Better late than never Christmas tour.

I'm incapable of getting my Christmas act together until all the holiday house tours

in Blogland have come and gone.  I don't make big changes in the way

I decorate for Christmas from year to year, but I felt the need to publish a post

 to pull my blog out of the toilet, so to speak.(I'm referring to my last post.)

Sunshine and days off rarely coincide, so here's our dining room
on a gray winter day.  I had to take dozens of photos just to get a few shots
 with all the chandelier lights shining. I got my workout going up and down
the chair to screw in one temperamental light bulb and then hightail it
back to my camera to quickly snap a shot before it flickered out.
   So there you have it.  All 250 watts burning bright.

Total calories burned during my chair stepper routine = 250 (I wish!)

The chandelier crystals take on a new persona at night
when they catch the rays of the 24/7 light show next door.
Red and green and flashing all over.  :o)

An old quilt is my table dressing for the season.

I added some glittery wood snowflakes to my autumn acorn garland.

Green trees in teacups and an angel in a birdcage?
There is no logic involved in Christmas decorating.

I retired my sheet music wreath and resurrected "swamp thing"

with a piece of pine garland and red berries. The Swedish candle holder

was a thrift store find.  Score!

Red white & blue brighten up this corner of the room.

I keep the buffet top simple so I can easily move everything
 to make way for Christmas goodies.  We need lots of room for goodies.

I made little gingerbread houses to decorate the kitchen shelves,
and as of today there have been no uninvited guests
nibbling on the walls.  Whew!

The red and white mugs were a World Market find this year.
I also found a cookie cutter at WM for mini gingerbread houses
that will make assembling the houses so much easier next year!

Since I still haven't replaced our living room furniture (no big surprise),

I spruced up the sofa with a fun new throw from TJMaxx.

A round red placemat from Target brightens the basket on the wall.

On my to do list for several years was to make a big chalkboard (3 ft. x 4 ft.)
 to hang over the sofa.  It only took a few hours and cost around $10 to make.

I wonder how long my chalk art will last when our grands arrive?

The only thing I've yet to do is assemble candles and votive cups
for the luminaries we line our sidewalk with on Christmas Eve.

Our son-in-law Jeremy has taken on the duty of lighting
 the luminaries each year, which is not an easy task when it's
cold and windy.  I'll be watching from the nice warm house.

It was a difficult year for us at 911, but as 2017 draws to an end,
I realize how truly blessed we are.

We love you Santa.
  It wouldn't be Christmas without you.

Thanks so much for visiting and Merry Christmas

from our house to yours!

Vickie

Skip to my loo.

I made a list of things I want to complete before summer

and I've already crossed off number one.

It may not sound like much of an accomplishment,

but just imagine giving 6 of these chairs (1,000,000 spindles)
 2 coats of chalk paint.  Yeah.

This was the first thing on my list after I saw how bad they looked

when I set up my dining room for Christmas dinner.  They were all

different shades of white, and 2 of them had just a coat of primer.

There are only 2 chairs alike, but now at least they're all the same color.



August 2011

Our dining room in my early days of blogging.

What a difference a few coats of paint can make!

Since I had paint left over,

I gave the two dressers and drop leaf table their first

coat of paint and this is how they've sat for 2 weeks,

because I'm already onto a new project.

(I've completely given up on being focused.)

Number 2.  he he

  We are on day three of wallpaper removal.

I hated the wallpaper (already removed in this photo) in this bathroom from first sight,

but it's taken me over 12 years to tackle this project,

because I knew exactly what to expect.....

.......hours of scrubbing to remove wallpaper glue, followed by sanding,

priming, and a skim coat of mud on the plaster walls.

  Messy, messy, messy.

This photo is from a thousand years ago, and it's hard to tell,

but the wallpaper was a faux sponge paint purplish pinkish beige.  Yuck.

It clashed with the tile that I'm not fond of either and I'm currently

researching the pros and cons of painting the ceramic wall tile white.

 The truck is going bye-bye, along with all my turquoise thingies.

The beige floor tile is staying.

We installed the reproduction medicine cabinet, pedestal sink, and new toilet,

so it's just the walls and window trim that need work....

and the window that was installed a number of years ago will finally be painted.

All work and no play make this Ranger cranky,

so in the evenings I've been working on this......

 Making the squares is fiddly work, but crocheting them together

is sort of like putting together a great big puzzle.
It's very relaxing to do after a long day at work.

I'm pretty sure somebody in this house would rather see a different

sort of spread on the dining room table, but since it's
temporarily out of commission, I believe we'll be dining out tonight.

Works every time.  :o)

Thanks for visiting!
Vickie

Sunshine on a cold winter's day.

It's amazing how much more energetic I feel with just a small dose of sunshine!

 I've been busy filling holes in the walls and making lots of new ones, too.

I got tired of the busyness of my picture gallery wall, so I gathered what I could find

to create a quieter neutral grouping.  I took the mirrored panes out of my old window

and turned it around to the chippy white painted side.

  I bought this rickety old window on July 4, 1999 at my hometown antique shop

 (I can remember that day vividly, but I can't remember where I put my car keys 

10 minutes ago).  I'm amazed that the old window trend  

has lasted 2 decades and it's still going strong!  Our girls were high school students

 when I bought it and now their kids are starting school!!

 I replaced the old hats on the wall in this corner with a woven basket

found for a steal at an antique shop.  The folk art carved angel was also purchased

at an antique shop, but neither are old.  She was a medium wood tone

when I found her, but I lightened her up with whitish paint.

 She's kind of a hot mess right now, because I mistakenly added

sanded grout to my chalk paint.  Looks a bit like she's been flapping

around in a sandbox.  Poor thing.

 Gone are all the reds that filled our house over the holidays.

 I'm not much of a frilly flower girl, but these funky pom pom flowers

in a nice earthy green are just my style.  On sale for only $5 a bunch at Hobby Lobby,

I splurged on 3 bunches, two for this bucket and one for the mantel.

 Any room looks better with sunshine streaming through the drafty old windows.
Lots of fresh -20 degree air blowing in, too.

 Little fuzzy green snowballs.

 I painted over my dark wood candlesticks, which look like

I unearthed them at an archaeological dig (same gritty sanded grout 
 chalk paint finish as my sandbox angel).

A new basket holds another wool throw I've been knitting during
long car trips.  It's almost finished.

Side note:  My cedar Christmas garland stayed green for a full month!

It was dry and crispy, but it still looked good and that's all that matters, right?

 I gathered all my woven goodies together to fill this tray.

 I wound a discount greenery swag (also from Hobby Lobby)
 around a grapevine wreath to add some life to this corner.
  Years ago we had a hand-me-down tabletop Christmas tree at work that we nicknamed
"Swamp Thing".  Just thought I'd add that tidbit that came to mind

while I was making the wreath.

 I think it's supposed to be some type of eucalyptus and I chose it because
but it was the only greenery that looked somewhat real to me.

 I bought and returned several styles of lamps to replace the dated buffet lamps

 I sold a few years ago.  I'm still on the fence about these,

but I'm afraid Target's pinned up a photo of me at the return counter,

so I'm keeping them.  I've got another spot in mind for them, so it's all good.

More faux greens fill an old sugar bowl.  I can not keep house plants alive,

 so If you can't grow, go faux! is my motto.

I've had a lovely day off with the house all to myself,
way too many cups of coffee
  and a few pieces of orange chocolate biscotti.


I'll probably be up all night.

Thanks so much for visiting and stay warm!
Vickie

*I'm joining:
Making it in the Mountains The Creative Gallery
The Essence of Home Share Your Style

Winter Blunderland.

This time of year, everybody's in a great big hurry,
so if you're here for a quick dining room tour, welcome!
  For those of you who want the inside scoop,
 you'll find it at the end of the post.

The biggest change this year is my all white (I know) mantel
featuring an old doll dresser that's been repaired and painted
just in time for Christmas.  Enjoy!

 

  

I'm running out of daylight, so that concludes this year's

911 Christmas dining room tour.

Thanks for visiting!

Vickie 

*I'm joining:

Debra at Common Ground and Brenda at Cozy Little House

Home for Christmas 

The Essence of Home Share Your Style

** Behind the scenes;  take two deux.

 I thought I'd impress you with what I learned during my deux months

 of high school French class.  My instructor was surely a twin sister to the 

Wicked Witch of the West, so I dropped the class despite her dire warning

 that I'd live to regret my decision.

Oh, I don't think so Prunella Prunepuss.

Well.

   As you can see above, I misspelled Joyeux and had to take 

all my photos over again!!!!!

Guess who's laughing cackling now, my pretty?

Do you see the unsightly black box under our buffet?
1990 sound system gone bad.

Two years ago the drawer to this CD player snapped off when I was trying to

pry it open with a screwdriver.  This year, thank you very much, the power button

fell inside the player, so in order to play my Christmas tunes,

I have to reach in with my pinky finger and push the teeny tiny

offset switch inside.  Are you listening Santa?

Au revoir,
Vickie