Christmas Decor - New Every Year

I have been waiting since the Spring to use my

Seasons Greetings crate and birch logs!

I found both this past Spring and Summer at

yard sales.

I shop year round for Christmas decorating ideas.

I have firmly adopted the "buy it when you see it" rule.

My decorating for Christmas is mostly Winter

décor so I can leave it up longer. I sprinkle a little

Christmas in there to make it festive 

over the holidays.

The picture is straight....it is the floor and my cupboard literally leans to the left!

I have a random approach to holiday decorating.

I have lots of options stored in the basement 

so something is there for wherever my decorating

senses take me. 

Although I take pictures every year of my décor

I don't even look at them for ideas the current year!

I like it to be spontaneous.

I also buy new stuff every year, according to 

what tickles my fancy (and what's on sale!)

Like the window seat with all Christmas pillows.

It is decked out with all kinds of pillows year round

but I didn't have enough Christmas pillows for 

the whole seat.

After I saw Cecilia's post at My Thrift Store Addiction

with all the pillows lined up on her couch, 

I made it my mission to go get some.

With crazy good coupons for Michael's and JoAnn's

I found a good assortment.

The Joy pillow is from last year's after Christmas sales,

one of the things I look forward to every year!

I found this fabulous Peace pillow at TJ Maxx last year 

after Christmas for $5! It is all felt.

And then there are those thrift store finds I bought

to sell in my Etsy shop and just had to keep!

Like this sweet rocking chair and the hand painted

winter scene bowl.

New this year is the JOY basket filled with greens, another after
Christmas sale find last year.

The globe with pinecones is new also, and it lights up,

apparently only when it wants to (it is switched on)!

I have a plaid/woodland theme going in my dining room. The plaid 

cooler, tote bag and thermos (from above) are all garage sale

finds. My collection of deer can be seen scattered

around the room.

I came back to edit the picture of my dining room centerpiece. Once

again I was inspired by a post from Cecilia at My Thrift Store

Addiction and had to make a cake stand centerpiece of my own.

There's also snowmen and Santa's scattered about,

both of which I have a huge collection of.

They all don't make it out every year :-(

In the kitchen I tried something new this year.

I saw this idea at Kingsbury Brook Farm

and had to try it.

Lucky for me, on a recent visit to Rustiques (my former booth) 

there were vintage garlands at 50% off.

I bought a few and made my own small wreaths.

I had the ribbon and decided it was

enough to make a statement.

They turned out a little bigger than I thought I'd

want but I am living with it!

(I have to apologize for the quality of pictures. My house is

so hard to photograph! I tried all different times of 

day and lighting and this is the best I got)

My centerpiece on the island is a retro camper, tree and
woody station wagon I put together in a huge
apothecary jar that I found in Skaneateles, NY.
There is one thrift store there so I always have to
check it out. The jar caught my eye immediately.

I found the retro aqua reindeer towel at Walmart.

I made the Let It Snow sign last year after

seeing it on another blog. I found

the wood board already painted

aqua and distressed at 

Goodwill and bought it not knowing

what I would use it for.

The Parlor and Living room décor will have to wait
for another post. Partly because this post is too long
and partly because the tree is standing in
the living room undecorated still!

I do have to show you my recent $5 find at Walmart though.

I do very little decorating in the bathroom, usually just
this window. I did get a snowman soap dispenser
to help get to the minimum required to use my
coupon at JoAnn's for the pillows.
It's perfect that I did because then
I found this!

I think it's my favorite decoration so far this year!

Till next time.....

AnnMarie xoxo

I am linking up with these great blog parties:
Vintage Charm
Share Your Cup
Thought "Full" Thursdays
Holiday Link Party
Home Sweet Home
Share Your Style
Best of the Weekend
Anything Goes Pink Saturday
Happiness is Homemade
Home for Christmas Bloggers Link Party

I Lost 2 Pounds in 10 Seconds!!

It's my scale.

Or scales. I have three.

Warning: This post may seem obsessive to some, funny to others, and may be relatable to most women. If you don't even own a scale, or care how much you weigh, you may want to sign off now.

If you do and you do, read on. I have not been diagnosed with OCD.  This is mostly tongue in cheek.

Or is it?

So I have three scales. The first is the one I used 10 years ago when I lost 10 pounds on Weight Watchers. I was so proud of myself then. Of course to dash my victory over weight, the scale would always be at least 2 pounds higher at the doctors.

Can I get an Amen?

It is a well known fact that doctors scales weigh higher, even after I deducted for my clothes and whatever I ate that day. I actually weighed my clothes once before I went to the doctor, in the winter, and it was almost 2 pounds.

Really.

I started thinking that my trusty old school scale wasn't very accurate anymore. I bought a new digital light-up scale. I weigh myself every morning so I need to see in the dark.

Here's where the OCD starts and where my title comes from. I always weigh myself first thing, before coffee. If I use my old scale in my bedroom under the light of the window where the floors may or may not be even, I weigh one weight.

If I take my new digital scale into the kitchen where the floors are even, I weigh 2 pounds more. The time it takes me to lose 2 pounds is the time it takes me to walk from the high weight (ie. the kitchen)  back to the better weight (the bedroom)....about 10 seconds.

Yup, I timed it. Just for this post.

So I started using the new light-up scale every morning.

I just couldn't keep lying to myself anymore.

And there's more.

There is a third scale.

I have been wanting an official Weight Watchers scale for awhile. I was starting to lose trust some mornings in my digital light-up, wondering if it was really telling me the truth about my weight. I found myself getting on and off  3-4 times because it was giving me 3-4 different numbers.

I believe in checking at least twice. The same number twice is the truth.

That relationship has to be trustworthy or it is just not worth getting up in the morning :-)

So back to my third scale. The Weight Watchers scale. I got it at a church rummage sale for half price. I paid $2.50.

The price does not make it less trustworthy but it weighs me the same as my untrustworthy digital light-up scale.

And it doesn't even light up!

At this point you may be wondering why I keep all three scales. And why I weigh myself every morning. I know so many woman who are flabbergasted at this and a few who get me.

The old school scale is there for nostalgic reasons. It was my friend while I was suffering through Weight Watchers.

The digital light-up scale is there because it is a digital light-up scale.

The Weight Watchers is there because it's name alone gives it credibility and worthy of more chances at weighing me correctly.

I weigh myself every morning because it has become a discipline and helps me stay disciplined throughout the day.

This is very important to a woman's well being. Or maybe just mine.

If I am at a good weight one morning, I may have the option of a peanut encrusted donut at Wegmans while I am grocery shopping.

If I am on the high side, it is a boring day of light eating, no sneaking M & M's and certainly no donuts. I know if I do this, within a few days my weight will again be where it should be.

It's the three day rule. Every three days, if you are eating healthy, your body will reset and maintain itself in keeping a healthy weight.

For example, if I eat 3 pieces of pizza and some brownies and oatmeal cookies one night, obviously my weight will be higher the next morning than if I ate a salad. If I eat light the next few days, my weight will return to it's normal weight on the third day.

If you overeat or indulge for three days straight, guess where your weight will be the fourth day??

Not pretty.

That's what vacations are made of.

I am scared of vacation eating. That's a whole other post.

Speaking of scary, this is the scariest time of the day....

weighing myself in the morning....in the dark

Just to clarify.....this is MY routine to maintain my weight. It has worked so far. To lose weight is another set of OCD practices that I will spare you from.

I haven't even talked about exercise.

And I won't.

In closing, here's a tip for you that will work great with disciplining yourself throughout the day.....

All silliness aside, this discipline and weighing myself every morning stuff does work for me. I do indulge in all my favorite foods regularly and then lighten up the next few days.

I can't list what they are because then I would have to get up from this computer and go have some.

Why go through all of this, you ask?

I just HAVE to do it this way because I have a fear of waking up one day and getting on the scale only to find out I gained 10 pounds. That really happened to a girlfriend.

I kinda like my clothes right now and don't want to buy bigger ones.

At 60 I am within 4 pounds of my pre-pregnancy weight at age 25.

That has to count for something!

Bottom line, it is how you feel and how you look for YOURSELF. If you like where you are at, great!

I will love you no matter what size you are!!

AnnMarie xoxo

I am linking up with these great blog parties:
Over The Moon Link Party
Tuesdays With A Twist
Share Your Cup
Thoughtful Thursday Link Party
Best of the Weekend