holidays
Christmas 2020
We are down to the last few days before Christmas 2020. How are you feeling about Christmas during a pandemic? Less stress? More stress? Excitement? Relief? Anticipation? Indifference? Gratitude? Do you feel the magic of the season this year? The hope for the future? Are you making new traditions with your loved ones? Are you keeping old traditions alive? Do the answers to these questions change by the hour? I’d be surprised if they didn’t! Â One thing is for certain. Christmas 2020 is one we won’t soon forget. It boggles my mind how blissfully unaware we were this time last year of all the ways our lives would change in 2020. That ignorance sure was bliss, wasn’t it? It makes me wonder how our lives will forever…
Festive Tradition: Kids’ Christmas Trees
One of our favorite festive Christmas traditions is the kids’ Christmas trees that they have in their bedrooms this time of year. A Christmas tree in my bedroom is something that I always thought would be fun as a kid. Shoot, I think it would be fun to have a tree in my bedroom now! Maybe next year. I started this tradition when the kids were around five years old and gave them each a tiny tabletop tree. It didn’t take long for their ornament collection to outgrow the size of the tabletop trees and a couple of years ago I upgraded them to 4-ft trees. Another festive Christmas tradition we have is that I gift…
Gold and Copper Christmas Tree
Every year I like to decorate my Christmas tree a little differently and my 2020 tree ended up being a Gold and Copper Christmas Tree. That wasn’t my intent when I lugged the Christmas boxes down from the attic, but that’s where the creative journey took me. The only goal I had for this tree, besides making it something I want to look at for a month, was to not buy anything new for this tree. Reusing, repurposing, and making over whatever I had on hand was fair game though. Handy Husband kept saying, “Why don’t you go buy blah, blah, blah.” To which I replied, “That would ruin my fun! Maybe next year I’ll…
DIY Copper Christmas Tree From a Safety Cone
Tis the season to get crafty and today I have the most festive Copper Christmas Tree to show you. I had so much fun making this Copper Christmas Tree that I actually made not one, not two, but three of them! The crazy thing is these trees wouldn’t have even happened if I hadn’t procrastinated a little. I’m not encouraging procrastination. I’m just saying sometimes procrastination closes the easy creative doors and forces you to become extra resourceful. I’m making procrastination sound not so bad, aren’t I? The idea was in the back of my mind to use some copper flashing to make a Christmas tree this year. I wouldn’t have bought copper…
8 Easy DIY Christmas Decor Ideas
I’m normally a one holiday at a time type of gal, but this is not a normal year! I’ve been thinking about how I want to decorate this year’s Christmas tree since before Halloween! It’s true. I haven’t fully decided on a plan, but it’s fun to think about. If you’re like me and are taking a little extra comfort in the holidays this year, here are eight easy DIY Christmas decor ideas you could use to make your home extra festive this year.Easy DIY Christmas Decor Idea: Leather Christmas Tree Leather and Christmas? Yes. Don’t write this idea off just because leather isn’t your thing. You could use any fabric for this…
Halloween Cauldron Centerpiece
Last week I found a mini cast iron cauldron at the thrift store and knew I could turn into a Halloween Cauldron Centerpiece! I didn’t know how I would make this happen, but as it turns out, I predictably resorted to my default Halloween trick. Stick a bat on it. That’s about as Halloween as I get. A Halloween Cauldron Centerpiece is nothing without the cauldron and a mini cauldron works best. My mini cauldron is about 6 inches tall and has a 6-inch diameter. It looks like it is the perfect dimension to cook up a single-serving size of deliciousness over a campfire. Although, I’m just imagining this campfire cooking scenario because I don’t camp. I’m…
A Cemetery Dating Back to 1774
There is a church cemetery near our house that dates back to 1774. It is the oldest cemetery in our New Jersey township and it predates New Jersey statehood. New Jersey was the 3rd state admitted into the Union in 1787. Prior to that it was known as the Province of New Jersey. A relatively new, but appropriate addition to the cemetery is an arched sign over the entrance that reads “God’s Acre.” The sign was paid for by the descendants of one of the church’s founding families. That term, “God’s Acre,” is a common label for cemeteries and it comes from the German word Gottesacker, which means field of God. We…
Grain Sifter Easter Bunny Wreath
Whimsical is not an adjective I would use to describe myself or my decorating style. Nevertheless, I gave it a shot with this Grain Sifter Easter Bunny Wreath. I figured isolating at home during a pandemic would be a good time to give whimsical a whirl. I’ve got to say, I can see the allure. This isolation creation is brought to you by items I already had on hand: a metal grain sifter, embroidery thread, hot glue, pale pink ribbon and plastic Easter eggs. I had the grain sifter because I dug it out of a dumpster when we lived in Ireland. By the way, a dumpster is called a…
Merry Christmas 2019
I found a Christmas poem that seems to ring pretty true. The Four Stages of Life 1. You believe in Santa Claus. 2. You don’t believe in Santa Claus. 3. You are Santa Claus. 4. You look like Santa Claus. -Anonymous I may well be on my way to looking like Santa Claus after just ATTEMPTING to park at the mall this weekend. Spoiler alert: I didn’t park. I left and went home and was never happier. Whatever stage of life you are in right now, I hope you revel in it this holiday season. From our family to yours, we wish you a happy Christmas. Thank you for continuing…
Piano Hammer Christmas Ornaments
Piano Hammer Christmas Ornaments. Trust me. This is a thing now. Okay, okay. It is probably only a thing on my Christmas tree! Every trend starts somewhere, right? To recap, we took apart an old upright piano because we could not find anyone to take it off our hands. It took more time and effort than we want to admit. On the plus side, we have been repurposing the piano parts. For instance, I turned the piano harp into wall art. I donated the piano keys to our local middle school for an art project. We turned the back of the piano into a garage workbench. The piano hammers, in…
