Christmas 2016 Home Tour

Nothing like a foot of snow to get me in the Christmas spirit.  Usually I have my tree up by the first week of December but I just couldn't do it this year.  And then we had a snow storm, & I was ready...just like that.  

So here's my little home tour...simplicity is my game!  This year I've embraced black in my Christmas decor (actually all over my house)...including black wreaths!  Although I'm not a green fan, I absolutely love the forest green & black combo.  Enjoy the tour!

And here's the cutest little tree in the world!  I loved this tree just on its own without any decor but decided to decorate it with white lights, burlap garland (Dollarama)  & pompoms (Michaels) .  Keeping with my kitchen & that modern farmhouse style...a little different from last year's decor.

Like I said, simplicity!  I took some very small wreaths & wrapped them in black scarves (all from the Dollarama).  I also used a lot of pinecones & placed them in urns & candle holders that I already had.

Just want to thank you all for following me & supporting me in this blogging journey.  A couple of weeks ago a few Canadian bloggers got together for a parade of Christmas home tours.   If you want to check it out it starts here.

Hope you all have a very Merry Christmas with your family & loved ones!

Girl, Tween, Teen

Last month was a little sad for me because my 13 year old daughter graduated from grade 8.  Another chapter in our lives is through - Wow, hard to believe.  When we moved here she was just 9 and her room looked like the pics above.  A little shabby chic with vintage fabrics, miss matched antiques and pale green walls (Pickling Spice by Ben Moore).  The whole colour scheme (pale pink and soft green) came from the quilt my aunt and I made out of two different vintage curtains.  I've had the white chinelle blanket from Martha Stewart for years and had it in her room in our previous house.  I actually liked the blanket so much I bought two, and cut one in half and made it into curtains for her room. 

Then her room became more "tween" and a little bohemian, with no more pretty pink accents.    I kept the furniture and switched out some of the bedding and added some plum pom poms, baskets (from Bouclair) and a throw (from HomeSense) - I love pom poms and they're so simple to make.  I also added a pillow made from vintage Indian fabrics with jewel colours similar to this one.  I've had the room a hundred different ways, including two beds at one point.  It's like the pic below right now.

I'm telling you all this because one of my goals this summer is to change this room into a teen room. My daughter's been asking me to change her room for about a year now and wants a black chalkboard wall.  I think I'll just use black paint instead of chalkboard paint and then accent colours in cream and white.  I find the whole process a bit organic, so there may be some colour in the mix.   We'll be keeping most of the furniture and just changing out the light and accessories.  

Here's a pic of my girl just before her grad.  See those sparkles on her dress?  I did that with some "jewels" from the Dollar Store and some fabric glue.  I've been doing a few craft projects with these "jewels" for her new room, which I'll share later.  So easy and inexpensive and more importantly, they look fantastic!

Original Art

Just thought I'd share the amazing art we were recently given.  Brian "Lex" Leuthel who is a local artist painted the one above using a combination of oil and water paints. (He's working on a pilot show right now with my husband so you may see him on TV some day soon.  I'll keep you posted.)  I wasn't quite sure where to put it, but then I decided to use it as a headboard in my son's room.   

Here's what it looks like as a headboard. 

The pic above is our "art" before which was a broken skateboard with some skateboard labels on canvass - now that's cheap decorating.

My sister, who is also an artist, painted this picture above for my daughter.  She does a lot of commissioned work and does an awesome job - thanks Shelley.  You can see the original picture below.

Here's some pics of the new art on my daughter's desk with a pom pom above.  I love these pom poms, and they're easy to make.  They remind me of a Ju Ju Feather Hat.   You can check out more pom poms with Martha Stewart.

Here's a pic of a Ju Ju Feather Hat courtesy of Houzz in case you were wondering what the heck I was talking about.