Whimsical Christmas Wreath

My two naked front doors forced me to do it. (Yes, we like to buy houses with two front doors, rather if we own them or to rent them). The front doors had basically been ignored during the decorating process for years. So, they locked me in until I came up with something cute, modern and above all, ‘Christmasy’.

I made two different types of wreaths-this being the first in a two-part intense wreath series I will be sharing with you.
Ok, truth be told, it’s not intense. It’s rather easy.

Here’s what you’ll need to make your own:
Styrofoam wreath
Metallic Spray Paint-I used silver, but you can go gold, red, whatever!
Hot Glue gun
Scissors
Brown Paper bags, drop cloth, etc
(ignore the rest of the stuff in the photo. I didn’t end up using it.)

Also:
Beads (these were from Mardi Gras)
Handful of small twigs
Metallic discs (found in the hobby section)
-OR-Any other decor you have laying around-tiny feathers, bells, sequins, gems, etc

Lay out the brown paper sacks or some sort of a drop cloth. Spray the styrofoam wreath and the twigs with the metallic spray paint. Don’t inhale…

Shove the twigs into the wreath until they fit snuggly. Show those suckers who’s boss. Hot glue the metallic discs (or the decor you have on hand) to the wreath with a bit of whimsy on your side.

Lay the beads around the wreath, intertwining them with the twigs. Hot glue the beads at various points around the wreath, so that they are secure but still have the capability of movement.

Proudly display your one of a kind ‘Whimsical Christmas Wreath’ on the door of your choosing-if you have more than one, like we do. ‘Cuz, we’re weird. And we buy weird houses.

But watch out-the neighbor’s with the boring old evergreen wreath might be jealous.

Retro Christmas Tree Skirt

I cherish Christmas.
It’s my absolute favorite time of the year. I anxiously await a reasonable time to launch into new crafty Christmas ideas, as soon as the first leaf begins to turn. This year I made it to the second week of October before I pulled out the decorations.
Ridiculous-I know. Fun-definitely.

This tree skirt was made out of scraps of felt fabric, an hour of my time and a bit of vintage inspiration.

Here’s what you’ll need to make your own Retro Tree Skirt:
2 Christmasy colors of scrap felt (I had red & green on hand)
1 circle piece of felt-about 2’-3’ in diameter (I used black)
Hot glue gun or ‘Heat n Bond’
Scissors
Ric-rac
Card Stock with your desired image drawn & cut out

Pin the cut out images to the chosen Christmasy felt. Cut out 4-6 of each image, depending upon how they are distributed around the skirt.

I cut out four felt deer for my tree skirt. And named them (from left to right: Template Deer “Ed”, Prancer, Dancer, Blitzen & Rudoplh).

And, I cut out five sparkly felt Christmas trees for my tree skirt and named them, too (from left to right: Gerry, Edna, Harry, Bob & Alice). But, I ended up only using four of them, however.
‘Alice’ was very upset.

Cut out a 2’-3’ in diameter tree skirt base. Then, cut a slit from one corner of the circle to the center, so that it can wrap around the tree. Using either a hot glue gun or the ‘Heat n Bond’, distribute the images around the tree skirt however looks best.

I added red noses to the deer and a bit of ric-rac around their necks for that extra vintage feel.

I hot glued two different colors of ric-rac around the edge of the tree skirt for some Christmasy pizzazz

And Tah-Dah! A one-of-a-kind, vintage-inspired tree skirt.
The deer were happy, the trees were happy, my wallet was happy…Now, all I need is the tree.

Vintage Gloves

Grandma blessed me with several pairs of her fancy gloves.
I love slipping my hands into the soft fabric and prancing about the house, pretending that I am a proper lady.
I envision myself as Audrey Hepburn or Grace Kelly.
What happened to women like that?

I might try to start a new trend of glove wearing. These are just too dang cute to leave sitting in my dresser drawer.

And, they compliment all of my vintage dresses. I think gloves would be rather cute with the right purse, heels and a vintage dress.
I think the public is ready for gloves to come back into fashion.

This soft yellow pair is my favorite. I just love the detailing around the bottom.

Wearing the gloves thrust me into doing everything in a very dramatic way.
I walk with my head held high, saying things to Biceps like, ‘Oh, Dahling!,’ and ‘If only you knew how very much I love you,’ while batting my eyelashes incessantly.
It’s probably best that I don’t wear these out in public, on second thought.

Modern Engagement with a Vintage Feel

Today, I am highlighting one of my favorite photographers, Justin Greiman.
(He also happens to be my Hubby’s brother.)
Justin shoots bands, babies, weddings and everything in between. His patient and humble approach to his clients is earning him a reputation not only as a great photographer, but also as a great guy to work with.
Plus, his photos pretty much rule.

Justin recently shot this series for this couple’s engagement. I love the deep saturation of color, the vintage feel, the hat-tipping to a time when men mowed the grass in a tie and women wore heels while cooking.
My hubby is lucky to see me outside of lounge pants.

(Justin shot all of these with a Nikon D90 at ISO 400. He used 28mm and a 50mm lenses for this shoot. He used partially available light, with a little fill from one sb800 in a 15″ softbox. He edited them in Lightroom using Color Efex Pro 3.0, a plugin from Nik Software.)

Justin captured a story with these next three shots. They intrigue me and I want to know more.

She seems pretty upset about something.

Her anger turns to sass, which is what mine usually does as well.
I get her.

His arms crack me up. They sell the vintage feel of the shot, as does the yellowed effect.
She looks perfectly posed; just like a print ad from the 60’s.

Could they be any more cute? Doubt it.

This is one of my favorites from the entire shoot. The mood draws you in, the graininess of the portrait softening the shot. It seems intimate, as if you are seeing a small snippet of their life that no one else gets to see.
Thank you Beau and Chrissie for allowing me to show off your engagement pictures. And congrats on the upcoming wedding!
And thank you Justin Greiman for taking such wonderful pictures. Go check him out-he’ll blow your little socks off!