the secondhand table | christmas

December 13, 2019 Ally Willis

A TOUR OF THRIFTED CHRISTMAS TABLESCAPES.

if you’re just joining us from Aimee Weaver Design, I’m so glad you’re here!

Last month, I collaborated with a few talented home bloggers to create a thanksgiving table using only secondhand items. if you missed it, you can read more about it here. it was such a fun creative challenge that when Rachel asked if I’d be interested in doing it again for Christmas, of course I said yes! the rule of this challenge is simple: use only thrifted, foraged, or secondhand items, as well as items you already own. or perhaps what’s simple is that there is only one rule…

My thanksgiving table could be described as traditional, using the warm tones one expects to see in fall decor. for my Christmas table, I wanted to kick it up a notch and make things a tad more formal. I only bought a few new [to me] items for my table; everything else I already had on hand. I’ll include a list of “new” items and price breakdown below!

green is my favorite color. I find that I am never finished with a room, picture, table, project—whatever it may be—until there’s a touch of green. that’s why when I came across this dark green tablecloth with a ruffle detail, I snagged it. it was $2.99 and I’m pretty sure it is straight from the 90s, but I kind of like it. it makes for a lovely canvas, anchoring the entire tablescape, and allowing the other items on the table to pop.

For my centerpiece, I used a champagne bucket filled with greenery, brass candlesticks, and a Blue Willow platter filled with pomegranates, clementines, cranberries, nuts, and sprigs of boxwood—all things I already had on hand. I found the champagne bucket that holds the boxwood cone topiary sometime in the last year or two on Goodwill’s website. you read that right. you can shop at Goodwill online, auction-style. I believe this bucket was about $8 or $9. not too shabby! but with the shipping and handling, it ended up being around $20-$30. I’m old-fashioned and prefer a brick-and-mortar store [and frankly, not paying extra for shipping + handling], so I haven’t really “shopped” their website since. however, some may not mind that!

I suppose the glassware is what elevates this from a casual tablescape to a more formal setting. I had been wanting some crystal stemware, or something similar. while I love shopping secondhand, one of the challenges of doing so is finding multiples of a certain item. for instance, I had seen a few different pieces of crystal at various thrift stores, but never more than two that matched. I suppose I could have gone for a collected look and used mismatched stemware, but I really wanted a set of matching crystal stemware. when I had just about given up, I happened upon a set of six crystal goblets! for $1.99 a piece, I couldn’t pass that up!

I used the same thrifted rattan chargers that I featured on my thanksgiving table. the dishes are a collection of thrift store finds. the Federalist Ironstone dinner plates were found at Goodwill in a set of 8 place settings—dinner plate, salad plate, bowl, and saucer. 36 pieces of ironstone for just $8! the teacups were missing, but I figured it was still worth it. I found the black + white toile plates at another thrift store a few towns over for 50¢ a piece. and the buffalo china dessert plates with red scroll detail were 49¢ a piece at one of my favorite local thrift shops.

The vintage scalloped linen napkins were a gift from my husband a few Christmases ago. I couldn’t decide how to fold or place them, when I got the idea to simply tie a piece of tartan ribbon in the center, creating a giant bow. then I placed them front + center on the stack of collected dishes, like a bow on top of a gift. it seemed fitting considering the occasion! I also used some old mint julep cups that I found at the thrift store this past summer. I have a growing collection of [secondhand] silver and love to feature it in our home wherever I can.

Towards the end of the shoot, I filled the crystal glasses with sprite, a cranberry or two, and a sprig of rosemary. it made for lovely photos and the boys were all too excited to help me empty the glasses… into their bellies.

I don’t typically enjoy numbers, but I do love the “guess how little this cost!” game. plus, I thought this may be a helpful guide in that you don’t have to spend a lot of money to create something you love.

COST BREAKDOWN:

GREEN TABLECLOTH | $2.99

CHAMPAGNE BUCKET | $8-$9* plus shipping + handling

RATTAN CHARGERS | $8.00 [$1.99/CHARGER]*

FEDERALIST IRONSTONE DINNER PLATES | $8.00 [36 piece set]*

BLACK + WHITE TOILE SALAD PLATES | $1.50 [50¢ for three plates]

RED SCROLL DESSERT PLATE | $1.47 [49¢ for three plates]

CRYSTAL STEMWARE | $11.94 [$1.99/GLASS]

MINT JULEP CUPS | $8.00 [$2/PIECE]*

GRAND TOTAL: $50.90

however, I feel it is worth mentioning that since I had most of these things on hand, I only spent $17.90 on the “new to me” items!

* items I already owned

To be completely candid, I was a little worried and not really feeling confident in my vision or what I had gathered. but as I begin to set the table, the ideas began to flow; and overall, I am really pleased with the finished product. maybe I’m biased, but if I saw this table somewhere, I would be surprised to learn that nearly everything is secondhand. it just goes to show the wonderful treasures you can find if you’re willing to dig a little!

I hope you enjoyed this post and leave feeling inspired! don’t forget to visit Annie at Most Lovely Things to see the beautiful secondhand table she created! thanks so much for reading!

and merry, merry Christmas to you + yours!

make sure to hop over and check out all the secondhand tables that were put together!

Rachel | Cherry Street Blossoms

Aimee | Aimee Weaver Designs

Annie | Most Lovely Things

Dana | Adored House

holiday cheer + Christmas home tour.

December 22, 2017 Ally Willis

when decorating for the holidays, I've always liked the idea of a little Christmas in every room. nothing over the top, but at the very least, a touch of warmth. I like to think my home is warm year-round. so, this is a different kind of warmth—seasonal and perhaps a little brighter and more intentional.

before I share a small tour of our home at Christmastime, I've got to tell you about my heart leading up to the most wonderful time of the year. brace yourselves.

almost every year, usually in October or November, I have to take a moment and mentally prepare myself for Christmas. I have to get still and take a deep breath and realize just how soon Christmas will be here, whether I'm ready or not. I have the choice to prepare for this beautiful holiday or simply wing it, to stress myself out over it or relax and enjoy it in all its madness. maybe I'm not alone in the overthinking of this, or maybe I am. I like to do this and have to do this because, much like life, December 25 comes and goes so quickly. it almost seems as if you blink, you'll miss it.

this year was different. I remember having my "moment" in the last month or two. I was excited. I was ready. I'd already begun my Christmas shopping in October and I was going to be ahead of the game. it was our first year to celebrate the holidays in our new home and I was ecstatic about that. then things got busy, and I began to lose focus. I made two trips to the store for tree lights and it still wasn't enough to dress the entire tree. I kept thinking of all the things we didn't have that I needed for decorating. like the majority of our household possessions, all the Christmas decor we had collected was lost in the flood, so we were sort of starting from scratch.

so, I got angry and frustrated and ungrateful and maybe even a little apathetic. one Sunday after church, we went to pick out our Christmas tree. at this point, I was feeling hopeful again. I grew up in a family that always had a live tree at Christmastime and am happy to carry on this tradition with my own little family. we got home, ate lunch, took naps; and I don't know what happened during that nap, but I woke up and wasn't my usual self. my husband, on the other hand, would have won the holiday cheer meister award. and the following dialogue ensued...

"let's decorate the tree!" he exclaims.
"we don't even have ornaments." I reply in a voice reminiscent of Eeyore's.
"who cares? let's put on the lights. do you want Christmas cookies? I'll make some!"
"we don't have any."
"we've got chocolate chip!"
"those aren't Christmas cookies," I mutter. I mean, what even? what kind of person turns down cookies that they don't have to bake? while I'm unboxing the new lights I purchased, I turn around to see my husband in his "Christmas" sweater... a terrible purple sweatshirt with cats and snowflakes with the words "meow meow pur pur" plastered across it in white vinyl appearing like a knit sweater type. for the record, it was a white elephant gift. this is not the gay apparel he typically dons. "WHAT are you wearing?"
"my Christmas sweater. duh!" he replies cheerfully, as he searches for Christmas music on television.
"that's not a Christmas sweater." I wrap lights around the tree, huffing and puffing and hating life and Christmas.
"do you want me to do that?" he offers.
"NO!" I fire back, like the monster I am.

it seems as if I vaguely remember my mother also despising putting lights on the tree. when I text her about this particular Christmas task later, she responds with words that struck me to my core—sort of kidding, but sort of not. "That is the absolute worst part of decorating. For real. But - after it's done, you'll love it. Kinda like childbirth." truer words have never been spoken.

I'm sure I didn't take notice of this the same night; but while I was grumbling and complaining, my husband was full of joy and cheer. and to all my complaining, he responded with love and grace. I've always said he's the nice one. he's obviously a better person than me, as well. all I could see was a halfway lit tree with zero ornaments, an empty mantle with no garland or stockings or Christmas decor in sight, family members who are no longer here and won't be able to spend the holidays with us, and the babies crying and holding onto my legs as I wrestled lights onto the tree. I was focused on all the things we didn't have. my husband saw the first tree we ever picked out with our children in tow. he saw the beautiful house the Lord provided us with that we got to celebrate the holidays in. he saw our babies that are here with us and healthy.

"someone is happy with less than [what] you [have]." have you ever heard that before? those are some powerful, convicting words. looking back on that night a few weeks ago, I can hear this phrase in my mind and clearly see it to be true. it was a memorable night kicking off the holidays and a lesson that I hope I never forget.

I still haven't finished my Christmas shopping, besides the matching $2 swim trunks for the boys I found at a Gap outlet that I know neither child will care about. and I still need to wrap a few more gifts. and the five beautiful, live wreaths I hung on my front door + windows are all dead. BUT I'm choosing to get over myself and the imperfections and embrace this season in all its beauty and madness. not having all the ornaments and lights and decor I'd like is trivial in the grand scheme of things. because whether I am ready for it or not, Christmas is here and I don't want to miss it.

and now, time for a Christmas tour of the tiny white house...

I have always loved garlands draped over banisters. that was one thing I couldn't wait to decorate for the holidays! I wish I could leave this up year-round, but it will probably have to come down eventually. although, I certainly plan on leaving it up through the winter months.

this garland came from Hobby Lobby. it was $49.99 for a 6' strand. being the bargain shopper that I am, I snagged it during a 50% off sale. I bought two garlands as the length of our hand rail is approximately 8ish feet and I knew I wanted to loosely drape the garland.

I made a bow using this pretty off-white Offray ribbon I found at Walmart. I followed a wonderful tutorial by Ann Drake of On Sutton Place and made three bows for the garlands and five bows to put on the wreaths on the front door + windows.

my taste in Christmas stockings has varied over the years. I purchased two our first year of marriage; and by the next Christmas, I wanted something different. those were destroyed with our other holiday decor when our home flooded. last year, we were with my parents for Christmas so we didn't have or need stockings of our own. so this year, I really wanted us to have four matching stockings. believe it or not, if you're buying these from a store in the middle of the holiday season, it's hard to find four matching stockings. I ended up seeing an ad from a sweet friend of mine's monogram business and ordered from her. the neutral stockings were advertised with red or green thread monogram, but I really wanted something simple and classic—shocking, I know. the tone on tone stitching in a traditional typeface make for a gorgeous monogram. she brought my vision to life and I could not love these stockings more! I can't wait to use them for all the Christmases to come.

our dining room is currently in transition. we moved my grandmother's piano in about a month ago. we first had this precious family heirloom in the original tiny white house. somehow, it miraculously survived the flood. then it lived at my parents for almost two years, and is now back home with us. I'm happy about this because it means music fills our home again. I say that as if there wasn't any music until nana's piano arrived... there was music. where Drew Willis is, there is always music. however, it was mostly guitars—acoustic and electric. so, it is refreshing to have something a little more classical + romantic as background noise.

but back to the dining room... the already-tight room is in transition after or because of moving the piano in. I love the little green table we've used for years. it once belonged to Drew's great grandparents. Louisiana Power + Light Co. was planning to throw it out, so my husband's great grandfather brought it home. his wife refinished it with a green antique kit, then leaves were added to accommodate her needs as a seamstress. I love a good story, especially a telling one of the history behind a piece of furniture. the friends who gave us the dresser-turned-vanity for our master bath, also gave us this beautiful round dining table. it just made sense to switch out the large rectangular table for the smaller round table with the piano in the room. I'd love to strip it and stain it eventually. someday...

in September, I gave my little sister our old white chairs because she needed some for her apartment. I have four beautiful cane back dining chairs sitting in the garage waiting to be redone. here we are nearly four months later and that still hasn't happened, so we're using a mix of chairs. I set the table using the dishes from our wedding registry, our mismatched collection of flatware, and antique scalloped cloth napkins. I threw some branches from our Christmas tree into a silver pitcher five minutes before we had guests over for dinner one evening. we ended up sitting on the living room floor to eat dinner and keep up with the babies. I'm sure Emily Post would have something to say about that, but aren't those the best kind of friends?

later on, I added some mixed nuts in a little silver bowl and a cloche with sheet music rolled + tied. I really like how this turned out.

in the boys room, I hung this cute little plaid banner I found in the Target dollar spot. I found a couple miniature trees at TJ Maxx. they came wrapped in burlap, but I put them in some planters I found at Goodwill. there's one in the nursery and one in the upstairs bath. I decorated them with a thin, red gingham ribbon. it's certainly on the simpler side, but I like it.

and there you have it! the most wonderful time of the year at the tiny white house. I've really enjoyed the house feeling so cozy and I'll be sad to see Christmas go, but I plan to soak it all up while I can.

merry Christmas to you + yours!

but the angel said to them, "do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all people. for this day in the city of David, there has been born for you a Savior who is Christ the Lord. and this will be a sign to you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
Luke 2:10-12

a {mini} Christmas tour.

December 24, 2015 Ally Willis

I can't believe Christmas is already here! every year I feel like it comes and goes so quickly. it makes me sad, too, because Christmastime is one of my favorite times and my favorite holiday, by far. with it comes the best traditions, best sights, best smells... it really is the most wonderful time of the year. so it's pretty much a given that it's my favorite season to decorate for.

I love having a live tree inside the house—that's one of my favorite smells. and I love having greenery pretty much everywhere. I have greenery [mostly faux] displayed in my decor throughout the year, but I love having real, smelly greenery in the house during Christmas. this year when we went to get our tree, I asked the Christmas tree lady if I could keep the branches they cut off the bottom of the tree. she smiled real big and said, "honey, you can take all the branches you want" and pointed me to a massive pile of branches that had accumulated from all the trees being trimmed. I felt like I was in heaven. "grab a handful! as many as you can!" I shouted to my husband. he's such a trooper and took about three or four loads to his truck. now they fill pitchers, teapots, milk jugs, you name it all throughout our home. I'll be sad to see them go.

the good, prompt, professional bloggers share their Christmas home tours well before Christmas, perhaps so that you'll be able to glean some inspiration and recreate some of their ideas. but I am none of these things, so here are my ideas and inspiration, just in time for Christmas. I hope you enjoy!

in the past year, I've discovered my love for silver, especially old, tarnished silver. my favorite pieces of silver I've collected so far are teapots, mint julep cups, and platters. I just love its classic, understated yet elegant look.

in my {mini} fall tour, I shared about how we use our piano as a mock mantle. so this is where most of our Christmas decor is placed. there are little touches of it all throughout the house, but this is the main event.

the thing you have to know about me is I'm the world's cheapest. I think I get this from my parents. this works well for me for a few reasons:

I don't have a huge budget, plus I don't want to spend much money
I love the thrill of the hunt

most of the pieces I use to decorate come from secondhand stores, garage sales, dollar stores, or the trash. on the other hand, there are places that don't fall into the previous category but don't break the bank either and I have been known to get myself into spending trouble there. my favorites are TJ Maxx, HomeGoods, and Stein Mart.

see that cute, little enamel bucket full of berries? I found it one day while antiquing with friends. it was like seven bucks. I was SO excited about it. I didn't know what I was going to do with it at the time, but I knew I needed it and it would come in handy one day. a few weeks later, my uncle was in town visiting and had stopped by my house to drop off some furniture. "do you know what that is?" he asked. "umm... no. but it's cute, huh?" I replied. he smiled and then proceeded to inform me that it was a chamber pot. of course when he told me this, I had it sitting on my kitchen table. we laughed and laughed. I still think it's the cutest little chamber pot I've ever seen.

since we don't have a chimney to carefully hang our stockings by, we hang them on the potting bench that is our entertainment center. it's no fireplace, but it works.

in our kitchen, I set up a little hot chocolate bar that hasn't gotten much use except from myself.

and now for the biggest Christmas decoration of them all: the tree. this is our second year to put our tree in an oversized galvanized tub and I'm not tired of it yet. this is our third year to have lights only on our tree, as we own about seven ornaments. I keep meaning to start collecting those, but here we are. maybe I'll get around to it this year and by next, we'll have enough to decorate it! we'll see... because honestly, I love the simplicity of a tree and just lights.

I set my table, too, but it got about as much attention as the hot chocolate bar.

when I began to photograph my tablescape, I realized the majority of the items on my table came from the Dollar Tree. the gold chargers, the white dinner plates, the miniature holly wreaths, and the gold pears in the centerpiece were all purchased there. the placemats I found in the dollar section at Target—jackpot, I know. the green glasses, a garage sale. the antique toolbox, my husband's grandfather. and the cuties, Walmart's produce section.

I found this precious red + white garland at TJ Maxx one day and decided to hang it on my dining room window, along with two other garlands. the jingle bell garland I made with a little twine + dollar store jingle bells. I purchased the greenery garland a few years ago at Michael's.

and here's a few shots of our hazardous front porch, that started caving in two weeks ago.

and there you have it! this is what Christmas at the tiny white house looks like.

merry, merry Christmas to you + yours.

but the angel said to them, "do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people. today in the town of David, a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. this will be a sign to you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
Luke 2:10-12

"now thanks be to God for this indescribable gift, which is precious beyond words!"
2 Corinthians 9:15