'Tis the Season

This Christmas is different from last year's in that my lover is deployed and I'm not in my own house for the holidays. Although, Christmas in my own house is a rarity in and of itself, considering I've only celebrated it in my own house twice in the last 11 years. However, I had the good fortune of being asked to decorate for the holidays. The only requests were that it be something that was elegant & less traditional, not too over the top, and blended well with the natural colors inside the home. Other than that I was given free reign to do whatever my imagination could conjure up. 

I had a blast working with a color palate & theme that I normally wouldn't choose for myself. I really enjoyed the challenge. It took me several days to bring my ideas to life, running to multiple stores several times to collect supplies, even though the decorations look rather simple in the end. I love the outcome, though, and it reminded me why I'm so passionate about decorating. I could happily do this every single day. One of my dream jobs would be as a decorator. Could you imagine if people were willing to pay me year round to put my creativity to use and decorate their homes & businesses? I wish!! Because let me tell you I have a million other ideas running around in this noggin' of mine.

All I know is that the day I get my forever home, my lover better watch out because I am going to go all out for every holiday, invest in extravagant permanent fixtures for the house, and finally decorate my home the way I want year round since we won't have to think about moving every few years anymore. A practical and frugal mind can put a real damper on a creative spirit. But until then I will just continue to make the most of each house that will serve as our temporary homes while we continue on this journey with the Army. After all, it's been a pretty amazing journey thus far.

Now on to the good stuff...the decorations & photos!

For the exterior, the colors were gold & red. I decorated an arch for the doorway, made a lighted garland for the lamp post, a wreath for the door, and bows to hang from each outdoor light. It was rather chilly (33 degrees to be exact) the two nights I worked on it, but thanks to a wonderful outdoor patio heater, some hot chocolate with homemade whip cream, and my fave Christmas radio station, I couldn't even tell it was freezing. And yes, I work best in my oversized pjs.

For the interior, I did a bronze & metallic theme, using silver & gold and a hint of burgundy accents. I decorated a 9 foot Christmas tree...there's literally hundreds of ornaments on it. I even spray painted several pine cones gold for the final addition to the tree. Decorating the top was a challenge considering I have terrible balance when I'm that high on a ladder. I also wrapped multiple gift boxes adorned with ribbon & flair to go underneath the tree, and made two lighted garlands (one for the fireplace, the other for a console table). I also took a few macro pictures of the decorations to put in frames for another decorative tabletop piece. And of course, I found a mini Hello Kitty cookie house kit that I had to try, so I snuck a pic in for you to see it.

The decorations look much better in person, but it doesn't help that half the pics I took were with my cell phone. What can I say...I was being lazy. It was nice having a temporary creative outlet...certainly helped with a lot of the deployment blues I've been dealing with. It also makes me very excited for all the Christmases I get to decorate for in the future. I have endless ideas for every type of theme possible...I can't wait to put them to use someday!! 

I hope you are having a wonderful holiday season! Just a few more days and Santa will be here! Word is there may even be some snow in the forecast for Christmas Day...like the song goes, "I've been dreaming of a White Christmas." 

Did you decorate this year? 

If so, what was your theme or color scheme?

Ruffle Tree Skirts

A few months back while milling about on Pinterest, I saw a DIY ruffle tree skirt made using only hot glue. I was in love immediately! You could say I have a mild obsession with ruffles. Well leave it to me to resist the hot glue method when it came time to making my actual tree skirts. Sewing ruffles has become second nature to me this year, so I thought how hard could a tree skirt be. The answer is not very hard if you know the precise measurements and have a list of supplies. I had neither one when I made the decision to make the tree skirts. I guess I like a good challenge.

For the first tree skirt, I actually used a round fabric table cloth as the base because it was the only neutral colored fabric I could find on the island that I liked, and it was big enough for me to use part of it for ruffles as well. I slid it under my Hello Kitty tree to figure out the size I wanted and went from there.

Fortunately, after several days of cutting, sewing, ruffling, and attaching, I finished my first tree skirt. I happened to have the thread and ribbon I needed on hand, so I only had to purchase the fabric. I was happily surprised by the final product.

The second tree skirt came together much more easily since I finally knew what I was doing. I bought double the amount of Hawaiian print fabric before knowing how much I would really need. It's a good thing I did this because the second tree skirt ended up needing to be larger to fit our Norfolk Pine. Once it was finished it was the perfect touch to our Hawaiian Christmas tree.

I worked on the tree skirts here and there whenever I could squeeze them in. I continually referred to this project as the "Longest Sewing Project Ever". It took much longer than I anticipated, and several times I wished I had just hot glued the darn things. However, once I finished both of them, I was so happy I decided to sew them. They both have a polished appearance and I know they will hold up for many years to come.

No project would be complete without a little horsing around. I tortured my lover a bit with my first tree skirt. He was a good sport about it though.

I also danced around a bit with them. I had to have a little fun. How else was I going to remain sane working on this project? I seriously thought I was beginning to lose my marbles making these.

In the end, all of the hours, days, and late nights spent working on these were absolutely worth it. Now I have two fabulous unique tree skirts that compliment my trees.

Christmas Candle Tutorial

Although I'm rarely at my own house for Christmas, every year I still make a candy cane Christmas candle no matter where I'm at. It's one of the easiest ways to make a candle more festive for the holidays. This year my lover wanted our house to have "the Christmas tree smell"...his words, not mine. I was happy to oblige and saw it as an opportunity to make my annual candy cane candle over Thanksgiving weekend. The one difference this year is that I've put together a quick little tutorial for my blog.

To begin with you will need a candle of your choosing, preferably in a glass container. My lover selected a Christmas Wreath scented Yankee candle.

Other supplies include:

- 3 boxes of candy canes or peppermint sticks

- 1 hot glue gun

- 4-8 hot glue sticks

- 15 inch piece of ribbon

- 1 clothes hanger

I must mention that all candy canes are not created equal. Although they come in the same box, they are not always the same length. This is where the hanger comes in. I hung the hanger from my oven handle and arranged all of the candy canes by length. This is an optional step.

Starting with the longest candy cane, place a line of hot glue down 3/4 of the back of the candy cane. From there line the piece up with the bottom of the candle and place against the glass. Repeat this step until the entire candle is covered. Keep in mind you may have to raise shorter candy canes in order to keep an even top on your candle.

Once the candle is covered it's time for the final touch. I decided to use an extra piece of red grosgrain ribbon I had in the house. Centering the ribbon along the base of the candle, place a drop of hot glue on the inside of one end of the ribbon, then glue it against one of the candy canes. Wrapping the rest of the ribbon around the candle, allow it to overlap a bit before gluing the remaining end on top of the first ribbon end. And voila! You have a beautiful festive Christmas candle!

It looks super pretty at night too...don't you think?

I originally wanted to use peppermint sticks, however after looking at 6 different stores with no luck, I went with the red/green/white candy canes. It just goes to show you that the options for this project are endless. You can add more flair with a bow or decorative accents. This year I kept it simple so that it would go along with the rest of my decorations more easily. If you have a candle on hand, then the total cost of the project is less than $4....pretty sweet!

If any of you decide to try it, I would love to see your candy cane candles!