Holiday Vignette

If you've been around here for a bit you surely know that "traditional" is not our style... I definitely tend more towards pretty and quirky to offset all of our antique furniture. The non-traditional extends to holiday decor, as well. I cannot stomach red and green in my home, even for Christmas. I prefer metallics, pastels, and icy tones. I'm also not a fan of "crafty" holiday stuff. "Artsy", yes. "Crafty", no. But all of this means it is difficult to find holiday decor that I like and will actually re-use year after year.

As of now I have one single large Christmas tub and it is mainly full of ornaments. I don't have any real holiday specific decor. No cute snowmen, no sparkly reindeer, no angels. So how do I make things look festive? Hmmm... In the interest of working with what I've got and not spending lots of money on useless crap I'll have to store 10 months out of the year, I threw some ornaments and bows around and called it a day.

On top of our china cabinet.

Bows from Ikea. 

Fall/Winter china with a few bows.

My grandmother buys all the grandkids an ornament for Christmas. Mine has been Barbie for years now.

More ornaments and bows from Ikea. Plus, a candle I bought at Target last year. 

How do you decorate for the Holidays? Do you prefer to stick with  the palette already in your home or do you go all out with greenery and big red bows?

Dining Room Window Treatment

Sorry I have been slightly MIA lately, especially on the finished project front, but I haven't been feeling especially chatty. We've gotten a lot done around the house and I've taken pictures, but then I look at the pics and I convince myself that they aren't good enough (the pics, not the projects). So you are going to get slightly craptastic photos that don't really do justice to my new fabuloso drapes!

We last left off here:

Then I showed you guys my china cabinet redo and you could see the beginnings of something here:

Here's a better shot of the rod on the floor:

 

Mr. made this curtain rod out of 1/2 inch aluminum conduit, which cost us about $9.00. Then he made four brackets out of 1/2 inch aluminum flat stock:

And here's the after:

Excellent. 

Details? 

Anchored 'em in.

Double pinch pleat. 

Easy schemesey.

Double pinch your drapes at either end. Measure in between. Divide by how many clips you've got. Pinch. Pinch. Pinch. Ta-Da!

It's hard to tell the color. They are from J.C. Penney; Chris Madden Mystique Interlined blah, blah, blah... in Antique Blue. 

My S-I-L came by my house to pick up our old (2 yrs.) Christmas tree (I just wasn't feeling the green anymore) and asked where I got my drapes... "J C Penney", I said. "Do you know what they're called?" she said. "Chris Madden is the designer", I said. "Are they Mystique?", she asked.

Why, yes, they are in fact. Oh, well, turns out she's had her her eye on these in Gold for months (maybe years) now, for their dining room. I'll be sure to share pics of her new drapes when we head over there for Christmas.

Here's a close-up of the fabric:

And here are the finials:

Which are totally 40% off Hob Lob knobs - hot glued on.

BEFORE

AFTER

What do you think?