Let me play catch up~

And I’ve missed all of you!

It’s been MORE than a little tough on this end.
In fact, as I half type–half peck this out with a broken finger…
in a splint…I’ll have more to share.  But later on that one!

I’m settling into my new role as a care giver,
I’ve actually gotten to work on a few projects,
I finally took down *everything* Christmas—except the tree.
It’s sooooooooo pretty I can’t do it!

Picture this~ 900 white lights, some twinkling.
300 blue lights, some twinkling.
Varying shades of white,
tarnished silvers & golds.
Crystal & rhinestone crosses, glittered pine cones,
crystallized branches & feathery doves.
Garlands of white Poinsettia and snowflakes.
A punctuation of cobalt blue vintage balls,
and a large vintage mercury glass tree topper!
Oh!  And a sheer, fluffy, delicately ruffled skirt!

Could YOU take it down yet?

W e l l—I’m not ready.

It’s the only thing left!

Catherine

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I’ve been organizing

Warning:  if you don’t share a love affair of silver you’ll just think I’m nuts here!  Run away~run away!

Laying around sick has made me about nuts.

I’d try to work on -SOMEthing- to find it just exhausted me more.  Nothing has been getting done in any kind of fast –motion, but I DID manage to accomplish a FEW things.  YaY!

One thing loooooong over due for attention was cleaning up and REorganizing my (cough-cough hoarder) collection of silver service ware.  Instead of cramming it all in varying cabinets that would leave me fearful to ever open again—I organized everything and put things away PROPERLY.  About time!

*Oh please tell me I’m not the lone hoarder!

Below:  Beginning with the forks—I decided to (temporarily) use folded heavy card-stock paper as dividers.  Basically, supporting and separating the varying patterns.  *I love the “hotel silver” idea of mixed pattern place settings!  But instead of buying the expensive store collections, I’ve collected patterns over the years found in flea markets that I love!

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It was wonderful to have things out and enjoy their use for Christmas—I have some truly great service pieces!

The next 2 pictures are of things cleaned up but yet to be put away.

Yes, some may think it’s a bit much, even over the top, but I love it all and how special it makes a meal feel.  PLUS all my beautiful china, silverware, and crystal.  I used it daily in my former home in Chandler, AZ –I miss that.  After all, shouldn’t EVERY day the Lord grants be treated as a celebration?  Just saying. . .

Catherine

*I removed the cabinet backs before installing them back to back creating an island.  I added the “floating shelves” before it was all closed in~now they’re kinda’ stuck in there permanently so I HAVE TO make them work.

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…is there such a thing?

…as a Christmas

 hangover? 

My body, my energy, my motivation has called a big ole time out on me.  I spent the 2 days after Christmas doing…absolutely…NOTHING.  Nada.  Zilch.

It was  W O N D E R f u l !

W e l l~ I did finally do the Christmas day dishes early Wednesday morning.

I sorted and organized everything Christmas night and then decided—

I just didn’t FEEL like doing the rest.

After 2 glorious days of slackin’ off, I’m getting back in gear (uhgh!).

This year’s decorating seemed to stick close to just Reds and Whites…including decorating all the lighting!

Decorating stayed very simple–and mostly just little touches of Reds & Whites.

 

 

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And then there were

the TREES!

But~

If you’ve followed my blog long enough, you know I do something FuN & crazy every year for the kiddo’s Christmas tree!

I revisited the long-time-idea of going UPside down!

When I stumbled onto a stuffed lower half of Santa…well, it was meant to be!

Starting with a TREE…

Couldn’t be fake—the “hinged” arms would just fall down.

Okay, REAL.  Would have to be smaller to emphasize being off the floor.  Would have to have firm branches to stay straight out.  Would need to cut the trunk LOW to the bottom branches to lay flat on the ceiling.

I screwed an eye bolt into the bottom of the trunk, and a molly bolt & strong cup hook into the ceiling~& hung it up!

The Santa came with a hook to catch the trunk, and I happened to already have a stuffed Santa Hat to poke through the other side of the tree—HoHoHo!

Santa’s legs were wired so I manipulated them to look like he was climbing in the tree.  Wait a minute~is that really Mr GRINCH stealing our tree?

I strung the lights, I added “snow,” and decorated with lots of CANDY!  (Including licorice tinsel)  The kiddos like to “EAT” the tree here!

This is After Christmas with much of its candy eaten!  But it still looks fun!  The kids LUV’d it—and so did the adults!  I noticed several walking over to take another look at it all!

I found some amAzing lights to put on the kiddo’s tree this year—below are the color options it gives!  You can pick a color or some combo of—that’s not a filter!  There’s also a CANDY-color option of white-pink-purple-orange-red.  Then you can select solid-flashing-chasing-twinkling-fade!

With just the white lights to see (what’s left) the “decorations!”

This year we TRULY took pics UNDER the tree!

(wink–wink)

I used a softer light-scheme!

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“upholstering” a box

I’m still

DEChristmasing

the house.

With 3 floors—there’s a lot to do and I’m still tryin’ to find my MOJO!

All those Christmas cards need to come down off the framed vintage crib springs too.

Now -to me- except for the photo cards, the rest would be tossed.  But my mother keeps them all.  ALL.   -???-

So~shortly after Christmas, while I was out running errands, I happened on these holiday boxes being clearanced for $4.  I thought the IDEA was interesting and her cards could be stored in it.  The EXECUTION however—Uuuuhg!

But it could be improved on!

I taped off the book page edges and “erased” their decorative finish with Kilz.

I gave it a couple of days to dry thoroughly, and this morning, brought it down to the LL dining table to cut and apply some linen.

I collect old linen from any source I can find it.  I even collect the hideous-ugly embroidered dresser scarves-table runners-table cloths -BECAUSE- there’s usually still a good amount of plain material left to be used in lots of projects!  And OLD linen is often such a better quality!

I wash it in hot water and over dry it in the dryer so it’s shrunken, has a tighter weave, and the fibers end up “fluffier!”  Same with matte lasse!  I LUV using these fabrics for projects!

I used wall paper paste to apply the fabric.  I love spray adhesives and Mod Podge, but they don’t let you manipulate & adjust things while you’re working.  A really good wall paper paste will.  And even if it “bleeds through” your fabric, it will [usually] dry without leaving any marks.

Once the linen was applied and dry, I switched to Mod Podge to get a really good bond turning and gluing those edges.  I also used the antiquing matte finish so the edges would have a little darker edging.

~Have you tried this one yet?  It gives your work an aged look!

I pulled some slight blue ribbon to trim out the edges of the lid—just for a cleaner finish. (mom favors blues and I had no green left)

The cards can be put away discretely with her other books AND be available when she needs them next Nov.

I’m toying with some gold or silver leafed lettering down the spline just like any book would have. . . ehhhhh.

tbc. . .

Catherine

—now put those cards away.

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so~when do YOU take the tree down?

I’ve always wondered about this, so I went online to see if there are any actual “guidelines” on this subject.

“Every family moves at their own pace when it comes to taking down Christmas trees and decorations, but there are certain popular dates to remember that are approaching when people will start taking them down. Those specific dates follow either religious or even just superstitious guidelines.”     SOURCE

New Year’s Eve.

Superstitions would have you take the tree down and UNdecorate before midnight on the last day of the year so not to drag old baggage and bad luck into the New Year.

January 5th.

Tradition considers THIS to be the 12th day of Christmas—the last day of all the Christmas celebrations and merriment.

January 6th.

Taking down the tree on this day is usually in observance of the Epiphany, or Three Kings Day (a Christian holiday).

Now, at the other end of this query lie the folks that take it down and to the curb –Christmas night– yikes!

 

I admit that -for me- it can be the end of January

before I start UNdecorating!

Catherine

 

 

 

 

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but, 2 days before Christmas…

. . . 2 of my nieces came to string marshmallow garlands to go around the candy-decorated “kiddo” tree!  A VERY sticky proposition I was glad to hand over!

*They eat the tree decorations—I have less to take down later~win win!  

The girls and I sat across the LL dining table from each other working on 2 different projects—singing joyously (me probably off key) to Christmas carols!

Hmmmm~ 2 days before Christmas, 2 nieces, 2 projects!  ; D

 

MY project was a little more

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“Grinchy!“

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1st~ The night before I grabbed a latex glove and some Great Stuff, which I sprayed into the glove to fill out and create some shape!

2nd~ I poked wire down the fingers to be able to bend and shape the hand.  I tried it out in a few poses -which showed I needed to poke in some more wire.

Next~ I straightened the hand and traced around it on the long haired fur I bought.

I cut out the fur while the hot glue gun was heating up…

and at last began gluing fur to the glove.

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*my own hands became a little furry in this too!

And that’s the palm side glued on.

Next challenge was to connect the top side fur to the glove and close in the sides of those fingers—a most clumsy proposition.  We all laughed at how much it looked like the girls’ huge Labra-Doodle, Champ!

Once it was all connected, I realized the palm side would need a good hair cut -and the overall fingers- for additional shaping.  And THEN we could finally move on to the dye bath!  The GRINCH is green after all!

That’s me—harassing poor Champ with a Mohawk-do!

We were in a major snow storm while all this was going on and I didn’t feel like running outside to the garage for more gloves, so I ended up dyeing my hands too.  L o v e l y.  In desperation, I sprayed Clorox Clean up over my hands and scrubbed.  Except for under my nails, the Rit Dye came off fairly easily!

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Unfortunately, the only way I could stabilize it in the tree was to screw it to the tree trunk.  But it’s in there!

That Grinchy Santa hat is the instigator of this whole project!

I just can’t seem to get a good photo of it in the tree, although,

in person it really looked fanTAStic and the kiddos loved it!

This was after the best candy was plucked & eaten!

It’s NOT the Grinch tree I’ve always wanted to do, so I see another to come!

Catherine

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well, h e l l o !

Remember my calendar?  Y‘know~the one that was going to organize all the things I wanted to get done before Christmas.  HaHa

You know how it goes—

PLAN your WORK  &  WORK your PLAN!

And then life says “Oh yeah?  We’ll see…”

Well, that’s pretty much the summary of how things have gone—including the flu and loss of a favorite great auntie.  Once I surrendered those lists/plans and just focused on the necessities, things calmed down and I strolled pretty smoothly across the Christmas-day finish line.   Life—geesh.

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On one of my early excursions-

(in search of a fresh boxwood wreath) I stumbled onto this incredible, A-MAZ-ing, alternative wreath project!

I LUV alternative wreaths and think I’ll have to try something like this out for myself!

Catherine 

 

 

Evergreens, pine cones, magnolia leaves and burlap!

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now back to Christmas

With that breakneck pace behind me & SOME much needed rest,

~though only a short time out from all things Christmas~

I am now busy-busy with my annual

DEEP CLEANING

before the holiday decorating begins (yay).

This DEEP CLEANING happens twice a year~ before decorating for Christmas and in later spring for the burgeoning GLORY of SUMMER!

The rest of the year is just a –perfunctory cleaning job.

Windows to silver are once again sparkling—

wood is gleaming, rugs are switched out,

(although the summer rugs are only rolled up, waiting for shrink wrap and storage)

the vacuum hose finds every nook & cranny and lamp shade, and there’s the purging of lots of “how did this get here?” -STUFF.

Before I start decorating this room though, I  MAY take on 1 or 2 ambitious projects…???

Maybe.  I don’t know yet. Hmmm—stay tuned!

Catherine

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more of my Christmas DIY’s

Well first,

I forgot to include this simple Birch frame I made with all those other “wood” projects!

It would have been wonderful to have some beautifully stylized pics to share but, folks—I’m just happy that I GOT some pics with the pace I was keeping!

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Here are my REworked faux Pine Cones+candles…

and actually, the last of all those NATURAL materials projects was that I patiently sugar-crystal’d a LOT of hydrangea and sedum from the garden!

I sold them by the head—but ladies drove me CRAZY with, “Oh, I’ll just do THIS myself!  picture-picture.  Now, tell me~how did you do this?”  ~rolling eyeballs.

Another thing with flowers was this lamp.

A literal TRASH to TREASURE project!

Someone threw out this BROKEN lamp, I took it, I cleaned and fixed it~

then painted it & added moss, holiday flowers, and an elongated silk shade!

Speaking of lighting, I also found this cool jar to “fix up!”

Another thing from “use what you have”. . .

my grandpa’s and dad’s old hand saws!  Don’t they kind of look like a Christmas tree shape?

I mounted them and hid the battery pack in a routered out void.

I played with some other METALS, including forging a pair of short-squaty boxes that would look FAB stuffed with poinsettias!

I’ve had these really nice resin crystals forEVER and finally decided to DO something with them!  A N D  I glittered them!

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Here’s me~locked & loaded for that show

~barely room for me!

Well, I’m  -back working on-  some UNfinished Holiday Show projects.

Catherine

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btw— did I show you my wine cork Reindeer?

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my Holiday Show DIYs

First~I wanted to REvamp the stairs for the show to look more

Christmas’y!

A n d   you can see I used Buffalo Snow Blanket to play up the holiday effect!

So anyway~these are some of my

Holiday Show DIY’s!

My Santas.  A few years ago I cut down a vintage yard Santa to create a giant tree topper for the kiddo’s tree—I’ve collected 2 more since to have for sale!

I also made a pair of plaques using parts of that nasty~stinky dresser and vintage graphics!  I’m crazy about that craquelure finish!

It seems I became a bit STAR-struck!

I made barn board~narly wood~and stinky dresser wood “plaques” in lieu of, and as a change from the standard wreath!

I made origami vintage sheet music stars, burlap stars, wood lath stars. . .

I made good use of our downed tree making drink coasters and a cool “tray”. . .

I made “candles” and secured them to barn board trays. . .

I made trees—from our fallen Box Elder!

I made holiday banners. . . and hung them on a vintage crib spring I framed with salvaged boards!

I am a wood-girl!

; D

Wanna see more?

Catherine

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