Christmas at my house

There is nothing I love more

Than cozying up the house over the winter

But especially Christmas.

With almost 4000 square feet of banging around space

Adding greens and twinkling lights

Pulls it together and makes the large spaces feel smaller and much more cozy.

While I do have 4 fireplace mantels to decorate,

I primarily stuck to only two of them.

The other two aren't in main traffic areas,

As in the man cave and our bedroom (which is still under construction)

 Dining Room Mantle

 I had so much fun setting my table.

I've got the most beautiful English china

With scenes of the English countryside on it

And I couldn't resist setting the table with it.

Since then, I've switched it up to something I like even more

But who can resist a little red at Christmas.

 Mantle in the living room

And another shot from further away.

I really love whites at Christmas too.

The way the lights twinkle against white,

Makes me think of the street lights glimmering on the snow.

So, while I like the deep reds and greens

I'm also a sucker for the coolness and comfort

of some good aged whites.

JO
 

A to Z mantel party

Boxwood Wreath

The best thing to love

About a Pottery Barn magazine

Are all the imaginative creations that begin to stir in my head

I liked the huge boxwood wreath 

Set into the bay window

In the last catalog

And tho I won't even pretend 

That mine looks anything like theirs

I'm completely tickled

With the way my wreath turned out.

I dug around in the basement, knowing we had some old electrical wiring around somewhere

Sure enough.

Here's the break down:

I started with a long piece of electrical wire ( this piece looked like it came from 50 years ago),

And a basket full of boxwood cuttings.

(I've got to add: look at that countertop.  Never been more content in my life than to having a countertop of plywood, which means I've got a functioning kitchen)

Since our yard is full of boxwoods, it was simple to fill my basket.

If you don't own a boxwood, you could buy cuttings

Or if you're like me, you have elderly neighbors who would gladly allow you

To trim their hedges for them.  (Just make sure you do a beautiful job while you're at it)

 Begin tying the boxwood clippings

To the wire with a twist tie.

Wrap the twist tie around the back of the wire

And over the boxwood clipping.

Twist tightly.

 Continue tying the boxwood clippings on

Overlapping each new addition with the one you tied on just before.

Make sure that you cover the tie and that the clippings are symmetrical the whole way around.

Look how that old wire resembles the actual trunk of a boxwood bush.

There you've got it:  just some electrical wire, boxwood clippings and trusty twist ties.

I hung my wreath using an old hanger bent in a spiral and hung on a nail.

I need to buy some ribbon for a big grand bow 

Right in the center.

I love the way this wreath stands in for my lack of curtains.

And there is nothing I like more about winter decorating

Than fresh cut greens.

JO

A Post about Nothing...and Everything

We've spent a good portion of this week

Just enjoying the freedom of time

Nothing feels more right

Than having an evening to look at each other and say

"Hey watcha up to tonight"

Instead of

"Could you hook up the stove for me"

Or

"Show me how to hang those shades, so the neighbors and us

Aren't looking at each other strangely out of our kitchen windows

At 5:30 am.  Cause that's just awkward."

We've done lots of baking, yay, for homemade bread

And macadamia nut cookies.

And lots of babysitting.

Which is always fun, cause my kids are entertained

And I usually end up with more free time because everyone is busy

Running around the house like hooligans.

Yes, I'm the mom who everyone can blame for all the racket in the neighborhood

And the PJ wearing kids on bicycles at 3 in the afternoon.

We're quality entertainment some days.

There's just nothing like sugaring up someone else's kids.

One chocolate chip in the dough, and one in the mouth.  Repeat.

Well, hello, fine young ones.  And hello Princess H.  Welcome to our kingdom.

Can't forget the fun giveaway I WON over at simple thoughts

I was so crazy excited and had just the best time ever shopping at Crate and Barrel 

The giveaway was for Land of Nod, but being the kitchen crazed woman that I am

I spent it all at Crate and Barrel.

Sue me, but my kids don't know what they missed.

Anyway, I scored a couple of big glass canisters, a drain board,

And the coolest little canning jars.

Which, by the way, are super cheap and would make the greatest gifts

With a little bit of something inside and a sweet bow on top.

Thanks, Paige, you're a gem.

I also spent some time digging in my junk loot.

These hinges with such a fine patina, will have curtains hanging from them in my laundry.

The hinges are up, but the window trim isn't painted

And I'm not completely satisfied with my curtain either.

So a picture of the finished window will have to wait till another day.

Now is when I will expound on my junk loot.

You see, as much as I'd like to think I'm the girl with more class than all that

There is nothing, and I repeat, nothing.

That makes my blood pressure rise like some good old junk.

I love making something from nothing, spending nothing and getting a desired result.

This obsession goes way back.

It's in the genes, and I'm not kidding.

My grandpa is the father of all pack rats.

I've fond memories of digging around in his old barn 

Searching for lost treasure.

Some of the pieces of furniture and a mantel or so

Are actually pieces I schlepped home 

And made over.

While I don't consider myself to be a pack rat,

(although my husband may beg loudly to differ)

I can't seem to keep my hands off some good patina.

The only times he really minds

Are the times I'm sneaking over to the neighbors curb

At 10:30 at night to make off with an abandoned chair,

Or when he has to do a lot of grunt work to get my end result.

But all in all he's a good sport

And quite supports the financial benefits

Of the occasional free pile.

I'll be back later, with a little tutorial

And on boxwood wreath I worked on yesterday.

JO