I am sure you have heard about the painter that never has time to paint his own house or the mechanic whose car doesn’t run? Well, I am the Christmas display”ette” that is trying very hard to get my 36th tree decorated this year – MY OWN! I have decorated many at work as well as for other people, but my own is in a state of not “Before” or “After” it is just “In Between” right now.
Back in the summer I had finished and planned on putting up my friends and family garland that I made, but I found a stash at work of very old ( before my time working as the visual display manager of the store) Christmas decorations. I was cleaning out the display shop and climbed way up high to see what was on the top shelf and there were a few boxes. When I opened one up, staring back at me were pink and purple ornaments and ribbon already made into bows – I couldn’t believe it – my favorite colors – Jackpot! This old stuff is all thrown away or we sell it for a few dollars to employees. I had to have it and my entire plan for my tree this year changed just like that.
I also came across lots of white mailing tubes that vendor signs come in. As you know I always like to use things for purposes other than what they were intended for. I hated throwing them away. I had to come up with something – they were too nice and they were WHITE.
I brought them home and cut them into 1/2-inch sections with a fine toothed blade on my table saw to make a garland. I love it – and it is environmentally friendly – I saved them from the landfill.
I don’t put a lot of Christmas decorations up, but I do like to accent a few places in my house. On the piano I placed some greenery in a white urn and added a star and ball ornament.
My foyer staircase is still under construction – remember my December marathon when my hubby helped me remove the rug? Well, the stain is on the steps – they are just waiting for some polyurethane and white paint on the risers. This photo is from last year, but if my stairs were finished, this garland would be draped around the banister again. I made the bows out of velvet fabric over 10 years ago. There were not many purple bow options back then – so I made my own. I followed a Martha Stewart tutorial that was a bit labor intensive, but they are still in great condition. (Check out the finished stairs here.)
My dining room table. I found the tiered wire basket at HomeGoods a few years ago. It is made of galvanized metal. I spray painted it rust and filled it with shredded book pages and ornaments. Don’t you like the way my outside lights twinkle through the windows?
On the top of my hutch I added lit greenery to the long basket.
I also have a string of Christmas lights up on the top of the hutch to cast a glow. I keep them up all year long with two can lights as it creates the perfect mood lighting. I do this on the two corner cabinets in my family room also – it adds dramatically subtle light, is so easy to do, and best of all – inexpensive. No need to hire an electrician.
My kitchen windowsill with four of my Kosta Boda Snowballs.
My dining room mantel and mirrors.
That is about it. I should have the tree done soon. Yep, I will. I have a bit of motivation – my youngest is coming home from college this weekend and I want the tree decorated to warmly greet and welcome her home.
Tracy Williams says
11/16/2011 at 9:08 pmMy Grandmother had a black enamel serving tray like the one you have. It, along with a lot of other things, got taken to “the Flea Market” when my mother was suffering from the early stages of Alzheimers. I always loved that tray and was told that it was old and probably an antique. Do you know any background on it? I love your site and got quite a few ideas from it. I see you love purple. We do too as we are Baltimore Ravens fans!!
Diane says
12/21/2010 at 7:04 pmTesting to see if comments are working :)
sharon says
12/21/2010 at 9:41 pmtesting to see if you get my reply…
Mary Jacques says
12/21/2010 at 2:35 amI love your Christmas decorating style. I hope that you’ll come visit me at Boogieboard Cottage. Merry Christmas, Mary
Sherry @ No Minimalist Here says
12/18/2010 at 7:30 pmWow, this is all beautiful. Diane, Thank you for sharing your gorgeous home and decorations at my party. I hope you and your family have a very merry Christmas.
Sherry
Christine says
12/18/2010 at 10:30 amI love your mantel ! Hope you have a wonderful Christmas.
Christine
greatoakcircle.com
pk @ Room Remix says
12/18/2010 at 10:21 amPretty, pretty, pretty! Great job, Diane! I love that idea for the garland – very clever. The chalkboard vignette is my favorite – I just have a thing for chalkboards and words. :-)
Funky Junk Interiors says
12/18/2010 at 3:51 amWOW! In a decor world of white, I must say your colour is a very refreshing change! What a wonderful tree! And your purples are so fun and unexpected. Beautifully done. :)
Donna
Diane says
12/18/2010 at 9:12 amHi Donna-
I have been a purple lover since I was a kid. I figure since it is a color I love then I should use it as much as possible – a little psychology – color therapy to keep me smiling and happy. I think my daughter’s believe all Christmas decorations come in purple as that is what they grew up with. They will prpbably use in in their own homes someday as a nostalgic touch. I do use the traditional red and green on the exterior of my home.
[email protected] Charm says
12/18/2010 at 12:34 amIt all looks beautiful…really love that chalkboard!
Blessings,
Linda
Diane says
12/18/2010 at 8:54 amHi Linda-
Thanks – I found the chalkboard at a local thrift strore. It used to be a fake oil painting that I sprayed chalkboard paint over. I left the frame as is. It cost me $3.00.
aninchofgray says
12/16/2010 at 9:52 pmSo much fun! I am crazy about your mantel w/ the mirrors and the wreath. I plan to steal your shredded paper idea!
Diane says
12/18/2010 at 9:01 amHi Anna-
The mirror stacking came about quite by accident – I just put the second one on top of the mantel to get it out of the way while I was working in the room and I loved it. I love the look of shredded paper and usually used colorful tissue paper, but I had some books left over from the hucth project and decided I needed to use the rest of the pages so they would not add to my already large stash of junk, I mean supplies!
Connie Bishop says
12/16/2010 at 6:28 pmFabulous, beautiful color!
teresa says
12/16/2010 at 12:57 pmHi there, love that purple. I did a whole tree in purple one year and loved it. All of your decor is just beautiful. Thanks for sharing.
Kathy @ Creative Home Expressions says
12/16/2010 at 9:46 amIt looks gorgeous, Diane! I love the purple and green combo. What a find and how nice these ornaments get to see the light of day again!
Diane says
12/18/2010 at 9:28 amHi Kathy-
My cat thinks the found ornaments are his new toys. They are slightly bigger than tennis ball size ornaments. He bats them off the street and rolls them all over the house. I am finding them everywhere.
Kim says
12/16/2010 at 7:35 amEverything you have done is so pretty in purple. Not a color I would normally use, but it is so pretty. Love the garland you made. Now that is thinking outside the box. Thanks so much for joining the party this week!
Amanda @ House Revivals says
12/16/2010 at 4:04 amI love it all! You are truly and artist. I have been coveting a stash of those mailing tubes. I want to fill a shelf with them to use to store my drawings and paper in my future studio (kind of like a wine rack, but filled with renderings instead of wine). See my Holiday Home Tour to find out what our house looks like for the holidays!
~Amanda
Diane says
12/18/2010 at 9:32 amHi Amanda-
What a great idea!!! I am so going to to this as I have many drawings that I need to organize that are too big for my file cabinet. Thanks for sharing the idea.
[email protected] Smartie Pants says
12/16/2010 at 12:49 amSo pretty! I love the white and purple, a nice change and very adventish!
Diane says
12/18/2010 at 9:36 amHi Laura-
I never thought about purple as being adventish, but now that you mentioned it – it is! I am smiling now – I am not so far off using it as a Christmas color :)
The Polka Dot Closet says
12/15/2010 at 11:58 pmYour fireplace is beyond beautiful and I am going to boldly steal your idea and put lights above my china cabinet, it is a darker place in the house and that would be perfect!! Thank You
Carol