first snow of 2012

We had the our first snow of the year yesterday; it was just enough to make everything look pretty.  I think Cody, The World's Least Scary German Shepherd is having none of it.

Christmas 2012

I've been pretty busy lately; painting my living room and other personal stuff.  I decorated for Christmas over the past Thanksgiving weekend and here are the results.

I have so many people to thank for letting me steal their ideas inspiring me:  Amy Chalmers at Maison Decor for her wall paint color suggestion, Life Is a Party for the inspiration for the coffee table greenery arrangement, Rosemary at Villa Barnes for the beautiful sewing drawer in which I made the arrangement, many sites for the roses made from book pages (they really are easy and are so effective), One Girl In Pink for inspiring my "Joyeux Noel" sign, Shelley at Sow and Dipity for the Mason jar luminaries (these are simple and incredibly beautiful), Marian at Miss Mustard Seed for the glittery pine cone reminder, and my mom, for choosing such beautiful furniture and crystal and silver...it made the perfect backdrop.  There are so many others ... I am always so amazed at the talent out there in blogland...I hope to come close to that some day.

I don't know that I had a "theme" ... I guess it would be silver and white (original, huh?)  I tried to have elements (the book flowers, the natural pieces, the lumiaries) flow from area to area for some attempt at cohesion.

My tree is pink.  I wanted a pink tree, dammit.  Most of the ornaments are vintage Shiny Brites that I either had or collected over the past year via eBay auctions.

Some notes:

95% of the things I already owned.  The other 4% came from the Dollar Store (for reals), and the remaining 1% was from Michaels or Home Depot.  All the silver and crystal and things belonged to my mother. The "tree skirt" is a $14.99 silver lame tablecloth from TJMaxx.

I also lucked out on the greenery; because of the big storm here a few weeks ago, a neighbor lost an enormous evergreen.  He was kind enough to let me have as many cuttings as I wanted.  This saved me beaucoup bucks.

Things I learned:

• White and grey spray paint can turn a hideously cheap looking wreath into something pretty nice.  
• That spray "snow" is straight from the inner rings of Hell.  I did much better with Ivory Satin and Winter Gray spray paint and some spray glitter
• Decorating will always take longer than you thought it would.  Always.
• There's a certain bittersweet feeling about doing all of this when you know you'll be alone at Christmas.

Standard Disclaimer:  my photos always stink.

Living Room

Coffee Table

End Tables

Bar Area

Piano

Dining Room

Tea Table

I am linking to:

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday @ Coastal Charm

Newbie w/a Twist Party @ Debbiedoo's 

Mod Mix Monday @ Mod Vintage Life 

Make It Pretty Monday @ The Dedicated House

Table Top Tuesday @ A Stroll Thru Life

Tweak It Tuesday @ Cozy Little House 

Wow Us Wednesdays @ Savvy Southern Style
Countdown To Christmas @ Dixie n Dottie

Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage
Inspiration Friday @ At The Picket Fence
A Homespun Christmas/Vignettes and Mantels Party @  Savvy Southern Style
Fall Into Fall @ DIY by Design
Show Off Your Christmas Tree @ DIY Showoff