A Christmas Fair

A couple weeks ago I agreed to participate in a local Christmas Fair. It is fairly low-key, so I thought I could come up with a few things. Then I realized it was the same week I was taking care of 2 of my grandkids while their parents are in Portland, Oregon.

The fair is on Saturday, the kids are here Wednesday through Saturday night. This could be interesting. And possibly stressful, which I was trying to avoid.

I really only had 2 days to put some things together, because last week I was busy with Thanksgiving.

So, here's what I have come up with:

Christmas Stockings

 This burlap stocking was decorated with lace and snowflake buttons.

These two are made from drop cloth. The red stripe was painted and the crown was stamped.

Santas, Banners & Table Runners

Chalkboards

Pictures

The Evolution of Bead Board

I have been putting beadboard wallpaper on my family room ceiling this week, and as I have been working, I have been reflecting on the many ways I have used beadboard over the years, and how much I appreciate this new way to get the look, especially when putting it on a ceiling!

In our first house, way back in the 80's, we put beadboard in our dining room as wainscoting. This was in the days before Home Depot and other big box stores that catered to the home improvement junkie, so Husband had to do it the traditional way, one board at a time.

Unfortunately, I don't have pictures of this lovely room because it was so long ago.

In the mid-90's, we remodeled our kitchen in a different house.
This time we used beadboard panels, much easier! 

We used it for the cupboard doors, 

(You can see in this closeup how we did it: cut beadboard to size,

 add trim around the outside, hang and add hardware. It was pretty easy!)

the island and pantry doors

(Hard to see from this distance, but my old pictures are pretty limited!)

We even covered the refrigerator!
It was 20 years old, so if it didn't work out, there was nothing to lose.
 We cut the beadboard panels to size, then glued them on with Liquid Nails.
I wish I had pictures of the refrigerator, but again, so long ago...

When we moved into this house two years ago, I planned to use a lot of beadboard, especially on some of the ceilings.
 We bought some panels and stored them in the shed. 

But last year I discovered Pinterest, and shortly after that,
 I discovered beadboard wallpaper!

At the time, I was trying to figure out how to get my ugly, hollow core doors to look like custom ones without breaking the bank.

Eureka! I had a genius moment and these doors are the result!

This year, when I was thinking about starting on the ceilings, I decided it would be much easier to put wallpaper upside down than big wooden panels, and I could do it without Husband, thus I would not have to wait until he had time.

Here's the beginning. When I get it done, I'll show you the finished project
and explain how I did it.

And those beadboard panels in the shed? After the holidays, I'm going to make a new headboard!

The Thanksgiving Tree

Okay, one more Fall Decorating post (you had to know it was coming)!

This is something that shows up on Pinterest from time to time and I always think, "That's a good idea, I should make one of those".

Well, today I was feeling a little sorry for myself, missing my grandbabies and thinking about my daughter moving soon, so I started to "count my blessings" to remind myself how many things I have to be thankful for.

And then I remembered the Thanksgiving Tree idea.

It's a really easy project and only took about an hour.

First, I gathered the materials: 

a container, branches from the backyard, burlap and scrapbook paper, floral foam,

scissors and glue, Spanish Moss

Next, I prettied up the container Husband found at a garage sale by pulling off the beautiful red and gold trim and adding a burlap sash and a sign that says "Give Thanks". I just glued everything with plain old white glue.

Then I stuffed the floral thingy into the bottom of the container and pushed the branches into it so they would stay in place. I covered it all with Spanish Moss.

 Be sure to use a lot of branches.

                 At first it seemed like I had enough, but when I saw it in a picture, it looked pretty sparse.

I made a simple leaf pattern and began cutting it out of different papers. 

One tip: use cardstock so it will be pretty on both sides and thick enough not to let light fade out your thankful words and phrases.

I poked a hole in each leaf, threaded some string through, and began writing down things I am thankful for.

Then I hung them on the tree.

I also made up a bunch more leaves and left them next to the tree with a pen to make it easy for me to add something every day and for others as well.

By Thanksgiving, the branches will be full of leaves!

This is a really good project to do with kids. Even the little ones can tell you something they are thankful for and you can write it down for them.

And don't forget to date the leaves so years from now, you can recall all of the wonderful memories!

Seasonal Decorating: Porch, Entry, and Other Miscellaneous Spaces

This is my last post on fall decorating.

I think.

But then, you never know, I might make some changes between now and Thanksgiving.

Front door.
 I kept my copper cone-shaped-flower-holder-thing, but took out the white flowers and added branches and leaves from the tree in my front yard.

I pulled the "fall" banner out of the entry and added paper leaves.

That left a void in the entry, so I brought in a tin ceiling panel and added a colorful rooster.

Here it is from a distance. Hard to tell, but the photos were taken by my daughter at Gettysburg in the fall. Lovely reminder of a fun trip.

For a change of pace, since the family room is a lot of white and pale blue, I didn't want to overwhelm it with traditional fall colors, so I just added a brown wool runner and white pumpkins.

Plus a couple pillows just for fall.

The whole picture.

Closeup of the pumpkins in a glass jar with a burlap bow.

All done.

I think!

Burlap and Wool: Pillows for Fall

Everyone is in love with burlap these days! 

Including me!

I wanted to use it for some fall accessories, like table runners and pillows, but I also wanted to do something a little different. So I found some pretty wool fabric, as well as ribbon, piping and dropcloth, to add to the burlap, creating a layered effect.

A wool background with dropcloth and orange piping

By using a bright color like orange, it makes everything pop!

Burlap with dropcloth and, again, orange piping

Burlap, wool, dropcloth and more orange piping. 

Wool with ribbon and a button; grey floral, wool, dropcloth and orange trim

Wool, dropcloth, orange piping

Wool and old, mismatched buttons

Use a black marker to write some Thanksgiving phrases; 

make them personal for you and your family.