All I Want for Christmas are Some Ugly Candlesticks...

(Sing the title. It works!... Annnddd now it's stuck in my head...)

Happy New Year! It is now 2013, and a brand new year for brand new things... or for making old things new.

You'll never guess what I got for Christmas. Yes, that's right. My in-laws gave me some of the ugliest candlesticks I've ever seen. I can hear you now, "That's not very nice to say on the internet... or ever." But it's ok. Really. I asked for them.

You see, for awhile now, I've been wanting some chunky candlesticks to decorate our soon-to-be black and white-ish bathroom. I just haven't been willing to shell out the money for some lovely, designer label versions. I had been meaning, instead, to go to thrift stores and such to see if I could find some that I hated enough to paint, but loved enough to buy. I just hadn't found the time. So, when my in-laws asked what I wanted for Christmas, I remembered their own love for thrift shop finds and a light bulb clicked on over my head. I ASKED them for chunky candlesticks, with cool shapes, and made sure to tell them that I didn't care how they were painted because I intended to paint over them. Boy, did they come through. (And threw in chunky candles to go with the candlesticks, which made it even better.)

See how ugly they are? No offense intended to any of you who might have some exactly like these.

Here they are individually:

 

That last one isn't so bad, but the other two are. In any case, it doesn't matter how ugly they are or aren't: they all have great shapes. So, I spent part of my time off after Christmas turning these from drab to fab. I used Rustoleum Gloss Black spray paint with the little trigger, which makes things so much easier, but is a little more expensive.

Believe it or not, this all took longer than I thought it would. Somehow, whatever the candlesticks are made of did not like spray paint very well. I had a large problem with the paint just running off, and it wasn't mostly on the one I thought it would be (the tall stone candlestick). However, I just kept at it. I sprayed several coats, until finally it was all covered and dry.

Meanwhile, I worked on some other darlings I found at an antique shop shortly after Christmas.

I really like the gold ones. I love all the detail in their pattern. I decided that I wanted all of these to be silver, however. So... using Krylon Silver Foil Metallic spray paint, I made it so.

This can of paint did not have the handy-dandy easy-on-your-poor-fingers trigger. But I'm going to tell you a secret. Or, if you already know, then I'm going to tell you something utterly mundane that I should have discovered a long time ago. It's this:

This is a tool made by Rustoleum that fits over the normal nozzled cans of paint and makes them into a trigger can. Honestly, over the last few days, this baby has saved my life. I wouldn't have fingers left if it weren't for this guy. Amazing product! I wish someone had told me it existed. Now, I don't have to spend the extra amount for the cans with the trigger built in. This gadget was around $7 at Lowes. Go get one, or two, like I did.

Ok, back to our regularly scheduled programing:
I sprayed the antique shop candlesticks silver. They took considerably less time than the Christmas ones did. I love how they turned out.

Look at the detail... and how these can hold both chunky and tapered candles!

Now, back to the ugly Christmas candlesticks.
When they FINALLY dried, I placed them in their natural habitat, holding their own white candles.

Not so ugly now, are they? They make me smile. The mixture of shapes is what really does it for me. I'm so excited! And really thankful for in-laws that know me so well. Not only did they give me the gift of beautifully ugly candlesticks, but they gave me the gift of a project I can be proud of.


Inspired, yet?
I was. After finishing this project, and wanting desperately to use my trigger tool more. I resolved to tackle our bathroom window-dressing issue. You see in those last two pictures the temporary paper sticky blinds in our bathroom? Yes, I know they are ugly. And yes, they have been up for over a year now. I know. I'm terrible. But just wait... I'm working on it. For real, this time.

Happy Painting!

Seven Days....

NO, I've never seen that movie, but I think it's fun to quote that line.

It's Seven Days til Christmas folks! Yes, I just said, "folks." Which when pronounced, does not have an 'L.' If it does, ya ain't from round here. "Here" is north Alabama. Where it's a sunny 59 degrees, and little chance of a White Christmas in sight. However, we can dream, can't we.

In all actuality, the one White Christmas we've had in nearly a century (2010), though amazing and a dream come true, was not much fun. You see, there are no snow plows in Alabama. We have no need for them. Therefore, when it does snow, we shut down. Entirely. And wait for the next day, when it will have inevitably melted. Nonetheless, shutting down on Christmas Day really wasn't all that much fun. Several gatherings were cancelled and couldn't be rescheduled. So, in all honesty, once was enough for me. I'd rather be able to actually go celebrate Christmas with family, than have a White Christmas while I'm stuck inside. Don't get me wrong, 2010 was our first Christmas as a married couple and was simply magical to have that special, get-up-and-it's-snowing, hey-it's-also-Christmas feeling together. But, it's not something I need every year.

What I do need every year, is Christmas music! And lots of it. So, while my cat tries to open the Christmas presents... or vanquish the terrifying train around the tree, I shall share with you some of my favorite Christmas songs. Maybe they'll help you get in the Christmas mood. You only have Seven Days...




First, an obscure song that's played at my parents' every year while we decorate the tree. Such a silly song, but SO much fun!

Yah Dis Ist Ein Christmas Tree- Mel Blanc

Because Karen Carpenter is Awesome, you get two from her:

Home for the Holidays- The Carpenters

Really, the entire Carpenters Christmas Portrait album is fantastic. It was hard to choose just two, and I can't really call these my favorites because almost all of them are favorites from this album.

Merry Christmas Darling- The Carpenters

For a little (law-abiding) joyriding...

Little St. Nick- Beach Boys

Because we all love Brenda Lee, whether we know it or not, and we all wish for a little snow.

Marshmallow World- Brenda Lee

And another... (See, I told you. You love her. You just didn't know it.)

Rockin Around the Christmas Tree- Brenda Lee

For a little romance... and duet:

Baby, It's Cold Outside- Johnny Mercer and Margaret Whiting

I love duets. And I love Bing Crosby:

Silver Bells- Bing Crosby and Carol Richards

For heartbreak... with a little bounce.

Last Christmas- Cascada

Straight out of the Rudolph movie. Brings back memories.

Holly Jolly Christmas- Burl Ives

My husband insists I sing the back-up on this song. He will sing his part over and over and over, until I chime in. He's really very pushy about it. It's tradition.

Snowflake- Jim Reeves

A little Judy Garland, anyone?

Have Yourself a Merry Little Chrismas- Judy Garland

Really, what music list can exclude Elvis? It just can't. Here's the King, without Martina McBride sticking her two cents in.

Blue Christmas- Elvis Presley

Here's a little energy boost to send you on your cheery way! (Be sure to try to hit that high note! Good luck!)

All I Want for Christmas is You- Mariah Carey

Clearly, these are not ALL of my favorite Christmas songs. How could they be? There are so many to choose from! However, if I counted correctly (and it's very possible I didn't), here's 14 of my favorite Christmas songs. So, you have 7 days to get in the Christmas mood. Take two and call me in the morning.

Merry Christmas!

My Christmas Card to You

I managed to wait until November 30th before sending out my Christmas cards this year. It's our first "official" year in our new home. We have a new Christmas tree. The house is decorated with lights (if we can ever get them to stay on). It's just never felt more exciting for it to be nearly Christmas. I just couldn't wait to spread my Christmas cheer! So, to those of you who received a card from me on December 1st, that's why. To those of you who didn't... well, send me your address, and I'd love to send you one next year!

Sending out Christmas cards, hopefully, means we'll be receiving cards of our own. So, in preparation, I decided to come up with a good way to display them. I just love looking at all the ones we get. I found these ideas via Pinterest, and decided I'd try my own version.

I used the same ribbon I used for my snowflake wreath and two more pre-made Christmas bows. I just needed a step-ladder, my glue gun, and my trusty staple gun.

 I measured the length of ribbon I wanted hanging down the center of each of my French doors in our dining room. Then, before cutting, I stood on a step-ladder and stapled the ribbon to the very top of the door (NOT the front). With it hanging the way I wanted, I just decided where I wanted the ribbon to end and cut the ribbon there. Then, I took my pre-made bow and hot glued it to the top of my ribbon, near the top, but not in the way of the door opening and closing.

 I then did the same thing on the other door. However, one of my doors has wood at the top, but the one without the knob is metal all the way. That meant the staple gun wouldn't work on that door. So, since the door is usually stationary, and I didn't need to worry about a hold that would withstand movement, I just used some clear packing tape to tape the ribbon to the very top of the door.

And just before I got started, the girl who lives next door hand-delivered our first Christmas card, so we had one ready to display! I used a scrapbooking glue dot roller on the back of the card to attach the card to the ribbon. Here's the finished product!

 So, this is how we plan to display our Christmas cards this year! Do you have any other ideas?


(P.S. Through the glass you can see our teal Adirondack chairs. We'll talk about them later...)

Happy Holidays!

I Have a Confession...

I have a wreath obsession. I think it stems from my maternal grandmother whose door has never been without a wreath and who uses them in the most unusual places... like the bathroom. Nevertheless, I feel like my front door is missing something if it ever happens to be without a wreath. It's a curse, really. Occasionally, I'd like to look out the door without having to look through a wreath. Yet, the wreath compulsion always wins. I love more than just having a wreath and looking at a wreath. I love making wreaths. With the holidays, I've recently made two (and a half) wreaths that I thought I'd share.

Because I like chronology, I'll share the Fall wreaths first, though I know the last wreath is more current. I love Fall, so I made my Fall wreath really early in the season. It was really more like late summer. So, I didn't want much of a Autumn-y feel quite yet. The inspiration came from Lindsay at what is now Makely School for Girls with her tutorial for this wreath.

However, I didn't really follow her instructions much. I decided I didn't really need my wreath quite that full, so I bought just one plain grapevine wreath at a local outlet store, Old Time Pottery. I also bought some late summery silk flowers to match some ribbon I found at Hobby Lobby and used a wooden initial that I also found at Hobby Lobby.

I simply laid the "S" on top of the wreath, while I cut apart the flower bushes and began poking flower stems into the grapevine here and there where I wanted my flowers. Nothing is glued onto the wreath so that I could reuse it later. Once I was satisfied with the look (and it had stopped hailing), I looped the ribbon through both the "S" and the wreath and secured the ribbon to the TOP of the door (as in the part touching the door frame, not the top of the front of the door) with my staple gun.

I loved the idea of not gluing anything to the wreath so that I could reuse it later, so my original plan was to use purple flowers for late summer and to replace the purple with Fall leaves and such. However, I just loved the purple so much that I couldn't bear to take it down. So, I just added a few Fall leaves and three floral pumpkins I found at Hobby Lobby. The pumpkins were great because that had a stem attached to the bottom of them so that they could be stuck into arrangements with ease. So again, there was no gluing, just a lot of poking stems into the grapevine.

I honestly love it both ways. I love the early version with the grapevine showing in places, but I also love the fuller version. Mostly, I love that it changed with the ripening of the season and was easy to make fresh without changing entirely.

Sadly, the time for Fall wreaths has come to a close. But that means Christmas/Holiday/Winter wreaths! I'm so excited to make another wreath! I considered continuing with the grapevine base, but this wreath I saw via Pinterest caught my eye. I have always LOVED snowflakes in Christmas decoration and thought how simple this would be. I found a box of large snowflake ornaments at Hobby Lobby (for half price!). You could use any size or color of snowflakes, really, as long as you have enough. I just laid out the snowflakes overlapping in a circle and began hot gluing them to one another. I glued each snowflake in several places for added support. I did have my doubts about needing something to glue the snowflakes onto for support, but they were unfounded. The snowflakes seem to be doing just fined simply attached to each other. I then layered more snowflakes on top of my original circle and continued hot gluing until I was satisfied with the look.

This was during the brainstorming phase, with my helpful kitten putting in her two cents.

 
 I then took some red ribbon that I had left over from last Christmas, looped it through the wreath, and stapled it to the top of the door. Once it was up, it looked a little too simple. So, I had a pre-made red bow from the Dollar tree in with my Christmas decorations. I just hot glued the bow to the ribbon used to hang the wreath (not to the wreath itself). The tails of the bow were a little long for my liking, so I just trimmed them a little. I love the way it turned out!

This was so much fun to make, and SO simple! I love that it isn't too Christmas-y to leave up for a while into the New Year... or until the itch to make another wreath strikes again! Stay tuned...