the wooden horse

I saw this wooden ornament when I was out shopping, I can not remember where or how much I paid for it.
But I knew what I wanted to do with it.

Paint it! My Mother in-law has a 28 year old Paint horse named Apache. He is a pasture horse now and lives the good life. She had his mother as her first horse and has had Apache since he was born. 

This is the only photo I could find of old Apache and it was a year he got VERY skinny! He does not look this skinny now, he gets hay & grain daily and is back to his old self. But he will not be here forever, so I thought it would make a nice gift for my MIL.

I started out by painting the reddish part of the horse with an acrylic paint I bought 

at Joanne's called spice tan, It was a perfect patch!

Next I painted the main, tail and spots with Annie Sloan's Old White. Except i kept getting a pink cast bleeding thru. So I waited a really long time for it to dry and tried again. Still pink.

After painting this little horse 15 times, I decided to just add a little of the spice tan over the 

old white and give it a little wash. That worked. Plus it aged it a tiny bit.

I love how it turned out!

Now when Apache is gone, my MIL and the kids can just look to the Christmas 

tree to get a glimpse of the old Apache.

We will not be spending Christmas with my in-laws, so when they were here this weekend I gave 

my MIL the ornament I painted for her. She liked it very much!!

Have you made any of our Christmas gifts by hand?? I have really gotten into it this year!!

Linking to:

My vintage tree

It has been a few years since I have put up my smaller tree with vintage ornaments on it, little fingers were just far too curious. So I dusted off the boxes and brought them up. I will keep most of the comments to a minimum as there are alot of pictures. All of the ornaments were purchased over time at either Estate sales, garage sales or antique stores. Here is a look...

Ok, first off, sorry about the picture, the bay window lets in so much light and the dinning 

room is so dark, it does not make for very good wide shots! But you get the idea, little lit tree, loaded with antique ornaments, vintage tree skirt. I do have vintage lights, but let me tell ya people, Iwould NEVER put those on a tree or anywhere for that matter, can you say FIRE!!

The tree skirt I bought at a garage sale. An older lady was selling her sisters belongings after she passed away and I couldn't pass up this tree skirt. She said her sister hand made it and had it thru all her Holidays!

I love the minty green color with the red, black and white.

You know all those clear ball ornaments that people have been shoving shredded music 

sheet paper of tinsel in? Not new. But I still love them!

How about the hot pink one!!!

I have a few vintage Santa's, this one is new this year and he was $3.50 at a Thrift store.

This may be my favorite Christmas decoration of all time. Besides the hand made ornaments my kids make me! I bought it in the summer many years ago at a garage sale. I think I paid a dollar for him. it is a Santa planter! Old, crackled paint, a few scratches that have removed the paint, but so darling! You like him??

 I do have other vintage pieces, but believe it or not, I kept things a little more minimalist here this season. Well, my tastes have evolved as well.  Who knows what will be out next year!

Linking to:

Christmas Gifts & Ornaments for $10 or Less Blog Hop # 4 and Hilights from Last week

I am so excited to share some of the links that were Linked up last week. I have truly gotten a lot of ideas and inspiration along with some great instructions and tutorials on how to achieve them!

My first choice I had to go with the Glittering Musical Ornament from Salt Tree. I think the idea of reusing a music box you have found in an old unwanted object, and reusing it in something to have on your tree year after year! And who doesn't love the prospect of using Mod Podge and Glitter?!

LOVE this!!

Next up is the adorable Melted Snowman Tutorial from Flexible Dreams. I have a soft spot for Snowmen, having collected them for so long. I am going to make gift tags with them as well as share them with my Girl Scout Troop, I CAN NOT WAIT! The tutorial looks soooo easy!

This week I am sneaking in another pick because I love this one so much too!! It is the Anthropology Inspired Brushed Lace Cardigan from Two Butterflies! Since I have just ventured into the sewing world recently, I can appreciate this so much more! I love when someone can just look at an object and say 'I can make that' cause it usually turns out better as is the case with this one!!

 I have had so much fun hosting this with Mandy over at the Project Queen! If you haven't checked out her blog, you need to. She is so very talented and one of my first real Blogging friend!!

Here are her top pics for the party!

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Now for Mandy from the Project Queen!

Stevie from Garden Therapy shared how to make these amazing Beeswax Flower Mason Jar Candles.

I would LOVE to receive a gift like this. I have always been a bit intimidated about making candles, but after reading Stevie's tutorial I think I could do it!

Brandy from Gluesticks shared with us how to make Etched Gift Jars.

I think these are so cute. I was always looking for something to do for teachers (when my kids were little). Especially something they could use over and over again.

I'm picking a third feature because Bonnie did (although my reasoning isn't as good as her's...ha!).

Shirley from These Moments of Mine made this adorable Embroider Hoop Ornament. I just love this!

Think of the possibilities with these! You could paint the hoop, add different embellishments, AND different fabric. Great job Shirley!

So Link up you new ornament or gifts you have been working on that are $10 or less!
They could even be from last year!

Here are the rules:

1. No Etsy shops or business giveaways.

2. Please only link up handmade ORNAMENTS or a handmade GIFT you would give someone for a Christmas gift that would only cost $10 or less.

3/  Please visit at least 2 others who have taken time to link up!

So here we go, #4!