Showing posts with label christmas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label christmas. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

'Tis the Season!

It's here! The time of year I used to dread!  All the shopping, making, and planning for Christmas drove me nuts for years! I finally figured out that I was making the holidays a terrible time of year for myself and there was no one but me to blame(okay, maybe the merchants and media had a little something to do with it too). I love celebrating with my family so why do I dread this time of year? It hit me like a stack of hundred dollar bills falling off the table...it's the stress I have put on myself to get EVERYTHING done perfect. 

So I made a promise that I wouldn't make myself crazy anymore and that I was going to be realistic and reasonable with my plans for the holidays. I am going to enjoy them! Don't get me wrong, I still have days I'm overwhelmed and get cranky, but I've gotten better at being realistic about what I can actually get done and planning for help or changing my plans to keep me from GRINCHING out during this festive season!


Over the Thanksgiving weekend we put up our tree and decorated the hutch and foyer. Take a peek at what we pulled together! Chelsey is great at finding ideas(thanx Pinterest!) and making them work with what we have. Thank you Chelsey it was fun putting it all together!! Thanx Drew for driving us to Home Depot, Michael's and Staples for all our spur of the moment excursions!




We constructed the book page wings with sheet music, using foam core board as the base. 





The dining room is much less fussy than it's been.







There are a few more little vignettes throughout the house, but I've scaled back on decorating a lot. Mainly because I hate putting it all away after Christmas...I can leave most of the decor up throughout the winter, the Noel frame says Peace on the back, so I'll just turn that around! I am going to use the time saved to make gifts for friends and family. And those wings...I love them, they could stay up forever!!

How's your decorating going?


Go make something!
Nini~

Friday, December 7, 2012

Inspired by the past...

I find my self attracted to the romantic shabby chic modern country that keeps popping up in everyone's house and blog...I wanted to make my Christmas decorations resemble that look with my own little twist, I am a fan of the rustic, texturey, rough, dirty, dusty things of the past. This is what Chelsey and I came up with for my dining room hutch.

Our creation.

Two old newel posts found at a yard sale,  laid on their sides draped in tulle were the inspiration.

 We hung stars from the rag garland made from t shirts, sheets and my no longer white cotton shirts I wore last summer.   I used left over morning coffee to soak the strips over night for more aging.

 We added lots of different textures.


 Chelsey wrapped styrofoam trees with pearls, I used old book pages.


 Jingle bells, ornaments, tulle, wrought iron, star fish, holly, sap buckets, and moss.

 I love the new flameless candles, couldn't place lit candles under rag garland if they weren't!


 This little guy was found at a yard sale, he's very happy among the lace and book page forrest!


Thanks to Chelsey our Christmas decorating was fun and fast this year. I was so inspired by the dining room I had the rest of the house decorated before December 1st! I love sitting in the living room at night nestled in all the cozy warm light and christmas cheer!

Nini~

















Sunday, November 18, 2012

Ten Minute Table Runners, ummmm, not so much!

Okay so, about those ten minute table runners...they take more than ten minutes to make!(That doesn't include the time picking out your fabric either, but who's counting?!) Just stitching it together takes ten minutes, that doesn't include the time it takes to top stitch all the way around and sew fun buttons on for some originality! I wanted to add some extra love and make them more my own! I have put them up for sale in our Etsy Shop Nini and the Sea, so if you see something you like, click on over to etsy and see if it's still available! Yes...they are the 3 trips to the fabric shop table runners I spoke about here! If you're unfamiliar with the 10 Minute Table Runner, here's a video!


Golden Accents






 Holly 






Mistletoe






Angels 






Text 






 I also made some for myself! Take a look at these beauties below!!!







 These are the details that make this a more than 10 minute table runner, but I think it adds a little something extra that is worth the time!












Keep on stitchin', Nini~