Blue Snowman Tree

I've always loved collecting snowmen more than santa.  I had so many that I decided to use a 7' slim pine tree for only snowmen ornaments... and only blue at that!  No red. No green.  Only blue.

It was fun to put together.  I can remember how old this tree is because I put my youngest son's baby picture in a frame ornament, that first year that I decorated it.  He is 14 now... 

Most items came from my 20 years of working at Hobby Lobby... including the tree itself.  Even though it's full, I still look around every year for a blue snowman ornament to add to it.  Most years I don't find anything but every once in awhile I am surprised =]  The white SNOW word ornament was found at Dollar General last year.

It looks so pretty at the bottom of the stairwell.  I just love how it lights up that corner of our entryway.  Of course, having my husband's Grandma's mirror to reflect the lights really makes it pretty.

We didn't get our snow last weekend. Well it covered the ground then disappeared as fast as it came.  That's okay, I'm ready to move on to my favorite season.... can't wait for Spring to arrive!!  But in the meantime, I'll just enjoy my little winter tree until I get tired of seeing snowmen, hehehe~

Stay warm and dry wherever you are.  I hope you are having a wonderful start to the new year.  I am so enjoying blogland again... it's great to be back. =]

Winter Cardinal Tree

We don't like dark and dreary winters around here... so we keep a couple of Christmas trees out through the winter, or until it starts to thaw out and warm up a little.

The cardinal tree was born out of my love of watching the beautiful cardinals, especially the bright red males, in the winter branches.  We only have a couple of feeders but we can have 12-15 male and female cardinals at a time!  It's such a beautiful sight.

I bought this 7.5 ft Mixed Pine Tree with snowy branches, pine cones, and red berries back in 2008.  The lights didn't work and I got it for 80% off... can't beat that!  But I spent two full days snipping off the clips that were holding the lights on each and every 1,266 branch!  Now it is worth it but at the time I was ready to trash the tree.  😖  We've enjoyed her for the past 12 years.  

I only have gloss and matte red glass balls and cardinal ornaments on this tree.  Nothing else.  It's rather simple, but I like it that way.

Every year I buy 1 cardinal ornament for it.  This year got away from me and I didn't think of it.  Thankfully a sweet friend must have known... as she painted this cute ornament for us!  How precious is that?!

It's so nice to have the overhead lights off and only the glow of the Christmas tree, along with the lights on the mantel and hutch.  It makes this cold, rainy, dreary day feel so warm and cozy!  We're supposed to get a little snow tomorrow... our first of the season.  I hope we do!  Be safe and stay warm in this winter weather~

Winter Wonderland Mantel

We are not having Winter Wonderland weather... but that's okay with me.  We have been getting up to the 50's every day with nice sunshine.  I like that kind of winter weather 😂  All the Christmas is finally put away.  I did a heavy clean in the house, then I pulled out the snowmen and winter decor.  

I know there are many that deal with winter depression.  If that is you, I am so sorry that you have this issue.  I am most definitely not a fan of the cold but I do enjoy a nice warm fire in the fireplace, my nightly hot tea, curling up on the couch with my old man miniature schnauzer and doing a puzzle on my iPad, or picking up the cross stitch bag that I keep near the fireplace for winter boredom.

I used to be like my Grandma Smith and decorate for every holiday and season... well except for St. Patrick's Day.  I never understood why she decorated for a holiday we didn't even celebrate and we aren't Irish, lol!  But she just loved to deck out her home no matter when it was.  I don't know how she kept it up till the day she passed away at 82.

I've done well following in her footsteps... up until last year.  It was the first year that I did not decorate for Valentine's Day.  Instead I've been sending all the hearts to the booth.  It's actually fun to see that my once beloved pieces are now new treasures to someone that will hopefully love them as much as I once did.

Even though I'm not a winter loving person, I do still love to decorate my home for winter... the cute little snowmen... I even have a 7' blue snowman slim pine Christmas tree that I keep out all winter.  Another Christmas tree that stays out all winter is the full size 7.5' snowy pine with red berries and pine cones, decorated in red glass balls and cardinals.  We do love our Christmas trees longer than just for Christmas! 😁

I do believe that keeping the twinkling lights and "Christmas spirit" alive well into winter helps keep our mentality in check.  Aside from moving South for the winter, we have no choice but to push through those winter doldrums.  Having the glow of the lights from the trees, the mantel, the hutch, the cabinets, brightens our long winter nights and helps to lift our spirits... you can't help but smile.

One of my favorite things to do in winter is work on my homestead goals for the year.  I mean really... do we ever come to a point where our home is complete?  Finished?  No more changing anything??  There is always some things that we want different.  For 2019, I painted the main bathroom, dining room, coat closet, and entry... along with a corner cabinet and 7-pc dining room set that I bought from my booth earnings!  The laundry room was on that list but I didn't quite make it so I started on it right after Christmas.  Needless to say that completing the laundry room is at the top of my 2020 homestead goals.  I plan to work on the family room right after and have it completed by the end of spring.  Then I will move on to the living room.  Because I spend so much of my spring and summer outside working in the yard, I hope to have the living room complete by fall... it's a pretty big room with such a humongous ceiling 😩 Ok yes it's the same size as the room, but when you're on a ladder painting a ceiling, it feels like it's twice the size of the room, ugh.  It's always worth it in the end but during... not so much, haha!

As my Grandma Goins always said... Lord willing, I hope to accomplish my 2020 homestead goals.  Because that means the main level will be completely renovated.  Please share with me... what are your homestead goals for 2020?  I really want to know!

Thanks for stopping by and have a blessed week as we go into this new year~

Here I am!

I sure have been missing the ol' blog.  Definitely past time to dust her off and get her going again!  Looks like she needs some spring cleaning.  A few places where you can find A Vintage Journey...

Facebook ...I love being able to check into my booth's store location so I can help promote it overall

Twitter ...not much happening here but I feel like everyone needs Twitter 😅

Pinterest ...one of my favorite places to spend my time when I'm in bed, thinking of all the things I wish I had time to do

Instagram ...I've actually been more active here the past few months.  It's a nice change from facebook

Etsy ...the biggest change this year for AVJ has came from cleaning out the Etsy store and opening it back up after taking an unintentional 6 year break 😲 I'm currently selling ephemera... mostly vintage book pages but always adding new packs.  

If you're still with me, thank you!  I do miss my blogging buddies so much and hoping to re-connect, along with make many new blog friends!

Happy New Year to all... here's to an amazing 2020!!

Weekend in Branson, MO

I made a trip back home to Missouri this past weekend.

My sister, niece, her baby, and I went to see the beautiful lights at Silver Dollar City.  I love the barn of decorated Christmas trees... they are so gorgeous!  I put up a cardinal tree every year in my home.  It's not near as big and beautiful as this one though, ha..

It was such a clear but chilly night.  You can only imagine how the 6.5 million lights shone so brightly.  I was in awe just as much as kids.

Even though there were lots of people there, it sure didn't seem like it at times.  It was almost as if we had the place to ourselves... which added to the magic of the night.

My favorite part of the City, now that I'm older, is the shops.  I did love the rides more as a kid but I have definitely outgrown that, lol!  So it was nice to just take our time, take in the beauty of the lights and check out the shops.  Isn't this macrame just the cutest?!

You just have to keep with tradition when you go to the City... funnel cake!  My sister and I shared the sampler.  Oh MY!  Three adorable little cakes... pecan w/ maple icing (my favorite!), chocolate cake with marshmallow creme, coconut, & chocolate chips, and then oreo crushed cookies w/cream cheese icing.  All of it was so good that we made ourselves sick on it 😬

The next day, I went to Branson Market Days... a handmade and vintage show with a different sister and nieces.  We had such a great time!

They didn't want their picture made with Santa, but I made them, hehe!  How could you not with that awesome old farm truck, come on now!?  Santa was a little on the skinny side but it was a great way for us to get a group photo.

With every trip back home, it makes me miss it more and more.  😢 Thankfully, it's only about 3 hours away.  I'm going back again this weekend, as my parents always have their Thanksgiving celebration on Saturday.  Thanksgiving Day will be spent with my husband's family and our kids.

Wishing you a blessed Thanksgiving weekend surrounded by those you hold dear to your heart 💛 ~

First Snow

We had our first fire of the season to go along with the first snow of the season today.

Even though the weatherman said we would get anywhere from a dusting to 5", it was still a nice surprise to wake up to a blanket of white... you just never know with our crazy Oklahoma weather. But by the time I decided to take pictures, it was already starting to melt. This is looking out the front door.

I love having the blinds open and the doors open to watch it snow and rain. It was coming down so softly and so pretty today. I saw leaves fall from the trees the same time that snow was falling! It was nice... none of us had to work or leave the house at all today. That's one good thing about homeschooling. 😉

Sweet Rich fixed breakfast for us since he was off today. Then he made a big crockpot of chili so it was nice for me to have a day off from cooking! Then this view is out the garage door, looking into the back yard. With the leaves falling, we can see more of the pond now.

When the latest iPhone update added the screen time feature, I was appalled at the amount of time I spent on my phone. Holy moly! So I've been making a conscious effort to reduce my screen time. I was pretty proud of myself for the weekly update that showed my screen time for the last week.

But still... almost 5 hours a day?? Ugh! Why have we become so dependent on our phones?

My new motto.... less technology and more relationship, more intent, more living, more purpose, more joy.

Coffee Table Makeover

Goodness, life has a way of getting in the way.  I sure miss the blogging community.  I'm really hoping to be back now... I have so much to catch up on. 😊

This blonde coffee table belonged to my nephew and his wife.  They were getting rid of it, so I brought it home.  For years, it made its place in our home in the living room.  But it was time to make some room when my mother-in-law gave us an old wardrobe trunk that belongs in her family.

I lightly sanded it down.  Then painted it with a white chalk paint that I slightly distressed.

After taking off the casters and adding beautiful blue glass knobs, I love the way it looks now!  I forgot to take pics before I took it to the booth.  But if I would have had room... that beauty would have stayed at my home, lol!

I love before/after pics so...

I hope you are having a wonderful fall so far with those deep, rich colors! 🍂

My Grandma's Bench

In my Grandma's garage was this old bench that my aunt was going to throw away. Nooo!  It took the trek from IL to OK so I could bring it to my home.

Since this was going in my home, I was fine with doing a quick job on it.  The only prep work I did was to hose it down with the water hose and scrub it with Dawn dish soap (for grease since it was in the garage). 

At some point, my Grandma had covered it with contact paper that was white with gold vintage stars... stars that weren't vintage back in her day, but popular. She then painted 1 side and the legs white.  I see where I get my resourcefulness. 😏

I wanted to give it a dry brush look with the beautiful gray peeking through but it was too shiny for the paint to stick where I wanted.  So I ended up giving it an all over sloppy paint job.

In the end, I like this look much better than what I was originally going for.  It now serves as a coffee table in our family room, along with the rest of our family treasures.  Since the kids use the table and another coat of paint could be in the future, I didn't even seal it. 

And because I just love looking at before & after photos, I made a few to go along with this fun project.

I hope you are enjoying Spring in your area.  It is so beautifully green here and the air is filled with the aroma of honeysuckle.  We are enjoying our evenings in the back yard watching the birds and hummingbirds at the feeders.  An occasional nap in the hammock has been delightful too. 😉😊