How to Set Up Your Christmas Village

December 2, 2020December 1, 20203 Comments

Good morning! It’s been a couple weeks since I have been here and now we are in December and all things Christmas!! I have all the decorations up and now I can just sit back and enjoy the lights and other decor. I was finally able to find a place to display my Christmas village this year. I had the perfect place for it at our old house, but we have been here for 4 years and I was still having a hard time figuring out where to put it. So I tried something different and I think it turned out pretty good. This will probably end up being its new place each year.

This is what my fireplace looked like in the fall. This is in my family room. I have had the crates in here for a while and thought maybe they would work for the village too. The first step was to clean everything out and put it all away.

Once everything was cleared out, I gave it all a good cleaning. I also added another crate and set it on the hearth.

I placed soft white felt in all the crates and on the hearth. I found a white tree skirt at the 99 Cent Store that worked perfectly. I pulled out all my large pieces, plugged them in to make sure they worked and then set them where I thought they worked best.

Now comes the hard part…getting them all plugged in and hiding the cords! Whew! I was ‘glistening!’ I have a cord that has outlets every couple of feet and I can plug in 2 or 3 at each outlet. I ran all the cords out the back of the crates and hid them under the ‘snow’ as much as possible. Thankfully there is a wall outlet nearby.

This next part is easier and more fun! I placed all the smaller accessories into the scene. I have trees, benches, people, and dogs. I use fiberfill for little tufts of snow and I even have some little rocks I place around the scene.

The last piece to add was a garland and lights over the top of the whole thing. It looks so pretty at night!

I have two churches, one on each end of town. This village came from Mervyns when they were around. My husband usually bought me a new building each year.

Here you can see the set was part of Village Square. I still see pieces around once in awhile at thrift stores, but I never had enough room for any more pieces. But if this is where I decide to keep it, I can fit more in!

I’m so glad I finally found a good place to display my village. How about you? Do you have a village? How do you display it? I love to see everyone’s villages and how they set it up! Have a great week!

Drop Cloth Winter Wreath

January 14, 2019January 13, 20192 Comments

Good morning! I hope you are all well today! We are having lots of rainy weather lately. We need the rain, but my yard is a muddy mess! Hopefully it won’t be too long before we are nice and warm again and the mud will be gone.

I saw this drop cloth wreath over at Thistlewood Farms blog, my favorite blog, by the way! I thought this wreath would be great for the winter months, but it would be perfect any time of year! Here’s the link for the wreath, but be sure to check out her other posts. KariAnne is a terrific writer and so creative.

You can find out all the instructions over at her blog too and mine are pretty much the same. The only difference, I had to cut many more leaves than she did, so my wreath form must be larger than hers.

Supplies:

Wreath form-I used a metal one from the Dollar Tree, but you could use other kinds too
Drop Cloth
Scissors
Hot Glue

I ended up cutting about 150 leaves. i was able to cut several layers at the same time, so it didn’t take too long.

Once the leaves were cut, I added a dot of glue at the end of the leaf to give it a little bit of curve. This will give the wreath a little more depth.

Once all the pieces had their dot of glue, the leaves were glued onto the wreath form. I glued them on, staggering them, but keeping them all going the same direction.

I hung the wreath on a shutter on my mantle. I have a random outlet right in the middle of the wall above the fireplace, so I always have to find something to cover it up. This shutter was perfect.

I like the contrast of the brown shutter with the white wreath.

I added a couple of brass candlesticks and a little bird to the mantle as well. I’m hoping the bird will bring spring a little sooner. 🙂

Have you ever used drop cloth for any projects? I’ve used it for curtains on my back patio and also as tablecloths, but I have never done a smaller project like this. I really like the texture of it and the soft creamy white color.

Thank you so much for stopping by today. Please do go over and visit KariAnne over at Thistlewood Farms. I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Here are some other posts you might enjoy:

Welcome Fall!

September 3, 2018September 2, 20181 Comment

Good morning! It’s September! Fall time, right?! Well, not really. But in the blogging world, we have to get our ideas out to inspire everyone. I didn’t want to pull out all the red, golds and oranges, so when I visited Michaels, I noticed all the pretty soft neutrals, like sage green, cream and blush. I decided I would focus mostly on those colors with a few spots of orange thrown in.

Come on in!

Since I tried to keep a more neutral color scheme, I added lots of texture. I added a woven basket, a burlap pumpkin, book page paper leaves, and a brass candlestick.

I did pick up this Thankful and Grateful framed print from Hobby Lobby. I figured it was perfect for fall!

Let’s head into the living room! I’m still loving having my faux fireplace in here and I love decorating it too!

I used lots of neutrals on the mantle, using books, chalkboard, cotton and even a spool of ribbon for texture.

Here’s a peek into the dining area! On my coffee table I created a simple vignette. I did add one turquoise pumpkin here along with some gourds. I just received this little ‘Grateful’ wooden block from a friend and knew it would be perfect.

I finished painting this little side table this summer and it was nice to be able to finally add it to my room and place some special pieces on top. I tied a few stems of flowers together, added a burlap pumpkin and a lantern.

I hope you enjoyed this little tour. I will be back next week with my early fall dining room. Thanks for stopping by today!

Rustic Glam Christmas Fireplace

November 30, 2015November 30, 201512 Comments

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Only a few more weeks until Christmas! How is your decorating and shopping going? I got most of my decorating done this weekend after having a mess around the house for the past week. I kept it v-e-r-y simple this year. I used mostly silver and gold and natural items, like wood, greens and wire. I really like how it looks! It’s very calming and soothing. My trees are more colorful and really stand out. I have already shown you my Hot Chocolate Bar and my Silver and Gold Table, so today I am going to show you my Mantel of my Fauxplace.

I used many of the same types of items as I did on the table. Lots of gold, silver and wood.

I used many of Lauren’s books to fill in the space at the top and then placed a wooden tray with Shiny Brite ornaments in the center.

I have had this metal deer for years. He used to be kind of rusty, then turquoise and now he is silver! The magic of spray paint! I added a piece of burlap and a button that came from my grandma’s coat.

I love this little penguin! He is one of my favorite decorations to put out each year. I also love that he can stay out all winter!

I made these wreaths from small wood slices and added a green and white winter themed bow and a little silvery pom-pom to the center. I found the leather strap of bells at a thrift store several years ago.

The large wreath over the top has more wood slices with special Christmas words printed on them and some silver ornaments from Target.

Our stockings are hung on a ladder. I have added charms to each of our stockings that represent each of us. Some of the charms are from places we have been that year, or something special that has happened over the year. I have several Disney ones on mine.

Of course, I had to add my signature starfish to the mantel too!

I hope you enjoyed my little tour! I will be having more Christmas ideas in the weeks to come.

I can’t wait to see some of your decorations and ideas too! See you on Friday!

DIY Headboard to Faux Fireplace Reveal

November 9, 2015November 7, 201520 Comments

I’ve always loved the look of a fireplace. Unfortunately, I have never lived in any house, even growing up, that had one! I am so deprived :)! So after scouring Pinterest and all the blogs I follow, I decided I should try and make my own sometime. This past summer, Lauren and were at Goodwill and came across this headboard for only $3.99! Sold! There were two, and I probably should have bought both of them, but I was so excited to just find one! Then it sat for quite awhile. It always takes me time to think about how this is going to work and exactly how I want it to look.

We took off one of the pieces that was under the shelf. I found some more pieces of wood at another Goodwill that had scallop across one side and decided that would work too. Yes, they are bright turquoise, but everything will get a few coats of paint.

I added a little extra to the bottom too. I had these ornaments from last year that I never did anything with, so I glued them up near the top to add some interest to the piece.

After patching all the holes, I gave it a couple coats of paint.

We added a thin piece of plywood to the back which I painted black. We also added a board along each edge in the back so it would sit flush on the wall since we have 6 inch baseboards. So here it is!

I am so pleased with how this turned out!

It was different to decorate a mantle, but I am looking forward to all the different ways to style it.

Here are the Christmas ornaments I never used last year. I’m so glad I could find a good use for them! I made the acorn garland by hot gluing acorns from my yard onto a piece of twine.

My mom and dad found this box in a dumpster. Um, yes please! It’s perfect here for now.

It won’t be long until this is all decorated for Christmas. I am also wanting some kind of heater for inside so my doggies and I can cuddle up in front of it when it gets cold. It will be the perfect spot!