HAPPY THANKSGIVING DAY

I WANT TO WISH EVERYBODY A HAPPY THANKSGIVING DAY
I sincerely hope you all have a wonderful day with family and friends, or just
kick back and use the day to relax!  

AND I'LL CATCH YOU NEXT WEEK!

Christmas Decorating, Not Yet

... but I did do a little Pre-Christmas project-

I found this Lantern Style Display Cabinet at a little store that sells nice florals and home decorating items....they had a candle in it, but I visualized it with a different look!

It's about 36" tall and as you can see has a hinged door.  I wanted to have an electric light in it so I wouldn't have to worry about a candle, so I presented the idea to my hubby and we both worked on a plan. 

We found a plug in light bulb fixture (the kind they use for the Christmas Villages)  He found a washer that had the right opening size to squeeze the prongs into  place and hold it firmly.  Then he used soldered some brass rods to the washer.  He applied an epoxy glue to the corners to permantly fix it in place. (He didn't want to drill into the body anywhere)

 The part of the cord that will be inside the cabinet was  spray painted a similar color as the cabinet- and then  the cord was glued to the inside edge....This set for a day before it was touched again.  After that a hole was drilled in the bottom of the cabinet to drop the cord through and then a clip was added to keep it from moving.  

 Finally I got to add the rest of the items I had envisioned for it today.... next week I will give it it's home for the holiday!

I have a Potted Tree, a hanging Snowflake at the rear, a Santa Face, artificial snow, cardinals and some extra greens...

 
I found this wired fabric ribbon that I made into a bow and stuck the wire into a hole at the top of the lantern to fix it in place.  I didn't want to hide the lighting at the top, but it looks more festive with the bow (I tried it multiple ways)

Santos...

Ever heard of a Santos Doll?

I got a bun on to own one, and finally took the plunge... I'm going to add some holiday flair to her when I finally start decorating...She is what they call a Santos Cage Doll...

 

I like her and I think anyone who enjoyed dolls when they were a young person will like them...I chose this version because her wings can be removed so you can get two different looks automatically from her...

The Santos dolls take their name from the Spanish word for Saint, and are also known as Santons (French) and Santibelli (Italian). The Santos that started the genre of dolls we currently represent (primarily Spanish Colonial and Western European style), were originally started as copies of 17th century carvings by priests. Originally, Santos were created for use as in-home altars. They were needed in small villages that did not have a priest, as well as for when it was not possible to travel to church, such as during times of war. Their development flourished in Europe in the 1700’s and 1800’s, primarily due to these wars.

Santos dolls are closely related to the Crèche figures, which were implemented in Italy by St Francis of Assisi, during the 13th century. However, the Crèche are primarily associated with Italian and French nativity and crib scenes. Crèche scenes are still elaborately displayed throughout Italy and in parts of France, most notably in Provence. 
( The above description was used with permission from SantosCageDoll.com and can't be duplicated without permission )

 

Christmas Past

Christmas 2009- a few highlights from last year.  I won't decorate my home until after Thanksgiving, but I was going through my pictures from last year and thought I would post a few....   

 My Woodland  Santa Greets you!

This is a 9' narrow tree...I like to load it up with my favorite ornaments...I've collected hand painted ornaments since the 90's by Waterford and some by Christopher Radko...I've had good luck with some glass ornaments at Pier 1 imports...good for light reflection!

I worked with silk florals and a red theme last year on the mantel... see the gold bird on the right...

I have this woodland Santa I adore, and I had found these nice candle holders with pine cones on them that worked well with it...my angel sits on top of a small table top facing the dining table...and the tray is a mix of pine cones and random large ornaments...

This was at the kitchen table..I found this adorable garland that I wound loosely around the chandelier and then I added the candy stripe ribbon for a little flair..that's  a real poinsettia there...I lucked out on it and got it at a big box store (trick is to get them when they first arrive so they haven't been mistreated (like no watering) - and not after a severe cold temperature drop, because they don't like to be shocked with the cold) It lasted well into January before any sign of leaves came off. 

This was a little grouping I made in the kitchen, I put styrofoam down inside the planter, then I glued sticks to the little Byer's Choice Carolers- Kindles and stuck them in their places and added the artificial trees...finished off with some white tinsel...

This is a piece from Pottery Barn, about 4 years back..The ornaments came from their store too...I got the display idea from their store and each year I added on to the collection...the artificial snow pulls it together...

Spring into Summer 2010

 I took a steady amount of pictures this spring and summer of my gardens.  I put this video together from some of those pictures I captured.....turn on your volume and listen to the music too!

 
This is so compressed it's best viewed this way rather than full screen....
This was created by using pictures I took with a digital camera and applied them to a program called iMovie on my iMac computer- the quality is much better than it shows here, blogger compresses it so much it's a little fuzzy looking. 
Music is from a CD called Garden Thyme, song title is Heartline

Answer to the question is...

The answer to the question "what are you going to do with this now" 

 I've had these palm pictures for several years but had them in a ready made frame with a plain matting. They were too plain and I wanted to give them a little more formality, so  I took them in to a local framer and had them re-framed and re-matted.  This shelf I recently refinished is intended to go with or near these pictures.  I set these on the floor to give example, because I'm not ready to hang them yet.  We are in a transition in the living room and have a few pictures to re-hang.  
I don't normally try to be matchy matchy, but the palm pictures picked up on my sofa so well, I felt they had to be a part of the scene!

This is a photo from 2006 showing part of the sofa...
as soon as we get the changes in the room made I will post it.
Hope you are having a great Monday!

Part Deux or 2- Le métier or The Craft

Shelf Project- 

  I've worked at this a bit and I think I am finally done with this shelf re-finishing project!

I ended up buying a kit which had three colors in it for creating a tuscan finish on it.  

 





This is after a sea sponge application with two colors at the same time.
You just squirt a blob of each color next to each other and with the damp sea sponge you simply dab onto both colors at the same time and apply to the surface-just keep moving around the piece...I did have to use a brushto get into a few spots....

This is after I applied the gold color with a fan brush, which I used for highlighting......I think this looks a little more Tuscan now, hopefully better than the way I found it...