I couldn’t resist the urge to share these photos with you – my two favorite little reindeer, taken last weekend by “Gramma K”.
Archive for December, 2008
Holiday Preparations II
2008
12.11
12.11
Yow – Christmas is just two weeks from today! Panic mode is setting in. So little time…so much to do…
Any “spare” time I find has been totally absorbed with working on the website to keep it up to date. I’ve been challenged by the later-than-planned site launch and, being tough on myself in general, I’ve been at it night and day whenever I can steal a minute or two.
Part of what I’m doing on the site, and hope to expand in the future, is to show some options in setting up displays, suggesting the use of as many “found” objects as are available, and to encourage thinking of “out of the ordinary” applications. I maintain (to know me, you won’t be surprised by this!) a “prop” area on shelves in my basement, so I can mix and match items when I’m decorating for a holiday or a change of season, or just because I feel like a change. I try to layer, utilizing textures, shapes, colors and items till I am happy with the finished product.
Here’s what I played with today. I started with a little red roof birdhouse and a metal wrought iron candleholder…
added a few fresh boughs and pinecones, then selected a backdrop to break up the open space and to add some dimension.
Trying a bird’s nest…
Or an antique-looking birdcage…
This little gold bird is enchanting…
Or, perhaps, a few cast aluminum reindeer….hmmm
Now, out to the yard to bring in some winterberry branches…there are a few other spots in the house that could use a little burst of color from the pretty red berries.
The First Snow
2008
12.08
12.08
Always pretty – the first snow. It brings with it a silence that is beautiful in itself. I put on a pot of coffee and sat for some time, content with my NY Times, the birds aflutter at the feeders, and Sunday morning baroque on the radio … thinking that, at this moment, life is good, uncomplicated and calm. May it only last…..
Holiday Preparations
2008
12.02
12.02
It’s that time again! Time to put together displays, adorn the house, SHOP….and more!!! But different for me this year … I have re-launched my website, an off-shoot, you might say, of the shop I closed two years ago. I have retail in my blood! I love the energy, the vibe, the hustle and bustle of it all. I’ve never worked harder and enjoyed it totally.
My efforts this year will be concentrated on the grandchildren, Hannah and Jack, and on the site. I want both to thrive.
You might say I’m a bit of a risk taker. My “Gifts for the Home and Garden” shop opened for business the week after 9/11. I was scared to death! And now, in this economy, I have decided to re-open the shop – online.
It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed.
Theodore Roosevelt
And so, the preparations begin.
From my various collections of salvaged, “found” objects – I like graters, kitchen graters. or grater-like objects. The textures, the variety, the versatility. They have character and dimension.
On my dining room sideboard, I gathered some from my home archives (!) and dressed them with some fresh boughs, a faux red berry tree, and a little birdhouse. In the evening, votive lights in cups set inside the graters cast a soft glow to illuminate the scene. Rustic, stylish, unusual. Changed at will to celebrate a season.
Another, put into use in the kitchen to hold a recipe or a grocery list. Here, with a ball-shaped magnet...
