Christmas 2013

Christmas has come and gone and I still want to decorate! I just didn't have enough time to get everything done.  The time between Thanksgiving and Christmas was much too short and I just couldn't get presents made or bought and still get my house decorated.  As I write this I keep thinking of things that aren't set out so there is no telling what I am missing.

Mr. and Mrs. Claus on top of the armoire.

 

Michaels craft store had a big sale on their plate chargers. This one was all silver with rhinestones along the edge.  I spray painted the inside circle with plastic primer and then sprayed chalkboard paint. After I painstakingly painted the chalkboard paint, I realized I could just just the chalkboard pens to write on the charger.  I think I like the chalkboard effect better.

These are a couple of other plate chargers I made as gifts.

The vignette below is a new addition to my decorations this year.  We just installed hard wood floors and I was tired of my dining room table so I gave it to my daughter. I moved the buffet in to the room and hung a drapery rod above it. I usually decorate the drapery rod with subway art but this time I draped beautiful turquoise and bronze with silver ribbon. 

 This is a close up of the arrangement in a silver bowl and platter that was my Dad's retirement present.  

The silver cones were half off at CVS.  I didn't think $10 was a bad deal.  

Beautiful bow for the china cabinet. I have one on each side.

I added washi tape to the candles to give them a little sparkle. 

This beautiful Angel is the newest addition to our Christmas decorations. She is made of very light weight tin and guards my new wrought iron Christmas tree faithfully.

Finally... I finally received the wrought iron Christmas tree I've been asking for! This has been on my Christmas wish list for a couple of years.  I asked for it on my birthday this year instead. Ordered it in August but it took over a month to get here since it was back ordered.  I LOVE IT!  My husband Steve is suggesting we put lights on it next year. Not sure how I'm going to be able to do that.

You can find this tree at Patchmagic.com in 7 foot and 10 foot sizes and there are other places like Amazon where you can find trees in different colors like white, gold, silver, etc.

My tree isn't highly decorated. Some years I have ribbon twined through the branches. Some years I have strings of red beads.  This year we just put the ornaments.  Every year I collect an ornament for each child and then an ornament for Steve and I.  When the children get married, they get their ornaments.

This little basset hound was in honor of our little Dixie that passed away this year.

I have a new grand daughter that was born in October.  Her room is decorated in Alice in Wonderland so I made the Mad Hatter ornament in her honor.  Actually I bought the hat and redecorated it with the ribbon, pins and tag.  Zoe's First Christmas.

Since I give the kids their ornaments when they are older, I just had to make an ornament for me to keep.
I advise you to do this project when the baby is asleep!  We had glitter everywhere!

And of course I have to show you a picture of Zoe and her beautiful sister Gabby!

Each of my windows in the living room are very simple.  Grapevine wreaths with red bows and then a glittery ornament beside it.

We have two dachshunds and I collect dachshunds for him as gifts.  A few little Christmas balls make them festive.

I painted these ceramic Mr. and Mrs. Claus for my mother many, many, many years ago.Each are over a foot tall and make a big impact in the corner of the room.  Next year I should add snow and a few more trees I think.

I love snowmen and the bar between the kitchen and living room is the perfect spot to display them.

I probably should have taken down the horse plate but it is very antique and a family heirloom. I would hate for something to happen to it so I just left it in place.

I simply love my Santa.  He stands about three feet tall and I have to find something to go with him. He looks a little lonely don't you think? He needs a tree or North Pole sign.

This is another of my antique decorations. My Aunt Faye made this for me when I was one or two.  My to-do list this year is to have it framed and preserved properly.

The OSU (Oklahoma State) gnome is a gift this year from my sister. My dad played on the 1944-45 Oklahoma Aggies football team that played in the Cotton Bowl in 1945. 

Everyone has to have a Dachshund Christmas tree, right?

Our daughter made Steve the chalkboard dog. It was bright yellow before painted.

Thanks for stopping in. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and I pray the Lord blesses you and your family in the New Year.

Plate Charger and Chalkboard Pens - Let It Snow

Michael's Craft Store recently held a sale on plate chargers.  I initially grabbed a few for my china cabinet but I also chose a few to make chalkboards.  I realize that you can paint directly on the chargers with chalkboard paint pens, but I specifically wanted the chalkboard effect.  My daughter Nicole did the art work.

I clipped the bow on to the charger with a small binder clip so I could change the bow for the different seasons or for different occasions.

Graduation Tassel Christmas Tree Ornament

I have a lot of blank/empty glass and plastic ornaments and wanted to do something a little different.  This ornament is decorated with my sons 2008 high school tassel.  I first tried using the glass ornament but the 2008 was a wee bit too big.  I thought that if I pushed it through it would shatter the glass so I opted for the plastic ornament.  It was a tight fit but it went through.

The first thing I did was sew the cord of the tassel to the back of the tassel. Then I sewed the top of the tassel up and through the silver top of the ornament. Going through the holes a couple of times. By sewing the tassel to the ornament you can manage where the 2008 emblem will be inside the ornament.  Then I just wrapped the extra thread around and around the top part of the ornament.

Red Hot Cider made with Red Hots candy

It doesn't get very cold in Houston, Texas during the winter but when we want it to start feeling like fall and winter we bring out the comfort food and drinks.  Every year my family has Red Hot Cider for Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations.  I happened to have the ingredients in the kitchen so I decided to make some for the family and co-workers.

This recipe has two ingredients.  Red Hots Cinnamon and Apple Cider.  Use 1/4 for each quart of cider (that's one cup for a gallon of cider).  In a large pot add the cider and mix in the red hots and heat until the red hots are melted.

By the way... a 7.25 package of red hots is equivalent to one cup.

Enjoy!

Halloween vignette 2013

Where does the time go?  I just can't seem to get everything done!  My father in law came for a visit right after we had the house painted and new floors put in.  A week before Halloween I was finally able to get some of my decorations up.  Ok, I admit it. Today is November 6th and the decorations are still up and most likely will be until this weekend.  Oh well, I just get to enjoy them a little longer.

I hope everyone had a safe and happy Halloween.  I'll post renovation photos soon.

4th of July Home Tour 2013

So much to do, but so little time.

I barely had time to decorate my buffet table for the 4th of July.

I love how it turned out.  The bugle was my husband's when he was in Boy Scouts many, many years ago.  I've collected a few things since the 4th so next year I will be able to change it up a little.

Using Pewter Plates in the Kitchen

This is the second part of my kitchen decorating project.  The first part of my project was creating a backsplash for my kitchen.  I used my Cricut to cut words out of vinyl and placed them all along the backsplash. (See my 4/2/2013 Post)

 Before:

  After:

I haven't found the material I want for the curtains yet but I did find the wall art I wanted.  I bought this wall art at Walmart for $11.  I thought it was a great price. I specifically bought it because I wanted the 3D spoon effect.

Nothing but a blank wall with a built in bench to start with:

Wall Art added:

Sorry it is not a better picture.

I have a cousin who many, many years ago had pewter plates against a red, white and blue plaid wallpaper that I just loved.  I found my plates and platters on eBay.  The plates weren't a bad price but the shipping prices for these heavy plates really increased the price!

"La Sante' L'Amour La Richesse et Le Temps Pour En Jour"
Translated to English: Health, Love and Wealth, and Time to Enjoy Them

I purchased disc hangars at my local Hobby Lobby for 1.99 or 2.99 for a 4 pound plate.  It was a good thought but the discs do not adhere to the pewter.  I will need to buy the wire plate holders for these.  I checked on the plates often as I had them hung and luckily I did because the discs were coming off.  

The two side plate holders will be removed once I have the pewter placed permanently.

<sigh>.  Back to Hobby Lobby or Michaels for picture plate hangars.  Still looking for material or curtains for the window and window seat (and pillows).  Any thoughts?

Steve's dachshund celebration vignette

My husband Steve, is CRAZY about his two dachshunds.  Steve and I married four years ago and along with him I got Nicole, his daughter, and Peanut, his dachshund.  About two years later a friend of a friend was fighting cancer and couldn't keep Patches so we took him in to be a little buddy to Peanut.

Peanut

Patches

For Steve's birthday this year I created a little homage to his enjoyment of dachshunds. Of course this is not all of the dog collection!

This is a little re-creation of a sign I saw on the internet at http://dachshundlove.blogspot.com/2011/03/dachshund-its-german-for-little-pain-in.html

I created the above from the website http://www.youareyourwords.com/

You upload your picture and then type your story, birthday wishes etc. and it creates the photo for you.  It is a completely free service!