The living room this Christmas

I wanted to share some images of the living room from this Christmas. I had no time to put these up sooner.

 

The crib.

 

 

It sits on an ornate chest and I added some silver berry branches and a few flameless candles.

 

 

 

 

 

The Elf on the Shelf still makes an appearance in our house.

 

 

He moved every night.

 

 

Here is one appearance in the dining room.

 

 

Other glimpses.

 

This crystal dish was a great find at the Salvation Army thrift shop last month. It is perfect for m&ms.

 

To see more pictures of my mantle go here.

We shall enjoy these for a few more days.

I hope you all had a great holiday!

If you require any help with Interior Decorating please click on the tab at the top of my page marked 'Services' or click here for further details.

 

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Every candle I light this season....

...will be more meaningful.
 

 

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Every candle lit will be for all those who lost their lives in a terrible tragedy last week and also for their families. Newtown, CT is just an hour away. I have family who lives in Connecticut. I am a mother. This event has hit close to home in different ways.

 

 

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My Christmas Mantle

This year's Christmas mantle was a quick setup. I did something similar last year and have used almost the same items over the last few years.

 

 

As long as my kids are still home I will always have some kid-related Christmas pieces on display, like the train set. It makes me think of The Polar Express, one of my favorite movies to watch with the kids this time of year. 

 

 I have had the stocking holders since the kids were babies. The drum is a tree ornament but this year it sits next to the cross which never leaves the mantle.

 

 

I have 2 stockings, one for each child. I did not grow up with the idea that stockings were hung in order to to be filled with gifts of some sort. In fact, in a couple of the countries in which I lived when I was a child there was no fireplace or mantle to decorate at Christmas.

None of the items on the mantle are new. The wire trees are from Pottery Barn from years ago; the ornate angel from Treasure Island.

 

I like to incorporate elements of nature - the silver berry garland, the red berry cluster ornaments and the pine cone. Natural elements, in their simplicity and occasionally their fluidity and random shape, balance the ornate nature, structure and colors of other pieces.

 

I have also included a couple of crystal votive holders to add some sparkle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As you can see, I do not work with symmetry in decorating the mantle. I like to  mix things up. Although I have incorporated traditional Christmas colors there is less green on the mantle this year but there is plenty of green in the room. A glimpse on the right.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 This was last year's mantle below (picture taken during the day). Not a whole lot different but I believe my photography skills have improved with the new camera.

 

 

 Again, this year's mantle (picture taken at night).

 

 

 

 

Most of my holiday decorative items are10 years old; I like that they have a history. They are more meaningul, as a result.

 



For those of you who recognize and celebrate a holiday at this time of year, I hope your preparations are coming together.

 

Starting Friday evening, I have a weekend packed with holiday preparations, performances and events.

 

Enjoy your weekend, whatever you do!

 

 

If you require any help with Interior Decorating please click on the tab at the top of my page marked 'Services' or click here for further details.

 

I would love for you to leave a comment. Thank you for stopping by; please do check back often.

Project - to repurpose my salvation army finds in time for Christmas

I will be hosting Christmas this year. It has been a busy few weeks since the end of October and I have still got a lot of catching up to do in other areas.
My siblings and I take it in turn to host the various holidays through the year so that the bulk of the work does not fall on any one family for all holidays or the same holiday every year but more importantly so that every family gets to enjoy the preparation.

Typically I do a buffet style lunch for Christmas when there is a larger group and everyone is free to sit in the family room, living room or at the kitchen table. This year I have decided to do a sit-down meal - 8 adults at the dining room table and 5 kids at the kitchen table. The food will be laid out on the kitchen island.

 My dining room colors have changed and therefore I have to keep that in mind when setting up the dining table. I do not have time to go shopping for decorative items for the table and neither do I want to spend money unnecessarily. I paid a visit to a local Salvation Army last week in order to look for some glassware I could repurpose.

It is amazing what one can find in any local consignment or thrift store. This is what I came away with.

The glass with the 'X' is my own glass of water which I had forgotten was on the table at the time.

These candleholders have some scratches but could easily be repainted to look as good as new.

 

 

I love the shape and the height of these 6" juice (?) glasses (on the right). The single piece on the left is probably a vase.

 

 

These 7" beer glasses were also in perfect condition.

Apparently, if an item is on the shelves for more than 2 weeks at the Salvation Army the price is reduced by 50%. Perhaps this holds true for other such stores. I spent just over $20 for thirteen pieces.

These came in at half the sticker price. Note the date the items went on the shelves is also stamped.

One of my favorite items which is perfect to have out on display with some candy at the time of year is this crystal dish with lid.

 

I am considering spray painting the beer and juice glasses to use as bud vases along the dining table. I have been scouring Pinterest for inspiration although I have some idea what I want to do.

 

This mini project has to be quick and relatively easy - just 2 weeks to Christmas! And I have to find a non-rainy, non-windy day to spray paint!

 

If you require any help with Interior Decorating please click on the tab at the top of my page marked 'Services' or click here for further details.

 

I would love for you to leave a comment. Thank you for stopping by; please do check back often.

I am back, and my dining room curtains

I am glad to be back.

 

My dining room curtains went up a few weeks ago. I have bought a new camera and have been learning to take better pictures and experiment with settings on Picasa so you will see some pictures looking a little different in this post.

 

 

I used the same bronze finish curtain rod I had in the dining room before. I had considered changing the finish but for now it will do.

 

If you recall, I had purchased the curtains on my trip to India in August. I bought four.

 

 

They were about 4" too short in length which I only discovered on my return. I had measured one curtain while in the store and had expected them all to be the same size. Anyway, I shopped online for some beaded trim which would work well with the curtains and came across this Isabella crystal fringe on Warehouse Fabrics Inc.

 

 

 

These curtains, unfortunately, have a noticeable difference in their lengths if you look close enough at the top gold border. This picture shows you two curtains and a difference in the height of the borders.

At the base, though, it is less noticeable. It gives a sense of movement.

I love the overall luminous and flowy feel the curtains lend to the room. This is exactly what I had in mind when I chose them. They also balance the darker stenciled walls. I also like that the patterned border hits just below the chair rail.

 

I had the curtain rod installed so that the beaded trim just skims the floor.

 

Thank you to those of you who emailed me when out of concern I had not posted in a while.

It was a bizarre November starting with the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy and so many problems of different sorts being encountered by many, many people in the Northeast. We were among the more fortunate with just a loss of power for four nights. We had extended family who had no power for up to 10 days  - from 11 to 18 people - staying over and some over just for meals. Subsequently other events occurred which kept me from posting. Many have suffered unimaginable losses and we continue to keep them in our thoughts as we try to get back to some routine.

 

If you require any help with Interior Decorating please click on the tab at the top of my page marked 'Services' or click here for further details.

 

I would love for you to leave a comment. Thank you for stopping by; please do check back often.

 

Easy Halloween Wreath

I decided to make a wreath for Halloween for the front door instead of

hanging the usual Fall wreath. This one took me about 15 minutes to complete.

 

 

 

 

I had to run to JoAnn's for some other items and grabbed whatever I could find for the wreath. I had a coupon and some things were on sale.

 

I bought a 12" Styrofoam wreath ($3.49)....

 

 

 

 

...netting ribbon in this honeycomb-like pattern. I liked the orange coloration ($1.99 each 12ft. roll; I  bought 2 just in case; I could return one if unused),...

 

 

 

 

 

...and this mask ($3.99).

 

 

 

The great thing about using a Styrofoam wreath is no glue or other adhesive was necessary for this part. I have a ton of these pins at home.

 

 

 

 

With the pins in hand I wrapped the ribbon around the wreath. One pin held the beginning of the ribbon in place on the inside where it will not be seen.

 

 

 

 

As I wrapped the ribbon around, I overlapped it marginally to create a pattern. I had hoped for a stronger color throughout. It still looked good. Every few inches I used another pin to hold the ribbon in place.

 

 

 

 

Notice the pattern.

(I should have done this over newspaper as I had a lot of glitter from the ribbon on the table).

  

 



 

 

Fortunately I had the second roll of the ribbon because one roll did not cover the entire wreath. Perhaps it would have had I not overlapped it to create a pattern.

 

 

 

The part where I planned to place the mask would have less of the ribbon. I determined placement of the mask. The kids and I had decided the wreath would look more interesting if the mask was placed to one side.

 

 

 



 

Second roll in hand I started wrapping again. This time, I decided to double over alternate wraps to create a stronger color and a pattern slightly different from the first.

 

 

 

 

New pattern and again, double-checking placement of the mask.



 

 

 

I used a glue gun to affix the mask to the wreath.

 

 

 

Some ribbon was left over and I used that to hang the wreath on the door on the knocker.

 

 

 

 

We also decided to keep the black ribbons on the mask for added effect.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Like I said, this project took about 15 minutes to complete up to the time I left the hot glue to dry. The wreath is a little skewed to the right because of the weight of the mask but that is fine.

 

Linking to Savvy Southern Style

If you require any help with Interior Decorating please click on the tab at the top of my page marked 'Services' or click here for further details.

 

I would love for you to leave a comment. Thank you for stopping by; please do check back often.