Reindeer games.

As is our tradition, the "big" people in our family purchased an inexpensive gift

 for the dice game we play on Christmas Eve after the "little" people go to sleep.
 In the past I've been known to spend a tad more than the allotted amount of $20 or less,
 but this year I wrapped up a thrifted find that was actually under budget!

You've got to toss doubles, sevens, or elevens to choose your prize.  After each person
has a prize, we unwrap our gifts.  Then we set a timer for 5 minutes and pass the dice around
again.  If you toss doubles, sevens, or elevens, you may exchange your gift for another.
  It's always fun to see the prizes family members bring.

Here's the prize I wrapped up this year:

Do you remember the old screen I bought for $3 way back

in the spring of 2012 at the Tavern estate sale?  I'm sure you do.  :)
 I cleaned it up and ordered 2 sets of magnetic letters and numbers online for $3.99 each
 plus shipping, so the grand total of my gift was only around $15!

 I got the idea for my gift when I saw the magnet screen (below)
that Debi at Real Simple Style repurposed for her grandchildren's room.

(Photo source Real Simple Style)

(Real Simple Style)
So cute!  Check out more of Debi's farmhouse style here.

The winner didn't have room in their car for the prize, so we'll deliver it
 the next time we visit.  Until then, I'm having some fun with it myself!

Menu board.
The only thing missing is fine wine and candles.

Our daughter Julie bought us a bottle of the good stuff.
Read the name out loud.

As long as you're here, I'd like to wish you a..

Thanks for stopping by!

*I'm joining the parties at:
Mod Vintage Life Mod Mix Monday
 Cozy Little House Tweak it Tuesday

Everything but the food.

By the end of today, I should be almost done with my

shopping and have most of the gifts wrapped.

Our house is decorated, although I may need to do a bit of

undecorating before 4 sets of inquisitive hands arrive.

All that leaves is the food.

Menu planning, grocery shopping, cookie baking.....

somehow it will all get done in time.

Wouldn't you know, I finally got around to taking pictures

 of our dining room and it's the gloomiest day in December!

I've had a bad case of laryngitis for the past 2 days, so I'll let the pictures do the talking.

Maybe I'll do a little whispering.

A new find this year.

Old crocheted stockings are tied up with string.

Nice shot of my camera.

Tea for two.

I could use a cup of hot cocoa!

Santa needs some cookies to go with the milk.

Notice the wood closure has been replaced on the secretary door.

Everything's locked up tight!

I can't resist a new old set of salt and pepper shakers.

No peeking!

Well loved mugs.

I've yet to find a rug I want for this room, so I borrowed one from the basement.

A familiar sight these days.

I hope all your packages have arrived!

Front entryway.

In just a few short days Christmas will be here.

I wish each and every one of you a very Merry Christmas!

Vickie

*I'm joining the parties at:

Common Ground Be Inspired

Funky Junk Interiors Party Junk

Cozy Little House Tweak it Tuesday

Everything old is new again.

Now that I've painted our living room walls and trim,

I've found that I actually like our decades old furniture again.

Our dated 1982 armoire was updated with a new, actually three 

different colors of flat finish paint over the past week.  This is the third and

final color and I'm happy with the way it turned out.

My dad cut out the floral door panels and replaced them with pine beadboard

which I love!  I painted the beadboard with our wall paint and then brushed

 a coat of Johnson's Paste Wax tinted with burnt umber artist's oil paint over the entire armoire.

I bought $3 brass latches online and sprayed them with bronze paint

 to replace the dated porcelain knobs.

This corner is no longer dark and dreary. 

Even Sparky is flapping his wings in approval!

Before.

To freshen up our old upholstered furniture, I stitched up new pillows

 with red & white chevron fabric from Hobby Lobby and the now famous Miss Mustard Seed print

 I purchased at Hancock Fabrics.  My gallery wall has already changed.

  I removed the mirror that wasn't reflecting anything pretty 

and replaced it with my old banjo clock that's been hiding under a bed.

As for the German feller peeking from behind the clock....

He stood on my gingerbread clock in our old kitchen and 

"creeped out" our daughters every Christmas season.  I think they

nicknamed him Creepy Gnome, and now he's back to 

frighten our grandchildren into behaving.  :o)

I bought a smaller prelit tree from Target and gifted our too big tree to the Salvation Army.

(You probably guessed that I didn't make it out of there without a few new treasures!)

It took 5 rolls of toilet paper, a plywood circle with a hole in the center,

wood screws, and heavy duty wire to stand my new tree in the ice cream maker.

Whew!

I hope we don't run out of toilet paper on Christmas!

My deer have found a place to rest on the thrifted

beveled mirror I found when I dropped off the tree!

That's what I've been working on when I should have been

wrapping gifts, baking, mailing Christmas cards.......

Thanks for taking the time out of your hectic day to

stop by for a visit!

Vickie

*I'm joining the parties at:

Cozy Little House Tweak it Tuesday

Savvy Southern Style Wow us Wednesdays

Ivy and Elephants What's it Wednesday

Common Ground Be Inspired

Miss Mustard Seed Furniture Feature Friday

The Mystery of the Ugly Christmas Sweater.

This post is rated M for mature audiences.

I normally wear a uniform to work, but this year somebody 
decided we should all wear an "Ugly Christmas Sweater"

to work on the day of our holiday potluck.

Why, why, why?

(Whining like an Olympic skater who's just been clubbed in the knee.)

Fashions come and fashions go,
but who EVER thought these abominations were fashionable?

Over the past year, I've become a member of the middle-aged post M group.

Ewwww.  I don't even like the word, but you know what I'm talkin' bout.
The Ma'am Club.  No more,  "Can I help you with that, Miss?"
....... unless of course he's trying to sell you a car.  :o)

.  I've come to the conclusion that there are only 2 positive things
 about going through this particular change and here they are:

1.  First and foremost, you are alive and kicking.  This is a biggie.

2.  You may be lucky enough to have grandchildren, and I'm blessed with 4.

Let's see, where am I going with this?  Yes, where the heck AM I going with this?

Oh, yes.

I worked with a nurse, now retired, who taught us "younger" gals

about the caterpillar effect that would someday overtake our bodies.
  Oh, how we laughed at her descriptions of what was to come,
never in a million years thinking it would happen to us.

Fast-forward 15 years.

   One day you reach around to rub your aching back and you feel it.
(insert Jaws theme song here)

Back fat.  Yes, back fat.  I said it.

It doesn't matter how much you weigh, it shows up like a mosquito in a tent.

A few inches lower comes the midriff bulge, followed closely by saddlebags.
  Blip, blip, blip.  Suddenly you've morphed into a caterpillar on legs!

Yikes!

Now that I've experienced the CE firsthand, I think I've unlocked the mystery

of who designed the very first Ugly Christmas Sweater.......

a charter member of The Ma'am Club! 

Think about it.  Nobody even notices the shape of your body because they 

can't look past the U.G.L.Y. you've got plastered to you torso!

Genius I say!
Let's add number 3 to the list.

3. Insight.

After searching far and wide, (our local Goodwill and Salvation Army have already sold out)
I found the first of many Ugly Christmas Sweaters I'll be wearing this holiday season

at my local Walmart.  Hurry out and buy one for yourself before they're gone!

She looks smokin' hot and I'm sure I will, too!

(Or maybe it's just because she's wearing a fireplace.)

What will you be hiding under wearing this holiday season?

This post has been brought to you by one hot-flashing mama!
Vickie

*You can find me partying at:
Common Ground Be Inspired

Rockin' around the Christmas tree.

I need more Christmas decorating "junk" like I need
an extra 5 pounds around my hips, but does that stop me from
  eating another piece of fudge buying more old junk?

Of course not!

When I spotted this retro transistor radio,
I couldn't pass it up!

Not only is it cute and red, but it was cheap, too!

Ring it up, missy!

Whilst digging in my mystery bins, as I like to call them,

I came across the perfect duo (also made in Japan) to keep the radio company.

I think I bought this leaning Santa dude to use as a tree ornament, but hey,

 it looks to me like he's getting his groove on.  Tapping his chenille booted toe,
snapping his.......oh, my!  I guess the jolly old feller's missing a few digits.

Well, you get what you pay for.  He was only 5 cents!

You can see the original price printed on the base.

Okay, I confess, the paper mache Santa was priced back in the late 40's or early 50's,
but I'm sure I only paid about ten or twenty times that amount.

Is this not the perfect tree for Groovy Santa to rock around?

Also, 5 cents.

I used the Valentine heart insert for my trumeau mirror again

since the color works for Christmas.  Pay no attention to the Swiffer

 hiding under my watermark.  You never know what's going to

show up in a photographed mirror!

I'm dusting and dancing merrily in a new old-fashioned way!

Thanks for stopping by!
Vickie

*I'm joining the holiday parties at:
Mod Vintage Life Mod Mix Monday
Cozy Little House Tweak it Tuesday
Savvy Southern Style Wow us Wednesday
Ivy and Elephants What's it Wednesday
Common Ground Be Inspired

Frosty's new digs.

The votes have been tallied and

the winner of the Mirror Mirror contest is
  number 7.

For those of you who don't remember 

which mirror that was, good recall!

There was no number 7.    :o)

I was more confused than ever,
after reading your comments so clever,
when what to my wandering eyes did appear,
but a mirror forgotten which I love so dear!

I'm brushing up on my 5th grade poetry lessons.  hehe
Mrs. Bispala would be so proud!

Here it is.

I bought this old church window way back in '99
and replaced the lovely amber textured plastic panes
 with mirrors.  It's been hanging above a dresser in the
 master bedroom collecting dust, so I thought I'd attack it with a
Swiffer and try it out on the mantel.

Frosty is shivering with delight in his new location!

A slight tilt of his head and he can view our

sparkly textured ceiling that looks like snow to him, too.

High five, Frosty!

My Martha Stewart wreath is front and center, 

and I filled up our shallow mantel with red pillar candles on mismatched candlesticks.

The Happy Holidays banner is accented with a cute little red sweater
crocheted for me last year by the talented Tracy of Crow's Feet Chic.
It's wearing my Baba's Christmas pin.

I've covered my wingback chair with a vintage
 corduroy quilt in bright happy colors.

My mother doesn't always know what kind of old junk
I'm scavenging for, but when she bought these red wood clogs
for a few dollars at a rummage sale, she nailed it!

A poinsettia on the hearth and child's rocking chair ready for bedtime stories
with a vintage copy of "Night Before Christmas" and the mantel is complete.

As for the rest of the house.....
be careful where you step.  There's Christmas stuff
everywhere!

I've finished decorating the living room and Mother Nature is
taking care of the outdoor decorating with 6 inches of new snow and more on the way!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!!!
Vickie

*Come along with me!  I'm joining the parties at:
Cozy Little House Tweak it Tuesday
Savvy Southern Style Wow us Wednesday
Common Ground Be Inspired
Mod Vintage Life Mod Mix Monday