Today I'm sharing my latest thrifty finds. So come along and let's explore, shall we?

Welcome, friends, to another fun-filled Thrill of the Hunt post where I share my latest thrifty (and usually) vintage finds with you. My hope is that by sharing my thrifty finds I can motivate and inspire you to explore your own local thrift stores, estate sales, flea markets and barn sales and make your own fabulous finds for yourself.

Today it's all about France, romantic artwork and vintage porcelain nativity sets. So let's get started.

You might recognize this painting, although you may not know where you've seen it, what it's called or even who painted it. Let me enlighten you: This oil on canvas, entitled The Artist's House at Argenteuil, was painted by Claude Monet (1840-1936) in 1873.

I usually buy frames at thrift stores and pull the artwork out. Not so this time. I'm a huge francophile, and that includes my love of Monet paintings.

Monet and his family lived in this house in Argenteuil, outside Paris, for seven years from 1871 to 1878.

He included his 5 or 6-year-old son Jean and wife Camille in this painting.

I absolutely love the blue and white planters, which Monet brought from Holland. The original painting is housed at the Art Institute of Chicago. The image itself is now in the public domain.

This gold framed artwork was actually purchased just for the frame. I had gone out in search of a specific sized frame for a project I was working on. And this one fit the bill. Thrift stores are a great place to find affordable frames.

Problem is, once I got it home I realized that I loved the print inside the frame! Here I thought I would be removing the print only to find out that I wanted to hang it, as is. It was painted by Arthur Easton and is called Pansies in a Blue Vase (1990). Easton was born in Britain in 1939 and is considered one of the great names in still life painting.

It's got the dreamy blue and white color combo that I've grown so fond of. Somewhere between the blue pansies and white tea cup I fell in love.

Here's that same frame, but this time with my paint-by-numbers floral still life inside it. While it worked beautifully for my own painting as I had hoped, I still plan on replacing my paint-by-numbers with the original dreamy blue and white print once again when I get the itch to hang some more blue and white artwork.

Now on to something not even remotely related to framed prints.

Nativity sets are prohibitively expensive. I know this because I've looked at them every year around Christmas time and every year I'm appalled by the cost.

You'll never guess where I found this nativity set. Goodwill score! I could not believe my luck in stumbling upon this beautiful creamy porcelain nativity set with every piece perfectly intact.

The fine gold detail on each piece really gives them a high end look.

The artistic detail on each piece is sublime.

I'm especially fond of this little lamb. So much so that I've kept it out on a shelf in the dining room year round.

And yes, I paid all of $2.99 for it. It was missing the wooden base, as well as the angel, but that didn't deter me from buying it. I was bummed, however, about the missing angel.

I had to look this up and I must say I was surprised to learn that Dolgencorp, Inc. owns Dollar General! Who knew? I never would have thought this precious porcelain nativity set was from a Dollar General store. Dollar General was founded in 1973 so this set could potentially be 48 years old. How cool is that? I'll now be on the lookout for a barn-like structure to house the entire nativity scene come Christmas. I can't wait to use it over the holidays.

Well, that's it until next time, friends!

I hope you enjoyed reading about my

Thrill of the Hunt #115 treasures

and that I've inspired you in some way.

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