15 Upcycled Christmas Decorations For Your Home

Walking through any Antique Mall you'll find a wide array of interesting pieces perfect for upcycling.  Here's a variety of great Christmas Decorating ideas using easily found items.

1.  This adorable Christmas Tree made from old pieces of hardware.  I've seen them also made from rolled papers, buttons, jewelry pieces and the like.  

from petticoatjunktion.com

2.  I love using old books for decorating purposes.  The Reader's Digest Series from the 50's that can be found in quantity and are difficult to even give away are perfect for book projects.

from Cindy@Upcycle Design Lab on Hometalk

3.  Ball jars are also plentiful.  So many ways to decorate them for the Holidays.

From CottonRidgeEmporium on Etsy

4.  These are cute.  Wine bottles could also be decorated up for adorable holiday décor.

from jamscraftcloset.com

5.  One of our dealers had some of these for sale.  Still kicking myself for not grabbing them.  So cute.  A walk around any antique mall will reveal a variety of tart tins as well as such cute doughnut tins.  So many cute projects.... so little time.

from mythriftstoreaddiction.blogspot.com

6.  Do you have a collection of oil cans?  What a cute way to jazz them up for the holidays.

from prodigalpieces.com

7.  We have one of these at the shop.... I might just have to buy it.  These are adorable.  (Couldn't find a link back to give credit.)

8.  I have a dump truck in typical yellow, purchased to use for holiday décor.  Its still sitting in my closet.  What a cute idea.  Follow the link for a great blog full of cute holiday decorating ideas.

from qisforquandie.com

9.  Antique Malls are full of a variety of wood boxes, perfect for decorating.  Check out the olive bucket in the back left corner.  Gorgeous!

You can find Fern Creek Cottage on Facebook

10.  Shutters are a staple at many antique malls.  How cute is that?

Found on Etsy at LogCabinBreadandMore

11.  Don't have a fireplace mantle!  What a great alternative and it can be used in a bathroom or kitchen as a towel rack throughout the year.

from myrepurposedlife.com

12.  I have some old lampshades I've collected over the years for a variety of projects....  This is wonderful.  Follow the link and she's got one all decorated up.  

from pillarboxblue.com

13.  Another great idea for glass jars.  Love the "peep-show" idea.  

from yesterdayontuesday.com

14.  Another great tin idea.  The possibilities are endless.  Couldn't find a link but there is a watermark in the bottom left corner.  (I can't clearly make it out.... can you?)

15.  Adorable.  I have a couple different ways I display Christmas cards, this is perfect for just a few of your favorites.

You can find more ideas for decorating with Kitchenware at BHG.com

For more great ideas for Holiday décor check out our Pinterest Board DIY Christmas Decorations.

Then, come on in and grab some supplies.   From everyone here at thechirpingfrog Merry Christmas!

15 Fabulous Shutter Re-Purpose Ideas For Your Home

I've got a couple pairs of shutters that I've been hanging onto for a while now, waiting for the perfect application.  I still don't know what I'm going to do with them but my mind-wheels are turning and inspiration is everywhere.

Take a look as some of the great re-purpose ideas I found on Pinterest:

14 Unique Repurposed Kitchen Item Ideas

I'm always on the lookout for interesting ways to repurpose vintage items.  Kitchenware is an excellent resource with so many fun things that can be recycled and reinvented in a variety of cute ways.... for minimal costs I might add. 

Here's just a few of my favorite examples.

Every antique mall I've ever been in has a variety of beautifully decorated serving utensils.  This is such a great repurpose idea.  Drawer pulls would work great wouldn't they?

fleachic.blogspot.com

Find yourself some wonderful teacups and make a towel rack for the kitchen.  So many possibilities....

Teacup and Saucer Cuteness

Wowser, these are fabulous!

38 kitchen item repurpose ideas

Rolling pins can be found at every shop you'll ever encounter.  I love this idea for a coat rack.  Adorable.

45+ Creative Kitchen Repurpose Ideas

I love this idea.  It'd look great as a type of "frame" to hang children's artwork too.  So cute!

sadieseasongoods.com

I'm completely in love with this silverware light fixture.  So inspiring!

dishfunctionaldesigns

What a great repurpose!

Industrial Lighting

More great silverware repurpose ideas.  So many beautiful patterns to choose from.  Don't think they're only good to eat with, so many great ways to use them in unique ways.

from mysalvagedtreasures.com

You'll find graters all over the place too.  Lots of great repurpose ideas but this has got to be the cutest one I've found.

On Hometalk

Wonderful strainer ideas....

theownerbuildernetwork

Love this idea too.... I've bought some spring pans for the purpose of decorating them up in some way for wall art (I ended up using them for concrete planters).  When walking through your local antique mall keep in mind creative, interesting ways you could use the pieces you're seeing.  So many creative uses for everyday items.

Adorable Repurpose

Not in English but a "picture is worth 1,000 words".  You'll get the idea, be inspired.

Great idea.  Rolling pins make a great middle support and circular pie pans work great too. 

45 Ways to Repurposeys to Repurpose Kitchen Stuff

Another great idea for a grater.

Repurposed Kitchen Tools @Knickoftime.net

Great idea for silverware.... What other words would be fitting for a kitchen?

Painted Fox Home

Have you done anything interesting and creative with kitchen items?  Would love to see your handiwork.

11 Christmas Gift Ideas You Can Make Yourself

Earlier this week a customer purchased a variety of items and mentioned that she was going to be making all her Christmas gifts this year.  My mind immediately ran with it and began thinking of the many different ideas using items from the shop.  Here's just a sampling of the cute things I've found that could be turned into adorable, personalized Christmas gifts this season.

So many great ideas for things to do with windows.

The Idea Room
Repurposed Window Ideas

How about framing a doily.  So many to choose from and just as much variety in how you frame and display them.  For more variety and interesting ways to repurpose doilies check out 10 Fun Ways to Repurpose Grandmas Doilies

from Yahoo.com and Pinterest

These adorable snowmen made from staircase balusters, how cute are they?

 Sleds could be decorated up for holiday décor in a variety of cute ways.

Now what about Mason Jars, so many things to do and lots of jars to choose from.

A blog Full of Mason Jar Crafts.... wow!

Shutters, add a wreath and a great bow and you've got an easy, quick transformation for holiday décor.... and a great gift.  Build a book shelf, add a shelf and hooks for a cute coat rack.  So many ideas!

15 shutter repurpose ideas

 Buttons, buttons and more buttons.  So many possibilities for wonderful gifts made with buttons.

Button Craft Ideas

 As soon as I saw these I couldn't help but think.... "light fixture".  Wouldn't that make a fabulous standing lamp or hanging light fixture?

Another item you see all the time at your local antique mall is glass insulators.  There are so many cute things you can do with them.  Makes for really cute, unique gift ideas.

30 creative ways to use glass insulators

I love these spools, use them for a pendant on a necklace or turn them into a garland or banner for your fireplace. 

Now you know you've always wanted to buy a box of rusty bed springs!  What an adorable wreath.  Do a quick Pinterest search and you'll find many more adorable rusty spring ideas.

I am so inspired to get creative and make a few of the gifts I'll be giving this year.  High hopes, now we'll just see how productive I'll be.

Bathroom Update- Hip Hip Hooray, We're Done!

This post is from a bathroom remodel I worked on last summer/fall.  It seems that every time I begin a tile project I horribly underestimate the time involved.

Yesterday I started tiling the accent wall that divides the bathrooms at The Chirping Frog.  My body is already screaming at me and I'm only roughly halfway up the first wall... and its time to start climbing a ladder!  The real fun is just beginning.  It's always worth the time (and pain) once it's done but man, I'm reminded every time I tile of just how old I'm getting!

Here's a look at the before and after's from my last tile project.  I need the reminder that the end result is worth it.

Can you believe it, the bathroom is finally done.  It's really amazing how removing one little half wall has opened up the entire space.

Here's a reminder of how dark the shower was before we started our "little" project.  First order of the day was to bust out this half wall and get some light into the shower area (which required moving plumbing and a vent), but wow, what a difference it makes!

Before

Before

After

This is the best before picture of the vanity area that I have.  Wish I had thought to take a better picture.  The vanity is a whopping 84" in length.  Hugo, with a simple builder standard mirror covering the entire wall behind it.

Can you say dated?

My first order of business was to remove that mirror, then I wanted to divide up the huge expanse of counter-top with a wall cabinet (a place to hide all the junk), tile that wall and hang framed mirrors instead.  The counter-top was changed out along with the fixtures, the cabinetry got a gorgeous shade of blue paint and new knobs.  Presto, chango, what a drastic difference that made!

Before

After

After

After

After

This is the only picture I took of the "water closet".  It had linoleum before that met up with carpeting at the doorway.  It was a bear to get out but now there's a nice smooth transition at the doorway.  I'm leaving all the decorating up to the homeowner (I'd hang a grouping of those cute sea-scape pictures you've got right on that wall, don't spread them through the room like you had them before, mass them right there for more impact pretty please, if you're planning on re-using them that is).

After

So, what do you think?  Was it worth the time and effort or was it fine how it was?  Favorite part?  What would you have done differently?  Would love to hear your thoughts.  Have you tackled a similar project, please share, we'd love to see your work.