Christmas Past

The link party for the 6th is at My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia featuring mantels.

This year I decorated my mantel and hearth with some vintage items. Because of that I have chosen the title, Christmas Past.

I use this window often on my mantel.  It is just the perfect size.  I modge podged a newspaper scallop onto the back side.

There are four pieces of mercury glass to tie in with my tree.

I found this wonderful vintage plate with a clipping of an old building at Star Mill two years ago. It is all dressed up with a paper ruffle, tinsel, and a tart tin rosette.

I love vintage postcards. These two are being held by small silvery trees sitting on top of an old book. Behind them is an old Christmas card box.

The stand holding my coffee filter wreath is made from a railing post. I bought two of them at a yard sale for $3 each.  My friends hubby made a base so they would stand. I added a hook to this one.

This is the other piece.  I left both of them just as they were when I bought them. I painted this base turquoise and the other one cream. More mercury glass trees.

Look at this wonderful blue ball I found at T.J. Maxx for only $10.  I love it!

A glass swag and vintage postcards hang from the mantel.

A bit of bling.

A bird nested among a spindly tree and a an old sheet music garland on the hearth.

I painted this small architectural piece the same color as my island.  Three dried limelight hydrangeas give the appearance of rustic trees.

Here is a wider picture of the entire mantel and hearth.

I’ve shown this before, but here is the tree in this room.

There are so many types of Christmas décor that I love.  My home certainly has a mish mash of a lot of styles.  However, I think old fashioned Christmas décor is my favorite.

Hope your December is off to a wonderful holiday season!

Jann

Here’s a bit of trivia for you.  Wasn’t sure which way to spell mantel or mantle.  I googled it and turns out both ways are correct.  Learn something new every day.

I will be linking my mantel and hearth with:

Marty from A Stroll thru Life for Tabletop Tues.

Linda at Coastal Charm for Nifty Thrifty Tuesday

My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia for the Mantel Link Party

Candy Chandy. . .

Monday is the first day of the Linky party. Some fun blogs have teamed up in hosting this wonderful Christmas Par-tee!  There is a topic for each day.

The topic for Debbie Doos Blogging & Blabbing is ‘holiday copycat’.

I love Pottery Barn and their unique items.  Among my favorites are their ‘found treasures’.  However, I don’t always love the price.  Although I must say, I have gotten some great items off of their clearance.

A year or two ago they came out with a rustic chandelier.  It was a round ring that they filled with candles. I loved the way it looked.  At Christmas time they showed it all decked out for the holidays, sound familiar?  I tried to find a pic, but they must not carry it any longer.  I think it ran somewhere in the $300 price range.

Here is my copycat chandy.  I found it at a local shop, “Busy Biddy”.  It was marked $85.  She gave me 10% off, making it $77.50.  If I did my math correct.

Hubby helped hang it in my living room.  From there I turned it into my ‘candy chandy’.

Using fresh pine boughs and items I already had, all except the candy canes, which I need a few more.  I decked it out to match my gingerbread/candy themed tree.

I have two darling gingerbread stitchery patterns that I haven’t done because I didn’t think I had anywhere to hang them.  Thinkin they’d look awfully cute on that there wall.

My rustic chandelier may not be Pottery Barn, but for the price I think it’s pretty darn cute!  Excited to see what fun things will find their way up there after Christmas.

Leaving you with a few close ups.

Notice the touch of white?  I decided (after it was all decorated) that maybe the boughs needed some snow to match the tree.  Had some spray snow I hit it with here and there.  I had to be careful not to get it everywhere.  Phooey!  Liked it better before.  Looks too blotchy.  Too bad, so sad, stayin that way!

I hope you’ve been having a bit of fun doing a little copycatting yourself this Christmas season!

Jann

I will be sharing my chandy with these parties:

Debbie Doos Copy Cat Christmas Challenge

Boogie Board Cottage for Masterpiece Monday

Cozy Home Scenes for her Gingerbread linky party

The House in the Roses for Show Off your Cottage Monday

SEW Sweet!

Tomorrow is Pink Saturday at  How Sweet the Sound
I have been waiting for this day to share with you my wonderful give away treasures I received from Brenda at Shabby Cats and Roses. Hop over and see her darling pink Christmas tree.
First of all, look at what I saw when I opened the box.


Ask me if I’m ashamed at how my give away wins were mailed?  Um, let’s just say shoved in a padded envelope.  You be the judge.

Is this cute or what?
Look at the back of the pillow.  It’s as darling as the front!
After Christmas I can turn it around and use it for every day, love it!

But no, that’s not all – Even a sweet treat!

By now I’m hovering in the corner of embarrassment.
I must apologize to anyone who has received a give away gift from me.  I vow to do better.  Starting New Years resolutions early.
If you know me at all, you know that I am a lover of red.  One might ask, “Where oh where will she use that in her home?”  Now don’t you worry your pretty little heads.
It just so happens that my sewing room is brown, blue, and yup you guessed it, PINK.
Could it look any cuter than this on my shabby pink chair? 

Now I thought I would show you a bit of my little sewing retreat.  It’s a small room.  In fact on our home plans it shows it as a nursery/study just off of the master bedroom.

The ladder shelf has a few vintage finds and holds a lot of my pincushion collection.




I found this vintage machine at a shop in St. George, UT. for only $25.  I covered the box with yup, scrappy looking bird paper.

Here’s some of the wall décor.
My cousin, Betty gave me this old sewing book. I grouped it with other vintage items on this cork board.  Notice my cute dress form pincushion?  That was a gift from a Quilt retreat.  They used alot of vintage sewing notions to embellish it.



I love this cabinet for stashing small fabric scraps.


And of course, what’s a sewing room without a quilt? A wire chandy made from an old fence can’t hurt either.

I painted my walls brown last Spring.  Not sure if I love them.  It does darken the room.  I may change them in the future.  But for now, chocolate it is.
My room may be small, but for me it is ever SEW SWEET!
Jann
I will be sharing my sewing room retreat with these parties:
How Sweet the Sound for Pink Saturday
http://thepolkadotcloset.blogspot.com/2012/02/dress-form-linky-party-starts-now-and.html

A Bit of Lime Makes Christmas Shine!

Do you remember a few years ago when red and lime green were the new hot Christmas colors?

Well, you know me; I had to give it a whirl.

I still think they’re pretty cute so I group them together in my blue cabinet in the entry.

I don’t have a lot, so every year I put them here.  Although I mix it up just a bit.  I always change the top décor.

This year I used my large birdhouses and small red churches. I also grouped a couple of tree stitcheries.

red & white and lime ornaments hang from the faux garland.

 

I love this jolly Santa and my cute little sitting elves.

There was even a line of fabric sporting the color combo.

Yes, I made a quilt.

The woman who quilted it for me did cute snowflakes and ornaments.

Even though these colors are definitely not traditional, they’re kind of fun.

One thing is for sure.  They’ll be hanging around my house for a while.

Hope they make you smile!

Jann

I will be linking this post with:

2805 for Potpourri Friday

The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home Friday