Christmas Home Tour...Finally

 You saw the living room last week (it's still my favorite) and that's where the girl tree (above) resides.

 But here's the rest of the house...

This is the hallway banister, complete with crystal (I love my crystals).

I love these little snow angels and can't find them anywhere. They aren't "Snowbabies" from Dept 56 as I thought. No tags, so I don't even know who makes them. Anyone?

Hallway...very simple.

 

Kitchen with our handmade snowflakes. My teenage son even made one!

Kitchen chandelier all decked out!

 My collection of cobalt blue bottles filled with holly from my finally mature holly tree!

The family room...our tree and my snowman collection.

 A few other family room vignettes...

 Linking to:
Common Ground
French Country Cottage
Cottage and Vine Room by Room Christmas Tour

Hand Made Ornaments

I love the ornaments the kids make almost every year...we could fill a small tree with them by now. I used to (and still do) make handmade ornaments for relatives and myself. One of the biggest hits was this little strawberry. Believe it or not, I made them for all my office co-workers the first year I was out of college. And get this, I couldn't afford red spray paint, so I used cheap red nail polish and "White-Out"  to create them.

I don't have pictures for a step-by-step, but you really don't need them. All you need is:

• walnuts in the shell
• red spray paint (glossy)
• white acrylic paint
• a small paint brush
• green felt
• red string or yarn
• glue

1. Spray paint all of the walnuts. Let dry.

2. Paint white dots on each walnut.

3. Cut out a leaf pattern from green felt and clip a small hole or slit in the center.

4. Cut string to desired length and thread through small hole in felt.

5. Glue string and felt to walnut top.

You have a Christmas strawberry!!

My son made me this adorable hat ornament for me last year (when he was only 10)! The class did it as a project. Now, that's one patient teacher.

I've also made quite a few other ornaments, but I've given away all but one of these sweet little baskets:

They are filled with potpourri. This one is on my girl tree in the living room. (Yes, a gal has to have her own tree in a family filled with men!)

Linking to:

 My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

The Christmas Spirit and an Invitation

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas at my house ...finally! Here are some vignettes (house is still a big mess, but we still haven't got the family Christmas tree). Above is my entrance table...that gnome kind of looks a little mischievous, doesn't he? Below, a fun little Dr. Seuss-type tree in my office:

More trees in my office:

This is my hallway bench; it looks better in person.

My kitchen is halfway there...

I love to dress up lamps...

The invitation...I stumbled across a great idea that Angie from Seriously a Homemaker shared on her blog. It's called the 12 Days of Service. The idea is to to make this Christmas a special one for everyone-- it's about caring-- and isn't that what Christmas is about anyway? As a family, we always take tags off the tree at church and get presents for underprivileged children, but it seems that I end up doing it and the family doesn't really get involved. So, this year we are doing the 12 Days of Service and I am going to now make it an annual tradition. It's a list of very easy things to do each day, starting on December 13. Such as:
"Do something unexpected for a family member today. Complete their chores without fanfare or offer to do the one thing you know they dread..."
Click here for more information: 12 Days of Service.
Consider it and come back and share your family's experience with me on my next post.

Christmas in the Living Room

Last year I decorated for Christmas very slowly...one vignette at a time. Despite all good intentions, it's the same this year. So far, I've managed to decorate my living room...that's it! The rest of my home is in complete disarray. So, here's the one room that's done... I promise I'll get to the rest of the house soon!

Here's the vintage silver jello mold I bought at the estate sale a couple weeks ago. I think it makes a sweet little tablescape with the white wood tray, pearls and silver garland...

 It was really fun to work on my "new" antique mantel. I must have changed it three times. 

Inside the faux fireplace...Santa dropped some presents...they must be for me since they are wrapped all in white:

My piano top...I think it needs a little more.

One more vignette...

Come back again soon...I'll be posting the rest of the house as I progress.
Linking to:
Between Naps on The Porch
Common Ground
French Country Cottage
Mod Vintage Life
Cottage and Vine

Let it Snow...a Little Glitter

Made a huge glitter mess the other day. I don't mind because I love glitter. I didn't really mean to spill it, though. I created a new sign for my house/shop (it stays up in my house until it sells)! It's similar to the French laundry sign that is in my shop (shown on right). I just applied glitter to the letters instead of stamping them. I did still distress them, though because I think it shows up a little better against the white background.



Anyway, here are some more views of it:

Linking to:
Faded Charm

Craft Show Wrap Up and Display Ideas

So, I'm quite exhausted. The craft show was a lot of work and well, frankly, not worth it. I did make some money, but only made one third of what I made last year. Crowds were sparse. I did have a blast with my sister, though, and got to see people that I haven't seen in a long time, so it was successful in that way.

 I took some photos of my space with my phone (wish I would have brought an area rug to hide that orange red floor)!

 My wine charms were a big hit (they are also a big hit in my shop). I let customers decide which ribbon they wanted and I think they liked that.

 This table and chair set got a lot of looks, but no takers. It's my last furniture piece and I really want to sell it. The gift tags did not sell and i was so surprised as they were only three dollars. I displayed them on a tray and held them up with these diamond shaped crystal ornaments (everyone wanted to buy the ornaments, which, of course, I didn't make).

I only sold two sets of magnets, which also surprised me as they were priced pretty low. I displayed my joy wine charms in a muffin tray and on the tree (which people also wanted to buy -- the tree, mean).

I really liked how this part of my display turned out...got a lot of compliments and sold two boxes and three of my bags.

Switch plates were displayed next to my magazine article...I sold all but two, and got a custom order, so that was great!

One last look. So glad to be home...tomorrow I'm going to start decorating the house.

Craft Show Stress (I mean Success)

Getting ready for my one and only craft show this weekend. Last year, I posted about craft show booth success here and here. This year, since I sold or gave away all my furniture, I have to start over with my display. I'm not ready. I have an idea in my head, but that's just about it...ahhh! I need to follow my own advice.

I'm working on the little stuff right now. For instance: I created this vintage jewelry magnet display from an old display stand I found for free at an estate sale (the ladies couldn't think of why anyone would want a metal sheet stuck to a wood board)!

 I gave it a coat of spray paint and then hand painted and stamped some wood letters and wood embellishments for the corners..ta da!!

I won't be posting again until Sunday (after the show). Wish me luck! Please stop by this Saturday, December 3rd if you are in the area! The Craft Bazaar benefits the Broadneck High School Bruin Sports Boosters. The show address is 1265 Green Holly Drive, Annapolis, MD 21409 and runs from 9:30 AM to 3:00 PM. It's huge!
Linking to:
A Little Knick Knack