired rusty-ness, I ran cold water over them to stop the process & there they sat, in my cupboard ...... until last week ...... when I dragged out the Sifter.  I'd seen an idea on Pinterest & wanted to try it.

You can see how rusted it got by the photo of the back view.

I filled the inside with some wadding to about 3/4's the way up.  Then I hot glued in a variety of different bits & bobs ... rusty birdhouse, a pinecone, some greenery & pip berries.  I wanted some long cinnamon sticks but had none so I hot glued shorter ones together & then tied them up with torn fabric strips.

I made a small calico gingerbread man as well as some candy canes which I tea dyed & then painted stripes onto. I packed it really tightly & secured everything, as well as poking some dried moss into the gaps.

I also made a tag by tea dying a luggage tag ... I am so thrilled with how this project turned out & look forward to doing something with the grater now. 

The big mess creative space top left, was how my work table looked last week as I had various wooden bits in the process of being painted. 

 I decoupaged tissue onto the oval tags & tied up 6 different soaps in cellophane & ribbon - I plan to gift these to the ladies tomorrow at our Christmas Craft Group break-up.

Yesterday I did a Christmas display on my outdoor deck table.  I'd purchased 2 metres of red hessian in Spotlight's black friday sale & made this into a runner.  I placed my pots of white & red petunias on this but felt it still 

"needed something more"  ............

I had the chalkboard signs in my drawer so I painted them with Forrest Green & then added a transfer & Jute twine to make into a Christmassy sign.

The teapot above left was a thrift store find months ago so I also painted this with the green while I had it out.  Once again, a transfer, some greenery & berries & it just finished off my table setting.

Incidentally this is what you do when your teapot has a wet bottom as well as wet sides & lid ... you have to be a bit ingenious to dry it all at once  😉

The blackboard advent calendars were purchased last year at the same time as the wooden deer (previously mentioned) in a 50% off sale ... I bought 3 so gave one each to my Grandsons.  

I'm really delighted with my Christmas Outdoor table & No dear friends .... as I type this .... there is not a cat on it as yet !!! 😲

My daughter-in-law Sarah makes me a beautiful calendar each year with photos of Alec in it.   I must admit to a bit of a 😥when I turned it over for December ... missing my dear Mum so very much!

Thank you as always dear friends, for your visits here today,

I shall be back soon with Part 2 ... I just have to actually finish the item before I can share it with you.

Wishing you a wonderful week ahead - remember to be kind to yourselves & to each other,

With much love & friendship to you all,

Julie & the furry three x0x0x0