Making a definite impact - small or LARGE?

Each of us has probably purchased one of the black wrought iron wreath stands - I have a couple and use them a lot. While rummaging in the basement for something different for my Christmas Tree theme this year, I came across an old floor lamp - you know the type that has a swing arm or it can be stationary but think of re purposing it into a BIG wreath stand. I removed the electrical parts of this one about fifteen years ago with good intentions to rewire the thing, but it never was placed on any one's list of things to do. I've used it a couple of times to display an item and even a wreath - years ago, but only this week - realized how neat it would be to bring it out again. Dusting the cobwebs off was all it needed. My bathroom is very small, but what an impact this makes? This gem won't be cast aside any longer. Enjoy - oh - please check back in for some photos of our Christmas 2010 Open House. Merry Christmas.

Happy Valentine's Day

We are on the road home from Michigan to VA after seeing our grandson Easton for the first time Feb 5th. We had a fabulous week in Michigan and spent tons of time with Easton. Thursday the movers came and packed up Keely and Jason's(my daughter and son-in-law) house and finished up Friday.Friday night was an adventure with us sleeping on air mattresses since we had no furniture..early Saturday morning we pulled out bound for VA...about an hour or so into our trip, our back tire blew! Thankfully the truck has dual wheels so mainly just an inconvenience but caused a 2 hour delay..we found a tire place open and had that tire replaced. Last night we spent the night in Charleston WVA and are getting ready to make the last leg of the trip to VA here in a few minutes. Easton is a good  little traveler and at three weeks of age has already visited/lived in three different states! Wishing you all wherever you are, the Happiest Valentine's Day ever....xoxoxo

Better Late than Never, Right?

I meant to share this photo with you guys during the holidays but obviously didn't  but......I must have the tiniest main floor bathroom on the planet (circa 1954) so it's always a challenge to decorate for the seasons since I have NO room for accessories except the back of the commode or the walls...I had purchased this snowman several years back at Marshalls and recently put the toile shower curtain in the tiny bath...and then I had the vinyl words that I decided to put on the mirror in the bathroom...you can see the edges of a red glass candle holder (near the snowman's scarf) and that was my decor...looked kinda striking with the candle lit at night though...and I had a red rug as well. so if anyone else is struggling with a tiny bathroom, don't dismiss the idea of decorating your tiny space...just think a bit outside the box as they say; and you'll be amazed at what you might come up with in those spaces.

Happy New Year

Here's wishing each and everyone of you the Happiest New Year ever! Be safe, be happy and we'll see you next year.

Was Santa Good to You?

Was Santa good to you yesterday? Our day started very early by opening gifts at my house with my immediate family, then we went to Mama's and opened gifts and had dinner. Jim's Dad came with us and we stayed ALL day...saw tons of relatives and enjoyed some good food. I got all kinds of goodies including giftcards from Coldwater Creek (one of my favorite stores). In case you're interested, the larger Santa is from the 40s and one I found in an old shed located on the property of a house I lived in back in the 80s...I didn't do much decorating in the formal LR this year as we still have some painting (notice the woodwork) to complete and I was trying to simplify where I could...Take  a moment and tell us whether you got coal or some goodies this year...Notice how Santa is winking!

What's on Top of your Fridge?

Do you decorate the top of your refrigerator? Most people enter my house by the back door...and enter my kitchen so during the holidays I always decorate the top of the fridge...over the years I've done a variety of things and really was running out of ideas...this year Jim (my husband) suggested doing a tribute to the 50s kinda thing, the decade we both were born and my house was built in 1954 as well. I went hunting through my decorations and found my celluloid Santa that lights up (doesn't show up that well in the pics but looks really festive when the lights are at at night) and then my bubblegum tree....then found the red metal  pickup truck that normally sits on a shelf in the den... and the Jim said " put one of those village trees in the bed of the truck"...and then I placed a replica Coke drink machine bank that just screamed 50s to me among the other goodies...I think it turned out pretty cute and I used things I had for years...Tell us what you have on top of your fridge...we would love to hear.

Noel - such an tradition - let's not forget

Love the word "Noel" - it speaks to each of us - as we recall the words to the wonderful song "The First Noel". I hope the present generation of young people never forget the song, nor the words. Noel - even the word brings back such memories of Christmas long ago. As we are almost full swing into the Christmas season, let's each take a moment to reflect on traditional values and the true meaning of Christmas. Using a piece of discarded wood and printing out from the computer large fonts, I cut out Noel and placed it on the board with small finishing nails to hold the letters in place. Then I twisted red pepper berries on the nails to write out the word. Hanging it in a good spot will welcome your guests. Enjoy - and most of all project was made without spending a cent.

My Love Affair with Gingerbread Men

I started collecting Gingerbread Men years ago...I can recall looking for pieces to add to my collection and being so annoyed when I could find not a thing some years...this was in the late 80s and back then, Santas and snowmen were the big boys on the holiday decorating block for the most part...I decorate my dining room in a combination Gingerbread Men and  Gingerbread Houses/Candyland theme...the last several years I've been collecting the Dept 56 Kindles as they blend perfectly with this theme.....Here's a few men in my life I'll share with you today:

Newest look in classy french doors

I love french doors. Who doesn't? It's wonderful to pass a room and be able to peer in without going in or perhaps maybe something lured you to come closer and then you go through the door and you're always glad you did. I'm sure most of us have used the old stand-by, wreath on the door - looks great in any room, but yesterday my sister Gayle and a friend toured in 34 degree weather, the 37th annual Holiday Tour of Homes in our home town. I saw french doors proudly displaying a garland hung in this manner. Simple, but chic, I thought and I came home and promptly changed mine out. I love them. Hope you do too!

New lease on life for old window frames

I was inspired by viewing a recent post by Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for a gorgeous winter wonderland scene, using old window panes. Imagine having some already on site; though getting my husband Carl on board to assemble them for holiday presentation was another chore. He did assist and the project turned out pretty good. Originally they were painted white, but some of the paint came off while I was hosing them down. They were pretty gross with spider webs, dust and grime - they had been stored outside for over a year. Well - 2009 thes window panes were put back into use and they sit proudly on my porch to welcome guests. Photo doesn't do it much justice; they shows off better at night; but then the photo would not be as good, so you'll just have to stop by my home in Danville, Virginia to see it in person and perhaps enjoy a cup of hot tea and a slice of my delicious pound cake. Merry Christmas to each of you and thank you for checking out our blog.

Dressing the front door says "Welcome"

I saw this in an old publication from the 80's and thought about doing this project for the front of our house. We're fortunate to have an 8 pitch roof and the entrance looks grand with its greenery and simple wreath with a red bow. Plywood cutouts to form branches were cut and painted green for the left and right sides BOTH of the door. Small pieces were cut out and painted and all sides nailed into the mortar to secure the whole thing. I dismantled four old garlands I'm no longer using and stapled sections to keep the form of the branches. Hope you enjoy this and perhaps if time permits, you can dress up your front door. I love it and it really looks grand at night with our spotlight shining on it.

Thinking Outside the Box (or Shoe)

An easy way to bring some holiday cheer into the kitchen is to think a bit outside the box and incorporate holiday pieces into your decor...I keep my utensils right by the stove and thought this Santa shoe would be the perfect vessel for holding them...this same shoe could be used in the bathroom to hold guest towels or even used on the tablescape with a bowl to hold food...try thinking outside the box shoe and see how many ways you can think of using the same item. For fun, tell me some other ways I could use the Santa shoe in my holiday decor....

Happy Thanksgiving and Let the Decorating Truly Begin!

Wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving. I started decorating a teeny bit last week and thought I would share a little bit of my mess with you...so far I've finished one Gingerbread Display in the dining room....The most time consuming task I typically have is putting my village up. I took temporary leave of my senses and decided to set it up on the hearth in the den this year. If you'll notice in the photos below my hearth is wider than most and in a semi-circular shape; and not that high off the floor..I have a vision so trust me; in the end it will look okay but right now it basically looks like Christmas threw up in several rooms of my house. I'm the type that works on several things at the same time so I'll work on the village a bit, put in a load of laundry...paint some on my salvaged Goodwill elf...go back to the Village, etc...I thought you might enjoy seeing the Village and other things I'll be doing in the various stages..so pleased understand this is NOT the final product...

Is this not the most hideous thing you've ever seen?????? someone (should be shot in my opinion) painted this sweet elf PINK and BLUE!!!! who does that? I'm trying to rescue the poor thing by painting in traditional red/green...Keep coming back and you will see him later nestled amongst my Christmas books on the built-in book case in the den. I have decorated those shelves for the holidays in every manner you can think of and was really stumped for something different this year...and  my friend Barbara suggested doing an elf/book thing. PERFECT I thought and recalled this sad little guy languishing on the shelf in my basement.

Here's a shot of the hearth....here's where the fun begins and I use all kinds of lifts/props to achieve a truly 3D effect. If you're just setting your villages out in a straight line formation; I would encourage you to use some varying heights...it will make an amazing difference.

Here's some of the buildings I'll be using in my Village...I must tell you I use a variety of sizes/brands/etc and not so concerned with using just Dept 56 pieces...I have pieces from Goodwill and the dollar store in addition to the pricier Dept 56

Now this Dept 56 piece was bought strictly for the name of the boarding house owner...Miss Mae! and the person with that middle name knows who they are (I won't spill the beans) so this one's for you!

Here's a few shots of my dining room table...did I say DINING? a good thing we're eating with Mama today because this is EXACTLY what my dining room table looks like on Thanksgiving Day...can you imagine such a mess?

Starting to think about Christmas decorating!

It is almost that time of year.

Time to drag up all the boxes of decorations and 'Christmassy' the home!

But I have a few things to do first.

Like clean the house.

I mean REALLY clean the house.

Because it IS clean.

But not Christmas worthy clean!

So, I will go through each room and declutter.

Then move the furniture one last time and vacuum.

Some rooms are easier than others.

The sitting room and dining room are almost done already.

As is the family room.

But the room that always overwhelms me is the kitchen.

It isn't that big, really.

But I think, since it is the hub of all things good and happy, it is the most important room for me.

I want the pantry clean and ready for grabbing ingredients to whip up some treat...........cookies, home baked goodies, dinners.

So that is my chore today.... get that kitchen ready!!!

I will let you know how I go.........

Thanksgiving is Coming

Hello - thanks for stopping by our threshold. It's so good to have you visit. We are all busy with preparations for fall season already in progress and Thanksgiving is 31 days from today. How the time flies. It's hard sometimes to plan ahead and have the right items on hand to present a "Welcome" to your home. My favorite thing to do is use what I can find, pull out some of those earlier arrangements (I am a true recycle junkie). My fall arrangement is made from an old zinc lined glass milk bottle case (many of you will recall having one of these on the back porch for the milkman to leave his delivery). I grew up in the county, so this was not something I was a part of, but I always look out for cute, unusual items to use. I simply wiped the dust off, laid it on top of the concrete planter and filled it with pumpkins I had purchased over the years and used a little hot glue to hold them in place (you have to plan ahead on windy days around here, you know). I had already removed the two green sticks from my peony bushes and I just placed them on either side of the milk box and placed an empty, unused old grapevine wreath (picked up at Goodwill for $1) and unwound some vines and attached them. It took less than 10 minutes to make this and just today I found the cute, fall metal sign that says Welcome. It was $3 at a thrift shop. Recycle - it's my favorite thing.