A Light Dusting of Snow

Hello everyone and welcome to my first Christmas post of the season.  I have so many ideas and projects, I hope I can manage to complete them all and post about them before the holidays are over!

Today I am going to show you how I added a little cheer and just a smattering of snow to my eat in kitchen.

I started with a pretty blank slate of a round, white table and transluscent chairs. This gave me the opportunity to decorate in whatever colours I wanted.  My holiday colours have always been and always will be traditional (red, green, white, silver, gold) and every once in a while I might throw in just a touch of a trendy colour for fun.  For this particular display, I stayed true to myself except for the bowl that I used, which is one that sits on my table anyway and I love the teal colour and the way that it juxtaposes with the traditional decor.

The idea itself is pretty basic, just some ornaments in different shapes, sizes and texture. The variation is what keeps it interesting and I love pine cones, they just seem to add a rustic warmth to everything. 

Now, lets talk about the base shall we?  You may be wondering where the snow came from and did I just grab some from the backyard and throw it in there in order to take this photo?  The answer is a resounding NO! but isn't it fantastic!  

When you look through magazines or on the web, most holiday bowls like this will have a base of greenery, whether it be real cedar boughs or artificial pine sprays.  I decided to defy the standard and try something different.  I found this stuff at Dollarama, here in Canada, it came in a little bottle and it said fake snow, just add water.  I was skeptical and almost put it back on the shelf but I thought, for $1.25, what do I have to lose, I'll try it out and see what happens.  You can be the judge, but I think it turned out great.  It has been a week since I took this picture and the snow still looks like this.

Lets recap the cost for a moment because this is something anyone can do with things you already have in your holiday decor stash.  Ornaments, pine cones and bowl - already owned, fake snow - $1.25.  Total for a new take on an old idea $1.25 and I love it!

Do you have any new ideas for traditional holiday decor?  I'd love to hear about them.

Until next time...Lisa 

Breathing New Life into Old Tables

Well, it has been a bit busy around the new abode; trying to get organized and unpacked and get ready for the holidays all at the same time.  I have found that the best motivator for getting the old butt in gear is having guests come over.  A week and a half ago my mother in law came to visit for the weekend and I really wanted to have the guest room completed.  That didn't happen, however I did manage to make it a little bit nicer than the last time she was here.  On her previous visit (I am ashamed to say) I hadn't even vacuumed or changed the sheets since my nephew had stayed over.


My first project was to make over a couple of hand-me-down end tables that my mother in law had given me.  I wasn't sure that I would be able to do anything with them at first because they were made of MDF with a veneer finish, but am I ever glad that I gave it the old college try.

I am so upset that in my haste to start this project, I completely forgot to take a before picture. UGH!! When you look at the tables, try and picture them in a cherry coloured veneer with a shiny brass handle hanging off of one end.

First of all I went scavenging through my garage and found my primer, which I love, it is called Zinsser Bulls-Eye123, "no scuff sanding required".  So the tables got a good thick coat of primer and I even let the munchkins help me out with this part.

 

I let the primer cure really well for probably about 24 hours and then I gave the tables their first coat of paint.  I used Rona 100% Acrylic Latex and Polyurethane, it is actually floor paint.   This was recommended to me by my friendly neighbourhood Rona paint specialist for painting furniture as it is more durable than regular latex paint.  The verdict? It was amazing! I will only be using floor paint to paint furniture from now on.

The colour I chose was called Mineral in a satin finish.  It is a bit difficult to tell from the pictures, but it is a really soft bluish-greenish-gray.  Looks pretty good, right?  That is after only one coat.  I couldn't believe it.  I almost left it at that, but I really wanted it to have a good hardy finish and didn't want any of that cherry veneer coming through, so I let it dry another couple of hours and then applied the 2nd coat of paint.

I think it looks fantastic!  Exactly what I was going for!  Here are the finished pieces in their designated space.

Now, I just have a few more things to do in that room. A new light...

....can you say YUCK!  Also, I want to redo this bench that I scored on Kijiji for $30.  I found some great fabric at Joann's when I went to Buffalo on my annual girls weekend that I want to use to recover it.

Some curtains, some paint, some accessories....ahhhhhh, so many projects, so little time! 

Until next time...Lisa.


I linked up with Thrifty Decor Chick