'Twas The Week Before Thanksgiving

I've been gathering up ideas for Christmas (I might have gone overboard on the plaid...nah)

Picking up goodies here and there, new and old

Planning and working on an ornament painting party I'll be teaching in December - can you tell what they will be?

Working on Christmas projects

All in anticipation of decorating the farmhouse for the Holiday season!

I'm making wooden house ornaments

Wood signs  from old fence pickets - they are going in a special place!

Wooden blocks and a wood sled getting repainted as well

And various other Christmas things I've picked up (these are from my trip to see Cecilia of My Thrift Store Addiction).

these cute mice will be dressed for Christmas soon!

And I've been sewing as well - red checked curtain for the dining room window

And adding length to the shower curtain (we have an oversized shower so a regular curtain is too short).

I hope you've enjoyed this sneak peek at my Christmas decor. Come back after Thanksgiving to see my farmhouse tour which is part of the Cozy at Christmas Holiday Blog Tour!

There are several bloggers sharing Christmas coziness all week long. I hope you'll join us!
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New Life for Yard Reindeer

The air is crisp (most of the time) and I can finally wear my Fall clothes. (Yay!)

These reindeer were gifted to me by my middle sister about 2 years ago. They've been waiting for inspiration to strike.

and waiting...
Finally, I had an idea! But first, I needed to prime all the rusty spots,

wire the pieces securely together, then I could start sprucing them up.
Out came my glue gun and sisal rope and I started wrapping and gluing, wrapping and gluing, and wrapping...

What do you think? I love the way this one turned out.

Hello? Where's Santa?

I still have the other one to go but I'm out of sisal and steam. Good thing they can be used past Christmas.  I can see them gracing the fireplace hearth or keeping guard by the entryway table. They will be perfect accents for the farm.

Come back Thursday for my final Christmas projects reveal. See ya then!

Linking up at these parties:
Creative Muster Party

One Last Christmas Project

Are you ready? I am now! I had one last project to tackle before Christmas arrived.

The last thing on my list was to make a stocking holder. You see, I got tired of hanging our stockings from the mantel then having to move them when I made a fire.

So I decided to make one from some stuff I had laying around. I had a handful of old faucet handles and pieces of wood. All I had to do was to figure out the how.

All I can say is it involved really big bolts, JB Weld, and drilling holes big enough to put it all together.

I started with an old fence picket on top of a piece of pine and dry brushed it with red paint.

The faucet handles got a nut JB Welded to the back of them:

Then after drilling the holes, I inserted the bolts and screwed the handles on. Next I added some eye screws and wire for a hanger, hung it on the wall, then looped the stockings on the faucets handles:

I'm pleased with the way it turned out!

When the Christmas stuff comes down and gets packed away, I can use this for the dog leashes or who knows? The possibilities are endless!

I'll be taking a short break as I'm in charge of an art show for my painting class. I'll be getting all the artwork submitted and hung in the next couple of weeks. The show opens January 8th -  I'll be back after that.

I hope you have a wonderful and blessed Christmas and New Year.

Much love,
Cecilia

Maybe Next Christmas?

I had grand plans for this Christmas….Lots of decorating and crafting...

Still in the box

Waiting to be hung

Needs to be finished

This too…wanted to have several done to give as party favors

And I was going to make a forest of fence board trees…(I cut 5 out )...

Paint this Santa that's been cut out for ages ( another project that never got completed and forgotten each year )….

Have every room decorated to the hilt...at both houses! It didn't happen!

The farm bathroom looks pretty good though

It seems like the farmhouse got more done to it than the city house…but then, it's smaller.

Host a party with great food and company ( oh yeah, I did do that one! Enjoyed having my siblings and families at the farm this past weekend ! )

Menu on the chalkboard wall

My niece was the only one to leave a message on the chalkboard. LOL, way to go Leslie!

on a side note: We played the Christmas Exchange Game with Funny Gifts…I ended up with toilet paper embroidered with Christmas designs…May I say "Awesome!"? Oh, and a bar of soap with a design too. My oldest sister is a whiz with her machine. :o)

Embroidered Toilet paper

I basically wanted to have the most decorated, awesome Christmas season ever!

Ok, one out of several isn't bad, right?

I did get a few things decorated…( thanks to my awesome family! )

Lovely angel from a blogging friend!

But not the grand things I had planned. I don't think I set my sights too high…several people decorate multiple trees and deck out their house. Sigh. I think I need to start getting ready for next year now...

Make a list...

Check it twice...or three times...or one hundred.

Problem is, I don't want to work on Christmas stuff after it's over. I want to do it during the Christmas season and this one is almost over.  I'm not sure how much more I'll attempt to do in the week that's left. Maybe it's good enough - I'll just claim I'm scaling back and simplifying. :o) Or blame it on my knee…yeah, I couldn't do stuff because of my knee…

A round cutting board I painted with chalkboard paint

another cutting board turned message board

Merry Christmas to each one of you. I appreciate you all so much for following along and leaving kind comments. I'll see you next year!


Hugs,
Cecilia