A Vintage Junky Christmas

The tree is up.  I am finished with the snowflakes.  I made a few wreaths.  I just need some outside things finished and one project inside.  Then I can fold the laundry again!  So here it is, a Vintage Junky Christmas:

I made this boxwood kissing ball about three years ago and it has held up surprisingly well.  In the background you can see some of the many snowflakes that I made.

The garland on the stairway that has more snowflakes... next year we will definitely buy the real stuff... I was just using what we had.

Strands of snowflakes that brighten up a corner in our dining room.

I don't really like putting away our everyday stuff... I would rather work with it.  This is the bar between our breakfast nook and the kitchen.  I added greenery, lights, and beaded glass garland.  My Dundee jars all have tealights and they look so pretty lit.

We got our yearly rosemary plant that is sentenced to die.  I put it in an ironstone bowl.  The ugly plastic pot still showed though, so I stuck some vintage light reflectors all around it.

Some little boxwood wreaths I made by simply wiring cuttings from our bushes around a small wreath form.  Then, I hung them up with some vintage striped ribbon that I found at the flea market.  Then, I just tacked them on the back of our glass cabinet doors.

I did change up the cloche on my cake pedestal a bit.  I put Mr. Hughes' Santa in it. It is very special since it used to be his Daddy's.  He has chips and is very weathered and perfect.  I have the neatest old Christmas lights in an ironstone bowl.. they have a design in them and they are a pretty aqua color.

Our mantle... still deciding on whether to make new stockings or to use the ones that I made do with last year.

I love the greenery that we found this year.  Some years we use magnolia leaves, but this was much easier to work with.  I put up some new and vintage mercury glass candlesticks.  The trees are from Target a couple of years ago.  And the letter garland (one of my favorite decorations) was a present from our friend Janet.

And finally....

...the tabletop tree!  I painted this table last week... it was a sight!  The veneer was peeling off so I had to rip off all the veneer so I could have a smooth surface to paint.  I love it though.  It originally was destined for the studio, but it is too small to do projects on-- so I rescued it from the garage.  Who knows what I will do with it after Christmas!

Our tree is live.  It is some kind of cypress, so it is difficult to hide the light strands.  I put it down into a vintage drum that Mr. Hughes specifically decreed that it could not be painted or altered.  Good thing I liked it!  I added some vintage light reflectors to holes that were already present.  Then I decorated with more snowflakes, tiny mercury glass ornaments, light reflectors, and some balls that I painted silver or covered in real silver glitter!!  Exciting, I know!!

Then I got a little surprise.  I had been kicking myself for not picking up this incredible tree topper.  And, what should I find when I was unpacking all our Christmas stuff?

This beauty!!  I bought it after Christmas at Pottery Barn last year!

And, that is all I have photos of.  Mr. Hughes took them for me while I was at work today.  I don't think he captured the depth of my snowflake insanity though.  These photos make it seem like I only have a hundred... no, there are many more.   They are in the lower half of each window (with a special "hole" so Baby Hughes can look out.  Then there are several garlands, vertical and horizontal!  And, there are a few on mirrors. I am even going to use them as part of our gift wrap.  I have such a good time making them.  I saved the ones from previous years and I have to replace some of them here and there.  They are inexpensive and easy and I think it makes the whole house look magical!  Baby Hughes points at them and whispers  "wow!"  And that is enough for me to keep cutting away.

So, if you would like to make some yourself, follow this link.  There is a PDF with folding and cutting instructions.  If you would rather not guess what they will look like, there are also a few templates for some pretty fool proof designs.

 Enjoy!

*** I am linking up with the Nester's Grand Tour of Homes, so go grab a mug of cocoa and some cookies and enjoy all the Christmasness!

Spicy!

Okay, lately I have a problem. I am having a hard time throwing away these:

Is it because Baby Hughes is getting ready to turn one? Is it because I don't want to add to the landfills? I am not sure. We recycle so I guess they wouldn't end up in a heap. But I have been washing and keeping these baby food jars for about a month. I have decided that I will use these to sort my beads and other small craft supplies. Mr. Hughes (the upcycler) uses them to hold roasted red peppers for sandwiches. Then, I decided that they would be perfect for spices. And, if you only knew how many times that I have rearranged our spices and the different "systems" that I have for them.... Plus, we just happened to have this really cool old metal caddy. So, I made a spice rack and here it is:



It was pretty simple, just time consuming painting the lids. I spray painted the lids with primer and then covered them in Heirloom White. I cleaned the remaining glue and "fresh by" date off the jars with googone. Then, Mr. Hughes printed me some labels and I used my new circle puncher to punch them out and stuck them on the lids. I put the label for the caddy on magnet sheet so it would stick without being permanent. I sprayed the labels and magnet sheet with a clear coat to protect them from liquids before I put them on the jars and caddy. Then, I added the spices and rearranged the interior of 3 cabinets (okay, that isn't a "have to" but it was one of my steps!) If you happen to like my labels, here is a download that Mr. Hughes set up. It is a large pdf file and it may take awhile to download. We printed them on full sheet labels and cut punched them out with a 1.5 inch circle punch. Well, mommy duty calls! Have a great evening!