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Monday, August 22, 2011

I Should Be At Home Cleaning . . . .

. . . .but I'm not.


Instead, I'm tootling off to a very special sale today.



It only happens once a summer.
And tomorrow I'll let you know if I brought anything home with me.


In the meantime, remember those demitasse cups I bought at Goodwill a couple of weeks ago?

Yes, them.  Those them.

They are no longer demitasse cups.
They are now Christmas Tree ornaments for our dining room tree.

All it took was a glue gun and about 5-and-a-half minutes,
not counting the downtime for photographs.

"Show me your best side!"

A bead of hot glue around the bottom of the little cup,
a quick squoosh of the cup onto the saucer, and
voila!
Cup is stuck to saucer, and the whole shebang can be
hung on our dining room Christmas Tree.

And I'm only kidding about the little ornament inside the cup.
Probably.
All eleven of them, done.

I still need to embellish them -- a little white and gold ribbon,
maybe a little bling . . . I'll let you know!


My inspiration?  A few years ago, when I first discovered blogging, I stumbled on Mary's
Little Red House  blog.  I greedily read back, and back, over old posts, and found one about
her dining room at Christmas.  With a small scale tree.  With tea cups as the ornaments.
Stolen from Mary.  Sshh, don't rat me out.

Gasp!
I have a dining room!
I can get a tree!
I can hang tea cups on it!
I can be one of the cool kids!

Well, maybe not the cool kids thing, but as for the tea cup tree,
this year I'll finally get around to doing it.

Each Christmas we put a big fresh tree in our sunroom, where it is cool and the tree lasts well.
And lights up the whole neighborhood through all the glass.

Last year we got a tall narrow fake tree for our parlor, and I loved it as much
as I can love a fake tree.  It fit perfectly next to the fireplace, with minimal furniture displacement.

So after Christmas, when the fake tree merchants were shivering on the cold pitiless street corners
with noses red from the icy wind, suffering from chilblains and reaching out their
bony hands in their fingerless gloves, clutching the hem of my coat and whining,
"Please, please buy me last tree, kind lady, or me little 'uns shan't eat tonight,"
in a Cockney accent even though they grew up in the Bronx . . . .

Yeah, then, at a really deep discount, we bought another fake tall narrow tree, just like the Parlor's.
 It awaits its call to duty, slumbering in the attic, undisturbed in its box.

Mary hung naked tea cups on her tree, and some very nice, very beautiful ones, too,
but I decided not to risk hanging good cups, as things tend to happen here,
but to find thrift shop orphans and glue their saucers onto them and bling 'em up a bit.
Because we love us some bling at Christmas.

And it keeps me out of mischief.


Except today, when I'm heading off to see what kind of mischief
I can get into at that once-a-year sale.  -- Cass

Postscript:  If you click through to Mary's Christmas post, above, you will see that she got her inspiration
from Cindy at My Romantic Home.  And it just keeps getting passed on, doesn't it?


**************************************************************************
Link Parties!

Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps On The Porch.  Visit Susan here!
Today's Thrifty Treasures, at Southern Hospitality.  Visit Rhoda here!


19 comments:

  1. Hummmmm... I have zillions, well a couple of dozen, little cups & saucers!! Do I see Christmas decor??? You are indeed an inspiration!! Woo Hoo... Glue gun here I come!!
    Love,
    Marilyn

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  2. How cute...look forward to seeing them at Christmas!

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  3. What a simply delicious idea! I have always wanted to do tree's in all the rooms of the house. I am not sure that it will happen right now because there is no room in the current home we live in, however when I get that big beautiful house of my dreams you can bet there will be trees in all the rooms of the house!

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  4. Hi Cass,
    I LOVE teacup trees! Love all your tinsey cups and are they ever going to be cute on your tree. Would love for you to share this with Tea Time this afternoon! You're invited to join me if you have a free moment after your shopping spree today. Enjoy the day and have fun!

    Blessings,
    Sandi

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  5. Hi Cass! You're the smartest copy cat of all and God bless your tea cups, every one! :) I love this and now I want some tiny cups and saucers so I can copy cat!! :) You did good and you're a hoot! You know how I love hoots! :)
    Be a sweetie,
    Shelia ;)

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  6. Oh how fun and what a creative idea. I can't wait to see it. Hugs, Marty

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  7. Gasp to the second power! You in mischief? Never. You know you will bring something home from the sale. Especially if it's once a summer they have saved up the goodies! hugs♥O

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  8. I'm sure this idea will keep getting passed on! ;-D.

    Have fun at your sale!!

    XO,
    Jane

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  9. Cass,I giggled at your Cockney accent!

    If you ever have 11 extra guests in for coffee, you can have them help themselves to a cup off the tree! Although drinking from one with the saucer still attached might be difficult. LOL Oh, I crack myself up!

    I have lots of pretty teacups that I could use on a similar tree but I'm sure as heck not going to attach the saucers. I want to be able to use them later. Thanks for the inspiration & you have fun at that sale without me, ya' hear?

    Hugs,
    Rett

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  10. Very clever. I guess it is soon time to start thinking about Christmas. Richard from My Old Historic House.

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  11. What a fabulous idea, Cass. The possibilities are endless...

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  12. What a great idea! Can't wait to see the finished product. I also can't wait to see what you bring home from today's sale.

    Melinda

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  13. How charming they are going to look at Christmas. Love the idea!

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  14. Was wondering if this was what you planned to do. It just came to my mind, what it would be like to sip tea from a teacup with the saucer attached?
    Anyway, they look nice and I'm sure a little bling will make them twinkle even more on the tree.

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  15. Oh, Cass, you never fail to amaze me. I wish I had your ambition with decorating and talent with making things look so elegant. Can't wait for Christmas now.

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  16. It's a good idea Cass, but the tree must be strong enough!!! hope you had nice other finds to show us.
    (i am in a nursing home and begins to improve;Thank you for your visit) Blessings Catherine

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  17. What a pretty ide, a cup tree! Can't wait to see this tree all finishes come Christmas Season. Thanks for sharing. Lots of hugs. FABBY

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  18. Good job! That is certainly a beautiful cup tree. You have a wonderful house, too. It probably takes you ages to clean the whole of it.

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