Merry Christmas!

I am way overdue in posting Christmas decorations. We began decorating the day after Thanksgiving and finished that same weekend. As everyone experiences, however, the season is very busy! As a result, I have not shown any new photos since Thanksgiving. I will show a few pictures today and then will plan to post again throughout the week with more. We teach through Friday, so there is little spare time! :)

 

 

 

Merry Christmas!

 

This weekend's snowfall made everything look more festive!

 

 

We are displaying nativities in the curio this year. Some are family pieces which make them even more precious. Many are "on loan" for the season from my parent's collection. :)

 

This pencil tree is in the living room by the piano. Since it is so compact, it perfectly fits into the corner to display my aunt's all-red collection. When she moved to the sunny south, she gifted me with these treasures.

 

 

Our dining room has a snowman theme this year.

 

 

How do you like the new Christmas china? I found it on Craigslist this summer and purchased it with birthday money. It's makes my second set of Christmas china and is one of five sets of Christmas dinnerware. Yes, I use them all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We replaced our dining room light in October. It's hard to see the details too well in this picture, but it is a pineapple light.

 

 

 

That's all for now. We have nine more trees to go, so I will try to get to more this week!

 



Happy Thanksgiving!

Although I have had the dining room table set with the Thanksgiving dishes for weeks, I am just now posting!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The day after Thanksgiving, we will put up the trees and decorate for the best time of the year. I will post pictures when it's presentable!

 



 

Autumn Colors

We suddenly have our peak of color and everything is so pretty! We were able to take advantage of the day. I was contracted for only a half-day as we had professional development (no classes for students). Randy took a bit of time out of the office so we were able to go on a hike through the woods late this afternoon. I was reminded of the following poem, even if it's a day late now that it's November!

                                                                                   October's Party

October gave a party;
The leaves by hundreds came-
The chestnuts, oaks, and maples,
And leaves of every name.
The sunshine spread a carpet,
And everything was grand.
Miss Weather led the dancing, Professor Wind, the band.

Chestnuts came in yellow,
Oaks in crimson dressed; The lovely Misses Maple
In scarlet looked their best.
All balanced to their partners,
And gaily fluttered by;
The sight was like a rainbow
New fallen from the sky.

Then, in the rustic hollow, At hide-and-seek they played.
The party closed at sundown,
And everybody stayed.
Professor Wind played louder;
They flew along the ground;
And then the party ended
In jolly "hands around."

                                                               Author: George Cooper

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Halloween!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Touch of Autumn

Welcome Fall!

 

 

It's beginning to look like autumn. The sky is that beautiful blue and we have a few hints of reds and yellows. I began decorating for the season two weekends ago, but between home responsibilities and playing school, it took some time to wrap-up. Today is my first day of fall break (HOORAY!) so I am taking pictures to post.

 

The pumpkin dishes are the only new items on the table. A student and his family gave me a Wal-Mart gift card for an end-of-the-year gift in June, so I used that card to purchase the four pumpkin salad plates. It's part of their Better Homes and Gardens seasonal collection and I just love them! By the way, the tablecloth was a wedding shower gift to my parents over 50 years ago! I am borrowing it since it is not only a perfect match, but in perfect condition!

 

 

 

Our great room mantel is accented with fresh IN bittersweet, compliments of my aunt and uncle!

 

For some reason, the candlesticks appear to be leaning. They aren't; it's an optical illusion! 

 

 

The solarium mantel has lighted branches so it has soft white lights at nighttime.

 

 

 

 

Apple Tablescape

I can't believe that it's September! I have set my table for apple-time.

 

 

 

The salad plates are some of my favorites. I guess they are truly antique snack sets and, of course, I am partial to them since teachers love apples! I received my first one years ago from a student at Christmastime. I still remember how his mother baked a variety of Christmas cookies for me and presented them on the apple plate (along with its little matching clear punch cup). Over the years, I have stumbled upon them at antique stores and yard sales and now I have a complete set to use!

 



Completed Nativity

Today I was able to stain the remaining pieces of my nativity so you can see the before and after shots. The pieces are sitting on waxed paper in the "after" photo since they are not 100% dry yet. :)

 

Before:

 

 

After:

 

 



Just For Fun...

This post has nothing to do with our kitchen project, but I thought you may be interested in my Labor Day endeavor. While reading one of the decorator blogs that I follow, I learned about a new painting technique which produces the look of brass. When I read about it three weeks ago, I thought it would be fun to try. I wished I could do a nativity because it would look so regal at Christmastime. Low and behold, the next Saturday my mother and I found a new nativity at a yard sale. It was in its unopened box with each of the ten porcelain pieces still in their own individual wrap. With its $25 original price on the box, I was thrilled to see that the seller wanted 50 cents. Bingo! I couldn't wait until I had the time to experiment with it. This weekend, with a wonderful extra day, I had the opportunity. I decided to begin with the cow since I could live without it if the project went wrong. Here is the before...

 

 

Here she is after...

 

 

 

It is simple. First you cover the piece with gold spray paint. After that dries, you blot it with Min-Wax dark walnut stain and allow the color to collect in tiny cracks and crevices. The stain takes longer to dry, but the cow was completely dry in 24 hours. I now have spray painted the other 9 pieces and will begin staining them tomorrow. I will add a picture when the set is completed. :) It should be fun to add this to my collection when decorating for my favorite time of the year!

 

 

 

 



 

Our Light Box!

The materials we ordered for our light box came in last week, so they scheduled our installation for today! My first contracted work day began this morning, so I considered this my welcome back to school surprise! :) The guys spent the day constructing the box and then putting it into place. We absolutely love the job they did and are very pleased with the end result. Less pleasing is the new light, however. It seems to be suffering some sort of a manufacture's problem with two tipped lights (you will notice the ones on each end do not hang down as the center one does). The guys tried to adjust them, but it is just not possible. Randy and I will be contacting the lighting company in order to resolve this problem, but in the meantime we do have a light source and we love the box!

 

Whew! The new light fixture really has a blazing appearance in this picture, doesn't it?!

 

 



 

 

 

This shows the fixture lines, but also allows you to (very clearly) notice the tipped lights on each end. Ugh!

 

 

 

Today's work concluded the kitchenproject4us and we love it. Now that it's all finished, we can look back and laugh over the inconveniences during the project. We knew we would be happy with our new kitchen and we were absolutely right!

 

                                                                                         Before:



 

 

 

 After: 

 

 

 

Some have suggested that I continue to post projects, so I think I might. Don't sit by computer waiting for daily posts, though. Now that I am back at school, I have no time! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ta-da!

Last weekend we painted the light which hangs over our kitchen table. I have included a before and after. Once more, I have to say that I love being able to reuse these light fixtures thanks to my spray paint! Once the materials for our light box arrive, we can schedule the building and installation of that. A decorative box, made of wood and trim to match our cabinets, will go over the island and then our new island light will be suspended from it.

 

Before:    (Oops! Note the shades which were very crooked after we jiggled the light around for the picture.)

 

 

Ta-da!:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

Window Treatment

The new cornices are made and up! My dad cut out and constructed them and then my mother and I tackled the task of covering them. I am really pleased with them and enjoy the  pop of color they provide the breakfast room.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kitchen Pictures!

 

 

 

Here are a few picture showing a table set for a summer meal. You will notice the absence of window treatments on the window beside the slider. We are making cornices for those two small windows. I will post them when they are completed.

 

Please note the open lazy-Susan door in the background.  Naturally the time I would have to leave it open would be the time the picture was taken! :(

 

For some reason, this shot is a little dark.

 

 

 

This is the cabinet above the planning center.