The Thrift Shop Romantic: mercury glass

In preparation for the impending Snowpacolypse of the weekend, I went out late last week in search of staples (y'know milk, bread and microwave popcorn) and a brief amount of fresh air. This led me to the local Goodwill thrift store, and that is the site where I found my newest little friend...

He was sitting among the seasonal items, looking a little lonely as only beagle puppies can, and my heart went out to him. You can just tell from the careful paint job that this porcelain pup is a quality little fellow, with a bit of age to him-- in spite of his youthful personal appearance...

Of course, there are some paint flakes to his porcelain base. But you all know me; I'm not really bothered by things like that when an overall item has charm. And to me, my new best friend has charm in spades.

Another thing uncovered from a recent thrifting expedition is this painted (metal? spelter?) dish. I'm not sure if it was manufactured to look like an old spelter bowl that's been painted, or whether someone didn't care for the flat spelter finish of an actual vintage item, and gave it a lick of paint. Either way, I thought the effect was interesting. And at $0.50, honestly, what did I have to lose?

Lastly, I picked up two more off-season Christmas mercury glass candlesticks-- these in gold...

They had originally come from Target, and I actually have the matching bowl in my blue sitting room, currently filled with faux roses. So these may end up living there year-round, or they may get put away for next holiday season. I'm not sure yet.

But that pretty well wraps-up our, um, walkies into the wide world of thrift for today! I'm still trying to decide whether I'll be braving the Great White Way out there for yet another workday, or whether it's more prudent to stay home and wait it out. I'm leaning toward the former.

No rest for the weary!

Be safe, everybody!

Well, Elvis may have been sad and lonely during his Blue Christmas, but I think he may have just needed a splash of gold and a bit more tinsel. Because popping a few extremely early Christmas decorations around this weekend was entirely too tempting. And the joy it brought was... well...

...it speaks for itself.

Just a few strands of gold and blue tinsel (Martha Stewart, it seems, gives enough in a single pack to wind around all of Graceland), some craft store velvet poinsettias in blue and gold, a couple well-chosen metal words, and some golden mercury-glass styled pieces from Target-- and I was on my way!

The little white flocked Christmas tree was a gift from a friend last year, and it came in very handy for this one!...

Add in a little mood lighting and....

Oh, what's that? You say we have to do Thanksgiving first?

Ah, well... so we do. But...um... it'll take the burden off, post T-day, anyway!

Here's the top of the bookcase of the side of the room. It looks like it needs a little something, but I haven't quite figured it all out yet...

And under the painting of the overturned cherub, a nice low bowl full of pine cones has found a place...

So, on a decorating high after the blue room success, I decided to noodle a bit with my dining room display.

Some of you may remember, at the beginning of 2009, post-Christmas, I'd cleaned up on a lot of discontinued silver and purple mercury glass pieces from Target and Michael's, so I was determined to use them this year...

In the afternoon light. the metal took on a golden hue, but it's actually mirrored silver. The white pearly tablecloth was my mother's, and the chargers were ones I got years ago.

Speaking of Mom, every time I use a non-traditional Christmas color, like this purple, I snicker a bit and think how it would have taken some energy to win her over with this display.

Even though the standard Christmas colors of red and green (as well as our interpretation of Santa Claus) had actually come about because of CocaCola marketing at the turn of the 1900s, my mom just didn't feel comfortable with blues, pinks or purples in the Christmas scheme. She was a red-and-green gal, all the way!

I respect that. But I do love incorporating the colors of the room into my Christmas decor. The purple candle there, by the way, was discounted decor from Halloween. Waste not, want not...