Christmas Decor

A little more Christmas decor, this time at the front door.  A rusty cage all dressed up with a sheer ribbon and mercury glass.

This is a perfect place for seasonal decor, it held pumpkins and lights about 2 months ago.

This time of year was made for candlelight, so I put a trio of my shiniest candle holders together on a mirror tray.

I just couldn't resist adding a little white cottage to my decor this year.

Of course some more tree's were required.

Christmas decorating just isn't complete without a crown popping up.

This Christmas my daughter and I are going to Arizona,  I am so excited. I now love going away at Christmas but I couldn't imagine not decorating the house. For me it's the best part.

My daughter made this and it says it all. 

Happy Holidays,

Patricia

A White Christmas

Better late than never, I got on my Christmas decorating.

All my favourite's together, a beautiful double side satin bow from Lyon France, purchased at Wellington Gift & Garden, & my little feather tree, purchased for $1.99 at an after Easter Sale.

Best of all, my very favourite vintage ornaments.  I found them in a thrift store in an old cardboard box in a corner & now they are treated like gold.

Feathers look like snow.

(hard to get a picture in front of a mirror - sorry)

Years ago I made a feather wreath with a feather boa & Styrofoam wreath form.  It is my favourite homemade project ever.

More next time,

Patricia

I will be sharing this with:

http://www.fadedcharmcottage.blogspot.com/ White Wednesday



Inspiration

Last year I went to Vegas for Christmas,  I loved the over the top Christmas decorating.

A perfect combination, white, mercury glass &  pink poinsettia's.

This polar bear was covered in white carnations, not only was it beautiful, it smelled so fresh & clean.

My favourite window at Tiffany's

It was nice to see decorating with white work it's way even into Vegas.  Seeing all this again is inspiring me....

It's time to pull out my favourite vintage ornaments & decorate.

Cheers,

Patricia

Baby It's Cold Outside

It got cold here last week, at -19 Celsius I decided to brave the dark and the cold to go out in the evening to a Christmas get together at Wellington Gift & Garden.

It was worth going out in the cold, snow was on the ground and everything was beautifully decorated with lights

(photo from Wellington, my camera ate a few pics)

It was full of people & hard to get pictures but I got lots of decorating inspiration.

A fabulous table of pink.... sigh. 

In the greenhouse, so french.

It inspired my seasonal decorating.

Bonjour

Patricia

Creativity

I was sick recently and despite how I felt I really enjoyed the view from my sick bed.

Amazing what the combination of coloured crystals and  tulle can create.

My proudest creative moment was my $5.00 dresser makeover.

Laziness (not wanting to sand off all of the "make it stone" spray paint that was all over it) inspired me to look for an easier way to make it beautiful.  I had a roll of anaglypta wallpaper that I adored and when I applied it to the drawers it just worked.

I adore seeing others creativity, and what amazed me today was this:

Invictrolas, in the Anthropologie Christmas book, and it is a wonderful combination of old and new.  This is an amazing ipod player, but at $598.00 US for the small one at the back, I will just get to enjoy these in pictures.  Anthro has  some of the best creative people.

Patricia



End of the Season

Last week we had frost and this is the last of my roses.



Halloween orange & black are not my favourite colours but a white pumpkin is.

I needed a few glamour shots of the pumpkin before I handed it over to my daughter to decorate.

Happy Halloween to all.

Patricia

White White White

I love the look of a coffee filter lampshade, having seen it all over Blogland I decided to do it myself. 



What a job.  I took each filter, folded it in half, half again, and then half again.  I did not touch the rippled edge, but creased the bottom each time I folded, and glued the bottom portion (which was a large long diamond) on the shade. I used an ikea shade which is very large. 

It adds texture to the room, demands attention, and looks a bit like a cake full of beautiful icing. This is a job that is well worth the time and effort.

(Vintage Alabaster lamp, on a  book box from Michael's,)

Globe from Wellington Gift and Garden that I am a little obsessed with.

Globe on an urn.

I love white and adore my white couch but I have a black and white cat and a teen.  We practically live on the couch and I find cleaning the cushions is a pain - mostly the zippers and fitting them back on.  The easiest way to look clean with minimum fuss was to cover the cushions with a favourite tablecloth.

It works well and keeps my white couch looking vibrant and beautiful.

 I love my whites. 

Cheers,

Patricia

Sharing with http://www.fadedcharmccottage.blogspot.com/

Change

It was time for a change


 

(Knob - Michaels)
This got it all started:

It was in a local antique shop and had been for months. I found it dusty and neglected on the floor and when I first saw it 10 months ago, it reminded me of this:

Kirsten Hollister, Oprah's design contest winner in 2006 had this in her home and I always liked it. For many years I have been on the lookout for it.



My Mom thinks  I should paint the brown trim... but I kind of like it right now. 

To balance the sudden infusion of a new tone, I brought in a few similarly coloured items:

( Sid Dickens "The Winged Messenger")

My two favourite pictures:



Both of these were gift cards from Sid Dickens ( www.siddickens.com).  This amazing Canadian artist does memory blocks, I'm lucky enough to have a few. 

 One new item from Wellington,

(beautiful floor mat at an amazing price)



and the new tone worked.

Who knows, in a few months I may tire of brown and paint the mirror but for right now, it stays brown.

Patricia 

Black & White & Grey

I know fall is coming it just doesn't feel like it today.  30+ degrees (about 86 F).  Still some leaves here are starting to change because of the reduction of light, others are waiting for the first freeze.

When it's fall I start to think Grey.

It's a soft workable colour.

A pin from Ross that is a little large to wear,

works perfectly on my white and grey lamp.

I found a beautiful clock today  

that finishes my black and white french bathroom perfectly.

I always like a clock in the bathroom when I'm running in the morning.

I never thought I would have a black and white room but the crispness of it is hard to beat. 

Patricia

Pretty Kitchen

I admire an kitchen with style.  Some people really do have beautiful well designed kitchens that seem to gleam and shine. 

I have a small u shaped kitchen with regular counters, maple cabinets  and stainless steel appliances.  The fridge is visible from the living room and is a perfect place for some shine.

I like the shine of my mercury glass collection on top of the fridge.

Two weeks ago I found a cup at Urban Outfitters that I just could not walk away from!

I'm not usually a black and white fan but it matches my tea towels.

(they are no touch or use towels, I'm sure I'm not the only Mom with that rule!)

It's a glam little stove now.

A little fancy cookbook area.

The lesson here is the plain out of the box kitchen has a little pizazz now with the addition of some accessories.  I have never put an accessory in a kitchen before and now I wonder what took so long.

Cheers,

Patricia