Decorating

So, here’s what I’m thinking….cream pom-pom garland, maybe a red, pink and cream pom-pom wreath, add some red to my china cabinet.  I think I’d like to make a few different signs, too.  I just want to add a few touches here and then, nothing over the top.

When I mentioned this to the girls, they said it was months away and that I didn’t need to worry yet.  But I know me and I know my schedule and I know I need to strike when the iron is hot. So, I’ll head to the studio later and start seeing what I have, what I need and if any other ideas come to me.

I’ll dig through some stuff, dig out some red things that I know I have stashed away.  I think there might even be a few things I dig back out of the Christmas decorations and turn into Valentine’s Day decorations, too.

Fast forward a few days….

I pulled out some red bits and pieces, did a little pom-pom making, fired up the hot glue and got to work.  Unless I go buy more yarn, there won’t be a pom-pom wreath, but I’m okay with that.  Since I don’t knit, it’s hard to justify buying MORE yarn just for pom-poms….

I decided it was time to pull everything out of the china cabinet and give it a good reworking.  I drug a bunch of things in from the the studio and gathered up some things that I had tucked away for a bit.   I wanted to get rid of the green and pull in red to pair with the turquoise.  You know, my favourite colour combo ever! 🙂

I love my little pink button heart sign!  I got that stash of buttons at that estate sale in Cape Breton where I also scored my brass deer!  The pink board was one I had painted a long time again and it sat, unfinished under my work table for a very long time.  Having boards prepped and ready to rock is great, then I can create without having to go buy wood, paint it and then patiently wait for it to dry….  I sketched out a heart with chalk and then started glueing all the buttons on.  Oh, note to self….put the hanger on the back before you start glueing buttons on the front….

I strung up my Denim Heart bunting but it didn’t stay….I want something a little softer and less colourful. I know, me saying I want less colour, what’s with that!?!?  I found the bunting in the picture at the Village Gift Shop in Tatamagouche, it’s really a Christmas one that was marked down 75%!!  I think it’s exactly what this needed to finish it off!

The bookends were another Tatamagouche score from years ago that got a coat of spray paint when I redid Lena’s room many moons ago.  The books are old Reader’s Digest books with the covers pulled off, I use those as canvases for my mixed media projects.  I knew I had an old, red book kicking around, which colour-wise was spot-on and then I read the title…..bahahaha!!

I spent a whooping $12 on decorating for Valetine’s Day this year.  I used things I had in the house or the studio.  I’m trying to be a little more aware of what I’m buying since I already have so much stuff!  I have a stash of fabric, craft supplies and furniture to draw from, plus all my decorations.  There isn’t really any reason why I can’t actually use what I have!  It forces me to be creative and to repurpose what I already have – win win in my books!

Am I crazy? Do you decorate for Valentine’s Day? Normally I wouldn’t…or not to the extent I did this year.  But the china cabinet really seemed to need a refresh, so it seemes like Valentine’s Day was a good excuse.  And basically, I don’t have to remove much to make in ‘normal’ again, either, which is a win in my books.

To be continued,

Lori

I wish I was one of those people who have it all ready and photographed long before December hits, but, alas, certainly missed the mark on that yet again this year.  I do enjoy seeing everyone’s decorated house on Instagram and Pinterest….very inspiring! Maybe I should just say I like to leave it until later so I can put all the neat ideas I’ve seen into practice….lol, yeah, right….I think we all know better!

Anyway, here we go!  Let’s start in the heart of the our home – the Kitchen.  We are, after all, Maritimers!!  I don’t do much, just enough to know it’s Christmas.  Our kitchen isn’t huge nor do we have tons of display space.  A little message on the chalk board, a bell and pom-pom garland I picked up at an awesome little pop-up this month and my Father Christmas add a few festive touches.  I tucked some of my vintage ornaments in a clear glass vase, safely in the cabinet.  I’ve been using my cooktop lately for some display, too, and the jury is still out on it….I like the look of it, but it’s a pain when I’m trying to cook or feed the girls breakfast. I do love having one of my Foxhound Collection candles lit in here, though! Earl Grey just might be my favourite!

Our dining room is pretty simple, too.  Basically something in the middle of the table this year and that’s it.  But what I have, I love!!  Apparently I have a thing for trees, I didn’t realize until I started unpacking things.  But the score of the season are my brass deer! These are the best little guys ever!  I scored them at an estate sale in Cape Breton on my last trip up to see Janice.  The house was crazy old-fashioned…purple carpeted bathrooms, patterned carpet in the living room, wood panelling….totally dated and it stank like moth balls and waterline anti-freeze. I’m sure if I dug I would’ve found more treasures but I was happy with these and the jar of white and cream buttons that I left with.  Sorry, off track there for a minute!  The deer….I could barely wait to use them this year! I tucked them on a barrel top with some of my trees and an old antler I found in our backyard.  Then I sprinkled artificial snow everywhere.  I may regret that later, but for now, it’s the best thing! Kind of like icing sugar is to baking, really!

Next, our hallway!  The hallway normally wouldn’t get mentioned and it only is because that’s where we hang our stockings!  It might seem weird to hang your stockings in the hallway, but it makes sense for us.  We don’t have a fireplace to hang them from, so they have to go somewhere.  The doorway into the living room gives us clear view of where they are hung and provides some decoration on the railing, too.  See? Totally makes sense here!  I want to add another layer to it, it feels a little bare yet and I have an idea….just need to find the right cord….

The finally stop on the tour is our living room.  My favourite spot!  So much Christmas! Or by my standards anyway!  This year we rearranged the furniture so our tree could go in the front of the living room window that faces the road.  I can’t even tell you how pumped I am about that!  I think post-Christmas the furniture will stay this way, too, it really opens the room up.

Our big cabinet gets decorated as if it were the mantle, it would be the focus besides the tree.  I love my tin houses from Wicker Emporium, with yet another little tree and two bigger lit trees, and lots of fake snow, again!  The top shelf of the cabinet is where my newly made NOEL sits.  It’s made from scraps around the studio, some grape-vine from the yard and then some lath I picked up from Phillips and Chestnut {formerly Onslow Historic Lumber, new name, same great stuff! }  I love how each year the cabinet has a different look.

Our tree this year is a back yard treasure that was greeted with much disdain by the girls.  They protested and begged for a tree lot tree but I wasn’t giving in.  I wanted something that reminded me of Christmas’s on the farm as a kid, unruly, uneven and filled with character.  I got it. Maybe too much, but whatever, we’ll remember this tree!  Now that it’s all decked out, I think it’s just fine!  Except for some of the gaps in the lights….but, whatever, I checked all the strings before I put them on, I can’t help it if they didn’t all work which they were on the tree….

We stuck with the Nordic inspired tree again this year.  I love all the red, tin and wood!  Plus, some gnomes stuck in for good measure, too, of course.  It’s fun to make ornaments for the tree, to me it’s all part of the process of getting ready for Christmas, if I haven’t made something new for the house, I wouldn’t feel like I did much.

These pretty little angels have been following me around for probably close to 20 years now.  They were a gift from a special couple in my life and I always pull them out and think of them.  One angel lost part of a wing, but it hardly matters to me, these three angels speak of Christmas’ past and the people who helped shape me.

My yard sale score dough bowl is sitting in the middle of the coffee table this year.  We use our coffee table; the kids snack there, we put our feet up on it and put our coffee on it so whatever goes on there needs to be pretty hardy as it gets bumped around a fair bit.  This year the bowl has some boughs from the back yard, some antlers and then some lit glass crackle balls tucked amongst some pinecones.  I really am loving the warm glow at night-time.

That pretty much wraps up our home for this year.  I may tweak things over the next few days, finish a couple of projects that I have started in the studio.  I’m looking forward to chilling over the next bit and enjoying the house in its festive dressing.

Is your home all ready for Christmas? What’s your favourite part of decorating for Christmas?

To be continued,

Lori