Shiny & Bright

My favourite part of Christmas decorating is the pure cheer of retro Shiny Brite Christmas ornaments!

Button up your Overcoat

Check out this fashionable ornament, complete with mittens, lovingly hand-stitched by my crafty mother!

Shooting Star

I got this ornament last year at Tin Barn Market. Oh this glam star encrusted with beads--it's just been hanging year-round on my bedroom door handle! Tonight I'm off to do some festive shopping at Tin Barn and other such locales under the twinkly sky at Almonte's Holiday Night Market!

O Christmas Tree

I love to snuggle under the pastel glow of a shiny brite filled Christmas tree and ponder, as the song goes:

"O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!

How richly God has decked thee!

Thou bidst us true and faithful be,

And trust in God unchangingly."

Finely Carved

My Finely Carved design is in Spoonflower's Wooshop challenge of the week. It was inspired by the carvings on 18th Century commodes.

1898 Art Nouveau Book

 Not too long ago I was picking up some old art magazines from a library archives building. While lifting one of the boxes of magazines onto a trolley, a book in another box caught my eye. I saw something turquoise and ornate, and pulled out this Art Nouveau beauty.

I cracked it open and found that it was printed in 1898! As I was flipping through it, I turned to the elderly woman who was the volunteer book sorter helping me with the magazines and asked where this book was going. She said to a used book store. I asked how much it would cost there. She said probably around $30. We flipped through it some more. I drooled. She saw me drooling. She said she'd give it to me for $5. I grabbed some change out of my coat pocket.   

And now it's sitting in my house.

It is such a fancy book--complete with a gilt pages and golden lily motifs on the covers!

As it turns out, it is a French biography about Capitaine Belletable. I guess I'll have to read it to find out what made this dude so special.

Something I love about old books is the bookmarks that hide in them. I found this perfectly-penned list (look at that calligraphy!) snuggled between the pages.

What a find!

Vintage Find: '50s Christmas Apron

This is my great-grandmother's apron from the 1950s. It is pure Christmas fun so I cinched it around my mannequin for an amusing fashion statement!

Inspiration: Mint and Red

Glossy, sweet, retro cheer.

DIY Beaded Tassel

Materials:

A beading needle

A couple inches of wire

Seed beads

Scissors

A large, decorative bead

A spacer bead

Needle nose pliers

Elastic thread

Step 1: Bend a loop in the wire and slide on the spacer and decorative beads. This loop will be the top of the tassel.

Step 2: Bend a loop in the wire, snipping off any extra, on the other end of the decorative bead. This loop will be the bottom of the tassel and will hold the beaded tassel strands.

Step 3: Measure and cut a 10-inch piece of elastic thread. It is going to be folded in half to create two approximately 2-inch long beaded strings of the tassel, allowing fraying and tying room. Obviously if you want your tassel strings to be longer you will have to cut a larger piece. 

Step 4: Thread the elastic into the eye of the beading needle.

Step 5: Pull the beading needle through the bottom wire loop so you have two equal pieces of elastic sticking out each side of the loop.

Step 6: Thread seed beads onto one side of the elastic. Remove the needle and tie a knot at the end of the string.

Step 7: Repeat step 6 for the other half of the elastic.

Step 8: Now your tassel has two full beaded strands. Repeat steps 3 through 7 to add as many strands as you think suits your tassel.

It will add some sparkle to your wardrobe or décor!



Tinseltown

Tinseltown Christmas Emporium is a year-round Christmas store in Ottawa, Ontario. Attached to Tinseltown, and run by the same owners, is Marie Antoinette & co., an equally astounding boutique of luxurious décor. They are the type of place you walk into and spend half an hour gaping at the first bursting, glittery display. Then you realize you've only stepped one foot past the entrance. Every time you turn around there's some new, wonderful, glamorous item you missed in your awe-struck meandering--items like these: 

Really, if a store's ceiling is this gorgeous, you know you've found a true treasure.

 Obviously I highly recommend visiting these lovely locales! And what's the best news? The two stores are expanding in the spring!