It's the day after Christmas. Our friends in Great Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand celebrate Boxing Day today. If you make your home in one of those beautiful places....Happy Boxing Day! I decided to look up Boxing Day to see what it was all about. It isn't about the sport of boxing, nor is it about boxing up items. Instead, this holiday goes back many years when the service of employees would be required on Christmas Day. The employer would in turn give their employee the day after Christmas off to spend with family and boxes of food and other gifts to take … [Read more...]
Looking for a simple, low-cost, out-of-the-ordinary way to add pizzazz to your Christmas decor? And maybe at the last minute too? Try your hand today at making Folded Paperback Book Christmas Trees. It's super easy! My husband says if you can make a paper airplane, you can make these. In his words, "It's like folding the left wing 200 times!" He even folded the three trees gracing the top of my vintage china cabinet here. This post contains affiliate links. To make it even easier for you, I created the.... Folded Paperback Book Tree Tutorial First...check out the … [Read more...]
Christmas stockings. I've been seeing them everywhere. Maybe you have too? People of all ages are hoping Santa Claus stops by with a few treats. Although my husband and I still have our childhood Christmas stockings, I thought it would be fun to try my hand at repurposing a cable knit sweater from the thrift store... into....yes...a pair of Christmas stockings! Karin was my inspiration. She says her collection is approaching 150 and it seems that she may have made most of them. Yes, I'm impressed. And so it seems that I should be able to make at least one, … [Read more...]
Paperwhites! What can be prettier in the dead of winter than live plants sending up beautiful white flowers? Today I'm sharing with you A Visual Tutorial for growing paperwhites for the holidays. Are those just not the prettiest flowers ever? You can pretty up your home with paperwhites too! Here's what to do.... Paperwhites : Easy DIY Holiday Project 1. Gather the following supplies: Waterproof container (I used … [Read more...]
Recently I opened up the holiday issue of Traditional Home Magazine. As I flipped through pages of gorgeous home decor I came across a lovely table setting. It was exquisite. Beautiful china and crystal and elaborate centerpieces. I enjoyed the eye candy that was presented on those pages. And it inspired me to look at my cupboards and see what I have in a new light. How could I creatively put together a lovely holiday table without going out and spending a lot of money? What a great challenge. Have you taken on such a challenge? It would be easy to whine and … [Read more...]
It's a forest of trees! Okay...maybe I don't have a forest in my home at Christmas. But, seriously, I do love trees....and trimming the house with trees. Especially evergreens....fresh and faux. They don't even have to be decorated. Some have lights, some don't. Though I do love white lights twinkling on trees. Every night before I go to bed, I like to turn off all the lights, except the miniature Christmas lights, and sit in the glow. Do you do that, too? It feels so warm and cozy. This is actually a view of the tree I took while sitting in a chair with my cup of Christmas tea. It's all so … [Read more...]
Welcome! And Merry Christmas!! I'm so pleased that you dropped by for my Christmas house tour. Can you smell the spiced cider simmering? Here, let me take your coat. Please, help yourself to some cider and sweets. Now let's get started. One thing that I always love when I take tours is getting the behind the scenes details. And yes, I have a bit of that for you too. Don't you love those pretty French provincial "screens" I found on the side of the road that grace the front windows so beautifully? Read: Roadside Find: Vintage French … [Read more...]
Now....it's beginning to look like Christmas at my house! For those of you who have been following my slow slide into the season of Christmas, you'll be pleased to finally see something here! I am over-the-top happy to have the mantel done. Oh, that's right, I don't have a mantel. I do have a sideboard thanks to my wonderful friend. And I recently splashed it up with that ever-popular Annie Sloan Chalk Paint which I recently talked about. Do you ever notice that when someone says it's confession time, heads turn from tables clear at … [Read more...]
Today I turned over the page on the calendar. A day late. The funny thing is that my life is like that lately. A bit behind. Do you remember my Christmas Decorating Inspiration post last week? I'm here to report....though it was very inspiring...I was having trouble pulling off the decor in the sun room with the vintage blue Ball jars. I love. love. love. those things. They just plain make me happy. But, my sun room is a very small room and lining the jars up on the window sill just didn't seem to work. Yes, they stood there like good little soldiers. Let's just say my ideas … [Read more...]
This is the first in a very long time that my house hasn't been pretty much decorated for Christmas a week after Thanksgiving. Is your house decorated? My husband brought up one of our trees, so we do have a bit of a start. We plugged in the lights, which fortunately are still on the tree from last year, only to discover that half a string did not light. Phooey. Fortunately, after removing the string, the bad light was discovered and we're back in business. Except I have to re-string them on the tree. Don't you wish you could just wave your wand and magically the lights would be … [Read more...]
Do you take pictures of your Christmas decor? Every year I do. If you were to observe me, you might think I was photographing for a magazine. It really could be a bit amusing, I guess. I did not scrapbook, I didn't have a blog. Yet, I took lots of pictures. It was simply a photo record that stayed in the digital abyss of my laptop. Pretty funny, huh? This year...I do have a blog....and some photos from the past that no one has ever seen. It's really a miracle that I have these. For some reason they ended up in my husband's photo files. … [Read more...]
I've had my ear to the ground and it seems that people are saying Thanksgiving is their favorite holiday. There are no gifts involved, no fireworks - though I'm sure it's pretty deserving. It's a holiday reserved for gathering and gratitude. Really...that makes it pretty special. Unless you're spending it alone. Most years I'm too busy to do more than think about what my Thanksgiving table will look like, let alone plan what will be eaten from the plates on the table. But, not this year. I have had time to do a little tablescaping....and exercise that thankful heart muscle while doing … [Read more...]
A sweet dear friend inherited a mahogany sideboard, china cabinet, and table several years ago which really weren't her style. After I moved out-of-state, she asked me if I would like the furniture, saying that the pieces would look great in my "new" house. After a 4-hour trip her heirlooms easily made themselves at home in my house. The sideboard fits perfectly in the dining area of my great room and the table opens out so I can seat 14. Perfect for all my entertaining. Happy me! This furniture, though good quality, was not in perfect condition. And the sideboard, in all its … [Read more...]
Recently we painted the trim in our great room and sun room. That was quite a project!! Have you ever noticed that when a room undergoes a dramatic transformation, everything in the room also undergoes a bit of a transformation? What is it with us? For the past year I've been living large in a 1,000 square foot home. My piano...which my parents purchased for me when I was just 4 years old...is a major player in the great room. (Haha...I love it when I'm accidentally funny!) It has a wonderful mantel-like top which allows for some fun displays or vignettes. Although I was a … [Read more...]
Yesterday I left you hanging... just like the little guy dangling from a thread on my dinner napkins! If you missed it...you might want to read it first. Here's how my tablescaping plan unfolded... In 2006, Longaberger came out with some fun Wrought Iron Spider Legs that held a small or a large Autumn Treats Basket. I have both baskets and with the Spider Legs, they have been a fun decorating option for me the past several falls. Whenever I went to my Longaberger (affiliate link) storage area those Spider Legs called out to me. Maybe that was in the back of my mind … [Read more...]
Just 10 days ago I woke up, sleepily walked to the great room where my husband was doing his morning reading, and said, "I decided yesterday that it would make me very happy if we could paint the trim in here." Now what guy doesn't want his wife to be "very happy?" Fortunately is was his day off, so we drove to the "big" town and secured our paint. Along the way we even saw the most amazing American Bald Eagle I've ever seen perched in a tree along the greenway. I wrote about it here. What a great day! Nature and decorating. My heart sings! Back at home, we rolled up our sleeves, moved … [Read more...]
Day 30 There's no doubt about it. This has been the year of pumpkins. You might remember when I shared my excitement and pumpkin blessing here. Prior to my blessing, I had made up my mind that I was just going to try to be creative with the things I had in my house, and the little bits of fall stored in my "Fall Decor" box. I had pretty much thumbed my nose to anything from the Fall Decor Store. Of course, that's easy to do when shopping the aisles of the Fall Decor Store is not an option. I was enjoying the challenge until I experienced Pumpkins from Heaven! Do you hear the … [Read more...]
