Mantel 2010 Red Christmas

This year I’m not putting up a tree.  :(
I am decorating though. The mantel, kitchen, dining room and porch, that’s it. Unless I get an energy spurt and decide to go for it!


Here’s our red mantel 2010.
Collected white pottery is so versatile. It works well in many decorating themes…….just about anything really!  Here I’ve used some huge yardsale ornaments with white urns and a faux garland embellished with fresh greenery from our yard.
  These branches from a Blue Atlas Cedar, are one of my favorites for decorating. The brown orbs are actually it’s equivalent of pinecones.
Added a few springs of fresh red holly berries from our yard too.
I think I paid $3 or $4 for all four of these oversized ornaments.
 
Putting up a tree is a big chore, but your home can look festive and elegant without a tree. Just lay out some fresh greens and shiny ornaments in urns, under cloches, on antique trays or plates and you’ve created that Christmas feel.  
The fireplace is gas but I like the look and organic feel of real logs on the hearth.

So there you have it.

I’ll be linking up at Layla’s Mantel party later today. It’ll be fun checking out all the other mantels! There’s sure to be tons of drool worthy photos to rev up your Christmas spirit.


Debbie (((xx)))

Don’t you just love looking at all the Christmas decorating? I sure do.

the Red Chair project.

Love it or hate it, with this chair I don’t think there’s any middle ground.
~SO, I finally got around to recovering this old chair that belonged to my Mom.  We bought it at an antiques barn and she had it recovered in a pink fabric that coordinated with her floral couch…..back in the day.

After I removed the old fabric, I used the pieces as a pattern for the new fabric.
I just used a staple gun and pulled the new fabric taut as I stapled around the edges. Here the back is finished.

Since this chair had been recovered before it wasn’t in bad shape, but you never know what you’ll find when you take apart a piece of old furniture. Like this stuff…….

               Here she is in all her red glory!

I found 10 yards of piping for 5 bucks at the thrift store and added it around the edge of the skirt and contrasting pillow.
The arms got a light coat of red spray paint. I like how the wood grain shows through. 

I still need to cover up the staples on the back with some trim or piping.
There she is, Lady in red.  I like the way it turned out…today…tomorrow I may hate it! 
The big bulletin board has been hung and it’s looking pretty good too. The ETC is a yardsale 50¢ find from this summer.
 
Two more projects I can check off the list of projects for the family room. Next project, beefing up the bookcase!

Here are the other posts on the family room if you care to see the progress I’ve made so far.


Added to Met Monday at Between Naps on the Porch.
Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm

* The winner of the DaySpring gift certificate is #14, Denise. I have contacted her and am waiting for her reply. If no reply I’ll pick another winner. AND coming up soon, another CSN giveaway!


Have a Great Thanksgiving!
  

Debbie (((xx)))

Are we forgetting Thanksgiving?

Don’t know why…… but it seems Thanksgiving is standing in the background jumping up and down, waving and yelling, “Hey don’t forget me!” Do you feel that way too this year? Are we jumping from Halloween straight to Christmas?
I sure hope not because I love turkey and stuffing, cranberry sauce (from a can, no kidding) and all the other delicious  goodies.  This year I’m not cooking at home but I could still use some inspiration in the form of beautiful table settings.
Did you ever notice how natural elements lend themselves perfectly to the Thanksgiving table?

From BH&G, tiny ears of corn embellish the napkin.

A single leaf dresses up this plain white plate.

I love the colors and berries on this table!


Above photos from Country Living

From Martha Stewart,  the large felt leaves on this table are  appealing and probably easy to make.
Our Thanksgiving menu doesn’t change much from year to year. Does yours?  We usually stick to the tried and true favorites. THIS POST from 2008 has our menu posted and SNOW before Thanksgiving. My Thanksgiving table 2009 HERE.


More Thanksgiving foods at Tasty Tuesday, Balancing Beauty and Bedlam


Thank you so much for stopping by and Happy Thanksgiving !
There’s still 2 more days left to enter the giveaway HERE.

Debbie (((xx)))

An HUGE old frame becomes a bulletin board.

 
I spotted this old dresser mirror frame  at a consignment store this past Summer. I didn’t buy it right away because I didn’t really have a use for it. But since it was only 5 bucks I ended up going back for it. Finally I’m getting around to transforming it.
 
I hit it with some black satin spray paint and it was all set.
It was a struggle finding material for the actual bulletin board. I tried looking for cork board and could only find small thin squares. So I put on my thinking cap and thought of using ceiling panels. They aren’t sold by the piece and I definitely wasn’t going to buy a whole box, so I kept looking knowing eventually I’d come across something that would work.






Voila! Look what I came across at the Re-Build-It store. Just two panels were all they had and it was all I needed. Just $1 each! It didn’t matter that they weren’t perfect, I needed to cut them anyhow.
 
A sharp razor knife and a straight edge was all it took to get the right size to fit in the frame. You can see
 that it wasn’t perfect.
 
I just kept chiseling away until it fit.

When it was the right size, I taped the panels together and laid them out on the fabric, making sure the fabric was straight. It was about a yard and a half of cheap muslin fabric.

Next, I stapled.
Because the ceiling panels are soft, I used lots of staples so they wouldn’t pull out.
     
Now it was ready to be put in the frame.

These straps were already on the frame, probably to hold the original mirror in place.
We had these L shaped brackets on hand and I used several to hold the ceiling panels in tightly. I turned some of them on the diagonal…..it seemed to work better that way.

Here it is all ready to be hung. This thing is heavy so I’ll need hubby’s help for that, but he seems to be extremely busy in his chair watching football.
Cost breakdown:
Staples, tape, paint, brackets, on hand
Frame, $5.
ceiling panels, $2.
fabric, $4.
Total, $11.00
Cheap!
Tomorrow this baby will be done and I’m ready for another project, recovering a chair.








Added to,  Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch.


Funky Junk Saturday Night Special

***One post below is my DaySpring $35.  gift certificate giveaway. Check it out! Have you entered? I hope so!

Debbie (((xx)))

DaySpring Giveaway

While attending the Relevant 10 conference in October, I got to see in person many  beautiful pieces from DaySpring and I signed up to received this good-looking easel.
Click here to go to my review page for a chance to win a generous $35.oo gift certificate from DaySpring.

Debbie (((xx)))

I really want to win a Tamron Lens

I do.

It would be the perfect addition to my new Canon T1I.

There’s an absolutely awesome giving from BlogHer going around blogland.  Each of these incredibly lucky bloggers received a lens and is giving one away!   That’s a Tamron lens for a DSLR camera!

There are lots of beautiful photos posted on these sites taken with this lens.

Rhoda @ Southern Hospitality

NieNie Dialogues

Steamy Kitchen

Made

Pinch my Salt

Nothing but Bonfires

In an effort to increase my chances of winning I’m posting about this out-of-this-world giveaway. keeping my fingers crossed

Check it out

Family room Progress

Here’s me wearing my cool vintage glasses, sitting behind the tv trying to figure out this mess of cords. It was a job I hated and hubby won’t/can’t do it.  The man is able to do it, but the man has NO patience for anything like this. Not just no patience….he has negative patience.
The old tv stand sat lower and you could see all these cords and wires hanging down. Not pretty at all and I wanted to change it …..like for eva! I’m happy with the new look even if it now looks like one big black box on top of another big black box. At least all the cords aren’t exposed.
Here’s the before of the hutch that now holds the tv.

The after

It still needs tweaking and I got some new knobs at Hobby Lobby for the drawers. The doors are off and I may just leave it like that….or not! Behind it is where the hole in the wall was. You can read that post HERE.

Work on this room is progressing slowly, which is usual for me but  I scored some nice things at TJMAXX yesterday. Like these pillows.
  I’m trying to decide which pillow I like better. So far this is the winner.

And these lamps that I love  ♥ and were 29.00. Pretty cheap for new lamps.
Next project for this room, a giant sized bulletin board. I found this frame that once held a dresser mirror, at a consignment store for 5 bucks. Pretty cheap, huh?
  It’s coming together slowly. Always another project and never enough time!

Have you entered my CSN giveaway HERE? There’s still time. Great gift certificate for Christmas gifts!

Debbie (((xx)))