12.30.2012

christmas tree.


i know it's a little late, but hey, i was still posting pictures with pumpkins in them three weeks ago. so you're all already aware that i'm a deliquent blogger. let's move on. to something much less guilt inducing...

like a christmas tree!


isn't she beautiful? (yes, i'm pretty sure our tree is a girl.) but she wasn't always this lovely. she started her life off looking more like this. ew.


jon and i bought her for cheaps at this semi-sketchy christmas tree lot that sets up in an empty lot next to the gas station at the end of our street every year. she certainly wasn't much to look at in the beginning. i actually had an 'oh crap what did we just buy' moment while i was taking this picture. for a brief second i was sure that she was a lost cause. then i got over it, and with a pair of pruning shears and some vague vision of a sparse, charlie-brown-esq tree, i went for it.


the whole process was a little bizarre and zen like. the whole time i felt like i had no idea what i was doing, but at the same time, i knew exactly what i was doing (i realize that sentance makes no sense, but it really is how i felt).

i think this pile of carnage was around the halfway point (hours later, as seen by the lack of daylight in this picture). by the end of it, i had a kitchen sized trashcan full of trimmings and sap on my hands, arms, face, hair for the next several days. but oh was it worth it.


for the decorations i went pretty simple. lots of lights (seven hundred i think. we had to go to the store to get more when i ran out), glass ornaments in a limited color scheme, an assortment of woodland bottle brush creatures, and some hand made paper decorations. we probably made a half dozen of these origami stars (i say we, because jon had the patience to contribute one. after that he was done).


i also made some simple white dot garlands, inspired by this lovely blog. i just used some opalescent white paper i had on hand (thanks to rach), punched out a ton of white dots, and passed them through my sewing machine.

and now, i don't really want to take her down. i think she'll stay awhile. maybe a long while, depending on how motivated i get to deconstruct all of the decorations and drag it out of the house. currently, my motivation level is at zero.


12.21.2012

what fun.


i finallly figured out what to do with that wooden cassette tape holder. come to find out, each slot is approximately the same width as a one by two piece of wood. just a little sanding is required to make them all fit.


as it's christmas time, i decided to make a festive phrase, in a festive font. i tried using the modge podge and gel medium technique to transfer the image, and had only marginal success (i think i was too impatient and ended up rubbing off some of the image). i filled in the rest with a sharpie, and i think it turned out quite swell.


and i made plenty of more blocks, so that i can trade out the phrase when christmas decor is no longer appropriate (which, the way things go in my house, is round about february).

12.06.2012

tea and coffee.


i love warm beverages. especially this time of year. the days are chilly and a hot drink has the ability to warm me up from the inside out (except for my feet, those are always disturbingly cold. ask jon. he knows).

and now i get to store my tea and coffee in these sweet canisters i got while becca and i were secondhand shopping in england. aren't they lovely?


(*please forgive the pumpkins in a december post. there are often long periods of time between me taking pictures and actually posting...)

they were made in england by the hornsea company, probably in the seventies. the shop owner gave me a deal on them because there was also supposed to be a sugar canister.


and of course the tea container is full of real yorkshire tea. which i think i shall now go make a cup of.

cheers!


12.03.2012

rosemary.

the evolution of a rosemary tree:
as purchased.


repotted.


decorated.


accessorized.


tis the season for glittered dinosaurs.