Family Time and on Frozen Pond

Here and below, some new bulbs this year in the tree from the Brian Gluckstein Collection acquired
 at a great price on last year's Boxing Day!

Hi all, hope you all had a marvellous Christmas. Ours was quiet and stress free, just hubby, the girls and I for the first time in our lives, the reason being my sister-in-law was flying in from Vancouver yesterday (the 26th), so we are doing the big family dinner tonight. It makes Christmas last longer, don't you think?

We went to early mass on Christmas eve, then we drove around town to see the Christmas lights, one of our traditions. We then picked up Chinese food to eat while watching what else, A Christmas Story of course! This is not a tradition, but it was so much fun I think it might become one.

Christmas morning, we opened gifts. We kept it low key this year, it was less about consumerism and more about things we really needed. (Far be it for me to be sanctimonious, God knows we've had our shares of generous Christmases. This year, we just felt we needed to cut back.) Then we had a lovely brunch of eggs, sausages, hash browns, english muffins and some fruit thrown in for good measure to pretend it was all healthy!

Later we had a swim and a sauna, which was extremely relaxing and soothing for my old bones. We later all got dressed and went to see The Life of Pi.  What a fabulous, extraordinary movie, so well done. Do go see it if you have a chance. It really honours the book. (I couldn't believe how busy the movie theatre was on Christmas day!)

Blue glittered pinecone in a cloche. The wooden plate was made by one of my great-grandfathers.

We then came home and enjoyed a pre-dinner drink. I had a pomegranate martini which was out of this world! We had a Christmas sing-along with my youngest daughter accompanying us on the piano. It must have looked like a storybook picture for the passers-by, however they would have cringed if they had heard us singing "Baby It's Cold Outside", because my husband joined in, and while he has many qualities and talents, the poor man cannot carry a tune to save his life, but it made it even more fun.

One of my favourite ornaments at Christmas

Dinner followed with a French Canadian Christmas theme: tourtière, gravy, mashed potatoes, brussels sprouts and sugar pie to finish.

The mantel is slightly different this year. I bought this trio of trees at the thrift. They were painted a ghastly dark green and were wrapped with an ugly gold garland. Took off the garland and repainted them in Annie Sloan Provence, with the base Old White. Love them!

Tonight will be a turkey dinner at our house with hubby's family. On the week-end, we'll be getting together with our best friends to go out for dinner and see Les Misérables, which I cannot, cannot wait to see!

Sideboard in the dining room

So there hasn't been much for me to post about as far as painting furniture etc., I have been so busy painting at the store, but after the holiday hustle and bustle simmers down, I will be back with more. I am really enjoying having both girls at home and spending time with everyone.

My oldest daughter, who is studying web design in university, surprised me with a new header for my blog as one of my presents. We are going to be redesigning the look of my blog based on her concept and I'm hoping to have the big reveal in the New Year.

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Today we woke up to a blanket of white. Here are a few pics I took of "our" backyard and pond, a.k.a. the golf course, so beautiful and quiet this time of year. (I like to pretend it's all ours.)

Do you see the itty bitty red dot in the middle? It's a beautiful cardinal.

Everything is so still.

I just love this view.

Hugs,

Nicole

A Peek at my Christmas Decor

It's December 21st. The countdown is on, but I'm practically done! A few stocking stuffers to buy, a baking day with my girls tomorrow, some house cleaning and voilà!

I thought I'd share my Christmas decor with you. This year, I wanted a tree in the living room as we have a nice, tall window, because I love to see the lit tree at night from the outside. This one is a pre-lit fake one we got on sale last year. I decided to coordinate it with the soft blue accents in our living room, so the tree is decorated in blue, silver and cream, which creates a very soft effect.

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And on the mantel:

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I got these reindeer on sale a few years ago. I love their shape! The big bulbs I found at the grocery store, the lanterns are from Ikea. I put electric votives in them, but forgot to light them! 

The ribbon I had, and the white fabric is from Dollarama. I must explain that in Canada we have this awesome chain of dollar stores called Dollarama. It has a cult following. Even well known designers have been known to discover treasures at these stores.

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In fact, these snowflakes are from Dollarama. I pounced on them when I saw them! 

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 I used a lot of decorations from Dollarama in my tree as well as expensive ones. I'll leave you to figure out which is which!

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I got this beautiful glass ball at Bronner's in Frankenmouth, Michigan. If you don't know what Bronner's is and you love Christmas, you must go visit it, it is THE quintessential Christmas store. It is gigantic! We went in the summer and by the time we left, I was craving eggnog really badly, lol!

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Of course, all my wrapping is coordinated...

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On the chest in the front foyer, I tied these giant cinnamon sticks with a white ribbon.

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This is a little vignette I created in a cloche on the dining room sideboard:

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This ornament below is one of my favourites because it combines a couple of my obsessions. A bottle brush tree and a cloche:

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Told you I was obsessed with bottle brush trees!

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I went for simplicity on my table centrepiece. A set of Ikea candles on a brown tray and a few glittery greens: 

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The tree in the family room is real and more traditional in colour, red, cream and gold:

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Another obsession of mine, cardinals! Isn't this one so gorgeous?

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I can't wait to show you our baking creations on my next post! In the meanwhile, I hope your week is not too hectic. Take the time to carve out some peaceful moments for yourself and your family, that's what it's all about after all and it's what you will remember when all is said and done!

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