VINTAGE SLED DECORATED FOR CHRISTMAS

While getting ready for an outdoor 40th wedding anniversary party this summer, my sister ran across an old vintage sled.  It had been sitting outside in the elements behind the garden shed for years.  When her and her daughters found it, they all wanted it to decorate for Christmas.  My sister was not about to give this treasure away, at least not yet.

Fast forward to December ~ I received a phone call from my sister asking for my help in decorating her sled.  Of course, I said YES!  A chance to work on a fun diy project, while spending time with my sister.  

I also had visions for a sled decorated for Christmas.  It was one from my childhood, and the one our children used for many years.  I had it all ready to load onto our moving truck back with our move in 2012.  It was while standing there that our daughter (a children's photographer) spotted it.  I agreed that she could keep it in Washington to use as a photography prop.  My husband said we could enjoy it in her photos; and we've been doing just that.

Here it is with our sweat grand daughter sitting on it for a Christmas card photo shoot.

I know you're wondering about the sled we made over, but I couldn't resist sharing the photo with you.

Here it is ~

CHRISTMAS HOME TOUR 2014

Hi everyone!  Christmas is fast approaching; and I realized that if I didn't post my Christmas Home Tour soon, Christmas would be here before you saw it.  So without any more delay -  my 2014 Christmas Home Tour.  Some of the items may look familiar to you as many of the things I used this year are the same as last year.

Come on in!  We'll start in the living room.

BALLARD DESIGNS TINSEL BRANCH KNOCKOFF

Christmas is fast approaching and with that comes decorating your home for the holiday.  I will be sharing my Christmas home tour with you very soon, but today I wanted to share with you a little project I just finished for the kitchen.  It's a Ballard Designs tinsel branch knockoff.

 Making my home sparkle at Christmas is always fun using glittery ornaments and tinsel. I also love adding natural items here and there.  When I saw the beautiful glittery tinsel branches that Susanne Kasler created at Ballard Designs, I knew I wanted to make one of these pretty branches for my home.  You can purchase the champagne colored branches at Ballard Designs for $19,  but I knew I could make my own for less.

While shopping at Mernard's with my husband recently, I found the tinsel that would work for this project for a mere $1.29.

POTTERY BARN JINGLE PILLOW KNOCK OFF

I started a few projects back in November and I'm happy to say I can finally show you one of them completed.  The project completed is my Jingle Lumbar Pillow.  I  loved this pillow when I first saw it some time ago in the Pottery Barn catalog, however this pillow comes with a price tag of $39.50.  That price is just a bit much for me, and I knew I could make one for a lot less.

Here's my version....

You can view the inspiration for this Pottery Barn pillow here.

DIY SNOWBALL VIGNETTE

I started working on a new diy project for our Christmas decor back in November. It was interrupted when we had a family member in the hospital for a week.  We then went right into thanksgiving, so it's taken a little bit to get back to the project.

I'm amazed how a quick, off the cuff, spur of the moment project can be the number one hit item on this blog.  Can you guess what it is?  It's my DIY Epsom Salt Candle and Ornaments.   It receives more page views than any other diy project I've shared with you.  It's been featured at Redbook, Epsom Salt Council, along with a few other blogs.

Using the same technique I used when making my Epsom Salt Ornaments/Snow Balls, I created another SNOWBALL project.  Today, I finally get to show it to you .

I basically did the same technique for these snowballs as the ones I made previously.