Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone.  I hope you are all safe and sound and not experiencing any of the extreme weather conditions that I have been reading about.

Today I will just share a few pics from our Christmas tree.  All these ornaments go with my food theme that I shared with you in my holiday tablescape post.

I am taking the rest of the year off from blogging and I will rejoin you January 1. 

Have a wonderful and safe New Years.

I appreciate each and everyone of you who tune in to my posts. Thank you so much.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Christmas

 

Happy holidays everyone.  I've been getting ready for our traditional festivities and wrapping gifts for Santa so today I'll just share this little gem I found that I think is perfect for Christmas.  It's painted on an old ceiling tin and has the most wonderful red patina with the word Christmas painted on it in script.  I added it to our front porch decor.  Hope your holidays are merry and bright.

French Grain Sack Ottoman

I don't know what it is about ottomans, but I love them and they seem to be very popular especially the size of the one we just finished.  This is large enough to be used as a coffee table as well.

I used one of my grain sack stencils from Maison de Stencils, but it wasn't quite wide enough so I masked off some stripes and added a little width to the pattern.

I cut out a large square of a drop cloth and placed it over the top of the ottoman and cut out a piece for the top.  I stenciled that and then we tacked it down to the sides of the ottoman.  When the top was secure, I measured the length I needed for the skirt using the hemmed side of the drop cloth.  For the top of the skirt, I folded it down and pressed it so I had a finished edge.  It didn't quite go all the way around so I covered one side of the ottoman and then tacked the long piece of drop cloth around and tacked it over the one completed side.  We used roofing nails instead of upholstery tacks.  The industrial look is really in right now and I thought they would fit with the look I was going for.

This is the before picture of the piece.  It was clean and sturdy but the fabric was very dated.  Notice it had a pillow top.  I ignored that and just tacked the top piece of fabric to make it all snug and one piece.

It was easy to stencil on the drop cloth and everything I have done so far like this has retained the painted surface and has not worn off.  Have you ever gotten acrylic craft paint on your clothes?  I have, and I can tell you it does not wash out.

Thanks for stopping by.


I'm partying at...


Mondays          Le Chateau des Fleurs       The Graphics Fairy    
                                      Between Naps on the Porch Metamorphosis Monday
Tuesdays          Knick of Time       Coastal Charm  
                                      Boogie Board Cottage    A Stroll Thru Life   
                                     Cozy Little House Tweak it Tuesday
Wednesdays     Savvy Southern Style
                                           
Thursdays        The Shabby Creek Cottage    No Minimalist Here 
                                     Between Naps on the Porch Tablescape Thursday    
                                     Rustic Restorations Homespun Happenings
Fridays            French Country Cottage       My Romantic Home        Miss Mustard Seed
                                    Potpourri Friday     Common Ground
                                    The Charm of Home    Rooted in Thyme
Saturdays        Funky Junk Interiors

Sundays           My 1928 Charmer Sunday's Best

Sandy Hook, A Blogger Day of Silence

Day of Remembrance

Burlap and Toile

Today I visited my favorite flea market and found some new dealers who had some wonderful stuff.  Although I did not buy this chair, I love the combination of the burlap with the black and white toile, and the dealers were kind enough to let me snap some photos of their space.  They were nice young men and one of them recovered this chair himself.  I think he did a pretty good job for his first attempt at recovering a chair, and this was not an easy one to tackle.  I have a few more photos that I will share another day.  These dealers had some great ideas.  Thanks for visiting.

I'm partying at...


Mondays          Le Chateau des Fleurs       The Graphics Fairy    
                                      Between Naps on the Porch Metamorphosis Monday
Tuesdays          Knick of Time       Coastal Charm  
                                      Boogie Board Cottage    A Stroll Thru Life   
                                     Cozy Little House Tweak it Tuesday
Wednesdays     Savvy Southern Style
                                           
Thursdays        The Shabby Creek Cottage    No Minimalist Here 
                                     Between Naps on the Porch Tablescape Thursday    
                                     Rustic Restorations Homespun Happenings
Fridays            French Country Cottage       My Romantic Home        Miss Mustard Seed
                                    Potpourri Friday     Common Ground
                                    The Charm of Home    Rooted in Thyme
Saturdays        Funky Junk Interiors

Sundays           My 1928 Charmer Sunday's Best

The Biltmore Hotel

Each year around Christmas I try to celebrate at least one special tea with friends or family and this year I was invited to attend a Christmas tea at the magnificent Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles.

The hotel was built in 1923 in the Spanish Renaissance style.  It was built with beautiful frescos, fountains, columns and crystal chandeliers.

The hotel is a magnificent example of historical architecture and every time I visit their I am in awe of its beauty.

It is the hotel where John F. Kennedy accepted the Democratic presidential nomination in 1960.

The holiday decorations are more beautiful each year.

Can you imagine having a wedding in this venue?  I am sure many a bride has been escorted down these staircases.

If you look closely at the bottom of the next photo, you can see the ice skaters at the rink in Pershing Square.  It was a magical afternoon.

Please pray for the families and the community in Connecticut who have been stricken by yesterday's terrible tragedy.  I feel like a veil of sadness has rested on our nation and we must place ourselves in God's hands.  May he bless and give strength to these grief stricken families.

Old World Flower Pots

The holidays have been crazy busy this year and I have many projects I want to share but they don't seem to be getting done.  Last week I worked on two different new flower pots using my reverse decoupage method.  I like the coloration of these, but I wish I would have trimmed around the pattern a tiny bit better.  Other than that, I love the way they turned out because I love this antique map graphic.   I don't remember where I got it, but I included it at the end of this post.

I used an aqua craft paint on regular terra cotta pots and then went over them with gesso and a washy coat of terra cotta craft paint.  Then I applied the image and did a reverse decoupage.  This project has a nice old world feel.  Tomorrow I'll show you two more I did using Annie Sloan's graphite.  Thanks for stopping by.

I'm partying at...


Mondays          Le Chateau des Fleurs       The Graphics Fairy    
                                      Between Naps on the Porch Metamorphosis Monday
Tuesdays          Knick of Time       Coastal Charm  
                                      Boogie Board Cottage    A Stroll Thru Life   
                                     Cozy Little House Tweak it Tuesday
Wednesdays     Savvy Southern Style
                                           
Thursdays        The Shabby Creek Cottage    No Minimalist Here 
                                     Between Naps on the Porch Tablescape Thursday    
                                     Rustic Restorations Homespun Happenings
Fridays            French Country Cottage       My Romantic Home        Miss Mustard Seed
                                    Potpourri Friday     Common Ground
                                    The Charm of Home    Rooted in Thyme
Saturdays        Funky Junk Interiors

Sundays           My 1928 Charmer Sunday's Best

Pumpkin Stuff by Somewhat Quirky

Yesterday my friend Karen of Somewhat Quirky posted a recipe for a fabulous desert she calls Pumpkin Stuff.  She posted the recipe in my honor, so to show my appreciation I whipped up the recipe today to share with my family.  Doesn't this look heavenly?  I am a real pumpkin fanatic and this Pumpkin Stuff is really wonderful.  I only had to make one slight variation because my daughter will not eat nuts so I just sprinkled the pecans over the whipped cream when it was finished.  I also added a few chocolate chips to the mix.  Hop on over to Somewhat Quirky for this wonderful recipe.  Here is the link to Karen's blog for Pumpkin Stuff.

Thanks so much, Karen.  This recipe is a keeper!

I'm partying at...


Mondays          Le Chateau des Fleurs       The Graphics Fairy    
                                      Between Naps on the Porch Metamorphosis Monday
Tuesdays          Knick of Time       Coastal Charm  
                                      Boogie Board Cottage    A Stroll Thru Life   
                                     Cozy Little House Tweak it Tuesday
Wednesdays     Savvy Southern Style
                                           
Thursdays        The Shabby Creek Cottage    No Minimalist Here 
                                     Between Naps on the Porch Tablescape Thursday    
                                     Rustic Restorations Homespun Happenings
Fridays            French Country Cottage       My Romantic Home        Miss Mustard Seed
                                    Potpourri Friday     Common Ground
                                    The Charm of Home    Rooted in Thyme
Saturdays        Funky Junk Interiors

Sundays           My 1928 Charmer Sunday's Best

Antique Medical Cabinet

It's that time of year when things are difficult to find, but I managed to scoop up this adorable antique medical cabinet.  This is the real deal, and I instantly fell in love with it.

It still has the original beveled glass cabinet door, lots of fabulous crazing and the perfect amount of patina.  This little beauty is all metal and has retained all of its lovely parts including this drawer to hold vials.

It's definitely been around for a very long time.

The lid is removable.

It probably started life in a small doctor's office.

Pure industrial strength beauty, don't you think?

Thanks so much for taking a peak.

I'm partying at...


Mondays          Le Chateau des Fleurs       The Graphics Fairy    
                                      Between Naps on the Porch Metamorphosis Monday
Tuesdays          Knick of Time       Coastal Charm  
                                      Boogie Board Cottage    A Stroll Thru Life   
                                     Cozy Little House Tweak it Tuesday
Wednesdays     Savvy Southern Style
                                           
Thursdays        The Shabby Creek Cottage    No Minimalist Here 
                                     Between Naps on the Porch Tablescape Thursday    
                                     Rustic Restorations Homespun Happenings
Fridays            French Country Cottage       My Romantic Home        Miss Mustard Seed
                                    Potpourri Friday     Common Ground
                                    The Charm of Home    Rooted in Thyme
Saturdays        Funky Junk Interiors

Sundays           My 1928 Charmer Sunday's Best

Book Page Poinsettia

This is a reprint of one of my very first holiday posts which I'm sure only a couple of you saw.  These are very easy to do and I'm sure if you took a silk poinsettia and made a pattern from the leaves you could easily recreate these in a smaller version.  The ones I made last year were really large and a smaller size would be fabulous for Christmas packages.

 I love things made from book pages.  I recently went to a cute little shop in Orange County and saw a wall done with paper book flowers.  They were more springy looking.  Since it is time to decorate my space at Aubergine Emporium for the holidays, I decided to do my own rendition of a book flower.


Poinsettias by the Bunch

I started with a box I had laying around the house.  I used  a normal sized bread plate and traced it to make a back for the flower.

 I cut burlap circles larger than my cardboard and attached a ribbon on the back for hanging.

 Then I took spray glue and sprayed the burlap.  I cut slits in the excess burlap so that I could fold it over the cardboard neatly.

 Then I cut three sizes of poinsettia petals all in the same shape.  The actual largest petal was about the same length as the card board circle.  Then I made a slightly smaller petal and then a smaller petal still.  I put the patterns on book pages and cut them out.  I cut out five of each size petal for each flower I wanted to make.  Then I fan folded the base of the petal and taped it.  When I say fan folded, I first folded the base of the petal in half and fan folded out to each side.  Then I made the base of the folds flat and taped them so that I could glue gun them flat onto the cardboard.  You need to tape them so they stay flat and are easy to glue.  I laid down the largest petal first all the way around on the unfinished side of the cardboard.

 Next I took the middle size petal and folded them the same way at the base of the petal and then I glued them in between the large petals.  Be sure to leave a small circle in the center to put the center of your flower.

 Next do the same fan folding with the smallest petal and glue them in between the middle sized petals.  As you can see, I stayed in a pretty even circle in the middle.  Each layer goes directly in between the previous layer of petals.  You are still leaving that circle in the center.

Next take a little custard cup and cut circles like you did the larger back piece.  After these were cut, I took tissue paper garland (ivory color) and went around in a circle starting from the outer edge and working into the middle of the center piece of the flower.  I just used Tacky Glue to glue this down.  When that was done with the garland, I glue gunned the small circle into the center of my petals.

I purchased a sprig of red berries at Joann's Craft Store and cut off the little berries.  I glued them randomly over the center of the flowers to give them a little color.

When they were all finished, I cascaded them down my wall like a vine.  These would be beautiful on gifts at Christmas or also can be used as ornaments on the tree.  Thanks for visiting.  

I'm partying at...


Mondays          Le Chateau des Fleurs       The Graphics Fairy    
                                      Between Naps on the Porch Metamorphosis Monday
Tuesdays          Knick of Time       Coastal Charm  
                                      Boogie Board Cottage    A Stroll Thru Life   
                                     Cozy Little House Tweak it Tuesday
Wednesdays     Savvy Southern Style
                                           
Thursdays        The Shabby Creek Cottage    No Minimalist Here 
                                     Between Naps on the Porch Tablescape Thursday    
                                     Rustic Restorations Homespun Happenings
Fridays            French Country Cottage       My Romantic Home        Miss Mustard Seed
                                    Potpourri Friday     Common Ground
                                    The Charm of Home    Rooted in Thyme
Saturdays        Funky Junk Interiors

Sundays           My 1928 Charmer Sunday's Best

Easy Apple Crisp

One of my favorite desserts around the holidays is apple crisp, and I used to buy it for our Christmas parties because I didn't know how easy it was to make.  Tomorrow evening Aubergine Emporium is hosting their annual holiday event and so I decided to learn how to make my very own apple crisp recipe.  I found some recipes on the internet and this is my version.  It passed "the husband" test so I think it's a good recipe to share with you.

Homemade Apple Crisp

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly butter a 9x13 baking pan.

2 cans prepared apple pie filling.

Spread the apple pie filling in your prepared pan.  I sprinkled a tiny bit of cinnamon and nutmeg over the top.  Not too much though.  About a 1/2 tsp. of each. 

For the crumb topping, mix the following ingredients in a large bowl.

3/4 cup oatmeal
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 white or yellow cake mix
1 stick plus 2 Tablespoons of melted butter.

Mix it all in a bowl and spoon over the top of the apples.

Bake at 350 for 25 minutes then cover with tinfoil and bake another 25 minutes.  Serve with vanilla ice cream and enjoy.  Yum yum!!!

I'm partying at...


Mondays          Le Chateau des Fleurs       The Graphics Fairy    
                                      Between Naps on the Porch Metamorphosis Monday
Tuesdays          Knick of Time       Coastal Charm  
                                      Boogie Board Cottage    A Stroll Thru Life   
                                     Cozy Little House Tweak it Tuesday
Wednesdays     Savvy Southern Style
                                           
Thursdays        The Shabby Creek Cottage    No Minimalist Here 
                                     Between Naps on the Porch Tablescape Thursday    
                                     Rustic Restorations Homespun Happenings
Fridays            French Country Cottage       My Romantic Home        Miss Mustard Seed
                                    Potpourri Friday     Common Ground
                                    The Charm of Home    Rooted in Thyme
Saturdays        Funky Junk Interiors

Sundays           My 1928 Charmer Sunday's Best

A Feast Fit for Santa

Years ago I started collecting glass pastry ornaments for our tree, and my collection grew so large thanks to my two daughters and friends that it spilled over to the dining room table.  Every year I set the table for Santa and his helpers and it has become one of our Christmas traditions.

In years' past I have used one of my antique lace table clothes, but I am opting for a more simple look this year so I left part of the table exposed since the wood is so beautiful and I used the wrapping paper placemats I made yesterday. 

I have three of these three-tiered silver stands that collapse and stack together after the holidays.  This makes them incredibly easy to store.  The one in the middle was a gift from a friend who has passed on and it makes me think of her when I am setting the table for Santa.

My collection of glass food ornaments grew to include things such as red onions, watermelon slices, corn on the cob, blood oranges and I  could go on and on.  I think I have every fruit and vegetable represented on this table plus a lot of other beautiful pastry ornaments such as the one above from Mark Roberts.

I love this little chef.  He reigns over the whole presentation.

This table really is very festive, and it is only set up between Thanksgiving and New Year's.

In addition to my pretty shimmery placemats I added this snowflake table runner from Home Goods.  I thought it was a perfect addition for the holidays.  It would be easy to make out of white felt.  In case you are wondering why some of the paper tags are still on some of the ornaments, these are my Radko ornaments, and I like to keep the tags on them because the names of the ornaments and the year they were made is a reminder of how special each and every ornament is to me and our family tradition.

Thanks for visiting.  Would you like something to eat?


I'm partying at...


Mondays          Le Chateau des Fleurs       The Graphics Fairy    
                                      Between Naps on the Porch Metamorphosis Monday
Tuesdays          Knick of Time       Coastal Charm  
                                      Boogie Board Cottage    A Stroll Thru Life   
                                     Cozy Little House Tweak it Tuesday
Wednesdays     Savvy Southern Style
                                           
Thursdays        The Shabby Creek Cottage    No Minimalist Here 
                                     Between Naps on the Porch Tablescape Thursday    
                                     Rustic Restorations Homespun Happenings
Fridays            French Country Cottage       My Romantic Home        Miss Mustard Seed
                                    Potpourri Friday     Common Ground
                                    The Charm of Home    Rooted in Thyme
Saturdays        Funky Junk Interiors

Sundays           My 1928 Charmer Sunday's Best

Wrapping Paper Placemats

The day before Thanksgiving I paid a visit to our new Home Goods to see if I could find some pretty new napkins for our Thanksgiving table.  What I had been using for the last 10 years was looking a little tired and I wanted a change.  I found my napkins and saw some fabulous placemats for $10 each that I thought would be pretty for our Christmas table, however I did not like the price.  Now mind you this is for a table we do not eat at, it's for my Christmas decorations which I will share with you tomorrow.  And anyway when I went back to Home Goods today, the placemats were all gone which removed any temptations I might have had to even purchase them.  I actually was quite pleased.

However, the Christmas placemats that remained were ho hum, nothing to get excited about, and they were at least $3 each and I needed six of them at the very minimum, and I certainly didn't want to store them until next Christmas.  

So I spent a long time finding six placemats that I didn't even like and didn't want to purchase, but on the other hand, I didn't want to run all over town to find what I wanted.  While standing in line with what I did not want anyway, I spotted some shimmery striped wrapping paper that was more along the lines of what I wanted.  Shiny and bright was on my menu.  So I scooped up the $2.99 roll of wrapping paper, dashed across the street to Michael's crafts and found some construction paper for .99 cents a sheet and came home with my goodies.

I measured an old placemat I already had and cut out six rectangles of the construction paper.  Each sheet of construction paper gave me two placemats.  Then I cut out my wrapping paper a tiny bit larger than the construction paper rectangles.
I used spray glue and sprayed a strip of glue down the left hand edge of the construction paper and then carefully laid the wrapping paper right on the edge.  With the left side secured, I lifted the wrapping paper back and sprayed the outer edges of the other three sides of the base paper and then a couple rows in the middle.  The wrapping paper laid right down.  I ran my hand over the newly made placemat and they were perfect.  I trimmed any excess wrapping paper and now I have six pretty and festive placemats.  I also have a lot of the wrapping paper left to wrap gifts with.

I'm estimating these six placemats came to a total cost of $4.50.  Tonight I'll get my table set for Santa and I'll show you how it all came together.

Thanks for visiting.

I'm partying at...


Mondays          Le Chateau des Fleurs       The Graphics Fairy    
                                      Between Naps on the Porch Metamorphosis Monday
Tuesdays          Knick of Time       Coastal Charm  
                                      Boogie Board Cottage    A Stroll Thru Life   
                                     Cozy Little House Tweak it Tuesday
Wednesdays     Savvy Southern Style
                                           
Thursdays        The Shabby Creek Cottage    No Minimalist Here 
                                     Between Naps on the Porch Tablescape Thursday    
                                     Rustic Restorations Homespun Happenings
Fridays            French Country Cottage       My Romantic Home        Miss Mustard Seed
                                    Potpourri Friday     Common Ground
                                    The Charm of Home    Rooted in Thyme
Saturdays        Funky Junk Interiors

Sundays           My 1928 Charmer Sunday's Best