Three Christmas Fireplaces
We’ve lived in many homes with zero fireplaces and now live in a home with three. None of them work though, so now that I think about it, it’s like having zero fireplaces. The good news is these beautiful holes in our walls can be decorated for the holidays! Let me show you my three Christmas fireplaces. Similar in the tiniest of ways to the three wise men, these three fireplaces bring different gifts to our family. The first Christmas fireplace is in our dining room and it brings us the gift of winter whimsy with its gingerbread houses. It’s a reminder to have fun and not take ourselves too…
Embroidered Flower Christmas Ornaments
I know it’s not expected to have a Christmas tree decorated with embroidered flower ornaments, especially flowers that aren’t holiday-centric like poinsettias. That’s part of the fun. I’ve seen ornaments for poop emojis, Starbucks cups, pickles, and pretty much any hobby and place that exists, so embroidered flower ornaments shouldn’t be all that controversial in our kitschy world. I started making embroidered flower ornaments almost a year ago in January. I received a flower embroidery kit for Christmas and had so much fun that I ordered more frames and fabric and kept stitching. Was I planning ahead? Am I THAT on top of things? Yes. Let’s go with that. Kidding!…
Our 2024 Christmas Tree
Our 2024 Christmas tree is up, decorated, and even sporting new LED Christmas lights this year. Ooh, la, la. Fancy, I know. In a world full of discord, there is one thing we all have in common. Politicians have campaigned on less. This great unifier is the absolute frustration we’ve all felt over burned-out Christmas lights. You know it’s true! It happens to all of us. You carefully pack away in the attic a working strand of lights, or worse, a working pre-lit Christmas tree and when you pull it out the next year, half of the lights are out. What kind of mayhem happens in the attic when no…
Antique Doorknob Christmas Trees
I knew I was saving antique doorknobs for something. I didn’t think it would be to make doorknob Christmas trees. The magic and creativity of Christmas is neverending. There is no need for me to write an elaborate tutorial on how to make antique doorknob Christmas trees because it’s pretty self-explanatory. Borrow a tiny fake tree from your children’s toy stash. Model trees kids use to decorate dioramas for those dreaded class projects are perfect. Stick the tiny fake tree in an antique doorknob. If your tree looks as if it’s blowing in the wind and won’t stand up straight you can wrap some tape or paper around the stem…
Cardboard Gingerbread House Christmas Mantel
I don’t want a lot for Christmas. There is just one thing I need…to do something with all of our cardboard recycling. So, I hummed myself a little Mariah Carey tune and decked out our dining room fireplace with a cardboard gingerbread house Christmas mantel. My Amazon boxes have never looked better. I’m not joking about those Amazon boxes, I used cardboard boxes and cereal boxes to make the gingerbread houses on my Christmas mantel. I cut out house shapes and then used a white paint pen to decorate the houses. A white colored pencil would have worked too. It was as easy and as tedious as that. It was…
Happy Thanksgiving 2024
My kids spent this year wondering if Thanksgiving week would ever get here. They know Thanksgiving is the kickoff to the Christmas season. That’s when I buy the eggnog and there are multiple days off from school. It might even snow. On the other hand, I can’t believe Thanksgiving is already here. During the pandemic, I let go of the expectations of how I thought a Thanksgiving celebration should look like when it was just our family of four celebrating together. I asked myself what parts of that day do we really enjoy? Pie? Let’s keep the pie then. Multiple flavors. The first puzzle of the holiday season? Clear the…
Denim Christmas Trees – Festive Upcycle Project
It was only a matter of time before I made denim Christmas trees. After all, I’ve made denim pumpkins, denim cord holders, a denim turkey, denim bunting, denim pennants, denim hanging loops for towels, and a denim 4th of July wreath. I’m the Bubba Gump Shrimp of denim projects. You’d think I’d have run out of denim to repurpose for crafts but, between you and me, one pair of my husband’s jeans goes a long way. Now it’s your turn to make denim Christmas trees and today I’m going to show you how. Please note that I love a versatile craft and you can make these denim Christmas trees with…
Festive Metal Christmas Signs
I was searching for Christmas mantel inspiration in October while knee-deep in pumpkins and apple-everything, as one does. I can seasonally multitask with the best of them. During this search, I discovered the most festive metal Christmas signs. Oh, the world of possibility! This banner-style sign from Pottery Barn was the first one to catch my eye. Partly because I thought it was wood and partly because I thought maybe I could pair it with a wood dove sign I have trouble styling. (I’ll show you the dove at the end of this post.) The $109 price tag is more than I normally spend on all of my Christmas decor…
The Halloween Tradition That Is Haunting Me
Of all the things that could be haunting me, particularly since I live in a very old house, I find it is a Halloween tradition of my own creation that haunts me to this day. I can’t shake it. Is it a walk through a spooky cemetery? No. No, it is not. Is it the annual carving of pumpkins that inevitably ends with mom cleaning out the pumpkin guts that no one wants to touch? No. No, it is not. Is it all of the costume drama that inevitably comes with Halloween? Everything from someone wanting to switch their costume at the last minute after we spent a small fortune…
In Praise Of: Group Halloween Shirts
You can thank Handy Husband for this Group Halloween Shirts blog post because he got me so good the other day. I told him I had found the perfect Halloween couple’s costume for us and showed him the below picture of these salt and pepper shirts. (image: Boots Tees via Etsy) He glances at the picture and without missing a beat says, “Are these perfect for us because you’re so salty?” “No, It’s because of how much black pepper I put on everything.” I think we all know who the salty one is around here now! Hahaha! It has been a week and that whole conversation still makes me laugh.…
