Feeling the Christmas spirit

I must say there is something where after you've had that delicious Thanksgiving dinner, that good old fashioned Christmas spirit feeling comes in full force. I started my decorating on the outdoors first. I have three urns outside that I already knew what I was going to do with them. I envisioned them filled with various fresh greens that offered their beauty through their different textures and scents. Here are the end results

 

 

 I mixed some weather-proof red berry garland to give them a subtle pop of color. Usually you can tell when you squeeze the berry, if they are soft to the touch when you squeeze them then I wouldn't recommend them for the outdoors. I would assume that if you live in a warmer climate, where you do not experience freezing temperatures then you can dis-regard this tip.

 

 

 

I love having some kind of cascading effect in my plantings on the base. I always wondered how I can obtain that look in the winter months when everything that cascades would freeze. I was so glad to be able to do this with my winter greens.

 

 

 I purchased a wreath for half off at Hobby Lobby that I was okay with, but knew that I could definitely spruce things up a bit in it with extra greens to add fullness and texture, and of course some burlap ribbon intertwined with some sparkly thin ribbon to add some glisten when the lights hit it.

 

 I purchased these vintage looking ice skates from where I work and wasn't sure if I should incorporate them into the wreath. I put them up to it, and fell in love, it added a little touch of character to the wreath. What do you think?

 

 

I hung the fresh cedar greens around the entryway and added lights to give a welcoming holiday feel even before guests walk through the doors. I also added cinnamon scented pinecones into the wreath and urn arrangement.

 

 

 

I definitely completed my outdoor decorating just in time. North Dakota is definitely going to be experiencing some chilly temps and nasty weather in the next few days. Highs is the negatives! Yikes!

I really hope you found some inspiration and got some holiday cheer from this post. I love decorating for the holidays, and there is nothing more satisfying than being able to show some of my hard work to others. Right now I'm getting to completing my Christmas tree inside, and will begin a post on that.

 

Big Hugs,

Melissa :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Overdue

Okay, it has been way too long of a hiatus for me from my blogging activity, and I truly need to apologize. So much has been happening, I moved from a small little town to Bismarck, where things have been crazy busy since then. I began working full time interior designing, and my husband just began his own business, and my sweet little girl is growing up too quickly. It's been pretty difficult moving from Connecticut to North Dakota away from family and friends, but it has probably been one of the best decisions my husband and I made for our family. I have been busy decorating Christmas, my favorite:), and the weather has been getting pretty cold here. Here are just a tid bits of some decorating I did.

 

 

 

 

 I took pieces of artificial white pine and cascaded it on each end of this buffet with ornament garland to make the ornaments look as if they're floating.

 

 

 

 

 

 The entire look was supposed to be fun and whimsical, with bright festive colors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Sparkles and little elves here and there add to the charm and unpredictability.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have I mentioned I love decorating for Christmas. It only comes once a year and I feel is the only way we can warm things up during those long, cold winter days. Right now I am working on my outdoor urns with fresh greens and cannot wait to complete them and show you all what I came up with.

 

 

Melissa XOXOXO

 

 

 

  

 

 

Planning for Christmas

I know that Thanksgiving is coming up, and I sure am excited for some turkey, sweet potatoes, casseroles, and delicious treats shared with family and friends. However, I have been planning for Christmas since September. Why so early? Well, this time of year means a busy time for me decorating others' homes for Christmas. I love decorating for others, I get to decorate in so many different themes and bring my ideas to life. Believe it or not I have already begun decorating for some! I hope you can find some inspiration in some of the ways I have decorated for this lovely time of year.

Let me welcome you into my first client's home

My client wanted her entry way to be simple and traditional. She also wanted her urns to be seen from the road.

I intertwined some red berry garland that was weatherproof and a beautiful red, sure enough to capture your eye from the street. When purchasing artificial berries for any of your outdoor decorations, make sure they are weatherproof.

 

 

I made the wreath extremely full and lush by mixing a number of varieties of artificial greens. After the greens were done I added smaller red berries and a wonderful icicle garland that glistens wonderfully when any light hits it, the picture does not do it justice.

Now let's step inside this beautiful home.

 

 

 

 

When entering the home you cannot help but notice the beautiful staircase. I knew I had to make the garland VERY full and elegant to make visitors want to walk up and down those stairs.

 

 

 

 

 

I intertwined a lovely brown crinkle ribbon and a beautiful glittered netted ribbon. Just like the wreath, I used a number of artificial greens to help add texture and interest.

Together with the greens I also added a pretty brown leaves that were sprinkled with gold and bronze glitter.
Now off to the tree we go

For the tree the client had a pillow that had a deep plum color throughout that she really liked. I knew that using the plum with a lovely bright green and gold would be a beautiful color theme to go with.

 

 

I added a wonderful lime green berry garland throughout the tree as well as gold glitter accents, and these really pretty plum icicles I found at Walmart. They are so simple but elegant at the same time.

 

 

 

Here you can get a better idea of the kind of ribbons I used, as well as ornaments and greens. The ornaments were also purchased at Walmart. The ribbon was from Michaels, and Joann Fabrics.

 

 

The tree I found for her was very large, 9 ft and very, very full. After completing the tree, I was off to making a garland for family room fireplace mantle.

 

 

 

 

I used some non-traditional Christmas flowers in this garland, such as a beautiful deep burgundy and pumpkin orange colored ranunculus. Various greens and gold and orange berries were incorporated, as well as pinecones of many different sizes, helping to add a bit of a natural look.

 

A string of white lights were added into the garland to help create more sparkle

 

 

This garland is very versatile because of the colors used in it. It would also look lovely placed as the centerpiece for Thanksgiving in the center of a rectangle dining table, with various pillar candles placed throughout.

There was also a door that lead into the garage from the front of the home. I found these lovely teardrop shaped greens that I felt would fit perfectly for that door. I incorporated the same look as the wreath to help the look flow.

 

 

I hope you found some inspiration and ideas for your upcoming Christmas decorating. I am currently working on making another garland for someone and cannot wait to share the finished piece with you all! Thank you so much for stopping by.

 

Big Hugs,

Melissa

 

I am so excited to be sharing this post with the following party:

Feathered Nest Friday

Antiqued Kitchen Backsplash

 
Our kitchen originally had this silver tin backsplash that I liked, but didn't love. I knew it was an easy fix, and this past weekend gave me the perfect opportunity to tackle on this project. I am thrilled to share with you the results and how I accomplished this look.

Here is the before:

As you can see, it was pretty but it didn't do anything for me, a little to much silver for my taste. Here is the after:

In order to accomplish this look, I first painted the entire backsplash in white paint. I used the color Crisp Cotton by Valspar Paints. Remember, you can use whatever white colored paint you like.
After the paint dried, I applied some rub and buff in antique gold on the raised details of the backsplash.

You can apply this with your bare fingers, I however put on some latex gloves which still works. Do not worry if you end up putting too much of the rub 'n' buff in some of the details, because the next step will help calm down any areas that may have gotten too much antique gold.

 

After each of the raised details in the backsplash were covered in the antique gold, I proceeded to using a Minwax stain. I used a new color they released, Weathered Oak.

 

 

 Take any kind of old cotton cloth, such as an old ripped up t-shirt, and dip some of the cloth into the stain. You do not need to dip in all the way, just a quick dip that moistens the cloth should do. ( I definitely recommend wearing latex gloves for this step)

 

 

After you dip your cloth into the stain proceed to wiping it all around the backsplash. This is were you can take advantage of wiping off some of the spots you may have gotten too much rub 'n' buff in. The stain helps to give the backsplash a pretty antique color to it. When you are done, the end result should look like....

 

 

I cannot wait to show you more pictures of my kitchen once it is completely done with changes. But for now I can only show you bits and pieces, and this is one piece I hope you like.

 

 

 

 

The antique gold rub 'n' buff helps to give the tin backsplash the perfect amount of gold accent

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I truly hope I explained this project well enough to inspire you to try it. I am thinking I may use this technique on some of my empty frames I have lying around in the attic.
If you have any questions about this project feel free to ask, I would be more than happy to help you out as much as I can.
Off to tackle on one of my projects on my ever growing to-do list. I hope you all have a wonderful day!

Big Hugs,
Melissa

I am so excited to be linking up my project with these great parties:

Make It Pretty Monday
Open House Party
Feathered Nest Friday

Chandelier and Sconce

Have I mentioned I love chandeliers, and after moving into our new home I think I want one in every room. At times I doubt my idea because I always get that look from my husband like "Are you sure?"

Yes, I am sure, I am 100% completely, positively sure that a chandelier would look lovely in each room. I love the shape of them and when they have crystals I am in love. 

 A couple of weeks ago I got my husband to hang our chandelier for the living room and the matching sconce that I got for our bedroom. I hope you like!

 

 

 

 

 

Although this chandelier doesn't have any crystals, with the exception of the one hanging at the bottom, I love the shape and the French country look to it.

 

 

 

 

 

The one small crystal is all this curvy beauty needs

 

 

 

 

 

I love the arms on this light and how they spread out so freely and give the space an airy, and relaxed feeling

 

 

 

 

Now how could I just get the chandelier without the matching sconce? At first I wasn't too sure about ordering the sconce, but our bedroom had an old, brass sconce that was too small and not very pretty. I figured this sconce would fit perfectly in it's place and if not, then I had many other spaces perfect for a sconce.

 

 

 

 

Again, just one small crystal on the bottom. I am so glad I got it, otherwise I would have been beating myself up over not getting it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It dresses up that light bare wall simply and beautifully without feeling to heavy, just what I envisioned. I hope you all have a great day, now I'm off to tackle some projects on my list.

Big Hugs, Melissa

 

I am thrilled to be linking this post up with Wow Us Wednesday





Brimfield Beauty

 This past mother's day I was fortunate enough to have my husband take me to the Brimfield Antique Show. The trip was a success, I found some great things and one of them was a beautiful antique armoire for a steal. The piece was originally very dark, maybe even too dark. I finally tackled the project of painting and distressing it, something I have been putting off because of our big move and other projects popping in and out. Well enough jibber jabbering, here it is!

 

At first I wasn't sure what to do with the drawer pulls because I couldn't remove them for painting and I really didn't want to keep their original color because it was quite dark. My husband just simply said "Just paint them". Why was I stressing out when he was right, all I had to do was paint them and then distress them a bit. I am such a bad blogger because every time I tackle a project I always realize I didn't take a before shot, I am going to try and get better at this.

I love mirrors, especially beveled ones, and to be quite honest, if this piece didn't have the mirror I probably wouldn't of even fallen in love with it.

 

Distressed in all the right places....

 

 

So romantic and pretty

 

 

And to end things I had to take a shot of the euro shams from Rachel Ashwell's shabby chic collection at Target. I think that is the first aisle I go to whenever I visit Target, and then I forget what I was really "supposed" to get.  I hope you all have a great day. Big Hugs!

Melissa

 

 

 

 

Busy, busy painting bee

Yes, it's been months since I have posted anything new. I have good reason, I promise! It's been so hectic because I have been moving out of state and painting, painting, painting. I don't think I have ever painted so much in my life.
Our new home is close to 100 years old, so the work is there and so is the vision. Let me share with you what's been keeping me occupied for these past months. Keep in mind these are befores.

 

 Now this is looking into the living room from the dining room. As you can see, it's so dark and feels so closed in. The carpet had to be ripped out because there were hardwood floors hiding underneath it, making me question, "how could you?".

The bookcases in the living room are okay, I wasn't crazy about the doors on them, so I removed them and decided to leave it open.

The living room and dining room have wonderful beams on the ceiling. Now I know that many of you wood fans are going to be upset with me, but this is all the stuff I have been busy painting. Yes, I said it, I painted all the moldings, trims, and beams a lovely crisp cotton white.
I was very hesitant to touch the beams because the wood was so pretty, but I really had the plan of opening up the rooms in the home and making them bright and inviting. I can't wait to share with you some after photos. Now I'm off to run after my busy 19 month old who is keeping me super busy too. Love you all!
Big Hugs, Melissa