Showing posts with label decor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label decor. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Christmas Tree Garland - Crazy Awesome

I've finished our Christmas tree garland! My finger tips are ripped to shreds and completely sore, and I was working on completing it while Mr. Owl was assembling our artificial tree, but it's done. I'm so happy with how it came out, and I've decided it was totally worth the hours and hours of work I put into it.

We always put up our tree and decorate for Christmas the weekend after Thanksgiving, so we're ready to go for the holiday season, minus one more DIY project I'm still working on.

And, here's how the garland came out:

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Once I finished over 100 puffs, I strung them together with twine, and voila! I'm loving our Christmas tree this year. Yay! What DIY projects are you taking on for the holiday season?

Friday, November 12, 2010

Handmade Christmas Tree Garland: Crazy Awesome, or Just Crazy?

Mr. Owl and I have lived together for a long time. Almost six years, I think (is it bad I don't really remember?). It's taken us (read: me) a long time to figure out our holiday style. We started off our first Christmas living together with reds and golds, and that was too traditional for us. Then we moved to bright colors everywhere, which stuck for a few years, but then realized it was too much. The past two years, we've done bright colors mixed with natural elements (pine cones, greenery, etc.) that seems to work perfectly for us (read: me).

Recently, I saw this Christmas garland at Anthropologie, and I couldn't get it out of my head. I loved the homemade feel, the materials and the overall look. I was not, however, ready to spend 40 bucks per strand on it. So I decided, in a moment of insanity, to learn to knit teeny, tiny little mittens, and make it myself.

About five seconds later, I decided that wasn't a good idea. Maybe next year? Umm, yeah, we'll see.

So then I saw on OnceWed:

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... and decided that this was doable, if not still slightly crazy.

I went out and bought some fabric in the main colors we use around Christmastime:

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... and I got to work.

And realized that this was going to take a lot longer than I thought. It's been about a week, and I only have 23 poms finished:

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But I've decided it totally worth it, and part of a new personal challenge. If it's reasonably possible to make something for our home myself, I'm going to do it. Part of me is excited that some day, our kids will put this garland on our Christmas tree, and I can tell them the story about how one year, Mommy went temporarily insane and decided to make over 100 fabric pom poms for this garland. It's the little things like this that make Christmas memorable, right? I mean, it wouldn't be Christmas at my mom's house if she didn't still hang the ornaments me and Sister Owl made for her in elementary school (clothespin reindeer, anyone?). It's all about memories - and handmade ones are pretty awesome.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

An update and the best home decor item ever

Hello, hello, little nesting owls. It's been a while since I've posted here, and I sincerely apologize. If you read The Elegant Owl, you know my life has been crazy. I have some exciting announcements to make soon, though, which will explain where all my time has gone, and I'm really excited about it. So please, hang tight for now.

In the meantime, I drooled over this today. Is it not the most amazing thing you've ever seen? Okay, maybe not the most amazing thing, but I'm kind of in love with it. And, at the same time, I know I'll never have it. Such is life!

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Tea Time Chandelier from Anthropologie

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Cottage Guestroom Inspiration

I'm ashamed to admit this, but when I think about buying a house someday, the room I'm most looking forward to decorating is our guest room. I love having people over. I love welcoming them into my home, and making them feel like they're a part of it. I also know that when we have company, they're on vacation, and I want to make their vacation as relaxing as possible because I know how stressful it can be to travel.

However, our current guest room is about the side of a refrigerator, and therefore, when we have company, our guests feel, well ... cramped. There's not much we can put in there other than a day bed. Someday, though, when we have a house, I plan to turn our guest room into a relaxing place seemingly separate from the rest of the house. One that looks like it belongs in a country cottage in the hillsides of New England, and one that makes our guests feel totally relaxed and at home.

To start, one thing I really want to focus on is a vintage metal bed frame; one that looks like it was rescued from an old farm house. This is what I envision:

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And for the rest of the room, pieces that seem random, but fit together nicely:

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Top row:Turquoise dresser; Peeping Posies Knob; Glazed Fondant Vase
Middle row: Damask bathmat; Ektorp armchair
Bottom row: Francesca Patchwork Quilt