Cozy At Christmas Holiday Blog Tour Schedule

Next week I'm participating in a Christmas blog tour. I hope you'll visit the blog tour on any of the days you can...

The Cozy At Christmas Holiday Blog Tour schedule is linked at the bottom of this post.

I'd like to give a shout out to Katie of Let's Add Sprinkles for putting this tour together again this year!  

Last year I participated in my first Cozy At Christmas blog tour, and I found so many great ideas and stories from the participants. 

I'm looking forward to learning more during this year's tour. If you're a procrastinator like me, I recommend joining a blog tour -- It really helps to inspire you to Get 'Er Done!

Here's a photo from my post last year in 2016...YES, those are Wild Bill's old boots in my kitchen's Christmas decor. He barely noticed.

Please join us...December 4th through the 8th!

Day 1
County Road 407
The B Farm
Decor To Adore
Let's Add Sprinkles

Day 2
Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson
Ever Evolving Home
DIY Beautify
Opulent Cottage
Joy In Our Home

Day 3
My Heart Lives Here
Patina and Paint
Hyacinths for the Soul 
My Thrift Store Addiction
Ms. Toody Goo Shoes

Day 4
Poofing the Pillows
Botanic Bleu
At Rivercrest Cottage 
White Spray Paint

Day 5
Art and Sand
At Home With Jemma
Monica Wants It 
The Dedicated House
Ash Tree Cottage

 Thanks for dropping by!

Faux Stone Walls

At the Vintage Mercantile in Frisco Texas, I was taken with this faux stone wall. 

One of the vendors at the Mercantile had walls done in faux brick and faux stone.

 I wasn't a fan of the faux brick, but the faux stone...hmmm...maybe!

The farther away from the faux wall you get, the more realistic it looks. 

If you look at the ad poster on the wall in the picture above, you'll see what I mean. Or maybe not? What do you think? 

Thanks for dropping by!

Making Some Holiday Decor

Here's what happened to the wreath I bought a few weeks back...

Chalkboards are so versatile. There's a lot of great tutorials out there on how to make a chalkboard. My tutorial isn't great, but I just want to show you how easy it is!

Here's the easiest way to make your own chalkboard. Use an old frame from a thrift store or garage sale...

Have a thin MDF (medium density fiberboard, a type of plywood) board cut to fit the back of your frame. Paint the MDF board with chalky-type paint in whatever color you like.

Note: Lowe's, Home Depot, and hardware stores will usually make free cuts for you when you're buying boards from their store.

The easiest way to hold the board inside the frame is to tap little wire nails into the frame like these. There, you're done!

Memorize this phrase: The answer to everything is canning jars!

Walmart sells a box of white reusable caps for around $3

My favorite way to use chalkboards is as a background for pictures, plaques and things. In this case, I wanted to use this ceramic pig on the wall as a wreath holder.

I used my handy little 12-year-old screwdriver to attach the pig to the MDF with screws.

I'll paint those screws white next time I have white paint out. Now, I hear muttering...It Will Just Take A Moment! 

But friends, let me tell you if I let that side track me, it will be a week before this gets done. For now, the screws will be hidden behind the wreath anyway!

Thanks for dropping by!

The Framed Antlers

The framed antlers got a little more festive once the twinkle lights with little pinecones got draped around them. 

This is one of the Hearth and Hand brand ones I bought at Target last week.

I'm looking for some old fashion ornaments to hang off a few of the forked horns. 

And, the blue and white cups will be replaced with something more festive. I'm looking for cheerful Christmas mugs.

There's enough space on the top of the chalkboard to write something above the antlers...

Not sure what to write up there. I could go for the traditional, like PEACE or JOY, but...

...PARTY ANIMAL seems a little more appropriate!

Thanks for dropping by!

Join The Party Here:
Amaze Me Monday at Dwellings - The Heart of Your Home

Foodie Friday And Everything Else at Rattlebridge Farm

Getting Ready For The Holidays

You know how sometimes things get worse before they get better? Well, that's definitely the case around Rivercrest Cottage today! 

The mirror got moved to the floor when I cleared off the mantle, so we're getting very cluttered around here as we I get ready for the holidays. 

I wish I could say WE, but Wild Bill tends to have an urgent need to check something on his computer right after he hauls out my trusty old ladder for me! Is it that way in your house too? 

Please say yes. Otherwise I'll feel very put out! I like to stay calm and cheerful this time of year. That's why I try to start holiday decorating so early each year. 

So...I was lying on the floor taking pictures (you're gonna have to wait for the reason at a later post) when the voice behind the computer asked, 

"What in the world are you doing?"

"I'm taking pictures."

Apparently the idea of lying on the floor was no more enticing to him than climbing on the ladder. He stayed behind the computer.

I took a picture of the pillow on the couch, right next to the mirror on the floor, and wondered aloud if we should paint the ceiling white...

Santa didn't seem to have an answer...

The chicken was still mad about being part of the holiday decor...

Wild Bill mumbled he would research it on the internet...

...And I decided I just might leave the Halloween crows up on top of the window...with the Christmas decorations...since they were the only ones besides me who seemed to be interested in decorating for the holidays!

Thanks for dropping by!

Vintage Market Days In McKinney Texas

The Vintage Market Days event was back in McKinney Texas this weekend. Opening day was Friday, which is the day I went. 

Vintage Market Days travels to different areas and features vendors from the local area, as well as vendors from neighboring states. It's a mix of new, old, hand-made, one-of-a-kind, and commercially-made products. You just never know what you'll find!

I'm leading off with my favorite purchase. Deer antlers - inside a frame - attached to an uneven plaque with a button type screw - made of boards painted aged-down-white. Just the type of rustic, overly complicated things I like!

You may not be able to see it, but as they say here in the South, "Honey, it has my name written all over it!"

Sadly, the lady vendor who sold the rabbits painted on rustic boards at the Vintage Market Days event mentioned in this post was not at today's event. I was disappointed as I was sort of determined to buy one if it was reasonably priced.

Speaking of things I love...As a lot of you suggested I do, I tracked down the lady vendor who sold me this soup tureen and soup bowls the last time the Vintage Market Days event was in our area.

She still had the matching platter (marked down to $14 instead of the original $19) and this time I was smart enough to buy it.

Next up, two little ironware-type platters for $7.50 each. They don't look tiny enough in this photo by themselves, so I put them on the blue edged platter to show their size.

Here's a look at the printing on the back of the little platters, which says Iroquois China, Syracuse N.Y. (last line ?)

These lengths of pine boughs (?) were only $4 each. They have little pinecones on them just like the little twinkle lights with pinecones I bought the other day at Target. 

I guess you can sense it's going to be a very rustic Christmas at our house this year!

I was carrying a lot of stuff by the time I saw these wreaths with berries. I wanted three of them for a special project so I hatched a plan to buy just one ($12.50) so I wouldn't forget them!

By the time I remembered them, I was clear across the expo center sitting on a chair waiting for Wild Bill to pick me up. Oh Crap! One will have to do...

If you're in the Dallas area, did you make it to this event?

McKinney/Dallas Area

If you're not local, the Vintage Market Days event travels around to different states. Here's a LINK to their national schedule if you're interested in attending or maybe even selling there. Several of the vendors at the event were local people who have booths in local shops and malls.

Come join me at the party! I'll be at Amaze Me Monday at Dwellings - The Heart of The Home.

Thanks for dropping by!

P.S. I thought maybe I should change that word crap, but when I looked it up to see if I was being too harsh, I found it was actually the perfect word to show how I felt at that moment so I left it in:

Crap | Define Crap at Dictionary.com

www.dictionary.com/browse/crap

crap out, Slang. to abandon a project, activity, etc., because of fear, cowardice, exhaustion, loss of enthusiasm, etc. Slang. to break a promise or fail to fulfill a duty or obligation; renege.

‎Full of crap · ‎Crap out · ‎Crap around · ‎Crap up