From my house to yours..

Wishing all the wonderful people in blogland a joyous Christmas.

Please be safe and have a very Merry Christmas.

Suzy

Christmas Crafts

I have been pottering about doing a bit of Christmas craft. I made Little Miss L a santa sack for her first Christmas. (I have vowed to myself to start another sack this week ready for our new grandchild due in a few weeks so I don't go rushing next Christmas!!) 

I have had fun making this for her but suffered a nasty bout of gastro last week which put me out of action for a couple of days so I was getting a bit panicky about everything I had to do. 

It is big enough for her to hop into!! I'm sure over the years to come it will be filled up many times.

The back has a simple Christmas tree - last year I made one for Little Mr L and I sewed a Father Christmas on the front but by the time I had finished I thought he looked a bit scary so decided on something a little simpler this year.

Another project I have completed is this gorgeous framed subway art. It was a free download from... once again I can't remember but please contact me if it was you and I will edit this post. I really love it. I had it printed at the photo shop onto photo paper then used a daggy old wooden frame (which has a finger print I must wipe off!!) that I bought for $10. The frame was actually a mirror and I wanted the piece of mirror for my Christmas table so had this frame swinging. Just a bit of black spray paint and there it is.

Another Christmas craft idea I have completed is this cute door mat. DNo 1 and her husband have just shifted into their brand new home and I was there the other day and thought they needed a new mat when I saw this idea  here and thought how fabulous it was.

As you can see I started off with a basic $10 door mat.

 

I printed out and enlarged the first letter of their surname.

With a steady hand I painted the letter with waterproof permanant paint.

I'm so thrilled that this mat has gone from the ordinary to something quite nice with just a bit of effort.

Happy crafting,

Suzy

I'm joining MetamorphosiMonday@BetweenNapsonthePorch

Christmas lunch for two.

Even though I have tried many different colours at Christmas (mainly pink and silver at the farm house) I think red and green just seem to scream Christmas to me. I am lucky as my beachhouse leans more to these colours so I am able to have a little bit of each!

I started todays table with a pretty tablecloth I had made from a lovely piece of Christmas fabric many years ago. I have used my red dinnerset which I purchased this year.

I made these double sided napkins to use during the festive season so they were perfect for today's table.

These wonderful red chargers I purchased a couple of years ago but sadly there were only two so I usually only use them as serving plates but they fitted in  perfectly with this table.

As you can see I have had a change of mind.... I added the large white chargers just to break up the 'redness'.

Not bad I think, nice for a little luncheon with a close friend.

It's lucky I don't throw anything out - these simple white napkins rings are perfect to finish off the setting. I have had them for about 20 years I think. I must have known I was going to become addicted to tablescaping!!!

I'm off to Perth today to finish a little bit of shopping and to take in a movie with DNo1. We are going to see Due Date which could be quite funny as she has only 3 weeks until her due date!!

Suzy

I'm joining TablescapeThursday@BetweenNapsonthePorch

Pretty pink gerberas

Aren't these gerberas just perfect?? I bought them the other day in a little craft shop.There were about 6 buckets full to choose from. Apparently some poor man had been growing them for years for a couple of our supermarket chains and suddenly they stopped their order as they could buy them in from China much cheaper!! They are now available to the public for a donation to the Cancer Foundation. A great cause but the nurseryman doesnt get any income - I couldn't resist a bunch of these pretty pinks.

They just seemed to match my sunroom perfectly -as well as my decorations!! 

The light from the large window was bouncing off this urn a little but it still looks pretty.

I decided to use some of my depression glassware on this little coffee table. I'm using three dear little milk jugs and a sandwich tray.

I love this little fluted edged bowl. Just right for lollies and Christmas decorations.

These beautiful green balls are new this year (actually I bought them in the after Christmas sales so this is the first time they have been used!!). Every year I tell myself I just don't need any more decorations but I can't help myself when they are all reduced.

This bright pink candle is a favourite but I just can't light it....maybe if I find another the same I'll be ready to use it then. Does anyone else feel like that??

I have bowls of baubles everywhere - there's nothing prettier and easier than that!



I have been back to my beachhouse to tidy up the garden and prepare the pool for Christmas Day. It will be so much fun as some of our family haven't had chance to see our new home yet. I have used lots of white and silver decoration there as it certainly isn't a pink house like the farmhouse.

                                          Suzy

I'm joining TabletopTuesday@AStrollThruLife
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TeaCupTuesday@ArtfulAffirmations

Teacups and Christmas decorations

Hello to all the teacup lovers out there!! There wasn't much happening on the teacup scene here at the farm house this past week so I wasn't sure what to post but you know me - I can't miss a good party!! I had been fiddling with a Christmas arrangement on top of my TV cabinet and needed a bit of height so teacups were the way to go. Most of my decorations at the farm house are pink and green so that was perfect to combine with the teacups.

I placed my music inspired candles under a cloche (which is difficult to photograph!!) that started out as a cover for a floral arrangement on my nan's grave!! The flowers have long since faded and been thrown out but my mum had this lovely glass dome sitting in her back room and didn't know what to do with it. As you can imagine I jumped at the chance to take it home. There are a few stains on it which I can't remove but I kinda like it like that!!

Enjoy!!

Suzy

I'm joining TeaTimeTuesday@LadyKatherine'sTeaParlor

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Decking the halls!!

This past week I have been playing around with candles. I decided earlier in the year that I wanted lots of white, silver or crystal candle holders for my table centre piece. I have a large piece of mirror I am going to sit them on the double the effect.

I have gathered them from all sorts of places ready for the Christmas table. This large based silver one in the middle is one of a pair I received for my 21st birthday - now that's a day or two ago!!! LOL The plain glass set of three (without candles at the moment!) I had purchased a few years ago.

I have two shorter mercury glass candle holders which I bought last Christmas. The small silver one on the left I bought at a thrift store for $1.00. 

 

The pretty little with one with the roses was also from the thrift store ($2.00 for 2!) which I painted white then gave the roses a little touch of silver.

This crystal (glass really) holder was also from the thrift store for $2.00. I had been popping in to the local stores near my beach house every couple of weeks just to see what I could pick up.

This lovely frosted glass holder was $2.00 but had gold bands so after a good scrub I painted the bands silver- now I love it!

A lot of the candles are siting a bit crooked (which really annoys me!!) so I am going to spend some time adjusting them when I place them on the table.

This really tall mercury glass holder in the centre was a new purchase this year - $40.00 which I thought was a good price as it is very tall and very pretty.

I have a pair of these crystal holders (actually they are a type of plastic but you would never guess) which look cute with the silver candles. 

I hope all your Christmas decorating plans are taking shape!

Suzy

                                   I'm joining DeckTheHalls@BetweenNapsonthePorch
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                                                          and AllThingsHeartandHome

Breakfast At Our House

I can't believe that this time next month Christmas will be over....... I have been away for 3 days this week. I had to go to Perth (our capital city) for a specialist appointment as I have had a bleed in my eye (8 times actually!) so I was getting a bit concerned but thankfully after lots of tests everything has turned out OK so now I can concentrate on Christmas!  I managed to do a bit of shopping in Perth then travelled on to our beachhouse and spent a night there organising security screens and pool cleaners so I hope things are going to be ready for Christmas.
I purchased a new Christmas tree and lots of gorgeous decoration in silver. I have that already decorated and windows cleaned and all linen washed - I also found a couple of prints for the spare bedrooms which I will show you soon.

Last Sunday we had just the perfect weather so I prepared a lovely Sunday morning breakfast table outside. I decided to place the table straight on the lawn instead of using the pergola. The outdoor setting is one I picked up off the road near our unit in Perth one day (actually SNo 1 helped me and he was sooo embarrassed!) but I love the curly legs it has. It is getting a bit wonky but that makes me like it even more!!
I have used a raggy quilt I made a while ago as the cloth and just added lots of pretty bits and pieces - most of these you have seen before but they still make a pretty table. 

Pull up a chair and I'll get you some fresh fruit and a cup of tea!!

Have a lovely week and I hope all your Christmas plans are coming along nicely. I'm making lists each day and have all the tizzy things sorted now I just need to concentrate on the food (that makes me nervous!).

Suzy 





                                   I'm joining: TuesdayTeaforTwo@ThePlumedPen
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