Holiday Home Tour 2008 - Part 2

Here are some additional pictures of the Home Tour I had at my house this past weekend. I'm doing this in separate posts as I want to be sure to include several pictures, and it is quite a task to upload and organize them. I hope you enjoy them. Your comments are most appreciated.

These small wall vases have a wire poinsetta made by my friend Sue and glittered. Lovely!

This bottle holder was originally a broom holder!

This simple vignette of cloches makes an elegant statement.

Skates, skates and more skates . . .

Awesome galvanized bin purchase at Funky Junque in Fargo!

Love, love, love those iron candleholders . . .

Who said threes a crowd! The Christmas balls were put on in bunches.

A bowl of ornaments and greens . . . how simple is that!

A window in a window wishing "Peace on Earth".

The sign above the cabinet says, "It's okay to say Merry Christmas!"

This is part two of my pictures. Hope they're inspiring you to get those ornaments out and decorate! More to come . . .

Holiday Home Tour 2008 - Part 1

As the Holidays are almost upon us, I have put another Holiday Home Tour behind me. Last Saturday, I had approximately 75 women came through my home. This is my fourth, and possibly my last year for awhile, that I have participated in it for the Round Barn Potting Co. I've enjoyed thoroughly doing it every year, but it takes a lot of time and energy to put it on (not to speak of the money involved). But none the less, it is more than worth it. I have met many wonderful people, and have hopefully inspired and encouraged them in their holiday decorating.

This year it was even extra special to have had Sue Whitney, of Junk Market Style, to take time out of her busy schedule to attend. I am contributor to her website, so it was thrilling to have her as guest in my home. She was able to attend with another contributor, Gretchen Schaumann, and so it was a little Junk Market reunion. Check out her take on the tour on Junk Market Style.

Here are some of the pictures from the tour . . .

My bird bath done up for the holidays!

A French park bench along with one of many Christmas trees this year!

Being good is such a lonesome job!

Vintage Church candleholder with an extra-large Christmas stocking!

A planter filled with greenery, a metal dove and a pair of vintage skates.

What a sweet pair of child's skates!

There's no place like home!

Aren't these the cutest little boots! The shovel I won at a silent auction at the Junk Bonanza. It was one of Ki's projects. Yeah!

Simple wall candleholders on the pillar showcase this winter vignette.

My Front Room was done up in all whites and silvers with silver sage blue walls.

The capital the tree is sitting in was purchased at Junk Market a few years back, and the unique branch on the mantle was the icing on the cake!

That's just the beginning pictures of my home tour with more pictures to come. Also check out Lori Miller's home which was on the tour at The Round Barn Potting Co. Have a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving!

Is there an Architect, errr, Architecture in the House?!?

Do you have a new home and want to add some vintage charm to it? Add some architectural elements!

I love architectural elements. When we moved into our new home, I wanted to take away that sterile, cookie cutter feeling by adding my own twist to the house by adding them. They make it more unique, more me. For those of us who get the "junk" look, I've had wonderful feedback. For those who don't get it, it's just fun to see their reactions!

Corbels were added to my entryway to take a plain, blah and average entryway into a unique, one of a kind, interesting entryway. The square pillar in the background is free standing and can be topped with different items. Currently it is topped with a capital from a pillar and can be filled with different elements according to the season.

Here I took another set of corbels and used them as brackets for a curtain rod (made from black piping). I'll bet none of your friends will have something like this!

Ginourmous corbels are used as table legs for a tin top table. Do you think we have a pattern going here with corbels? How fun is that!

This wonderful architectural piece simply sits on a built in desk.

Need to hide the thermostat control in your home? Just surround it with architectural elements!

This is the creme de la creme. An old church door was built in to my home. Nothing cookie cutter about this. And the light coming through is wonderful.

Old windows are another wonderful way to add architectural elements. They can be hung, built-in, or just sitting in and leaning up again existing windows.

So there you have it. Now go out and add some find some great architectual elements to your home. You won't regret it.

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree . . .

In preparation for my home tour, I decided to add to my collection of post Christmas trees. I currently have two, so why not another one? Then I could share the process with others. Now there's really nothing like a real tree, but in the spirit of recycling (and no tree places open yet) here's how I did it.

First you need to start with an old porch post, or a new one if you want to purchase it from a home store, and a faux christmas tree. I purchased my tree very reasonably at a discount store. If you scour thrift stores, I'm sure you can find one there, too. You can also try this on fresh greens, or even twigs for a real "Charlie Brown" tree or on a smaller pillar for a table top tree. Use your imagination! (Sorry about the garbage cans in the background).

Add "L" brackets to the base of the pillar.

Next you need to cut the "L" off each branch from your artificial tree with a bolt cutter.

Start at the top (one branch on the very top) and work your way down. I put one branch on each side of the square part of the post and continued to do that all the way down. I measure about 8 inches between tiers.

Use a drill bit the same size as the branch and drill slightly at an angle (drill baby drill). This way, the branch should fit snug, but can still be removed for storage. You can also glue them if you want as they may spin slightly.

Wa-la! You have your very own, unique, one of a kind Christmas tree!

Holiday Home Tour

It's that time of year and I'm getting ready for another Holiday Home Tour for the Round Barn Potting Co. This is my fourth year on the tour and the third year in this home (doing it only after six weeks of moving in!) If you are interested in joining us, you can get more information on the Round Barn Potting Co. website. I thought I'd post some pictures from last year. Here's a sampling.