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Welcoming Christmas at My Front Porch

12/7/2011

Wow!
Welcoming Christmas has never been so fun and creative for me in the past!
If my kids read this, they'll be in shock cuz I'm more of a
throw up a wreath and some garland with lights kind of a girl.
Blogging has inspired me!
It all started with my milkcan a couple weeks ago and just flourished from there.

When Dan looked at it last night with all the candles lit, he just said "That's so
beautiful Wendy!" and I'm like "Are you sure? Do you think it's too much?
Do you think I should change something? Is it too gaudy?"
Hahaha!
So, this is going to be a long posting....full of photos!
(I'd like to thank you in advance for your patience because this has been a
culmination of several weeks worth of crafting)

Welcome to My Front Porch

(yup...that's me again...just like Halloween...in the window of the door!)
The themes in my porch are Burlap & Bling, Gold & Antique White.
Following are some of the elements for this shot.....

I made a sort-of valance out of burlap & ribbon, and hung some swaggy bling
down the sides of the door frame.

If you click on any of the previous images it will take you to the
"tutorials" for them....except the Letter Holder...that's pretty obvious!

Now for some more PORCH! Woohoo!
I'll try to do Day/Night, so you get the idea of both looks k?

I absolutely love the feeling I get looking at this shot!
It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy!

I DID NOT paint my potting table for Christmas!
It was already this colour!
How great is that?!

(You'll have to excuse my amateur camera work, but you get the idea right?)

This is looking in the other direction now...

Can you see the sweet lit up Terrarium Glass in the corner?
I'll get to that preciousness soon!

This highlights my Faux Christmas Mantel and Birdy Arrangement.

Here's the View from the front of the long section of the porch...
through the Potting Bench from the other side!

Cozy...and I hope Inviting....

As for that Terrarium in the Corner.....

I've had this little lovely kicking around the house for years.
It actually had plexiglass in it that had yellowed and my sweet husband
changed the windows in it for me, but I left the rust intact and I like it that way!

In this Daytime View you can see it's perched atop a very old birdbath!
So old, in fact, we didn't bother painting it, because it's falling apart...all chipping off around the rim of it!
I just added a twig wreath, some of the same bling around the door, and
topped it with a pearly garland of battery operated lights.
The wee sparkly tree inside was a great find and it's sitting on top of one of Dan's
terrycloth shop cloths (the snow...you know?!)

Following is the RED Potting Table...I like it that colour all year.
It makes me happy!

These are some of the elements on the Potting Table....

The only item in the above that has a tutorial is the Vintage Boot

A couple of other little touches.....

Two Final Joyous Shots!

Click to set custom HTML

And.....THAT'S A CHRISTMAS "WRAP"!
(I crack myself up....)
xo

I was also featured at
Front Porch Ideas and More
(a blog specializing completely about front porches)
Thankyou everyone!

I'll be sharing this with....

At The Picket Fence....today.

Chic on a Shoestring Decorating

29 Comments

Faux Christmas Mantel

12/6/2011

8 Comments

I really do not have a mantel...anywhere in my home!
I miss it (because I had one in our old house), but one day, I'll have one in
our bedroom! Yes!
Until then, I came up with a little homemade mantel which will
also be part of my front porch vignette (Total reveal tomorrow At The Picket Fence!)
I have several photos here for you to see....so please don't get bored...
I just couldn't decide which ones I liked best!
And...some are daytime...some are nighttime.
First up....Daytime Mantel!

I picked up this white window box at Value Village for $4.99! Woohoo!

Wouldn't you love to sit here with me and have a nice Chai Tea Latte?

See? There's two comfy chairs!
Come on over!
or...you could wait 'til this evening and we'll share a lovely glass of red wine!

The old canning jars make fabulous ambient lighting.
My photos don't do them justice!

A few years back, a dear friend of mine gave me these wee
tealight holders that hang over a jar.
I added some Value Village (again) beads that were 69 cents/bag
and went perfectly with my theme this year...as well as the wee burlap ties!

I hit paydirt actually in VV Boutique!
The urn and the twig ball both came from there!
Soooo pretty!
The swags of greenery came from my tree out front.

Is it bad that I want to be included in the mantel party over at
My Uncommon Sense of Suburbia?
I'm going to sneak in anyway....heehee!
Because if I actually had a real mantel...it'd look like this right?!

Have a lovely day and be sure to check out all the beautiful
mantels over at My Uncommon Sense of Suburbia....
they are absolutely stunning!

xo

8 Comments

Working like the Dickens!

12/5/2011

4 Comments

That's what I have to do now!
Work like the Dickens...get it....Charles...Hahaha!
I did nothing for Christmas over the weekend!
Absolutely nothing.
We had overnight guests Saturday, and Sunday...we recuperated with
some Indiana Jones and Clint Eastwood movies...in our jammies...
with homemade chicken soup!

So, this morning I was up bright and early - with the birds..in fact...before them!
And, now....I'm on the move!
This is what I've been up to today.
Only 2 more days left to get my porch together for my total reveal!
and....I'm getting excited!

See the little church reflected in the window? Sweet!
This is the top of a stand I've purchased from an antique market for another purpose
soon. I put a gold (plastic) plate on it, some burlap & pinecones. Filled a vase with small christmas balls and a single candle, tied a bow around it all, added the bird and voila!

I debated painting the stand, because I'm trying to keep everything
gold & antique white, but I thought the rustiness of the green
was fine with my theme...keeping things natural as well.

This little cherub stand I bought for $2.00 at Value Village came in
handy as well.

A little bit of a burlap bow and a blingy candleholder I just happened
to have and that's another visual!

I like it for it's simplicity, both in the designing and the look!
Have a dickens of a day!
xo

4 Comments

Serenity (Wednesday)

12/2/2011

2 Comments

I just had to share the serenity of this photo
taken off our back deck on Wednesday evening....it's so beautiful.

Don't you feel like pouring a big mug of hot chocolate,
bundling into warm clothes and just relaxing?
Here's to life's moments.
xo

(On that note....I won't be having a 5th day of Christmas Crafts until next week...
apparently cement primer doesn't dry as fast as I had hoped! hahaha!
Have an AWESOME weekend!)

2 Comments

Basket of Christmas!

12/1/2011

10 Comments

Day Four of Christmas Front Porch!

Years ago, I made loads of these baskets as gifts one Christmas and the idea came
to me again that I should do it for my Natural Burlap/Bling theme this year.
So, I did!

You'll need to have a bunch of pinecones, different sizes are great,
an 8-10 light set of battery operated lights, a glue gun,
some wee christmas balls & bits of shiny stuff to place strategically.
Oh yah...and a basket! Hahaha!

Now, because my basket is flat to the wall, and even if it wasn't, I rather like
this method I tried this time....I wanted to make an arrangement that
I could lift out of the basket in one piece.
Why?
So I can turn the battery operated lights on and off, yet have them hidden from sight!

When I make these baskets, I turn the lights on.

The reason for having the lights on is that it's easier to arrange your lights
into position around the pinecones if you can see how they'll look when they are lit up.
Everytime you position a pinecone to glue to the next, put your creation
(clump! hahaha!) back into your basket to make sure you can lift it out easily
without it catching. When it's filled up enough for your eye,
we move to the next step.

Add your christmas balls and bling! Glue everything!
After it's all placed just as you like, take a wee bit of white paint....
I used the antique white chalk paint I already had made....
and paint the tips of some of the pinecones (or all! if you like!)
I also dabbed paint onto the green parts of the lights that were showing.

This is how the completed glued up bunch of pinecones should look.
You want to be able to place the battery into the bottom of the basket
and the "clump" on top in one whole piece.
Not sure if you can tell...my photography is crap today...but I dabbed some
gold paint onto the actual lights, because...they were GLARING LED lights
and I couldn't stand it!
Much better afterward.
Add a bow to the basket somewhere...in this case I used burlap & blingy ribbon!

Here's the finished product "Lit Up".
Once again...photography is bad...I apologize.
It looks so much better in real life!

and here is the "Daytime Look"!.....

I hope you enjoyed this and I hope you try it!
It doesn't have to be a big one!
But, it's rather homey don't you think?
Happy Crafting!
xo

Chic on a Shoestring Decorating

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My name is Wendy, from Ontario, Canada and I'm hoping to organize my somewhat "Ballistic", scatterbrained thoughts into a blog where I can learn from others and perhaps impart some of my own advise and assistance! My topics will include ideas for Garden, Herbs, Flowers & Such, Home Decor, Cooking, Crafts, Experiences and Life Thoughts.

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