DIY: Have Yourself a DIY Christmas

Oh, look, it's just how I paint: sitting at my easel lookin' all 1950's glam with my puppy assistant. Except instead of a gown, I'm usually painting in my sweatpants (yes, I own one pair) and in place of a cute pup, I have an obese kitty who walks through my paint. But one can dream.

 As Christmas approaches, I'm coming to terms with a few issues I have. Well, okay, I have many an issue but for now, let's just chat about the ones concerning the holidays. So far, I've come up with these:

1. I have a penchant for phoney-baloney pre-lit dwarf-sized Christmas trees. And if they are tinsel tress in some tacky color like pink, green or gold, I love them all the more.
2. I have to make the majority of my Christmas decor. I can't buy it because that somehow feels like cheating . So at Christmas my house looks like some 4-H fair craft display. And I kinda like it.
3. Once I start decorating for Christmas, I Just. Can't. Stop.

 

I created these paintings last year. The larger green painting I based off of a vintage Christmas card. I had picked up this little wooden house shape years ago at the thrift store. After painting the green canvas, I painted this little house to go with it. This sits in the front room of our house on my decked out easel.

For that over-decorating reason, I don't have any brand spanking new DIY's this week. So I thought I'd share with you a peak around my pad at DIY's of Christmas past. I'll just be giving a brief description of each as I still have more decorating and cleaning to do before the hub's work party goes down here on Friday night. On top of that, I've got a Tacky Christmas Sweater to whip up and the awards for the Tacky Christmas Sweater Contest we're having at school tomorrow. Whew! It really is the most insanely busy (and wonderful!) time of the year.

Enjoy! And if you have any questions about these DIY's, please feel free to ask.

I scored my first pre-lit tree of the year on Black Friday. I planted it inside of a paper suitcase that my mother-in-law gave me for my birthday last year. I created the paper chains years ago and they make an appearance every year, much to hubs dismay. He's not a fan of el paper chain-o.

 I created these hot air balloons ornaments with light bulbs, vintage fabric, Modge Podge and a bottle cap.

Despite the fact that this pre-lit tree is only partially lit (which is exactly how I like to spend my holidays), I still adore it. It sits in my living room surrounded by a couple of Rudolph paintings I created two winters back.

My favorite Christmas special has always been Rudolph. I used my Golden Book from childhood as the inspiration for these canvas board paintings.

 Favorite scene from Rudolph where Rudolph befriends fellow-misfit wanna-be dentist elf Hermey:

Hermey: Hey, what do you say we both be independent together, huh?
Rudolph : You wouldn't mind my - red nose?
Hermey : Not if you don't mind me being a dentist.
Rudolph : [shaking hands with Hermey] It's a deal.

I scored this pre-lit tree for cheap at Goodwill just this week. I added my paper doll collection as well as some vintage sewing notions.

This tree has everything I want for Christmas on it: gorgeous vintage dresses!

Last Christmas, I discovered pinterest and my life was never the same. I created that wreath with my collection of vintage glass ornaments. I began by yarn wrapping the wreath and then hot gluing the ornaments onto it. I then picked up tulle in the same colors and cut that into strips. I tied the strips of tulle onto a string of white Christmas lights.

Ya'll might remember my pink cuckoo clock tree from this post. My dream tree is a real vintage pink aluminum one. But for now, this one next to my mantle in the living room will have to do.

If only my Christmas shopping were so glamorous. I'm usually just clicking away on amazon in the wee hours of the morn. I painted this long painting right before painting the green one at the beginning of this post. These paintings remind me that I've not picked up a paint brush in some time. I need to do that. If I could step away from the sewing machine long enough.

Just a little close up.I have found that adding candy cane stripes to the edge does a great job of hiding smudges of paint and mistakes.

 Thanks for dropping by. I do hope your holidays are shaping up to be just plain fabulous!

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DIY: Sparkling Personality

 I've had my vintage paper doll collection stuffed in envelopes for months because I just couldn't think of a way to display them. So when Christmas rolled around and I was in a decorating frenzy, it came to me to dress my tree in vintage. 

I am about to go off on a wee bit of a rant. Before I do, I would like to preface my upcoming comments with the following bit of info. Try as I might, I do not have a Sparkling Personality. If it's morning, I am slumpy (that's sleepy + grumpy), before lunch I am often hangry (that's hunger induced anger) and in the evenings, I'm occasionally exhausticated (exhausted with a desire to self-medicate). This leaves just a few hours of the day for me to sparkle. And I'm no Edward Cullen, 'kay?

 While shopping in some little boutiques this past weekend, I saw the cutest ever glittery clothespins. For $25. Wait, what? Um, no. So I went to http://www.michaels.com/ and picked up these mini clothespins along with some finely ground glitter. I coated the top in Modge Podge, dipped in glitter, added another coat of M.P. and viola! Glittery Clothespins for under $5.

That being said, I have made one of my resolutions to "fake it till I make it". Meaning, to work through whatever unpleasant mood I am in and turn it around to a positive one. Of course, I do think that it is fine, maybe even healthy, to be grouchy, angry and grumpy at times...as long as it is not directed with the intent to hurt others. So that's my plan.

One of the items I did pick up at a local boutique. Some sweet little DIY paper chains made by this company http://www.eastofindia.co.uk/


Wow, so that was a lot of prefacing. Now on to the rant. When my family was in town this past weekend, we did some shopping in one of the cutest areas near my home, downtown Franklin. If you're not familiar, it has the feel of an old fashioned town square brimming with boutiques and restaurants. It's also a place where  you can "shop local", if you're into that sort of thing.

Since I loved seeing my dolls on the tree, I didn't want to pack them back into the envelopes just yet. I knew they needed a place in my sewing room but space is pretty tight, as you can see. So I assembled my paper chains, attached the ladies with my glitter clothespins, and strung them above my framed collection of vintage notions. 

I was sad to see that several of the shop keepers/employees where just plain rude to us. When we entered several of the stores, we were not greeted or asked if we needed help. In fact, when we did approach some folk, it seemed that we were a real bother as they were texting or browsing on their computer. I have a habit of calling out "thank you!" when I leave a shop which was met on two occasions with a grunt.

Not wanting to put more nail holes in the wall (which already looks like a shooting range), I put stick pins in the wall and hung the chains over them.

As stated earlier, I'm not so great at masking my moods so I can relate to crankiness. But, really. With little local shops sinking faster than the Titanic, you'd think they'd work a little harder on their customer service. So I'm not sporting a name brand pair of heels or a headful of hundred dollar highlights. What I am carrying is a no-name brand purse with a knockoff wallet inside chuck full of Christmas cash I'm ready to spend. But not at your shop.

The funny thing is, I've never been treated like that when I walk into the franchise shops. Starbucks is one of the friendliest places around. It's no wonder to me that the little chocolate and coffee shop that was once next door where I was treated like dirt is no longer around. And good riddance.

It's not like I'm asking these people to go nuts when I enter the store, just fake it. Fake it till you make it. There, rant over.

Now, let me tell you about the shops in downtown Franklin that are local and experts at customer service. Here's a list of my favorite, always polite, strongly recommended shops: The Shoppes on Main http://www.theshoppesonmain.net/

Binks Outfitters http://www.binksoutfitters.com/

And, my favorite, The What's In Store http://www.whats-in-store.com/

Happy Shopping!

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