Monday, December 12, 2011

Come on in for a Visit

I'm so glad you stopped by for a visit - welcome.   




The front porch has a few Christmas touches - twig stars, shiny balls hung on twigs and placed in the lanterns,




and touches of white on the wreath and the little girl's skates.




 Come on inside out of the cold.  Would you like a cup of tea?




some cookies?




Let me show you around.  


I kept the mantel pretty simple this year - just the spindle Santas and some pine cones.  Can't get much simpler than that, but I love it.  Those spindle Santas are near and dear to our hearts - each one has a special story which you can read about here.




I did something a little different in the dining room.  I've never done a colour scheme before, but really wanted to try doing the sideboard in red and white this year.  I love how simple and fresh it looks.  (You can read more about the sideboard and see more pictures here).



I've been meaning to show you how I created the plates.  I wanted to let you in on a little secret about how easy they were to do.  They really depended more on my ability to copy designs and do some good Googling than on any actual inherent talent.  Oh, and it definitely helped my psyche to know that I could wash the Sharpie off the plates - I'm not sure why it would scrub off as usually Sharpie is permanent, but when I found out I could remove it I felt a lot freer to experiment and try designs.


The Christmas lights were from an image I found online.  The first time I drew the bulbs they were all different sizes and shapes and looked ... well ... not right.  So I made a little stencil out of cardboard and used that so the bulbs were similar to each other.



Lighting Pictures


The idea for the Christmas balls came from a Folio Society ad that we got in the mail.  I knew I couldn't draw the gorgeous designs they had on the balls so I improvised.






The snowflake picture came from an embroidery design that I found online.  I simplified it as well as you can see below.




Green Crafts
And the Christmas tree was a modification of the many scribble trees you can find online, like the one below.




Want 2 Scrap


I'm so glad you dropped by for a visit.  We're putting our tree up this weekend so pop back to have a look.   We would already have it up, but Kate isn't back from university yet and she's a Christmas-loving girl so we thought we would wait for her.

Linked to Virtual Christmas House Tour at The Inspired Room,
Holiday House Tour at Hooked on Houses,
DIY Ornaments Holiday Crafts Link Party at Centsational Girl,
Christmas Crafts at Bower Power

19 comments:

  1. Grace, I love your plates. You've done a fantastic job picking just the right designs :)

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  2. Lovely! The plates are adorable. Did you use a sharpie? or paint? I love all the red and white in the canning jars, and the framed wreath. That whole vignette is charming. I totally understand waiting for your daughter to decorate your tree.

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  3. Love the plates, how inspiring!

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  4. Your house is so pretty Grace! I love that heart mug, and those plates are just amazing! I mean really, they are very cool! And you made it look easy, but I know I couldn't do the great job you did on them so I will just have to swoon over yours!

    Kat :)

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  5. Your place is looking very festive! The plates are so fun!

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  6. Great House Tour Grace! I love your porch and your dining room colour schemes! Those plates are brilliant....such a neat idea with big impact! LOVE them! They would make great gifts too, don't you think? A custom designed plate with some yummy cookies? Have a wonderful week! Angie xo

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  7. I love the plates! And the ice skates are so fun!

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  8. Beautiful tour! I really love the custom plates! I'm glad I found you on the Christmas Home Tour linky! New follower :)

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  9. Love your red vignette! The plates are darling, you've inspired me to add them to my list of projects! :)

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  10. Thanks for the tour. Your house is so charming - I love the ice skates - reminds me of my childhood in the mountains. Those plates are so cute - I'm going to try them myself - I'm inspired!

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  11. Those plates are BEAUTIFUL and so festive! I'm so impressed that you made them yourself! Makes me think I might have to try something like that for next year, but we'll just have to see... :-) Merry Christmas!

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  12. Everything is so beautiful! I'm especially loving the plates - what a cool idea that could be adapted for the whole year. All your vignettes are so peaceful but festive. Thanks for the inspiration!

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  13. You did such a beautiful job! Love the plates and love how simple and inexpensive they are! Thanks for the inspiration!

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  14. I will take some tea and cookies, thanks. They look so yummy!

    Love your plates. What a fun idea!

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  15. Oh, the tea and cookies look so delicious! Love your wreath, just beautiful.

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  16. Those plates are just beautiful ... I love that whole red and white display!

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  17. If you aren't using them and aren't washing them the paint won't come off. I have read and tired 350 20 minutes but washes off in dish washer, so now I am trying 450 and 30 minutes cool in oven and then overnight before using and we will see if that works. Someone recommended to hand wash. Any tips?

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  18. Try this again. If you are just putting them on the wall and not using them then most likely the sharpies work. Now if you are using them and do it at 350 20 minutes it wears off in the oven. I am now trying 450 30 minutes and cooling in oven and over night to see if that helps it set better. I want to do a set of wedding mugs for my nephew and his wife with some other gifts for their wedding next fall.

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  19. Hi Great idea.... Did you know that they have glass & china acrylics? They are inexpensive & have a point so can also write with the bottles. Children love this project.. & makes really adorable gift for them to give..... Awesome rainy day project thanks

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