O'Christmas Tree 2013

We have been surviving a storm since Saturday which I will post on later this week to commemorate our first Christmas in our new home.

We picked out our tree last Sunday. We went to the same guy as last year, despite learning there are three closer lots to our house on the drive home. I really wanted a big tree this year for our first Christmas in our country home. At the time I thought the one we chose would be a little too short, but it turned out to be the perfect size.

Here's how it looks all lit up:

Here's a blurry night picture I think is beautiful

Favourite Holiday Spaces: Guest Room

It's funny how the simplest things can make you happy! I hung a wreath in the guest room above the bed and put some painted letters that spell Christmas on the ledge, and this is definitely one of my favourite spaces in the house. Sometimes I wish more of my house could be a bit more minimalist, but that's not really my nature (I blame my dad's side of the family and my maternal grandmother)! My mom is coming to visit after Christmas, so I thought a few festive touches in this space would be nice.


PS- The letters are from the dollar store ($2), and we're just painted white and gold!

Favourite Holiday Spaces- Sitting Room Mantle

I have seen tons of Holiday House tours on blogs I read lately, and I wanted to join in the fun. Instead of giving one tour of all my holiday decorations, I decided to share some of my favourite spaces. This is our first Christmas in our old country cottage, so decorating was exciting this year as I had to pick new places for everything to go.

Our sitting room doesn't get used very often, but it does have a lovely fireplace with a barn board mantle. It already had my collection of blue fruit jars and the wooden C and J from our wedding. I added some garland and lights as well as my Christmas mitten bunting. I found two bags of vintage glass Christmas bulbs at Value Village earlier this month and used the green and blue ones on top of each of the jars. It looks great during the day, but magical at night!

DIY: Holiday Runner Under $3

I picked up these cute white and red dish towels at Ikea the last time I stopped in for a hot dog! They were $0.69 each. I thought they looked a bit festive and decided that if I sewed them together they would make a cute runner.

I hope to get around to actually sewing them together this weekend, but her is what I am thinking (minus the cat- who likely would be so bold as to cosy up to them when they're sewn and on the table as well).

That is if I can get them away from this one!

We're getting our real tree this weekend, and I am very excited. Here is our tree from last year and the famous 2011 post. I am also looking forward to getting through my Christmas card writing and putting up my Christmas Card holder from last year. 

Kitty Christmas Cards

We have caught our kittens in the act of enjoying our Christmas decorations each year, and each time I think, wow that could be on a Christmas card. In 2012 Boy-Cat launched himself into all of the ribbon we had just taken off the tree, and this past weekend, Missy decided to nestle in some wreaths before they went outside!

2012

2013

West Elm Hack: 3 Jar Chandelier

As I noted in an earlier post, we have been humming and hawing over lighting decisions for most of the rooms in the house. The search came to an end of the dining room and kitchen a few weeks ago, and I am proud to say we have new lights hanging above the island and dining table!

For the dining table chandelier, we took advantage of the West Elm 20% off lighting sale and purchased their 3 Jar Chandelier.

Photo from West Elm

They didn't have any in stock, so I ordered over the phone and opted for store delivery to save the shipping and duty charges. After making the scary drive downtown (which included an Ikea pitstop for hotdogs and an As-Is visit), I made it to West Elm and picked up our light.

When my dad was here last week, he had installation on his project list. Chris saw it before me and told my dad I wasn't going to like it. He was right, it looked too modern in our space, the pewter coloured metal didn't match the bronze pendants hanging over my island and the silver cord didn't match anything. We thought about taking it down and selling on kijiji, but having been without a proper light for so long, and the fact that it had so much potential, I decided to give it a makeover.

Before the makeover when Chris took it down.

So I used a Sherry Petersik trick and bought a can of oil rubbed bronze spray-paint. After taping the light sockets, all of the metal parts got a few healthy coats of spray (multiple light coats works best). Although it doesn't match my bronze pendants exactly, it's much better.

The cord still had to be improved, so taking a cue from our wedding Boutonniers, I decided I would trying wrapping jute twine around the cord. I was able to get away with only gluing the top and bottom of the cord making it easy to change in the future if need be.

I love the way it turned out. It fits the vibe of our old house so much better than the original version. 

22 Hours Later: Our Trip to Maine

It feels like I have been MIA for ages on the blog. We've had a busy couple weeks, so please excuse the radio silence. The busyness started with a whirlwind trip to Maine to visit my good friend Cait and her sweet new puppy Piper. My husband decided we could drive and after 11 hours each way (with a snowstorm on the way back), we proved him right. It was so good to catch up with Caitlin, meet Piper and introduce Chris to all the Maine landmarks.

After showing up at 2am and getting a bit of sleep, Elliot rewarded me with some cuddles.

We had to get this guy a Maine lobster roll the first day. 

Note: Don't let two girls who don't eat lobster pick out the lobster spot. 

Chris was introduced to all things LL Bean!

My comrads at the start of our shopping trip.

And After!

No trip would be complete without a trip to Scratch Baking Co. for their yummy bagels and spice cookies.

The Beach Walk Had Beautiful Sights

Including this pretty girl- the star of the weekend!

All in all, we had a great trip. The driving wiped us, and then we hosted my dad the following week and this week is our 1st Annual Country Christmas which means we spent last weekend decorating, prepping baked goods and tidying the house. I hope to be back later in the week with some DIYs and our wedding pictures have finally arrived, so you should expect an update soon!