Let it Snow - On Our Sideboard

It was definitely time to get the Christmas things put away and move on to some winter fun on our sideboard.  I thought a snow theme would be fitting and also meant that I would be able to incorporate some of our Christmas decorations.

So here's what I came up with:

On the right side I tied some white pompom ties around our wooden candlesticks.  I saved the pompom ties from our Christmas crackers last year.  A few members of this family have expressed disapproval of this addition to the sideboard, but then again what do they know.

I bought the metal deer on sale at Loblaws, our local grocery store, that has amazing home decor items.   

I thought these pompom snowballs were sweet.  They likely would be an easy DIY project, but there they were, so I bought them - but only after they went on sale I hasten to add.

They are all covered in glitter and have thin cord to they can be hung from the tree.  The plate they are on was a gift from hubby this Christmas.  It is a little hard to see in the photo, but it has a mother-of-pearl finish to it.

I got this little jug at the thrift store before Christmas and put some pussy willows I had around the house in it.  Did you know that you can keep pussy willows for years if you take them out of water when they are fully open.

I used the silver serving dish, that was given to my parents as a wedding present years and years ago and they gave to us, to hold a candle and some pine cones.  The candle holder in the background is Kate's from her graduation from Grade Eight.  The tables were all decorate with these candles in bowls with sea shells in them and all the students got to take one home.

And this is our view of the sideboard when we are standing at the kitchen sink.  It is well worth decorataing the sideboard as it is such a prominent piece of furniture in our home.

I'm guessing that maybe, just maybe, I was inspired by what was happening outside at the same time that I was decorating inside.  What do you think?

Linked to Show Off Your Cottage Monday at The House in the Roses
White Wednesday at Faded Charm
Boring to Better Party at Savvy Southern Style
Strut Your Stuff Thursday at Somewhat Simple

House Goals for 2011

I have to be realistic about what I can accomplish with all the things that are happening this year (you can read the list here if you missed it), but I'm all about resolutions and making plans so here's my list of what I would like to accomplish around the house this year.

1)  Add some colour to the back of the open cabinet in the kitchen.  I've been pondering whether it should be paint? fabric? wallpaper?  What colour or colours it should be?  Believe me it has been taunting me for months.  I'm open to suggestions and just so you know I'm thinking of yellow.

2)  Add a frame around the mirror in our en suite bathroom along with new taps and light fixture.  We have already purchased the faucet, but it has yet to be installed (or it might even get used in another bathroom since they all need replacing).  I have no idea what type of light to get and I can't decide if the frame around the mirror should be white or dark brown.  Decisions, decisions.

3) Organize the storage baskets for our mitts, hats, and scarves in the front hall closet.  We need new baskets and possibly a shelf added above the one that is already there.  I don't have a picture of it yet, but ideas are brewing.

4) Sort out our oldest son's bedroom so it will accomodate a married couple when they come to visit.  It is a very tiny room and right now contains a twin bed, a dresser, a small bookshelf, and a desk that is built into the closet.  I'm going to take the door off the closet so it is easier to access, take out the twin bed frame and just stack two twin mattresses on top of each other.  That way my husband can use the desk in the room to write his book when there are no visitors and when Malcolm and Christie come to visit the mattresses can be laid out side-by-side on the floor (which will mean it covers the entire floor) to make a queen sized bed.  It is the only arrangement I can see working in our fairly small house, even though it isn't really very elegant.

5)  My biggest resolution for this year is to try and get all the housework done during the week so we don't have to spend the weekends cleaning and doing groceries.  Now that hubby has a new book contract, he will be busy writing most evenings and weekends so that means most of the household chores will fall on me and the kids.  Over the holidays I devised a plan to get everything done during the week and have implemented it for one whole week.  Yah me!  We'll see how it goes as the year progresses, but I would love it if I could make it work. 

That is all I can think of right now and probably more than I will accomplish, but that's okay.  It is to dream!  What about you -- anyone else have plans for what they want to accomplish around the house this year?

Linked to 2011 Home Goals at The Nester

I've Been Featured

I'm very excited and flattered to have our kitchen featured on Remodelaholic (you can read the post here).   Painting the kitchen was a huge project and at the time I felt like it went on  forever.  Now I'm just so happy I did it as the kitchen looks so fresh and clean.  I still have things I want to finish in there, but I can live with that. 

It's now been almost six months since I finished painting the kitchen and here are a few things I've noticed:

• the cabinets are easier to wipe down now that they are painted
• I love decorating the new open shelves and they hold almost as much as they did before
• the darker colour on the bottom has helped hide spills on the cabinet doors near the dishwasher until they can be wiped up

It's a hard working kitchen and I love having it easier to clean and more to my taste than it was before.

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As I wrote last week, I just had my one year blog anniversary and that same week two things happened:  I ran out of photo space on Blogger and had to pay $5 for 10,000 more photos (which seemed like a good deal to me); and I filled up my blog following capacity.   Apparently you are only able to follow 300 blogs and I'm now there, which means that every time I find a new blog I want to follow I have to delete another one - gah!  It's agony.

The Best of January

December is such an easy month to like that I never got around to doing a "best of" list.  If I had, it would have included Christmas lights, Christmas trees, Christmas ornaments, Christmas presents, Christmas dinner, Christmas stockings, Christmas carols, reading Christmas stories on Christmas Eve, Christmas cookies - oh - and celebrating hubby's birthday.  Yep, December is pretty much all about Christmas. 

That kind of leaves a big hole when it comes to January.  Christmas is over for another year and most of the baubles and ornaments have been carefully stored away.  Now that the fun part of winter is finished the endurance part starts.   To help me focus on the best of each month I'm trying to come up with ten things I'm looking forward to enjoying every month. Here's my January list:


1.  Enjoying fresh snowfalls.  We really haven't had much in the way of snow this year - just a few centimetres, although we did have quite a bit more than that at the cottage.  In fact we've had so little snow I haven't been able to take many winter photos yet (apart from the ones I took at the cottage just before New Year's which you can see here) and most of these pictures were from last year.

2.  Examining the intricacies of individual snowflakes.  I love how they are all different and all so pretty.  I think the best place to admire snowflakes is when they fall on your windshield of the car as you sit at a red light.  Speaking of which, I don't really have any photos of snowflakes - I think I'll have to set that as a photo challenge for myself in January.  I love photo challenges.

3. Crunching clumps of snow and ice on the sidewalk.  Along the same lines I love knocking the snow out from around the tires of my car.  Kind of weird things to like, I know.

4.  Evergreen trees - Winter is their finest hour.

5.  Playing bridge.  We are part of a bridge group and haven't played any of our games yet so we will be playing them fast and furious over the next few months.

6.  Skating on the outdoor rink close to where I work.

7.  Making New Year's resolutions.  It is such a nice way to start the year - sorting out what needs to change in your life and trying to work at self-improvement.  I always set myself goals and I sometimes even stick to them - although I usually don't.  It doesn't matter though, it is just the process of taking stock and finding what falls short of where it should be and trying to improve it.

8. Seeing the lovely sunrises and sunsets.  It is easy to see both in January since the days are still so short.

9.  Wearing my cozy woolly winter scarves.


10.  Attending the Opening Night Party of the Interior Design Show at the end of January.  Another excuse to get dressed up and go out on the town.  Wahoo!

What about you - how do you feel about January?  Is it a month full of interesting activities and events or a long month to get through after all the fun of Christmas?
 

One Year of Blogging Bliss

It's hard to believe that I have now been blogging for one year and one day.   I started the blog last year on New Year's Day at the suggestion of my husband and the urging of the whole family.  I was a little reluctant at first and didn't think I would have anything to say or any ideas that anyone would be interested in reading about.  Although I had in mind for this to be a decorating blog, I also know that we are very sloooooow in getting projects done around the house so when I made the decision to be fairly eclectic in my content I actually felt that I could make it work.   Fortunately, it also suits my random personality.   Initially I thought I would blog for a year and see how I was doing and decide if I wanted to continue at that time.  Well a year is up and the experience has far surpassed my expectations. 

I wanted to let you know the top five things I love about blogging (both in having my own and reading others):

1)  I love the blog land community - I've met some of you in person and many I have corresponded with by email and through the comments on my blog through good times and bad and I have to say you guys are the best.  You are unfailingly kind and thoughtful and helpful and go out of your way to be friendly.  I'm touched every time someone takes the time to write a comment.  When I publish a post I kind of hold my breath until I get my first comment and after that I don't mind.  I guess I feel it means that someone is interested and cares about what I am thinking about and writing.  I love the support, the suggestions, and the soul that is to be found in the blog community.

2)  I love being the editor of my own on-line magazine - or at least that's how it feels to me!  I decide what I will write about, I take the photos, I write the text and so it is my magazine.  It's kind of heady stuff.   I love letting the creative juices flow and see what I come up with.

3)  I love taking photographs and editing them and deciding which ones I'm going to put on the blog.  I took photos before I had the blog, but not nearly as many and I have learned a lot about composition, colour, and photo-editing over this past year.  I've fallen in love with photography and I see the world with new eyes now.  I'm always looking out for things to take pictures of and always have my camera with me so I can take some shots.  I've also taken to studying photos in magazines to see how they set up a shot and what angle they used to make the food look good or how to style a room.  I have so much more to learn, but that just thrills me no end.

4)  I love the inspiration - I love the ideas I see on other people's blogs and am constantly impressed with ideas for crafts, decorating, cooking, baking, and photography.  I can't tell you how many ideas I've incorporated into my home and life this past year (mostly because I've lost track), but it makes me happy to have this constant source of creative ideas to be able to draw on.

5)  I love the motivation - I love the little push I get to start - and yes, even to finish - a project so I can post about it on my blog.  As I've said we are slow getting things done around the house, but the blog has helped me be a bit more focussed and for that I'm very grateful.  I love, love, love finished projects and am enjoying the things we have accomplished in 2010.

I have to say that a part of me is a bit intimidated to have completed one year of blogging as  maybe I have run out of things to say, maybe I've done it all -  but I don't think so.  I still have lists on my desk with blog post ideas and 2011 is an exciting year for me so I don't think the creative well has run dry yet.  Here are some of the highlights of this year - it's going to be a big one:

• we celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary in February
• our oldest son is getting married in May
• he's also graduating with his Bachelor of Arts in June
• I'm going to Bangladesh for a month in the summer with a friend to teach in the Speech-Language Pathology department
• hubby and I will be spending a week or so in France to celebrate our wedding anniversary (a stop-off on the way to Bangladesh)
• Kate will be starting University in Nova Scotia

Phew - it's going to be a blast.  

I do have a giveaway in mind to celebrate my one-year blog anniversary, but I don't have it organized yet - so stay tuned.