Christmas Vignette

One of my favorite Peggy Karr plates to display at Christmas is the White Poinsettia plate. 

This year, I am using the plate in a small vignette on my sideboard. The plate was a gift from my Dad a few years ago so will always be special.

My candlesticks are Fitz and Floyd. They are not from a Christmas collection but are a perfect red to use for the season.

I selected a lighter green candle for a little contrast with the Christmas wreath in the background.

Creating vignettes around the house at Christmas seems to bring cheer to very spot.

Hope you are enjoying your Christmas decorating - Judy.

Linking to:

Rhoda at Southern Hospitality - Vignettes link party on December 11^{th
Three Mango}

DIY by Design for Fall Into Fall

Ivy and Elephants for What Is It Wednesday

Open House Party at No Minimalist Here on Thursday

Favorite Things Thursday at Katherine’s Corner

Home and Garden Thursday at A Delightsome Life

Transformation Thursday at Shabby Creek Cottage

Tutorials, Tips, and Tidbits at Stone Gable

Feathered Nest Friday at the French Country Cottage

Inspiration Friday At The Picket Fence

Common Ground for Vintage Inspiration Friday

Stuff and Nonsense for Friday's Unfolded

My Romantic Home for Show and Tell Friday

The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home

 Jennifer Rizzo for Fabulously Creative Friday

Santa's Tree

I've been decorating at my daughter's house this week. She took a week of vacation so we could get the decorating and baking done. Her hearth room tree is a woodsy theme with reds, cranberry and gold.

Santa are tucked in here and there throughout the tree.

Deep red ornaments are nestled behind the grapevines away from little hands.

Ribbons and pine cones.

Grapes and grapevines.

More Santa's and lots of lights.

Stems of berries throughout the tree.

Garlands of berries and gold poinsettias

 golden berries

Feathers and berries for the top of the tree.

The tree is done

and this little darling is just waiting for Santa.

Merry Christmas to all - Judy.

Linking to:

Marty at A Stroll Thru Life for Tabletop Tuesday on Tuesday, December 11
Megan from Honey We're Home for O Christmas Tree on Tuesday, December 11

You're Gonna Love It Tuesday at Kathe With an E

Tweak It Tuesday at Cozy Little House

Coastal Charm for Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
Cedar Hill Ranch for Cowgirl Up! on Tuesdays
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia for Tuesday's Treasures

Kim at Savvy Southern for Wow Us Wednesday on Wednesday, December 12
The Better Late Than Never Christmas Link Party

DIY by Design for Fall Into Fall

Ivy and Elephants for What Is It Wednesday

Sarah at ThriftyDecor Chick  for Christmas Trees on Thursday, December 13

Open House Party at No Minimalist Here on Thursday

Favorite Things Thursday at Katherine’s Corner

Home and Garden Thursday at A Delightsome Life

Transformation Thursday at Shabby Creek Cottage

Feathered Nest Friday at the French Country Cottage

Inspiration Friday At The Picket Fence

Common Ground for Vintage Inspiration Friday

Stuff and Nonsense for Friday's Unfolded

My Romantic Home for Show and Tell Friday

The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home

 Jennifer Rizzo for Fabulously Creative Friday

Decorating the Tree

Gosh, what better Christmas memories does this make?

Grandma let these two precious grandsons put on as many of the chartreuse ornaments as they wanted. 

There may be two or three on the same branch but those can be rearranged later or just left the way they are, especially since those are sweet little hands placing the ornaments.

My daughter is using silver and chartreuse on her living room tree again and we are decorating together.

Plus lots of sparkle

and glitz.

A silver star for the top.

I wanted the lights to show in my pictures so I set the camera on manual and set my IOS setting to a much higher number. I didn't use a tripod but tried to hold the camera very still. You can then brighten/lighten your pictures in Photoshop or any other picture editing program. I always adjust the contrast when I brighten images.

I'm using some photography tips from Courtney at Click It Up A Notch as I take pictures of decorating the tree and my evening picture below. 

Here's the tip from her Newsletter that I used on the evening picture above.

1. Turn off ALL the lights but the tree.

You want your house to be pitch black. You want the only lights on are the lights from the tree.

2. Crank up your ISO.
You are shooting in extremely low lighting and you may need to max out your ISO. Remember it is better to increase your ISO than have an underexposed image.

I'm so glad I used Courtney's Tips for my pictures. I am happy with my results - Judy.

Linking to:

Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday on Tuesday, December   10

Masterpiece Monday at Boogieboard Cottage 

Make the Scene Monday at Alderberry Hill 

Make-It-Pretty Monday's at The Dedicated House

Marty at A Stroll Thru Life for Tabletop Tuesday on Tuesday, December 11
Megan from Honey We're Home for O Christmas Tree on Tuesday, December 11

You're Gonna Love It Tuesday at Kathe With an E

Tweak It Tuesday at Cozy Little House

Coastal Charm for Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
Cedar Hill Ranch for Cowgirl Up! on Tuesdays
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia for Tuesday's Treasures

Kim at Savvy Southern for Wow Us Wednesday on Wednesday, December 12

Sarah at ThriftyDecor Chick  for Christmas Trees on Thursday, December 13

Open House Party at No Minimalist Here on Thursday

Favorite Things Thursday at Katherine’s Corner

Kristen’s Creations for Share Your Creations on Thursday

Home and Garden Thursday at A Delightsome Life

Transformation Thursday at Shabby Creek Cottage

The Tablescaper for Seasonal Sundays

The Sunday Showcase Party  

Simple Sunday
Overflowingwith Creativity
Sunday Fun Day Blog Hop
Tutorials, Tips, and Tidbits at Stone Gable

Feathered Nest Friday at the French Country Cottage

Inspiration Friday At The Picket Fence

Common Ground for Vintage Inspiration Friday

Stuff and Nonsense for Friday's Unfolded

My Romantic Home for Show and Tell Friday

The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home

 Jennifer Rizzo for Fabulously Creative Friday

Dried Hydrangea Wreath

At the end of the summer, I cut some hydrangea blooms to dry. They have been in my garage for a few months while I have been deciding what to do with them. I had visions of using them in my Christmas tree but that changed when I begin to think about using them in a Christmas wreath.

Since it was chilly and windy outside, I decided to bring the hydrangea bloom inside to work on the wreath. I sprayed them with hair spray then added a couple of coats of Glimmer Mist in a Limited Edition Color of Mallard. I am a crafter and scrapbooker so I had the Glimmer Mist and decided to give it a try on the hydrangea blooms. I didn't think the hydrangeas grabbed the color like I had hoped but it was worth a try. There is surely some spray that florists use that would have worked better.

Looks like there is more color on the towel than on the blooms. I tried to dry the blooms with my crafting heat tool but had to shake off the excess on the paper towels in the drying box. Some color is better than no color, right?

For the base of my wreath, I used an airy evergreen Christmas wreath that I had used in the past. I decided to fastened the wreath to my breadrack so it would be in place and not require any moving.

I tied on the first couple of blooms with wire but quickly decided I could just wrap the pine branches around the stems of the blooms. You can see a couple blooms added in the picture below.

I continued adding the blooms to the entire wreath to get the affect I was looking for. Looks like I need to add a few more to finish. You can see how the sun is shining through the windows on the wreath.

Next I made a few ribbon picks using some peacock blue ribbon tied to extra pieces of the stems of the hydrangea. Next, I added a glittered magnolia stems from Michael's and soon my wreath was finished. That more sun shinning on the right side of the wreath making a little glare on the wreath.

Wow that was a small project but was a bit messy. I had a really big mess on the floor to clean up. Hope you can stop back by to see my Aqua Christmas Mantel and Aqua Christmas Tablescape. Watch my sidebar for links - Judy.

PS: I don't think I will be able to store this wreath for next year, maybe I'll just remove the magnolia glittered stems and use it for Spring. It's so fragile.

Linking to:

Kate at Centsational Girl

Open House Party at No Minimalist Here on Thursday

Favorite Things Thursday at Katherine’s Corner

Kristen’s Creations for Share Your Creations on Thursday

Home and Garden Thursday at A Delightsome Life

Transformation Thursday at Shabby Creek Cottage

Tutorials, Tips, and Tidbits at Stone Gable

Southern Lovely-Show and Share
From My Front Porch To Yours-Treasure Hunt Thursday

Aqua Mantel

Ho, ho, ho, you know how much I love to use aqua in my decorating, so you probably aren't surprised that I'm using aqua on my kitchen mantel for Christmas.

Wow, was I excited when I visited Michael's and they were showing peacock blue glittery pieces! It didn't take me long to gather all the stems and pieces I could and start dreaming about decorating with aqua and peacock blue for Christmas.

Here's a glance at the entire mantel. 

I found some aqua Christmas trees at Hobby Lobby to add to the mantel. The Holiday Village plate is by Peggy Karr Glass and has been around my house for a few years.

I assembled the wreath with additional pieces from Michael's. You can see more pictures of my wreath here.

Here's an evening shot after I added lights and a little additional garland across the back of the mantel.

Be sure to check back later to see my aqua Christmas tablescape - Judy.

Linking to:

Share Your Cup Thursday @ Have A Cup of Mrs. Olson on Wed. evenings 
Share Your Style Link Party @ 21 Rosemary Lane on Wed. evenings

Home and Garden Thursday @ A Delightsome Life on Wednesday evening

Thankful Thursday @ It's a Small Town Life
Foodie Friday & Everything Else @ Rattlebridge Farm on Thursday

Tablescape Thursday @ Between Naps on the Porch on Thursday morning

Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage on Thursday morning

Table It Link Party @ Life and Linda

Inspiration Monday @ Our Southern Home 

Dishing It and Digging It @ Rustic & Refined on Sundays

Met Monday @ BNOP
Celebrate Your Story @ Celebrate and Decorate
The Scoop @ Stone Gable Blog