Christmas Tree Lit with Real Candles

I know Christmas is behind us, but I just had to share these wonderful photographs of Cornelia's, gorgeous tree.  Cornelia lives in Switzerland and each year she decorates her tree in a traditional way, using real candles.  Wait until you see the photos of it all aglow in candlelight!  It truly is breathtaking!

The decorating process takes Cornelia many hours, usually 15-16.  The ornaments are original and are treasured pieces from Germany and Czechia.

Click HERE to continue reading...

Brumby Hall: Tour the Upstairs of This Historic Home

In early December I had the opportunity to tour Brumby Hall while on a Christmas Historic Home Tour in Marietta, Georgia. One of the homes open during the tour was Brumby Hall. I previously shared a tour of the downstairs of this beautiful home HERE and a tour of the two dining rooms HERE.

In case you missed those previous tours, here's a brief history of this historic home.

In the previous posts, we toured the downstairs; today, we're heading upstairs.

I've always wanted to put a runner up my main staircase with the brass rods like you see here.  I wouldn't mind exposing a bit more tread on either side, though.  Love this look on a stairway.

Click HERE to continue reading...

Ice Chiller for Wine or Champagne: A Tutorial

I shared how to make this wine chiller last year, but I thought it would be fun to share that post again in case you're looking for something fun for your Christmas table or for your New Year's eve celebration.  It's easy to make...you'll just need a couple of containers, water and cranberries.  Sliced lemons and limes would work, too.

Tutorial:  Make a wine chiller:

Last year I received a catalog in the mail and it showed this pic/ad. I was tempted to order it until I realized the silver bowl was plastic. I remembered I already had a silver bowl, so I decided to try and make the ice chiller with things I already had and save myself $29.00.




The Before:
The only items I had to purchase were a bottle of wine, cranberries and distilled water. You don't have to use distilled water so you could save the expense of buying that, if you like. But I discovered when I made flower ice cubes HERE, distilled water will usually freeze pretty clear, and it's only $1 for a gallon...more than enough for my ice chiller. If you would like your ice chiller more frosty looking like the one in the catalog, just use tap water.



Click HERE to continue reading...

Colonial Williamsburg Christmas Centerpiece: Welcome to the 174th Tablescape Thursday!

Greetings!  Hope you’ve been having a wonderful day!  My day has been a little wacky.  I had an eye exam this morning and I sort of forgot when you go for an eye exam, they dilate your eyes.   So, if these pics look a little blurry, you’ll know why.  lol  It was definitely a challenge taking photos and sorting them with partially dilated eyes.

I love the “Colonial Williamsburg style” fruit trees. The tree I created this year is a bit different from those I've created in years past.




I took the leaf out of the table so this tablescape is a bit cozy.   I started out with red candles but changed to gold ones midway through the picture taking process.  So you’ll see both red and gold candles in this table setting as you scroll through this post.

Click HERE to continue reading...

Christmas Mice Ornaments or Present Toppers: A Tutorial

Looking for an ornament or present topper? Christmas mice with candy cane tails make cute ornaments for the tree.   They are also great little present toppers.  This is a great craft for all ages.  I have a faux candy cane tucked inside my little mouse below, but you'll probably want to use a real candy cane if you attach these to a Christmas present.  The faux candy canes work great when making these to use as ornaments.

Here's how Mr. Mouse looks with a real candy cane tail.

Tutorial for Candy Cane Mice:

Click HERE to continue reading...

Christmas Inspiration in Blogland

There were so many fabulous Before and Afters linked for Metamorphosis Monday!  Here are just a few I found linked to inspire you as you finish those last minute holiday preparations.  (Click on the links to view the full post.)

Love how Rita has decorated her bedroom for Christmas at May Days:

Mary has a great tutorial for making a table runner for your Christmas table at Redo 101.

Click HERE to continue reading...

Christmas Vacation, A Movie House Tour

Christmas Vacation: A Movie House Tour

When Christmastime comes around each year, do you and your family have a favorite movie that you just have to watch?   Mine without a doubt is the classic, Home Alone.  Love the house, love the humor and I can't help but feel a little sentimental when I see it since my son was about Kevin's age when the movie first came out.

Another movie that's become a favorite over the years for many folks is National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation starring Chevy Chase as Clark Griswold and Beverly D'Angelo as his wife, Ellen.

In the movie, Clark has big plans for a "good, old-fashioned family Christmas."  Both sets of grandparents are coming for Christmas, along with his Aunt Bethany and Uncle Lewis.  The Griswolds get a surprise visit from Cousin Catherine (Miriam Flynn) and her moocher husband, Eddie, played by Randy Quaid.

The movie takes place in this adorable house.  You know I have an affinity for yellow houses from THIS post.  It definitely has that "all-American, mom and apple pie" look.




If you've seen some of the other movie house tours at BNOTP, you are probably wondering if the movie was really filmed in this house.

Click HERE to continue reading...

A Mercury-Glass Christmas Tree Table Setting: Welcome to the 173rd Tablescape Thursday!

Several months ago I was shopping in Marshall's and I came across a mercury-glass Christmas tree. It was very early in the season and the stores were just starting to get Christmas stuff in. The tree was only $12.99 so I purchased it with the idea of buying a few more for my Christmas table setting this year. I was envisioning a centerpiece filled with pretty, silvery trees. Unfortunately, I never came across anymore silver trees in any of the discount stores. Pottery Barn had them but the price was way more than what I wanted to pay.

Then it happened. I went on a Christmas home tour and there it was, the table I had envisioned. These home tours are bad for the pocket book, ya know? It was gorgeous and I was ruined. The next day I bit the proverbial bullet and purchased a tall tree and two small trees at Pottery Barn. Ouch. Merry Christmas to me.

I still needed one more small tree. I didn't want all the trees to be exactly the same--so much more interesting when they don't all match. I just wanted them all in the mercury-glass style. I eventually found another one in Marshall's, but it was more silver than mercury-glass looking. You'll see it in some of the pics below. I wasn't satisfied with it and eventually I found another mercury-glass tree inexpensively on eBay, also visible in some of the photographs below. It adds a fun twist to this table setting.

The three center trees (including the tall one) are the ones from Pottery Barn. One cool thing about the PB trees: they are designed so you can tuck a string of lights up inside. In this pic below, the lights inside the 3 center trees are turned off.

Click HERE to continue reading...

Colonial Williamsburg at Christmastime

Recently, my friend, Mary, visited Colonial Williamsburg.  While there she took photos of some of the wonderful outdoor Christmas decorations she saw on Duke of Gloucester Street, which is the main road through Colonial Williamsburg.  I have never been there during the Christmas season, but I do so want to go.  Have you ever been at Christmastime?

Mary said, "The arrangements go up right after Thanksgiving and remain up to January 6th.  Most of the arrangements are hand made by the employees of Williamsburg, Va. and some arrangements, the employees who are lucky to rent these colonial homes make their own arrangements. Employees who rent are allowed to hire a florist to make their arrangement but everything has to ALL natural, and only items that would have been in Virginia in the 1700's can be part of the arrangement. All of the arrangements are judged by the category-professionally made, hand made by an amateur, made by Williamsburg employee in the floral department. The arrangements are checked daily for anything that might have wilted. The pine roping is changed every 2 weeks."

No wonder all the arrangements are so beautiful!

Come along and help me name the elements used in creating these amazing displays.  I've numbered the pictures for easy reference.

1.




2. This appears to be dried flowers with perhaps burlap interwoven throughout.  I know I should know the names of the flowers…they look so familiar.  Want to take a stab at it?  The purple and pink are globe amaranth, I think.




3.  I see pomegranates, pine cones and more dried flowers.  Ummm, what are the long, skinny stalks?

Click HERE to continue reading...

A Christmas Porch Welcome to the 151st Metamorphosis Monday!

Happy Holidays!  Hope your weekend has been grand!  I've been busy finishing the last bit of Christmas decorating for the front porch.  Come a bit closer and check it out.

I usually use pine garland around the door for Christmas, but last year I had to buy enough to go around the door twice because it was sort of skimpy looking.  So this year I decided to try cedar.  If you live in the Atlanta area, Pike Nurseries has beautiful cedar garland.  I purchased 30 feet--enough to go around the door, down the center of my dining room table and across the mantel for $45.

Click HERE to continue reading...

Christmas Historic Home Tour in Marietta, Georgia

Last Saturday I went on a Christmas (historic) home tour in Marietta, Georgia with a friend.  We had so much fun! The weather was great...not too cold, just cloudy.  I took a lot of exterior pics and was able to capture bunches of pics inside two beautiful homes included in the tour. I'll share the interior shots soon, but for now, here are the sights we saw along the way.

Click HERE to continue reading...

Santa Claus is Coming to Town: Welcome to the 172nd Tablescape Thursday!

Greetings and Happy Holidays! I've been working on a tablescape in the dining room this week, but I'm short one thing I need to complete it. So, last night I put together a totally different table setting in the breakfast room.  While taking pics today, I played around a little with a setting on my camera called "effects."  I've included a few pics taken in the effect setting known as "color sketch."

This tablescape turned out to have a "Santa" theme.  I paired Santa salad plates (used in this previous Christmas tablescape) with red trimmed Noritake, Colorwave dinner plates. As I was setting the table, I remembered I had three sleighs stored away with the Christmas decorations. Once I climbed into the little storage area under the eves, I discovered I actually had four sleighs. All were received as gifts over the years, except one. It struck me as funny, how completely different they all are in their design.   I think you'll enjoy seeing all the different "takes" on Santa's sleigh.

Oh, one more fun thing to note: this table setting includes the "key to JOY."  See if you can spot it.  We can never have too much joy, right? (Click on any photo to further enlarge it.)

Please enjoy this table setting accompanied by the well-loved poem, A Visit from St. Nicholas, better known as Twas the Night Before Christmas.  Per Wikipedia, "According to legend, A Visit was composed by Moore on a snowy winter's day during a shopping trip on a sleigh. His inspiration for the character of Saint Nicholas was a local Dutch handyman as well as the historical Saint Nicholas."

Twas the Night Before Christmas
By Clement Clarke Moore

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there.

Click HERE to continue reading...

Beautiful Christmas Banister

Recently, my friend Joy sent me a few pics of  her banister decorated for Christmas. When I saw the photos, I gasped!  It's covered in hundreds of ornaments and took several hours to create...worth every moment!

I asked Joy how she created this stunning look and she said, "It's two strands of garland wrapped in three strands of 100 lights. I work each strand individually and wrap it with the garland so that the cords don't show."
Click HERE to continue reading...

Hang Wreaths on Your Exterior Windows: A Tutorial

Though I didn't have a working camera this week, I did manage to get all the "outside" wreaths hung and snapped a few pics for this tutorial.  The porch isn't decorated, yet.  This is an old pic from a past Christmas showing the wreaths across the front of the house.

Click HERE to continue reading...

Help! It's Holiday Party Time!

I love this time of year. It's crazy busy but oh, so much fun! With Thanksgiving behind us, it's time to focus on getting ready for Christmas and the upcoming holidays. Do you have an office party coming up? Any neighborhood parties to attend? Or, perhaps you'll be the one hosting this year's holiday gathering.

Photo from O Magazine online

Remember this awkward "social" visit in the hysterical movie, The Burbs?   I've often wished there was someone to turn to for the "how tos" and "what ifs" of holiday entertaining. Wouldn't it be wonderful to have someone knowledgeable in the field of etiquette to bounce all those questions off we have about hosting and attending holiday parties?

Scene from movie tour, The Burbs

Well, wish no more because BNOTP is fortunate to have a Sponsor who is an expert in the field of etiquette.  Cindy Haygood, the Training Director with the Etiquette & Leadership Institute is visiting today and she's helping us out with questions we sometimes have about hosting or attending dinner parties and holiday events.
Click HERE to continue reading...

Inspiration for Your Holiday Decorating and More!

Greetings Dear Friends!  How was your day?  I've been working on all kinds of fun things today, including a tablescape for Tablescape Thursday.  One bit of exciting news:  the blue and white pumpkin I submitted in the Country Living Facebook Contest ended up winning the most "Like" votes.  Thanks so much to everyone who took time to vote!

Several folks have asked what prize the winner receives.  The winner receives 10 yards of Waverly fabric.  Waverly makes some of the most beautiful fabric you've ever seen, so I'm excited and nervous at the same time about having won.  I haven't done a huge amount of sewing in my lifetime...just a few costumes shared in THIS post and some pillows for a 4th of July porch shared in THIS post.  Something tells me there may be a sewing project in the works here on BNOTP before long.  If/when that happens, I promise to share it all with you--after all YOU were the catalyst behind this--from start to finish!

Stylist Home:
The Huffington Post has a new website devoted to design and DIY, called Stylist Home.

I discovered their site when they contacted me recently to ask about featuring one of my previous napkin folds.  If you're looking for some fun ideas for a future tablescape or DIY design project, or if you just want to check out the napkin fold they chose to feature on their site, you'll find it at Stylist Home.

♦Julia added a fabulous sunroom to her home a while back and she's been busy decorating it for fall.  I love the new lamp and ottomans she just bought for this beautiful room.  Hooked on Houses

♦Need some inspiration for your holiday mantel this year?  Melissa's wonderful mantel was featured in Cottages & Bungalows!   The Inspired Room

Kathleen made whimsical wreaths using vintage toys.  I love these!
Click HERE to continue reading...

Decorating with Wreaths Inside Your Home

Although Thanksgiving is still two weeks away, I'm already thinking about Christmas.  I have even started decorating a little inside.  I want to start early this year so I can really enjoy the holiday season in full.  There have just been too many years in the past where I felt I had just put the decorations up when it was time to take them back down.

One  of my favorite things to decorate inside with at Christmastime are wreaths.  We all know wreaths look wonderful hanging on doors but there are so many more fabulous places to hang a beautiful wreath inside your home.

Wreaths are gorgeous hanging in front of a window.  Give the chief dishwasher a lovely view with a beautiful wreath.  I love the little one hanging off the edge of the island.

Traditional Home

Here's another great example using a square wreath inside, again in a window...

Traditional Home

I took this photo while on a home tour and I love how she not only hung a wreath in the window, but she completely encircled the window with garland, too.  You can take this home tour, HERE.

On this same home tour we saw this wonderful bedroom, again with a lovely wreath hanging from a window.  Isn't this room just beautiful?  You'll find more of this home tour, HERE.

Click HERE to continue reading...

Museum Wax to the Rescue

Hello dear friends!  How's your day going so far?

I was hard at work yesterday and I'm one tired puppy this evening as I write this.  The leaves are just beginning to fall off the trees in the backyard and every afternoon for an hour or so, the sun has been streaming in so brightly, I can't really view the monitor or work at my computer. During the spring and summer months, it's not a problem.

 So, I decided to fold the shutters back across the windows. That involved popping them off their hinges which took way longer than you would think.  They are heavy and are bi-folded back behind the desk so the process was slow and difficult.

I also decided to remove ALL the glass from the tops of all surfaces and clean underneath where little particles had become trapped where the glass sections meet.  What a job! It took a few hours to move the monitors, router, modem, lamps etc...clean the glass on both sides, all the surfaces and get the pins out of the shutters and reattach them in the closed position.  It was a great workout.

I totally forgot to take a pic during daylight hours, but here's how the office looks in the evening by lamplight with the shutters in place and the lower louvers closed for privacy.  I'll take a pic tomorrow during daylight hours and add it to this post.  I know I'll miss the wide-open view, but this will be a lot cozier and more practical/insulating for winter.

Click HERE to continue reading...

Colonial Williamsburg Apple Tree Tutorial: Welcome to the 101st Metamorphosis Monday!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! I hope your holidays have been wonderful!

Recently, I created a Colonial Williamsburg style, apple tree centerpiece for our Christmas dinner table setting. I've had several requests in the past for a tutorial showing how this centerpiece is made...so when I made the centerpiece this year, I took pics along the way. :)




To create the apple tree shown above, you'll need some greenery. The greenery I gathered from my yard included magnolia, holly and nandina berries, but you can substitute other types of greenery like boxwood, cedar or pine. I guess you could call the photo below my "Before" for this Met Monday.



You'll also need an apple tree form. Mine was given to me over 15 years ago by a friend with whom I worked. I'm not sure where she found it. They usually have them at the Williamsburg Marketplace online, but when I checked this evening I couldn't find them. They may be temporarily sold out due to the Christmas holiday because they usually have them in stock. If you are interested in buying a form, check their site again later in the year and hopefully they will have them back in stock.




If you know someone who is crafty or a woodworker, perhaps they can make one for you. As you can see, mine is just a wood cone, attached to a round wood base. It has what appears to be long finishing nails protruding at regular intervals around the cone. Note: The nail that is protruding from the very top of the form, in the center, is longer than all the other nails.




I always place the apple form on a towel so I can spin it around as I work without scratching the surface I'm working on. I bought two bags of small apples. I use small apples because large apples tend to be too big and make it difficult to create three rows around the tree, and still leave the top row of apples low enough to not interfere with the pineapple topper.




To get started, just take an apple and push it onto a nail. I always start at the bottom and work my way up. I like to leave a small space under the apple for tucking in greenery later.




Here's how it looked after the first row. If you finish and there's a big gap between your first and last apple, you'll need to pull the last apple you placed back off and find a fatter apple in your stash of apples, or re-adjust the ones that are on the tree over a little. You don't want to pull apples off and on a lot because the more holes you create in your apples, the sooner the apples will begin to go bad. But don't fret about that too much. I always end up having to adjust some apples and my trees still last well over a week...even close to two weeks. I don't remove the stems from the apples since they don't seem to interfere in any way.




A view from the top...




Start a second row of apples around your tree. I always stagger the rows but inevitably some apples will end up directly over other apples. Again, don't worry about that...we aren't shooting for perfection here. :) I don't leave a space between the rows of apples (or at least, I don't do so intentionally) because I don't tuck greenery underneath the apples within the apple tree itself. I only do that under the first row of apples.




In this pic, I'm starting the third row. As I'm working, I'm spinning the towel around and around with the tree sitting on top of it. It slides very easily so the work goes quickly. The whole tree only takes about 25-30 minutes to assemble.




Here's how it looks with the third row completed...




A view looking down with all the apples in place...




I used almost all of the apples in both bags...just had four left over.




I always purchase the smallest pineapple I can find to use for the top. It's hard to find a small one sometimes. A really big pineapple can tend to overwhelm your apple tree. I don't go from store to store looking, though. I just buy the smallest I can find wherever I'm shopping. Also, try to use a pineapple that has pretty foliage on top. You don't want the top of the pineapple to be too crushed or too beat up, if you can help it.




I always pull the holly I use from this large holly bush in my yard. In years past, it would be covered in berries, but for the last few years it has had very few. I think it could be because it is being shaded by a huge oak tree growing nearby. By the way, this is the same holly bush where the mockingbird sang his midnight serenade. If you've been reading BNOTP for a while, you'll remember that post. They are amazing birds to hear...if you have cats, they will enjoy listening, too! ;)




So, with holly at the ready, I got to work...





I cut little 4-5 inch pieces and tucked them in between the base and the first row of apples and in between the apples....really just anywhere there seems to be a good size gap.




Here's how it looked after I had filled in with some of the holly. I don't use a glue gun...the holly will usually stay by itself. If a piece falls out occasionally, just tuck it back in again.




Another view...see the gaps where I still need to add holly or greenery? You could also use boxwood in between the apples and that would be beautiful.




I usually cut a few magnolia leaves to put underneath the tree. If you don't have magnolia in your area, just gather some other type of greenery...maybe cedar or pine. I had just tossed them on the table here to show you about how many I had gathered.



I spread the magnolia leaves out in a circle pointing outward and forming sort of a star shape. Then I place the apple tree on top of the leaves. Just adjust the leaves as needed.

Tip: When you are ready to lift the apple tree to place it in the center of the table atop magnolia leaves or whatever greenery you are using, be very careful. The tree is quite heavy. I normally slide the tree on the towel to the edge of the table and pull it part way off the table so I can get under it to lift it up to place it in the center of the table. Another method to move the tree would be to delay placing the pineapple on the top and grab that tall center nail to aid you in lifting it to the center of the table. Then, just place the pineapple on top and add greenery around the pineapple while it's in the center of the table.




Since my holly never seems to have many berries, I always cut berries from the nandina in my yard. I don't use any of the greenery from my nandinas because I have found it wilts after only a day or two. Holly lasts a nice long time without wilting.




I always place the berries at intervals around the base. I tried tucking some in around the top (see below) but didn't like the way that looked, so I removed them.




Last year I added a ribbon around the top and I really liked how that looked, so I did it again this year. A red ribbon might have been a better choice, or perhaps even a plaid one. I just reused the sheer gold ribbon I already had. So here's my "After" photo. :)




And here's how it looked in the center of this Christmas table setting. You could also create this centerpiece using apples and limes or apples and lemons...or even all pears. I think the combinations are really almost limitless. It just needs to be a fruit that is small enough to do at least three rows around the cone. I don't think two rows would look as nice as three.




Last year, when I showed my apple tree on my Christmas tablescape, Kimberly, who reads BNOTP, decided she would create a similar tree for a different occasion...a bachelorette party. I had often thought of using the form for other events or holidays, so I was excited to see what she would create.

Kimberly went with a pink and green theme for her party...and here's how it turned out. How fun is this! Now unless they are growing pink pineapples somewhere, I'm guessing Kimberly painted the pineapple. I love it with the flowers tucked in between. :) Great job, Kimberly...and thanks so much for sharing this photo!




Hope you enjoyed this tutorial. Looking forward to seeing your Before and Afters!


Metamorphosis Monday:
If you are participating in Metamorphosis Monday: Please be sure to add your permalink below, and not your general blog address. To get your permalink, click on your post name, then just copy and paste the address that shows up in the address bar at the top, into the "url" box for the picture linky. You'll also need to put your e-mail address in, but don't worry, it will not be visible to anyone.

If you'd like to include the MM button in your post, just copy and paste the Met Monday button to your computer or grab the html code from underneath the MM logo under the "Join the Party" header at the top.

Please include a link in your MM post back to the host blog, Between Naps on the Porch. Why is this important? When you include a link back to BNOTP, it ensures your regular readers/visitors will find the other awesome "Before and Afters" linked for this Metamorphosis Monday. If everyone links back, this maximizes the visits for all participants.

Please DO NOT type in all caps...it spreads the links waaaay out. Thanks! :-)

Let's try something fun today! Please visit the person who linked before you and after you...that way everyone will get some visits. Hope you'll visit more, of course.