Deck the Halls

We continue our Christmas tour where we left off in the kitchen, moving down the hall past the guest bath… let’s take a peek in there and see what wonderful winter accessories are on display:

We revamped our black stand again for another holiday by filling it with fir trimmings, berries and a candle!  Love that!

That’s the bathroom… now we’ll just glance into the master bedroom and see how it’s decked for Christmas:

 

And in the master bath, just a little arrangement in a holly bowl… a few evergreen sprigs, some red hydrangeas and white roses (snagged from the bridesmaid's bouquet from my brother’s wedding!  love those flowers!)  It’s the little things that get me into the spirit of the holidays!

Come back in a few for the continuation of our tour as we venture downstairs to the den! 

Christmas in the Kitchen

Onwards in our Christmas home tour is the kitchen:

A little Christmas bough decks out the top of the cabinets.  Our kitchen table is set for a lovely Christmas meal:

Red holly dinner plates and Lenox “Holiday” salad plates liven up the table setting, while a fir wreath adorns the wall.  The scent of fresh fir greets us when we come into the kitchen… Mmm… don’t you love that smell?  It’s Christmas time!

And decorating the kitchen window is our little stained glass kitten in a stocking.  You can see the Christmas lights on the upper deck from here… Let’s venture outside and see,  shall we?

Brrrrr…. it’s time for that cocoa, I think!  Hurry up and get warm and we’ll continue the rest of the tour…

Dining… Holiday Style

Come along on the second part of our Christmas home tour.   Here is our dining room, all decked out for Christmas dinner.

In the corner, you can see the new cherry cabinet that displays our crystal glassware.  I still haven’t installed the door on the front… oops!  Maybe Santa will bring me some oil rubbed bronze hinges? ;)

And on the mirror is a fall wreath to which I just added a couple of fancy poinsettia picks… simple!

Here’s my plate display updated for the holidays with my Christmas cat dessert plates!  Cute!

Lenox “Holiday” Christmas china and red chargers set the table on the lovely red and gold swirl placemats that my mother made.

While we’re on the subject of dining… I have to share my mother’s Thanksgiving dinner spread and decorations!

Don’t you just love these apothecary jars filled with ornaments?

Okay, that’s it for the dining room(s) Christmas tour.  Next up, we’ll venture into the kitchen to see what’s for dinner!  Come back and we’ll rustle up a snack and a cup of cocoa…

O Christmas Tree…

Our lovely “egg” tree, which when pruned turned out to be a nice non egg shape after all! 

Here are a few of my new favorite ornaments:

 

Bandit’s new favorite sleeping spot… on top of the little snowman on the tree skirt.  Soon it will be so covered with Christmas gifts he won’t be able to fit!  Unless we can convince him to wear a bow and pose as a present!

A view into the dining room, ready for a holiday meal:

So begins our Christmas tour… come back to see the rest of the house!

Stockings were hung by the chimney with care…

This is a story of a Christmas stocking that just wasn’t quite fancy enough.  It longed to be like a designer stocking in the stores.

So, we gave it a little fur collar to keep the stocking warm on a cold winter’s night.

A little snazzier, no?   But, this little stocking just wasn’t happy yet!  No siree!  It needed just  a little snow… since it was warm already!  And some sparkles so Santa would be sure to spot it there shining on the mantle…

Now, it’s ready for Santa, wouldn’t you say? 

That’s what I’ve been working on in my shop this past week… embroidered, sparkly, and furry stockings! :) 

Here they are in all their finery hung on the mantle.

I’ll be sharing our Christmas decor very soon!  (Now that the rain has stopped maybe I can get the bough and lights up on the deck!) 

Recycled Christmas Centerpiece

Today during our second round of Christmas shopping (whew… too many people!) I snagged a few Christmas floral picks and some candles at ACMoore for a repurposing project.

Last week, my mother gave me three broken wine glasses that she has been saving to make a Christmas candle holder.  They basically sheared off at the base of the glass.  So, I hot glued the cup portion to a glass candle plate.  Then I embellished it with silver and evergreen sprigs and blue berries.  Add a few candles, and voila—instant centerpiece!

So, now you know what to do with all those broken wine glasses!

And this one is blue and silver, so it will last way into Winter for a little sparkly and shine to banish those winter blahs.

The best part?  It only cost $6!  Oh, and, I managed to get rid of some more broken junk that is taking over my parents’ house and repurpose it into something beautiful! :)  

Christmas Stockings

So, this year, my sister requested a pair of Christmas stockings for her new fireplace mantle.  Of course, I was delighted to whip out the Christmas box (wherein all the sparkly, luscious Christmas fabrics and trims are stored). 

Here is my inspiration from Frontgate:

 

So, first things first, I chose red satin and green satin for the stockings and quilted gold for the cuff, plus a couple of coordinating trims, and a sprinkling of bells!  (Bells are always required!)

Using my trusty pattern, I cut a front and a back for each stocking.  Then in order to line up the embroidered snowflakes just right, I drew a grid on the back of each front. 

Then I spent an hour or so stitching snowflakes on the spots where the lines crossed using gold embroidery floss.

Then I added a gold bead to the center of each snowflake, gold and black braided piping, a gold cuff, a little bow and bells!  Here are the finished stockings, ready for Santa!

Happy Not-Quite Christmas Season!