Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving
with your families and friends
gathered round.
Our's was fantastic.
An excellent meal
eaten in the glow of a beautiful sunset,
in the company of loving family,
counting our past blessings
and all the
blessings to come...
...and while
we were enjoying our time together,
Jake was strolling the streets of
Spain and Italy,
making memories
that he will be
blessed with
forever.
I am certainly enjoying
all the preparations for Christmas
that are abundant in blog land now.
As excited as I am,
I can't seem to get much of
my own up and doing.
Usually,
I start with the main tree
and that sets the tone
for what is
to come.
Last year (above)
we got rid of our big faux tree
and put up a fresh one.
We have decided
that is the way we wanted to go
in the future,
but the trouble with that idea is
we don't have the luxury
of having the tree
close at hand
to be able to put it up when we want to.
I normally like to start
the day after Thanksgiving
but this year
we have had days that were
so wet and nasty
that we didn't want to get caught
in the down pour.
I have a theme in mind
so decided to jump ahead
and carry that through to
the parlor mantle.
Since I want to use fresh greens,
I picked from some bushes
in the garden
until we get the tree.
They looked pretty at first
and the ones in water,
in the red Dollar Tree vases,
look pretty still,
but they don't hold up well
out of water.
But, still
I have managed to set the picture
of what I want
the final outcome
to be.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The sitting room,
as opposed to the parlor,
is telling me
what the theme should be.
It definitely says
it wants to be
a more casual
woodland setting...
...I think the plaid ribbon on the wreath
dictated this particular way to go.
I wanted a tree
in this room also
but the floor space is limited
so I took the top of a
smaller faux tree we had
and put it in an old stoneware crock
and placed it on the oak end table.
Because of the earthy feeling
I was getting from the room,
I thought the cotton stems
might be a good addition
and then some yarn pom poms
for a touch of color
instead of
bright and shiny ornaments...
...it's funny
how ideas just
seem to evolve.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I have to tell you
about these pillows I got on Amazon.
I found them quite by accident
and the prices were so good
that I had to give them a try.
I figured I didn't have
much to lose...
...they didn't look too bad
when they first arrived,
at least not something
that an iron couldn't cure.
They took awhile to get here
and I still am waiting for two more.
They say they are 16" square
but they are bigger
one way than the other
so a 16" pillow form doesn't fit.
The openings are zippered
but not very large
so it was almost impossible
to get the form in.
I ended up stuffing them
with loose filler.
I had the idea of adding the pom poms
all the way round
but the letters are so close to the seam
that they would be covered up
on the sides,
so just did the four corners.
I might yet add
some to the other one
after I stuff it a little fuller.
What I thought looked like a green tree
is actually dark blue,
although it looks black in the photo,
but it does go with
the colors in the room.
The others that I haven't received yet
look black with white writing,
but that remains to be seen.
The Captain thinks
the pom poms are ridiculous
but it looked too plain for me.
No matter how you might feel
about their looks,
you can't dispute their price:
Blue Tree: $1.81
and
Merry Christmas: $ .91.
The two yet to come
are $2 and $3.
How do you like me now?
~~~~~~~~~~
Today
was a beautiful day and,
hopefully,
tomorrow will be the same
so we can go look
for our tree.
We are still working
on our current project
and I'm counting on a Christmas reveal
and I promise
it will still be Christmas,
even if it is
in July...
...but,
more Cottage Christmas next time
and don't forget
the new season of
Fixer Upper
starts tonight!
...Judy...
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