Merry Christmas to all! It’s been a while since I’ve posted. I’ve been busy working on a lot of projects and completing few. I must address the holiday season though. So here’s my Christmas tree. It’s silver and has a vintage feel to it. It’s supper snazzy and feels pretty retro. I’ve seen pictures of trees like this in vintage Christmas ads and pictures and thought they were really Nifty and Neat-O, so I checked on eBay and the prices were way up there, like $200 or more plus shipping on a lot of them. I couldn’t find any on good ole’ Craigslist either, so I thought I’d keep an eye out for one at an estate sale, but I didn’t have any luck. So one day in my travels I stopped at the local Salvation Army and they had all kinds of fake Xmas trees for sale. They were all green except for the one silver one that caught my eye. There was some sale or some percentage off and it ended up only being $20 so I was super stoked. It was my lucky day!

See how Pricey eBay trees can be:

Here’s a vintage ad…

I put it all together at home, but I was disappointed to see that it was missing one branch. I went back to the thrift store to see if they had it in their back room or something. No one could find it, but I knew everything would be alright. I knew what I had to do, I had to make a replacement branch, so I made one with wire and silver garland to look like one of the others in the same row. It worked and it looks great (I just faced that branch towards the back). Don’t tell!

I did however find a vintage white, felt tree skirt with sequined poinsettias on it at an estate sale. It was perfect! The tree topper I made years ago from a vintage Barbie that was missing her legs, lol. My mom had collected Barbies and had some that spare ones. Here she is all lit up

More progress ensues in the backyard as we go forward with the sidewalks that I incorporated from my design. The planter was now completed. You can tell it’s a little later in the season. Winter is here and the leaves had fallen off the trees, one of my favorite seasons because you get to see that bit of graffiti just above the fence on the back of the small apartment complex directly behind us; who doesn’t love a little urban art.

The citrus trees were planted now somewhat symmetrically along the planter wall in the protruding sections. I wanted to put those in right away so they could start producing fruit sooner. I was ready to have fresh limes to add a kick to all of my meals and enhance my Coronas and garnish my margaritas! The tangerines would be a tasty treat and add a pop of color to the yard!

I had help from my garden hose with the sidewalk! I designed the sidewalk in CAD first with the rest of the plans but I got got the undulating form by laying out an old hose, then I went around it with a screw driver and traced the outline as my guide to dig! A tip for you!

Also see that shed, it was Free! We picked it up at a yard sale. I forgot to take pictures of when we reassembled it, but there it is. It just needed a little touch-up paint.

I forgot to mention my recent, new addition. So this is Brutus! I’ve always wanted a dog so I got one one day. I was looking on craigslist one day for some good deals because I’m on a budget and I’m cheap. I think I was looking for furniture or building supplies for cheap when I thought about checking out the pets section. I saw an ad for a free dog a few miles away. I gave them a call, went to go check him out and I came home with a dog that day. His owners said they were moving and couldn’t take him, so I scored with a free dog. He’s a Miniature Pincher mix and he was about 3 years old when I got him. I was excited to finally get my first dog. I always wanted a Jack Russell Terrier. Brutus was about the same size as that breed plus I heard those dogs are too hyper.

Well, needless to say, I bought it. I loved it when I first saw it and it looks better in person than it does in pictures. It reminds me of a couch from The Dick Van Dyke Show or I love Lucy. The tufted back cushions are sweet and I like the legs, they give the illusion of more space compared to sofas that go to the floor. The scale of the sofa worked perfect too for our home with its low back and tailored feel. I accessorized with some vintage throw pillows I picked up at an estate sale and a vintage telephone stand. It was a better fit than the dated, overstuffed, leather sofa, love seat and chair set my father brought to the house.

See the coffee table… well it’s the funniest thing. I was thinking a boomerang shaped coffee table would look perfect with this sectional. So I got back on craigslist and put boomerang in the search box and went through a few pieces before I found a listing for what would be my new coffee table. It said it came with a corner table and I had to pick them both up. So I drove to LA and picked them both up!

I was only looking for a coffee table, but I was excited to find that the matching corner table fit perfectly with the corner piece of the sectional. It was like it was meant to be and for only $40, that’s only $20 each.

So I was on craigslist looking at stuff and I came across this really Neat sectional sofa. I’ve always dug mid century modern furniture and I wanted to pick up more period pieces that would complement the house so I thought about looking for some good deals. I found this and it was relatively close by so I called and stopped by to look at it after work one night. I saw it on craigslist for quite a while, but I thought it might be too big for our living room and it wasn’t super cheap so I wasn’t in a hurry!