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This is my "reason for the season" re-purposed advent calendar project. Fun for the whole family. Each ornament points to the reason for the season. It's a fun Christmas activity.

For more photo's and project ideas see my Advent Project pinboard on Pinterest here .

Lamp Shade Christmas Tree

For instructions on making this tree go here

Inspired by several ideas seen on Pinterest

Salvaged Picture Frame Tree

For basic instructions on making this tree, and more inspriational trees go here

Lucy Designs

And this one was inspired by a frame mold that I saw in a magazine. I used cut up smaller frames in graduated sizes, mounted on a piece of salvaged wood.

Ornaments on a screen tree

These two projects inspired by one seen on So Into Vintage

And a smaller version here

Festive Vintage Ornament Wreath

Take a tired old greenery ornament, and load it up with vintage ornaments for a fabulous new door wreath

Spindle Tree

Make a shabby Christmas Tree with vintage spindles, also works with branches. You'll need spindles, Drill and metal rod for this project. An old side table base is also recommended.

Spindle Wire Christmas Tree

Spindle Angels


Use old spindles and various other materials to make a fabulous re-purposed Angel.

Being in "the business" we actually start this process in the Summer. Seems by the time Christmas actually rolls around I am just about sick of it, but right now is when It really starts to hit me.
A Friend of mine, who knows me real well, found me this stack of beauties
Some sort of car part, I don't know exactly what they are but don't they look like snowflakes.
We had the idea of painting them and making them into tree ornaments, but before I do that I thought of this little idea.
What do you think?
Have yourself a merry little car part Christmas!!!!!

Junky topiary form Christmas Tree-by Margo


Step 1

For this project I started with this spiral tree shaped topiary form. It's about 16" tall when sat on top of an old clay pot. First I began by tying vintage balls on it, spaced evenly. I used jute rope as the ties for this part.
Then I began to sprinkle in various bits of junk between the christmas balls. Using both jute and ribbon to tie them on.

Any little thing was fair game, including this great old tin type that I like to call "uncle charlie"

Fill in as much empty space as you can Wide ribbon helps with that

There's uncle charlie

The key is to remember "it's not done till it's over done"

Holiday Hand Mirror-by Margo


I took an old hand mirror, attached an old bottle or test tube, and then decorated it up. The mirror can be hung on the wall or propped up. A little glue holds everything in place. Change out the greenery for the seasons.

Here's a 2nd one

Flashy Tree-By Margaret & Lilly of The Veranda

Margaret and Lilly run The Veranda in Canton. Each month they do it up big at their place. I love this idea that I saw when I was there last weekend.
Simply take a tree and rest some carefully chosen flash cards all over. What a great idea for teachers in the classroom. But I think it'd be great anywhere. Thanks for the idea Girls.

"Green" Christmas Ideas
Green means different things to different folks. These ideas are meant to help save "green" and be "green".

Many of us have old Christmas decorations that we are "tired" of. They tend to accumulate in boxes, that don't get opened, but also don't get passed on or, dare I say it, thrown out. Before running to the craft store for supplies, take a look through those old boxes of decorations, and see if there is anything in there that you might be able to use for your Christmas crafting and projects.

Old Wreaths can be jazzed, up with old Christmas ornaments from the past. One of the neatest projects I've seen this year, were some wreaths that were covered in vintage Christmas balls and other ornaments. How fun would it be to make one of these with special ornaments from your past Christmases. Create a theme like, First Christmas, Child's home made ornaments, toy ornaments, wood ornaments etc. Just load up a wreath, hot glue them down, add some ribbon, and voila', A wonderful new decoration with a story to tell.

We all have old ornaments that we don't really care for anymore. What about using these old ornaments instead of bows on your packages. Maybe the recipient will treasure this "new" ornament or even pass it on with their next year's wrappings.

Thrifty Christmas Wrappings-by Margo

See this bag
Not too useful for gifts, but if you cover that logo with an old Christmas Card, it's perfect.
Those candle clips (past quick project) work great to seal up these bags from peeking eyes.


See this pile of crinkley confetti. It came in a gift box of nuts that we received. I tied a clump of it together as a bow substitute


I didn't use ribbon this year, I used twine instead. I picked up this huge bolt of twine at a GS earlier this year. I use it for everything, and I clipped some evergreen branches from the yard


I used old sheet music, ornaments, and even my little mini slate chalk boards as gift tags. These are made by painting Formica samples with chalk board paint. Wrapped everything up in twine, and tucked some fresh evergreen underneath.

My total wrapping expense this year is ..... $3 for gift wrapping paper. Hope you can use some of these ideas for your wrapping. Have a great Christmas Holiday.


There are lots of fun uses for old aluminum tree branches


An ordinary old thread stand make a great stage for a holiday display. A simple flash card tucked into an old typewriter says it all.

Etched Mirror


This is really an easy project and great for a beginner. All you need to get started, is an old mirror and a few scraping tools. Just $7.


This projects by Alvn of Whisperwood Cottage

For this project, Amy re-purposed some old jacks into candle stands

Angel by Margo

Sometimes I purchase something at a GS because it's a bargain, and "I'm sure I'll figure out something to do with it". I bring it home and it sits in my piles of junk for sometimes, months even years. That was the case of this Candle holder. I figured I'd attach something to the top and make it into a little round table.

But that just seemed too predictable. I picked it up one day, and began turning it every which way, trying to look at it from a different perspective. Suddenly I saw this in my head.

See it's upside-down

I removed one of the tri-pod legs, added a finial and a platform, painted, and added the door plate (which covers the mark left by the removed leg) and glass knob and halo. This was a very very easy project and don't you just love how those legs make wings.

So if you've got something you just can't figure out what to do with, Turn it upside-down, side-ways and every which way, and see if it speaks to you.


For this project, I took an old lamp shade frame, turned it upsidedown and added lots of Christmas balls. Then I added a bowl, just the right size in the center and made a great centerpiece. Imagine how pretty this would look with Christmas treets inside.


For this project, I took a frame with the hanging wire still attached, and hung various sizes of balls from different length hooks. Couldn't be any easier.

Turn an old Lantern into a Holiday vignette

For this project, all I did was take a chain, and start hanging balls from it. I used 2 sizes of hooks, and just loaded it up. When I was done, I tied a ribbon at the top.
Rusty Wreath by Linda

Linda Writes "I made this wreath from some old rusty barb wire and old barn board I found on the farm. The "ornmaments" are recycled from an old garland that I found on a garage sale, the greenery and raffia is a left over from another craft project and the pine cones were free. I sprayed the whole thing with glitter spray for a little sparkle. Everything is wired on and can withstand the weather. The whole thing cost me less than $3."

This Week's quick project and project photo by Joy

Thanks Joy for letting me share this one.
Joy Writes: "I love those vintage bottle brush trees but they can be very hard to find, not to mention, expensive. Last year I got a tip that the green bottle brush trees from the Dollar Store can be bleached to achieve a time worn look. To me, the best news since sliced bread! I bought a handful of these babies, stuck them in my kitchen sink with a lot of hot water and a little bleach, and whamm-o prest-o ... they look like the real deal!"
I couldn't wait to try out this project, and it's as easy as she said. They end up with a slightly aged look, which is perfec.

This quick project by Alvn of Whisperwood Cottage

How easy is this, Amy turned an old Christmas tree stand into a Champaign holder, Great idea Amy.

Stirrup some Cheer-By Margo

Talk about simple, I found these stirrups at a recent estate sale. I simiply hung a vintage ornament from them, and cliped on one of those old candle clips, on top. What a great way to highlight a special ornament. You could add some Christmas greenery or ribbon if you want, but I liked them sweet and simple. (always use caution when buring candles)

Fun Clips by Margo

I recently picked up a whole bag of these old clips that held candles on a Christmas tree. Of course I would never use them for that due to the fire hazard, but I had an idea in mind.

First I took the candle holder part, and opened it up

Then I glued various objects in the center. You could use buttons, beads, old jewelry, pearls, I even used watch faces, and typewriter keys.

You can use them as clips for photos, notes, etc

Or clip them to a ribbon and use as napking rings, add a name card for the added use of placecard holders

Add a magnet and they are great for the refrigerator.

Clip them right to gifts instead of bows.

The uses are endless, have fun. This is a really easy and fun project.


Tina shows her Jewelry Tree, I've been seeing these around a lot. They were popular to make in the 70's, but I really like this one that Tina has in her bedroom. It's very elegant without being over the top.

Rosemary shows how she dressed up an old window for the holidays.


Joyluck from the HGTV board made this great Christmas Window project

Joy from Joy's house

Joy has at least 3 projects in this display. First is the Stunning Mirror, Joy used hot glue to mount these beautiful Christmas balls to this picture frame. More Christmas balls fill the bird cage below, all in front of 2 beautiful shutters. Thank you Joy for these great ideas.

Here's another mirror she made.

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These Clock hands make unique and quick ornaments. On one I glued an old piece of rhinestone jewelry. Just picture a whole tree full of these.

New Twist on an Old Idea
Countdown (Advent) Calendar, Make an Advent Calendar from junk bits and redeem the season

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Something to help the kids countdown the days till Christmas.

I took a scrap piece of wood, and painted it with one coat of white paint. Then I rubbed it a bit with some sandpaper and marked off a grid of 4 rows of 6 dots, and evenly spaced them, marking the dots with a pencil. Then I hammered in a nail on each dot, leaving enough sticking up to hang things on. I copied some tags that I had in numbers 1-24 and hung them from each nail. Then I gathered up 24 misc items that I had around the house. Everything from buttons, keys, to game pieces, and tied string around each one. The way this works, is you put the trinkets in the basket, and the child pulls one out and hangs it on it's nail, each day. You could even have the trinkets have a significant meaning for you. For instance, a Star of David to mark the beginning of Hanukkah. A Cross, a Hammer (carpenter), Star (star of bethlehem) Even Keys, hearts, and crystals can work their way into your teaching the Christmas story if you wish. Ornaments could also be used on this project. What a great way to get the kids involved in the holiday, and feel that each day they are pulling out a treasure to hang from the Countdown Calendar.

Origins of the Advent Calendar: (from Wikipedia) The origins of the Advent calendar come from German Lutherans who, at least as early as the beginning of the 19th century, would count the days of Advent physically. Often this meant simply drawing a chalk line on the door each day, beginning on December 1.

I love what Rosemary did on this simple project. She used French pots, but you could use regular small clay pots if you'd like. Simply group them on a tray an let a little something shiney drip right out. She also added a bird's nest and used Shiney Balls as the "eggs". What a great display. Thanks Rosemary for this great idea.

Baluster Snowflake


My new Junking friend Claudia sends this in
Here are some brief directions "Cut the top 2 and bottom 2 ballisters at a 45 degree angle ( I think!) so that they all fit together nicely. The side 2 should butt up against those flatly. Screw a fairly large circular or hexagon shaped screw plate to hold them all together in the back . I screwed a styrofoam star and metal snowflake in the front center to embellish it. Add heavy duty screwhooks on the top of the top 2 for hanging.

Her Business Partner Christine sends in this idea from Salvage Chic Antiques


"I can't get the Little Drummer Boy song out of my head since I created this centerpiece today out of an old snare drum and some ornaments! It is the perfect complement to the Bass Drum I use for a coffee table in my sunroom."

Mim in Ohio shares her wine cork Christmas Tree

Robolady, I've been following your blog for some time and wanted to share my latest project, just in time for the holidays. The base is a styrofoam cone, the corks were free and the green bling are old Mardi Gras beads hot glued into the spaces. I thew a bit of Raffi on at the last minute. Cost: $1.59. Rather dresses up Grandma's good china plate don't you think? Yours in junk,
Mim S
Newbury, Ohio

Look what annielu , from Garden Web made with an old shutter and some skates. Thanks for letting highlight your project.

Read more about it here


I had purchased an old sled during the summer for $6.00 and it's been sitting in my barn just waiting for Christmas. I almost forgot about it. Also I'd gotten this idea for a wreath last year that was in my idea book, I've had my eye out for old ice skates all year, I found these for $2.00 in the Summer. Then I took an old tired wreath I had in my "worn out christmas stash". Fluffed it up, glued some picks . that I had in a box, added the skates, and then mounted the whole thing on the sled. right now it sits beside my side entrance (the one we all use).

My Blog friend Joy, made this great item out of an old carriage wheel. Isn't it wonderful. What a great item for the Holidays. Here's the one I made, it was lots of fun and very easy. I'm thinking of ways to adapt this project for various seasons

Angels

Angels made from old Table Leg and other architectural items.

Spindle Angels


These ornament angels were made from an old cutter quilt and yoyos.