It’s DIY Christmas Friday #3! You know where every Friday before Christmas we share a craft that is so easy even a monkey can do it? I’ve been decorating for Christmas like a mad woman here at the castle. When it came to putting up the stockings it occurred to me that our stockings were in pretty fair shape, but the fur babies stockings were pathetic. I’m talking toes up peeps! It was time for some new pet Christmas stockings!

There are a ton of cute pet stockings out there, but if I ordered on-line I’d have to wait forever to get them. Anything I could find locally were really cheesy or didn’t fit in with my Christmas decor. So I decided to make them and, since I am a sharing person, I am going to show you how easy they were to make.

Here’s what you will need:

Pre-made felt stockings

felt

Ribbon

White pencil

White Paint pen

glue gun

Craft glue

Small chalk board signs

I started by sketching out the design I wanted to put on my stockings. After cutting out my sketches to use as a pattern, I used my white pencil to trace the patterns onto the black felt. I cut out silhouettes of my sweet lab Sadie and my crazy, deranged cat Fire hydrant.

After positioning them where I wanted them, I glued them on using a craft glue.

The pre-made stockings had some decorative trim on the cuff and it was okay… but I want awesomeness! I am in love with pom trim. This lime green was perfect. I used the same craft glue to attach it over the existing trim.

This sweet ruffled red ribbon was perfect to go on top of the green pom pom trim.

I bought these small chalkboard signs for name tags.  Using a small drill bit, I drilled a hole to run ribbon through to attach the name tags to the stockings.

Then it was time to add a little bling and finish the stockings off with a bow.

Here are the finished stockings. I think they turned out so cute and I made both for under $10.00! It took me under an hour to make these from start to finish.

What I really love is that they fit my furry babies personalities. Silly cat…

and super sweet lab.

I honestly couldn’t be happier with them and apparently Sadie feels the same. I couldn’t take a picture of them without some part of her body being in the picture!

Remember every Friday from now until Christmas is DIY Christmas Friday!

Until next time….

                  Tammy

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Hey, Hey! You ready to get your jingle on? Well it’s DIY Christmas Friday #2. Every Friday from now until Christmas I will be sharing a DIY item that even a monkey could make. No offense to monkeys everywhere. I am so excited to share with you how to do a metal hand painted ornament.

You know me, I stalk Michael’s and Hob Lob. So on a recent “M” adventure I found a whole area devoted to metal ornaments. They come in a ton of sizes and shapes. I snapped up this large metal ornament, regularly $7.99 – less my 40% off coupon, of course.

I wanted the metal to show so instead of painting the whole thing one color I measured in 1 inch marked it and then connected the dots.

If you look really close you can see the outline for my painting area.

I gave it a base coat of white, which acts like a primer and keeps you from having to paint a thousand coats of your paint color so that the metal doesn’t show through your paint. Plus, call me crazy, but I think it makes the top paint coat a little brighter.

Follow the white up with your choice of paint color. Since I used red on this one I did two coats. Red is a beast to get good coverage!

Then just paint in your design! On this ornament I painted my last initial and green polka dots.

To get the initial transferred I simple used my computer to find the font I wanted and printed it off. I then colored over the back side of the initial with a pencil, then flipped it over and traced the outline of the letter onto my ornament. Then just paint. You could use the same method for the circles, but I just used a circle cut out I had.

Once it is dry, just add a bow.

It’s that easy.

Here’s another that I made for a client. On this one I used the same transfer method for the initial and colored it in with a paint pen. I freehanded the foliage with a white pencil and then painted it in.

These ornaments are the bomb diggity!

They have smaller ornaments in different shapes that I think would be awesome personalized and used as gift tags, hostess gifts, wine bottle jewelry, on the backs of your dining room chairs for placards or – wait for it – ornaments on your tree!

Don’t feel comfortable painting the design? Use vinyl lettering and cutouts.

Now if you’ll excuse me I’ve gotta go – I’ve got some more ornaments to paint!

Until next time…..

                         Tammy

I can’t believe it, but it’s time to get your jingle on! Especially if you are going to make some of your Christmas gifts, crafts or decor. In keeping with the spirit, Fridays here at the castle, from now until Christmas, will be DIY Christmas Friday. The Queen has decreed it so!

I’m starting with a craft that is so simple to do I’m almost embarrassed. At the same time it’s so dang cute I can’t help but share it with you! It’s a Christmas tree place card holder! Or you could just use it as a sweet decoration like I have it here.

Here’s what you are going to need:

Christmas trees

Christmas tree decorations – teeny tiny ones

Hot glue gun and glue

White felt

Printer and printer paper

Extreme glitter paint

Silver ink pad

Wire

It all started when I found this sweet tree at Wally World ( Wal Mart). It comes complete with a cool star and bling.

I hot glued some tiny jingle bell ornaments and tinsel onto the tree.

Then I attached about eight inches of wire to the top of the star.  I curled the wire several times on the end so that it could hold a place card.

Using my computer I found a font I liked then printed out the word ” Believe”.  Although you could use any word that means something to you!

Using a silver ink pad I added ink to the edges to give it some color and dimension.

Y’all know that I can’t do anything without a little sparkle. In this case Extreme Glitter is your friend, trust me on this. It gives you just enough sparkle without taking over!

The tree already had a cool base. I just wanted to give it a little more weight. So I cut out a piece of white felt about the same circumference as the base of the tree. Then with card stock, I cut out another circle with zig zag edge scissors about 1/4 inch larger than the felt circle. Glue the felt circle to the paper circle.

I gave the paper circle the same treatment as I did the “believe” sign.

Glue the base to your tree. That’s it. So dang easy!

Cute, right?  I can just see a table with one at each place setting, or in a winter vignette with different sized trees.  These would also be cute with green trees and tons of bling.

I hope that you love these as much as I do. Give it a try – you will be amazed at how easy these are!

Don’t forget to come back every Friday from now until Christmas to get your jingle on cause it’s DIY Christmas Friday!!

Until next time….

                      Tammy

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I can’t believe it. I finally found a way to do it – use my blue dining room colors in my Thanksgiving decor. I have a blue and brown Thanksgiving table!

I know! It’s not your traditional Thanksgiving table decor. It’s not even your popular decor. But it works in my dining room. Which is HUGE for me. I always loved my Thanksgiving table, but I hated that it looked like I just plopped fall colors in the middle of all of my blue.

I’m not sure when it hit me that I could just incorporate the browns, golds and a touch of orange with my blues and it would work. I’ve been trying for years to figure this out. Lightbulb moment people!!! And my Momma didn’t even drop me on my head when I was little, so I have no idea what took me so long.

Other than the leaves on the table, I added a few tiny pumpkins  around the room. See a tiny bit of fall color…

I wanted to add a “mink” coat to this crazy lady but I restrained myself!  It was really, really hard not to.

I did get in a little bling with these gold leaves… you can’t see it, but it has killer awesome sparkles on them!

AND I got to use my grandmothers china!

While I’ve had some really pretty tables in the past, I have to admit that I love the natural look with a little bling that this table has.

My grandma’s china, my blue decor and glassware, a little fall color and some gold bling – I do believe I am ready for Thanksgiving!. It’s on like donkey kong!

Until next time….

                        Tammy

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Woo Hoo! It’s time to get out my Halloween decor and get this party started!  We are Halloween freaks at my house. We love it all. The decor, the costumes and the candy. Sometimes  I think we spend more time decorating for Halloween than we do for Christmas. Almost.

What self respecting witch doesn’t have a spell book? This one asks you if you want some candy?

Looks like this witch may have had a little too much candy!

Of course we have bats in our belfry!

It is a little wicked here too…

This year I cut back on the mantle decor – even Sadie loves it. My Husband keeps trying to get me to buy one of those pictures where the image changes to put above the fireplace. Too scary for me though!

The birds have taken over the mantel this year…

And you know that I have a ton of pumpkins here at the castle!

This halloween throw is new here at the castle. It is so soft and warm I can’t wait to curl up on a cool night with it!

Everything is not all creepy and spooky here at the castle. We have quite a bit of whimsy thrown in here and there in subtle ways.

What Halloween decor would be complete with out a haunted castle? I left my fall pumpkins out too… I love them so much I just couldn’t make myself put them away!

This isn’t all of the halloween decorations here at the castle, not by a long shot!  There is so much to look at here that I ‘m just giving you peeks here and there! I know it’s a little mean of me, but trust me you will thank me when this month is over. You can have too much of a good thing.

Until next time….

             Tammy

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My fall table is probably one of my favorites that I have decorated of all time. Really. Well, maybe I say that every year, but I really mean it this time! It has everything that I love.  A little color, a little whimsy, fresh flowers or plants and most importantly, it makes me happy.

In the past few months I’ve been drawn more and more to go more natural with less fuss. For you minimalists  out there you are looking at this table thinking: “That’s minimal?” Well, it is for me. Hey! You can see the table top can’t you? Instead of fresh flowers I used kale, or as my Granny used to call them – cabbage. I made a small floral arrangement for each place setting. These were so easy. Just grab a bowl, plop in your plant and add some “fluff” to fill up the bowl. (Fluff is all of the surrounding elements like spanish moss, leaves, berries and acorns.) Nobody wants to see ugly holes!

I think these are so pretty and when it comes time to eat, they can become part of your centerpiece. These would also be great as gifts for guests to take home too!

If you follow me at all, you know that I like to make some of my decor and this fall table was no exception. You can see how to make your own napkin rings here and if you look closely you will see my latest project. Painted silverware.

I know that you probably have the same look on your face as my hubs did right now and YES I am crazy, but I wanted more color than regular silverware gave me. I found these inexpensive ones at Walmart for a whopping 62 cents each.  So these are almost disposable! Would I use them at a fancy get together? NO. But for fun? Why not?

Again this is a super easy project. Just tape off the silver and spray paint them the color you want. It doesn’t get any easier than that!

My centerpiece is an old soup tureen that I have had forever. More “fluff” is sprinkled around the bottom edges for some fun and color.

This table makes me so happy every time I look at it. It was certainly a lesson to me – you can have the natural elements with your everyday decor! It just takes a little creative thinking.

Until next time….

               Tammy

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I am addicted! Yeah, I have crossed over into land of crazy! My pumpkin patch is growing.  I can’t stop making them. Black ones, white ones, turquoise ones… I make them for me, I make them for my friends,and I make them for my relatives. About the time I think I am done, I realize that I haven’t made one for my great Aunt Eunice. Wait! Do I even have a great Aunt Eunice?

Thank goodness Michael’s pumpkins are no longer 60% off. They have gone down to a mere 50% off this week. And let me be the first to tell you that it has not slowed my pumpkin buying down at all. I think my husband is ready to hold an intervention for me.

These are my latest creations. I would tell you that they are my favorites of all time, but let’s face it I say that with all of them until I make a new one.

The problem is that they are so dang easy to make.  For these ones I painted the stem gold.

Then using a circular sponge, I painted circles on to the pumpkin. I applied gold glitter before the paint dried to give it a little sparkle!

For my “Boo” pumpkin I drew the lettering onto transfer paper. Flip the paper over and with a pencil color over the lettering. Position the lettering where you want it on the pumpkin and trace over the lettering. The graphite will transfer to the pumpkin where you traced. Then just paint your letters on.

Just add a bow and you are done! So. darn. easy. Some of the pumpkins shown here may or may not be given as gifts.

If I gift pumpkins I will be able to make more! Right? Which makes me wonder – is there a Pumkin makers anonymous?

Until next time…..

                      Tammy

I was at my neighbors recently and her kitchen was full of the cutest pumpkins you have ever seen.  It was such a great reminder that it’s pumpkin time!

My friend is a principal at a local private school and want to give her teachers a bit of fall decor to put in their classrooms. After a visit to Michael’s, I think she came up with the perfect idea to make gifts for her teachers.  Monogramed pumpkins! Didn’t she do a great job?

They were so cute, I asked her if she minded if shared them with you and would she mind if  I made one for myself?

First thing you should know? Pumpkins are 60% off at Michael’s right now. Woo Hoo! Love that. They have several colors, shapes and sizes in pumpkins, I opted for a medium sized tall one. The ribbon was on sale too… I was in “good deal” heaven! If you want to make one for yourself, here is what you are going to need:

Supply list:

1. Pumpkin ( on sale)
2. ribbon of your choice. I used three different patterns and widths. (on sale)
3. Rhinestone monogram – $1.99 ( $1.19 on sale!)
4. Decorative items to add to your ribbon. I got black glitter curly-Q’s – also on sale!
5. Glue gun and glue
6. scissors
7. wire cutters or as the hubs calls them: side cutters

I started by adding my bling to the pumpkin. I put it a little lower than center so that the ribbon wouldn’t hide all that fabulousness!

Next I made the bow. Cut one 10″ piece of ribbon of your choice, you will use this to tie the bow together at the end.

Start making the bow by laying all three ribbons, with the pattern side up, on top of each other.  Make a loop, like you see in the photo.  On the bottom that loop, where the ribbon meets, tightly twist the ribbon 180 degrees. This ensures that the pattern on the ribbon will always show. No one wants to see the tacky back side!

Continue making loops.  The next two loops will be slightly bigger than the center loop -twisting them in the center after you make each loop, just like you did with the center loop. (see photo above) Then make the next two loops, again slightly larger than the last two. Now don’t freak out if it takes a little practice be able to twist and hold all of the ribbon together. You can do it. I promise!

Once you have your five loops completed, cut your ribbon leaving a tail of about five inches. Taking the 10″ piece of ribbon you cut earlier, thread it through the original center loop and tie it around all of the “twists”.  This holds the bow together and will complete your bow.

Now it’s time to “fluff” your bow. I am so thankful for wired ribbon! It makes the ribbon stay in place so nicely.

Next, glue your bow to the top of your pumpkin with hot glue. At this point you can “fluff” the bow again if necessary.

If you wanted to stop here, that would be perfectly fine. But you know I’m gonna give it some bling! I cut 3″ pieces of  tulle and glued them together to form a small bundle. Then glued them randomly to the bow, being sure to hide the glued ends.

I also added those cute black, glitter curly floral picks.  Now that bow just screams “look at me!” My kind of bow.

Honestly, once I got started I could think of a ton of things that I could have done to decorate my pumpkin. Gold or black dots painted on the pumpkin, or dots cut out of vinyl? Michael’s had a ton of blingy stickers – spider webs, curly-Q’s and ghosts that would have looked totally cute as well.  Maybe a witches hat sitting in the bow? Or a glitter spider? Peeps, this could be so addictive!

Thanks to my neighbor for reminding me that it’s pumpkin time and for letting me share her creativity with you!

Until next time…..

                        Tammy

Early in the month I shared with you my Easter/Spring table scape with the promise of sharing my Easter Kitchen Table  with you …. Ladies and gentlemen….(drum roll please!) here it is, along with a few other kitchen Easter surprises!

Just in case you missed it – this is my Easter/Spring centerpiece.

This year I am trying to tie in the existing decor with my holiday decorations.  Who wants to spend days changing everything out when they could be painting furniture? Me! Me! Oh, ME!

My St. Patricks day table used green, gold and black.  I really liked it.  Since it had a lot of the colors I would use for Easter I decide to keep a lot of the same things.

I changed the centerpiece.

I kept the placemats, charger, plates and napkin.

I added a beautiful soft yellow flower napkin rings and my favorite Easter decoration of all time, duck and bunny salt and pepper shakers in white and the same soft yellow as the napkin ring.

That’s it! How easy was that? Just a few simple changes and my table is ready to roll.

Here is a shot of the entire table.  I left off the silverware and glassware because let’s be honest – I DO leave it set as you see it, but I DON’T  leave the silverware or glasses on the table on a daily basis.  I like that I can pick each place setting up as a whole and move it to clean. Easy peasy. Just keepin’ it real for my peeps! If that makes me bad, so be it.

Of course my kitchen wouldn’t be complete without my chalkboard art…

I’ve shared this sweet little bunny with you earlier, but couldn’t resist showing him again… so. darn. sweet!

I used this as my formal dining centerpiece last year. I loved that little rabbit so much so I HAD to use it  somewhere. I think it is perfect on my island… I have a few more small surprises tucked here and there around the kitchen – a faux chocolate bunny, a tiny basket of eggs, birds nests – just little things to remind me that spring and Easter are really here.

So how about you? Are you going all out on your Easter decor this year or are you like me and are scaling back a bit? I’d love to hear!

Until next time…..

                       Tammy

Hey Y’all! It is a beautiful day here. The sun is shining and it is 74 degrees. Woo Hoo! Now, THIS is spring.

I am working on a ton of projects right now ( if only I could finish just one!!!) but I wanted to share with you my latest Spring wreaths. 

One wreath to bring a lot of color to the outside, and one to bring some green into the inside.

The first one is a Pinterest find.  I couldn’t find who to give this pin credit to, so if you know- let me know, so I can let y’all know!

I have to say that where Pinterest is concerned not all things pinned actually turn out like the pinned photo. GASP! I know you are shocked! This one did. Here’s what you are gonna need…

1. White Styrofoam wreath. I couldn’t find a medium size white one, so I went with the green one. Trust me white would be better on this one, but the green isn’t terrible. You just have to make sure the green doesn’t show through your paper loops. I think mine was $6.99 at Michaels, less with coupon.

2. 14 different patterned scrapbook papers – I used a lot of scraps from scrapbooking

3. Glue gun

4. Ribbon

So darn  easy even a monkey could do it while jacked up on Mountain Dew!

Cut 4 – 1″ X 12″ strips out of each piece of paper. Then cut each of those strips into 3 – 4″ strips. This gives you a ton of strips.

Using a glue gun, loop each 4″ strip making the ends meet and glue. This gives you the loops you see in the photo.

You are now ready to assemble the wreath.

Starting on the “top” or center of the the wreath glue the loops to the wreath, try to stay in as straight of a line as possible. Glue the strips all the way around until the wreath is full.I did not put loops on the back. If it touched my work table, it didn’t get covered!

Once done go back and check for “holes”, if you find a few, tuck in a loop to hid the wreath. This is where having a white wreath would have been a better deal!

I added a bow to the front, and a loop of ribbon glued to the back, to make it easier to hang.

My finished wreath! Cute, yes?

The Pinterest one had a birds nest with eggs hanging down in the middle, but I like to be able to see out of my peep hole, so I left that off. Ya never know who will come knocking on the door! Instead I added this sweet little blue bird.  Awww….

My second wreath is in the dining room. I was working on my Easter table and looked up and thought my boxwood wreath looked a little bare hanging on the front of my small armoire. It sits in an alcove and it’s a little dark there.  I added this gold initial… nothing earth shattering, but it was like adding jewelry to a plain dress!  I love it.

This letter has been many colors, this time I  spray painted with Rustoleum’s Metallic gold. It looks uneven here in the photo but in person it looks even and shiny…go figure!  Truly my favorite gold spray paint!

That’s it for now… I have so many project to finish up  – some small like these wreaths and some BIG life altering  projects that I can’t wait to show you!

Until next time…..

                  Tammy

Top o’ the morning to you! I love St. Patrick’s Day. I do. Rumor has it I have been to a lot a few Paddy’s day parades. Some I may or may not have been dressed up like a gypsy Queen ( thank you Sweet Potatoe Queens!) I love the beads, I love green, I love how everyone just wants to have a little fun for one day.  I love the thought that I might find a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow… I MIGHT!

I just don’t decorate for it like I do other holidays. I usually do my chalkboard and buy a few tiny gifts for the kids, hit a parade and call it even. This year I want spring to get here so badly, I thought I would make a little extra effort in hopes that it will come a little faster!  Today I am going to share with you my St. Patrick’s Day decor.

Remember these? I found these last month at HomeGoods and fell in love with them.  I don’t usually like green but I am kinda thinking that this emerald green is the bomb diggity! ( It may even show up in room redo later this spring…) If you read my earlier post you know that I bought these with no idea where or when I was going to use them. Well, this is it baby! Perfect for St. Paddy’s day!

Ta Da! This is my kitchen table where we eat everyday.

I started with some emerald green placemats that I got at Marshall’s last year.

Gold chargers – Get it? Gold at the end of the rainbow -what else?

Then my white dishes that I pretty much use with everything.

Followed by the new napkins. I used some of my parade beads for a napkin ring, just wrapped them around the napkins. I stuck a “lucky” coin in the beads for a little fun!

I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on my decor and ya know that I love to use what I have when I can. So the parade beads were used along with the “lucky” green and gold coins that I have acquired over the years. I picked up a cheesy green pot at Hob Lob for a few bucks. I really wanted a clover  plant to go in my pot but I guess here in Texas people consider clover a weed so good luck finding clover at a nursery. Instead I went with another plant that reminded me of clover.  I love the tiny white flowers!

Of course I did a St. Paddy’s day chalk board art. I couldn’t resist adding various stuff from my parade days to the frame.

Not bad for spending  under $20.00 for my St. Patrick’s Day decor!

One last thing… my outdoor flag. I KNOW  – funny, but wrong. I couldn’t resist!

I will leave you with one last thought…

May Your Pockets be heavy

Your heart be light

May good luck pursue you

each morning and night

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

until next time….

                       Tammy

I cannot believe that it is already time to celebrate Valentine’s Day! Seems like it was just yesterday we were eating turkey and putting up the Christmas tree. And January. Well, I have officially dubbed it the official Month of Birthdays. My reason? Ryan, Tyler, Roxanne, Sally, Siana, Heather, Caleb,and Judy. All who have birthdays that I celebrate in the month of January.

I don’t really decorate much for Valentines. We don’t even really do much in the way of gifts. Some candy, a cute little gift – that is about it. Just a little token to say I love you.

My chalkboard is one of the few things I do to celebrate Valentines. This year instead of just drawing my message of love on the board, I added the heart garland. I just love my circuit machine! Makes the garland so much easier. My chalkboard was like a little black dress. It just needed a little joo-ry! Gotta love my Valentine’s Day chalkboard!

OH.. and a little side note…

My paperwhites grew faster than the alien plant in Little Shop of Horrors! ( If you haven’t seen LSOH -you must!) They did everything but scream “Feed me Seymour, Feed me!” They grew so much that they fell over from the weight. I thought I had another plant fail on my hands until I saw a blog post from Yvonne at Stonegable.com.  Seems that just the way paperwhites roll. Her solution?

A few sticks and some ribbon.

I cut some small branches from my tree, stuck them in the dirt and used the ribbon to tie the paperwhites to the sticks.  A cute and easy fix. Thanks Yvonne! Not gonna lie by the time we hit this point they only lasted another week.  Next time I will do this a good week  to two weeks sooner. Yay me! I guess with a little guidance I can grow plants indoors. Maybe!

Until next time….

Here at the castle we are putting up last minute decorations, cooking up a storm and doing a lot of just enjoying the moments!  We hope that you are doing the same.

From our castle to yours….. Merry Christmas!

Until next year…..

Welcome back for my Christmas home tour part 2! In my last post I showed you my kitchen and eat in dining area. Today we are gonna hit the rest of the Castle!

I shared my tree with you in an earlier post this past month.  We bought a new one this year. Our old one had to go. I was literally tying up the branches with fishing line.  The Hubs went to put it away for me last year and made a detour to the trash instead of the attic!  The old tree was HUGE! Not just in height but in width at the bottom.  I was always rearranging furniture. The hubs insisted that it be a “skinny” tree. I had my doubts, but I do love this one.

I love adding Christmas pillows, although I don’t have that many. My goal this next year is to make slipcovers for the pillows I use everyday.  We shall see! My mantel again, can’t be live greenery due to allergies, so I just go with faux greenery and decorate it to match the tree.

You all know I love colored glass and have collected since I was a child. Well, this is my second obsession – snow globes. This is my Christmas collection.  I put it out on the coffee table. I usually wind different colored beads between them, but this year  I was in the mood for a simpler look.

The last few years I seem to be drawn to these silly snow girls. They just make me smile!

I changed up the garland on the stairs this year. New ribbon, less stuff hanging from it and I just did two large drapes as opposed to five. Getting the garland even was a nightmare!   My son’s nutcracker collection was on the fireplace mantel for years. As with all things here at the castle, I was ready for a change. I wasn’t ready to get rid of them. ( He WILL want them someday!) So I decided to use them at the base of the stair treads.  I used Command Strips to ensure that they couldn’t be knocked over.

I like that I get to really see and enjoy them.

At the end of the stairs I have a swag. Nestled inside is a gold musical bell my Granny used to hang in her dining room doorway.  I still remember my Grandpa lifting me up so I could pull the string so the bell could make music. Good memories!

And last, but not least, my dining room. I love stacking different dishes at each place setting. This  is what the table looked like this year for the Queens party. All extended for eight.  This will change soon as I decorate if for the four of us for our Christmas dinner. I try and change it up a bit every year without going out and buying all new stuff.  This year I decided to decoratively fold the napkins instead of using a napkin ring.  I also mixed up the stemware.  Can you tell I like eclectic?

Oh, I almost forgot – my powder room. It is tiny so I have limited space for decor. I can’t believe I am showing you but here goes. This is my two legged tree.  I lost one of the legs. I keep thinking that I am going to make a base for it but ain’t nobody had time for that here at the castle lately! Thank goodness you really only see it head on and not from the side so you don’t notice it – much.  I placed the cute and crazy owl next to it as a diversion.

That is the conclusion of my Christmas home tour. I hope you enjoyed it,maybe even got a few new ideas and if you are like me you realize that if your Christmas decor isn’t a model show home worthy, it really is OK!

Merry Christmas!

Until next time…..

WARNING!!! If you are expecting a home tour of the perfect model home filled with fresh greenery, perfectly matching decor that looks like it came out of a magazine – this ain’t it! Some days I wish it were.  We are allergic to fresh greenery and we actually LIVE here with a psycho cat and a big lab. Not to mention that I just wasn’t in the mood to have every surface available decorated this year. Hey!  It is my circus and it is my monkeys!  I have to keep reminding myself that it can’t be perfect all of the time!  This is my Christmas home tour!

I was gonna show you all of the downstairs in one post but as I was taking pictures it occurred to me that it might be too much information overload. Plus, I would have to make sure everything was picture perfect – ALL AT ONCE!  Not gonna happen! So I am going to break it up into two parts for you.  Starting with my kitchen and eat in dining area!.

This year I am keeping it simple. Yeah, I keep saying that. Denial much?  I love my sweet hutch. It reminds me of one my Granny used to have! Here is where fresh greens draped across the top with candles and berries would be killer awesome!  Allergies – remember? Instead I have my Christmas dishes and my white dishes mixed together with a few other items.

Here is a close up of the shelving.  I love how versatile white dishes are!

The eat in dining area.  Again.. I just use the white dishes and add in my Christmas dishes. This table gets used everyday. A lot. So having a fussy tablescape is not an option for me. At. All.

I fought buying Christmas dishes for years.  Everyone I know had Spode.  I like it, I just wanted something different.  Something I could dress up but at the same time use daily.  We are pretty casual here at the Castle. I already have my grandma’s and my china. So enough with the china already!  A couple of years ago I found my Christmas dishes at Walmart of all places! The Better Homes and Garden line. And the price was super awesome.  ( Not getting paid by Walmart, just so ya know!) Besides the dishes, this line also has a serving platter, bowls and these sweet red bird salt and pepper shakers.

See how sweet the red bird salt and pepper shakers are? OH!  The placemats and napkins are also in this line.  Another thing that I NEVER do… buy everything in the line. Too matchy, matchy!  But for some reason I don’t mind these so much.  Although I would love to find the perfect black and white napkins to go in here!

Of course my kitchen would not be the same without my Chalkboard.  I love this. I let out my inner artist and just go with whatever suits me at that moment.

Moving into the kitchen I have this great “bump out” area behind the sink that is just screams to be decorated. Every year it is different. I never know what I am gonna put here. I usually have some plants or poinsettias here but this year I wanted a cleaner streamlined look. ( OK I am busted! I was too lazy to go buy them!)

This platter is also in the Better Homes and Garden line.  It fits perfectly on the countertop, in the corner of my cabinets. I love the vintage feel of it.

Here is the closest I am ever going to get to an Elf on the Shelf.  This vintage one was given to me by a friend and I love him! He reminds me of the elves that my Granny had at her house for us to play with.  So fun! These red ornaments were on the tree the first year the Hubs and I were married.  I have used them everywhere! Over time they have worn down and look a hundred years old. Love that!

Here is my one live plant this year- a small pine.  Thank you Kroger for putting all of the fun flowers right across from the  produce section so I would be sure to see it.  Love those impulse buys.  They even decorated it for me! It really looks good on the kitchen island. AND makes me wish for real greenery through out the rest of the house….

Thank for stopping by! Come on back next time for the rest of the tour – my living room, formal dining room and powder bath.

Until next time…..

I love a pretty Christmas tree. I love one that is sentimental more.  Over the years I have tried to combine the pretty with the meaningful and I think I do okay with that.  Since my boys were old enough to choose, I let them pick out an ornament each year.

Some years it was REALLY hard to pay for the ornaments that they chose. This green octopus thing? For reals? Now I look at those ornaments every year and smile.  Each of them hold memories. I guess you could say we have a storytelling Christmas tree!

Batman is my youngest sons all time favorite, followed closely by Jack Skellington.

My older son has many Scooby Dos, Star Wars, Muppets and sports.

The hubs?  Camping, Airplanes and barbecue. The man makes a mean briquet!

Me? Anything with a crown, queens, Maxine or crosses.

There are many “firsts” on our tree. First Christmas together.

Baby’s first Christmas.

The Shiny Brights remind me of the vintage ones  we had on our tree growing up. We don’t have any of those anymore. Most were destroyed when our house caught on fire on New Years Eve when I was in second grade.

We also try and buy ornaments from places we vacation.  This year it was Savannah, GA…..

New Orleans….

and Las Vegas. We had a good year!

There is a lot of “life” on our tree and I love it that way.  My tree will never be the most beautiful or the most color co-ordinated. It definitely has no “theme”.   I am more than okay with that.  It warms my heart every time I look at it and come away with another memory that makes up our lives.

Merry Christmas to me!

Until next time…..

Hey! I hope you all survived Black Friday but more importantly had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day!  Lots more decorating and shopping done here at the castle, starting to be able to sit back and enjoy the fun stuff. Woo Hoo!

In an earlier post I gave you a sneak peak at my Christmas decor. Today, I begin sharing just exactly what goes into getting the castle ready for the holiday season. This year I wanted to go more simple. ( If you know me well I know you are laughing! Cuz it is so dang hard for me to go really simple!) I also wanted to use more of the things that I already had. With that said, today I am going to show you How to update your Christmas wreath.

I am apologizing ahead of time, this post has tons of pics and is a little long so grab a drink and settle in and enjoy!

Here’s my old one… yikes!  It definitely seen better days!

So I ripped everything off.  I will reuse some of it, but the ribbon had to go. The flowers? Out of there! In this case, it was the majority of the decorations so it was just easier to start at the beginning.  After removing everything, I “fluffed” the wreath.

I like to start with the ribbon.  You could glue your ribbon in, or you can simply take two pieces of the wreath and twist it around the ribbon.

Running the ribbon loosely around the wreath, I twist the ribbon every so often, leaving plenty of slack in the ribbon to fluff at the end.

You could add just one ribbon, but my motto is if one is good two is better! I add a smaller ribbon the same way I did the first one. I start in the same starting place ( only one ugly place to hide later) and followed the first ribbon for placement – with one exception.  I alternate the placement of the second ribbon – placing it in the front of the first ribbon loop, then placing the it on the back side of the next loop. Have I lost you yet?  Just alternate between placing the first ribbon in front or back of the larger ribbon. It gives more interest and movement. Now your ribbon is done!

You could be totally done at this point and ready to add whatever embellishments that you want.  I chose to go ahead and add a bow made from my ribbon.

This is truly the easiest bow ever!  I generally make this bow when I am using really wide ribbon. The ribbon I used was 5 inches wide. With the ribbon  facing toward you, Run the ribbon away from you, at about six inches  up, grab ribbon and make a loop. This loop can be any size you want.  At this point you will have a six inch tail and one loop of your bow.

Now here is the only part that is important for this ribbon to look good. Normally at this point I would just twist and be done, but this ribbon is really wide. If you just twist it kind of wads up. Pleat the ribbon and then twist.  I makes the ribbon prettier, when done.  So now you have completed your first loop.  Make your second loop only in reverse, pleat, twist and cut , leaving  a six inch tail. Make sure that your tail is the same size as the first.

Now using a smaller width of ribbon, I used the same 2 inch green ribbon as on my wreath, I cut about 12 inches and placing it flat in the middle of the bow where I pleated and twisted my bow. Simply tie a knot on the back side of the bow. You may need an extra set of hands or if you are like me I use my teeth. Yucky I know, but a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do! Ha!  Using the same green ribbon tails that you tied the bow together with, tie it to your wreath.  Fluff. Ta Da!  you’re done.

Here is what mine looks like at this point.  Now I just glue the original sparkly bulbs and snowflakes that were on the original wreath onto the wreath.  And this baby is DONE!!!

TA DA!!!! MUCH better!

This wreath update took little time and I used only things that I had to had on hand.  Simple and blingy at the same time.

Here is a list of my supplies:

5 inch ribbon

2 inch ribbon

old wreath 

scissors

glue gun or glue of your choice

That’s it for today.  I have a few more things to share with you and then I promise that I will give you the complete Christmas Castle tour.

If you would like to stalk me… go to www.patinaandpaint.com and sign up!

Until next time…

I KNOW !  It isn’t even Thanksgiving yet, but in the blog and retail world you have to be one step ahead.  I spent this weekend decorating the castle for Christmas like a crazy woman on a mission. I have lots of upcoming jobs and I just wanted to get ‘er done before all of the hustle and bustle starts. With that said, I refuse to post Christmas before I have even had my Thanksgiving turkey dinner OR the opportunity to be truly thankful for all the goodness that has been bestowed upon me this year. Not. Gonna. Happen! I WILL give you a Christmas sneak peak of all of the fun things to come!

LOVE all of these fun colors!

I purchased a new tree this year, although I did not get the one my heart was set on…BOO!

What’s Christmas without a little sparkle?

That’s all I can show you right now.  HOWEVER,  once this Thursday has passed and the turkey lethargy has worn off  -it is on like Donkey Kong! Bring on the tinsel, the tree, the fun and all things Christmas!

Until next time…..

I can’t believe that Halloween has past and we are on the down hill slide to Thanksgiving!  I spent my weekend putting away Halloween decor and bringing out the Fall decor – again! Oh, OKAY!  I watched a lot little football in there too!  I don’t do a lot of decorating for Thanksgiving because we usually always go to my Dad’s house for the holiday.  I usually have my tree up before we leave for Dad’s house so that I can do last minute shopping the weekend after AND focus on the rest of the indoor decor while the Hubs does the outdoor lighting.  It can take days. One thing I did get done was my Thanksgiving Table.  And I am going to show you how to do it without buying anything new~

We will start with the dining room tablescape. I decided to do something a little different this year instead of the same old thing.  I started with an off white runner.  I’ve had this one for awhile now.

And these fall placemats. I have used these ones for a long time now.

I put my pumpkin candle centerpiece in the center of the table and added fall leaves, pinecones acrylic jewels and acorns…

All of these I have had for awhile and are in my fall “fluff” or small extra “stuff” box.

Here’s the other end of the table.  I am not a “match-matchy” person, so I don’t always do the same thing at both ends of the table.  It’s OK to do this as long as the scale is the same.

Then it was on to the place setting. I started with a gold charger that I always use, but quickly decided it was too much gold and went with the orange ones that I used for Halloween.  I love to use my Granny’s china. I have to admit that when I was younger I didn’t like this pattern at all!  Over time I have come to love the brown against the white in this Noritake pattern.  Also the mum’s are perfect for fall! I normally would have just used white dishes.

I then added green salad plates.  I love layering.  It makes the table look more interesting and colorful.

This year I skipped my jeweled napkin rings and went for something a little more simple that had some glam.  Ribbon, feathers and glitter!  I used two different type of napkins for interest.  This one with a leaf embroidery pattern, tied with a faux leather brown ribbon into a simple bow.  I used the faux fall leaves – let’s face it, here in Texas it just got cooler. There are NO leaves that have fallen or changed colors as of yet. So while I would much rather have real leaves, faux it is!  I used that leaf as decoration AND as a place card by adding a gold glitter initial to the leaf and placing it on the napkin.  I added some cerise feathers for a little glam.

On this place setting I used an orangish-red napkin with stamped leaves.  My bow is a cheetah print.  Again I added the fall leaf with the gold glitter initial and the cerise feathers.

I added brown water glasses that and silverware. My Thanksgiving table is complete and I didn’t spend a dime! Woo Hoo!

What I like best about this table?  I used everything that I had here at the house. So this table cost me nothing!  I will admit that I think that I will be hitting the Thanksgiving days sales this year in hopes of finding a different placemat. I have had these for awhile and will admit to getting a little tired of them.

Best tip?  IRON EVERYTHING BEFORE YOU START.  I cannot stress this enough.  The napkin above looks a little wrinkly and I ironed it thoroughly. Imagine what it would look like had I not.  A few extra minutes of ironing can make your linens look like new, no matter how old they are, therefore make your table look fantastic.

Tip two:   Your holiday decor doesn’t have to be new every year. Shop you own house. Mix it up!  A lot of times we have stuff we have never used or an abundance of stuff that we have had forever, that can be used to make a great tablescape or vignette.  So get creative, you can use the money you saved for something you really love!  Like a manicure, or chocolate, or wine or a massage….

Here are a few more fall vignettes that are placed around the house.  This is in my kitchen eating area.  We have had these little pilgrims since our boys were really small! I usually put these on the mantel.

I have never used this soup tureen that I won at Pokeeno before, so I thought I would dust it off and use it on the sideboard.  I love the faux wooden tray too.  Just added a bit of “fluff” – pinecones, leaves, and  berries for a five minute vignette!  Again, I had all of this here at the house.

Moral of this story?  Unless you have had a natural disaster of mass destruction totally level your house, I think that you can dig in cupboards and use grandma’s china, mom’s tablecloth, your old dishes and little imagination to create holiday decor that you love!

Until next time…..

              Tammy