Thursday, December 25, 2014

Christmas Day is Here.


A Very Merry Christmas To All.

 

 

 
 

More of an instagram post than a blog post today.
 
 
Hope you enjoy these pics of the table before the family arrives.
 
 
Have a wonderful day.
 
til next time
 
Bron.
 

Friday, December 19, 2014

Christmas Cross Wreath.


Happy Friday......

 LESS than a week to go and the countdown is on, l hope you all get the chance to relax as we head into these final days of preparation, things are still pretty cruisy around here (though they prob'ly shouldn't be:-).....l might not have presents organised, food shopped for, or table decorations sorted, but hey l DO  have a wreath and it's always good to get your priorities right......right.... haha.

 
It was pretty simple to make, l bent some wire into a cross shape, cut strips of tulle and tied them on, and then decorated with ornaments...and it's  something a bit different from the traditional round shape.


Warm sunshine through the kitchen window....a few new pretties for my stall at the Mill and roses in the perfect state of decay.

Not sure how this nest ended up on our lawn but it's construction is engineering genius...right down to the warm and cosy polyester fill used to line it....so clever, oui.... 
 
 This lovely tapestry was a recent opshop find. It had been hideously framed, which didn't exactly enhance it's loveliness, and l promised myself and "her" that l'd give her a decent makeover. So instead of throwing it to the back of a cupboard or my workroom (which is what usually happens:-) work began immediately l got home....(and so you see how l don't get the necessary things done:-) 
 
 l decided on a cushion since they're always useful and this would mean being able to add some interest to the blank (boring) right hand corner. l finally decided on a heavy grey lace with rosette bow, topped off with a bit of bling...
 
 
l added this pic so you could see the the fabric l used for the rest of the cushion...it's a heavy damask in a similar grey to the base of the tapestry which l think works well enough. l gathered some of this same fabric to create a ribbon to go around the wall that divides the front from the back. l also inserted a gold braid at the back, to echo the gold braid and gold stones of the brooch at the front.
   
 
 Found (the other day) a few more old mercury glass Christmas decorations to add to my small (but growing) collection.
  
 
Mid 1800's Coalport plates found at the market...looking so NOW they could have been made yesterday.
 
 
 
l hope you all have a safe and happy beautiful Christmas and holiday season. Thanks so much for stopping by.
 
Til next time,
 
Bron. 
 

Friday, December 5, 2014

Starting To Feel It.






 l'm happy to report (after my wee tanty last post..haha) that l HAVE found a little Christmas spirit since then, which is definitely due in part to all the lovely blogs out there chock filled with Christmas inspiration....l've been putting a few ideas together and taking photos in the hope of doing a little inspiring myself....if not, well...at least l've tried:-))


The candles shown were inspired by the lovely ones Rachel Ashwell is selling on her website, which come ready melted....an idea l wanted to try, though for these l used a different coloured candle for the melted edges than the base...it was simple to do, l lit a pink candle and dripped the melted wax all around the edges of a white one, encouraging it to drip down the sides as well, it's a bit of a slow process though and l only used half a taper for the two candles.....it would have looked better if l'd used about 3 of them to really build up the sides.... but it's just the idea isn't it.

 Some of you may remember the glass swans that were big in the late 70's, anyway they're pretty easy to find at opshops and flea markets.....normally l wouldn't schlep them home but l had the idea that if l funkied them up a bit they'd make a nice centrepiece in a Christmas vignette. To do that l simply took out the old fake roses that were in their hollow tummies and filled them with feathers. (Back in the day people filled them with coloured water...eeek!!)
The reindeer were originally brown cardboard, they can be bought in most craft shops or discount stores....l covered them in woodgrain wallpaper which was a sample piece (free) from Masters.

  The Christmas tree is up.....l decided on pale pink, white and gold and then found these peonies at the market....they just happened to match perfectly.


  

 
 
Rachel Ashwell also sells lovely little white star tree decorations.....These were made of twigs from one of our trees which were snapped to size and wired together....then decorated with flowers and strips of shabby chic fabric. 
  
Here they are on the tree....wondering if l should paint them pale pink.....maybe l need a few more.....or maybe less would be more haha..... 
   
 

 Love my pink Santa....l was lucky to find him, they're near impossible to buy here in Oz....wah:-))
 

Rachel Ashwell's pretty shabby pink Christmas living room..... 


Thanks for stopping by and hope your weekend is awesome.

Til next time,

Bron.