Decorating for a New Year's Eve Party – Part Two

There are plenty of banners available at party stores that you could hang near the entry way of your home or even outside the front door. You can make a banner too, if you are the artistic type. A metallic banner can match a more sophisticated theme. If you are having a party where there will be lots of kids, consider having them make the banner as well as the noise makers. All they will need to make a fun banner is a large piece of construction paper, stencils, and markers.

Centerpieces on the tables are a nice touch that can really make your decorating stand out. There is no need to buy one already put together, because there are plenty of ways you can put together a cheap centerpiece yourself that will look great. Floating candles shaped like flower blossoms in glass bowls can look great, just add some glass rocks to the bottom of the bowl in a color that matches your theme. You could also just use a simple bouquet of flowers as a centerpiece in colors that match your theme. Or, place several pillar candles on a pretty plate and fill the gaps in the plate with small clear Christmas ornaments with the hooks removed. The idea is that the clear ornaments will look like bubbles. You can vary this idea by using champagne bottles in place of the candles, or you can mix the two up.

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Decorating for a New Year's Eve Party – Part One

Hosting a New Year's Eve party often includes decorating for the night. Decorating doesn't have to be a huge deal, there are several ways you can decorate easily and quickly without having to spend too much money.

First you should pick a theme to go with. Many New Year's Eve parties are adults only, in which case you may want to choose a different theme than if the party is going to be a neighborhood party including children. Fun hats and noisemakers are pretty much a must for either type of party, since kids and adults both get a kick out of these items.

However, especially if you are going to have a lot of kids at your party, you might not want to hand out the noise makers until a few minutes before midnight unless you don't mind all of the racket kids will make with them. Another option if there are going to be lots of children at your party is to recruit them to make the noisemakers as a craft. Have them fill coffee cans with uncooked rice or change. Then they can cover the coffee cans with construction paper with designs drawn on. Hats you should hand out right away. Masks can add a sophisticated air to your party.

Balloons are a cheap way to add some color to your decorating. You can always find balloons in colors that will match your theme. Silver balloons will look classier, colorful balloons will look good for a neighborhood party.

Check back tomorrow for part two of this blog.

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Last Minute Christmas Decorations – Part Two

Greeting cards are something that you already have on hand that can easily be used for decorating. You can even use cards from past holiday seasons if you don’t have enough for decorating from this season. Display them on your mantle among sprigs of greenery. Use a hole punch in the corner of each card and string them along a wall.

Gifts that are already wrapped make great decorations. Spend a little extra time wrapping your gifts nicely, and you can use them for decorating also. Make sure to use bows and ribbon if you want to go the extra mile. Place some gifts under the tree as usual, but display others around the house in different places too.


Stack a couple of gifts on an end table, or place a few along your mantle. Place a stack of gifts near your entry way or place a few above your kitchen cabinets.

If you like the idea of decorating with gifts, but don’t have enough around, you can always wrap a few empty boxes. If you want to diversify the theme a little more, you can wrap ribbon around your throw pillows and place a bow in the center to make your pillows look like gifts.

Place a few candy canes in a simple clear glass cup or a small vase. Tie small red ribbons around the necks of the candy canes and display them on your mantle or end table.

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Have yourselves a merry little Christmas!

WOW this month has been insane! I'm finally finished work, shopping and apart from Xmas day I've pretty much got all the friends and relo's festivities out of the way so now I'm well and truly ready to relax and enjoy the summer! After the boxing day sales (naturally) we are all going up to the lake house for 2 weeks of sun and fun. I can't wait!

This year has been an absolute BLAST! Discovering blogland has been one of the best things I've ever done. I have loved every single minute of it. Meeting each of you and delving into your inspiring and adventurous lives has been the ultimate honour and pleasure. I simply can't wait to see what the new year brings.

I wish you ALL a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful new year! May all your wishes and dreams come true *HUGS*

Anna xox.

p.s Following are just some poor quality pics of Christmas around my home ;)


(try to ignore the big ugly navy sofa in the corner, it's going next year! lol)

(my attempt at a quiche hehe)

(I remember last christmas saying I was going to paint my mirror white, well hopefully i'll get around to painting it before next christmas lol)

(I'd never make it as a stylist, who leaves the loo paper in the shot? lol)

(again, candle should have been lit!)

(some beautiful pastel baubles, my friend Brook gave me last year)



See you all in 2009! Stay safe and eat yourselves silly! ;)

Last Minute Christmas Decorations – Part One

There isn’t very much time to finish decorating for Christmas. If you are hosting a Christmas get together at your house, you may want to do some speedy and cheap decorating. Never fear, there are several things you could do very quickly.

For Christmas dinner if you don’t have any Christmas plates or settings, you can use plain white plates. Use a red or white tablecloth, or use red or white place mats. Then, place one round glass ornament on each plate. This looks classier if you use just one color for all of the ornaments, and it looks more fun and happy if you use several colors. You can even use a variety of ornament types for a more sentimental look. If you want to get more elaborate, you can use small ornaments along with the large ornaments and even add seasonal greenery or colored tinsel.

Next, place a glass or silver pedestal cake stand in the center of the table and fill it with ornaments that match the ornaments you have on the plates.

If you want a more fancy centerpiece for your kitchen table, try placing cream or white colored pillar candles and tapered candles in a ceramic or metal bowl. Fill the spaces between them in the bottom half of the bowl with newspaper. On top of the newspaper place shiny ornaments in the bowl until it is overflowing with them. Silver ornaments and beads look really nice. Then, right when your guests sit down to dinner you can light the candles. Just make sure to blow them out when you’re done, since this display of candles might not be totally steady.
Check back soon for part two of this blog.

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Decorate for the Holidays Inexpensively - Part Two

Tea light candles are extremely cheap. You can find them at dollar stores easily most of the time. Use tea light candles in clean glass jars. The jars can even be recycled jars that your food items came in, such as applesauce jars or mayonnaise jars. Tie a red, silver, green, or sparkly ribbon around the neck of the jar. Group a few of these candles together on end tables or a mantle for an easy, pretty decoration.

Try looking at thrift stores or discount stores for teddy bears or other holiday animals. Put them through the wash, and most of them will look brand new. When they're dry, tie colorful ribbons around their necks. Next, collect various sizes of boxes from shoebox size down. Wrap them in colorful wrapping paper and tie pretty bows around them. Display these present boxes with the teddy bears for an adorable decorating scheme. Try gluing a box under a bear's arm, or have a bear sitting on a present.

Hang a few ornaments or a few strands of tinsel from a chandelier. You can add a few pieces of greenery too, tied on with ribbon.

Use acrylic paint and some seasonally shaped sponges that you can find in a craft store to decorate your windows. Colors like white, red, green, gold, or silver look very festive. This can be a fun project that kids might like to participate in too.

Christmas tree ornaments can be used in places other than just your tree. Try picking out several ornaments that are the same color and putting them in a small decorative bowl on your mantle or on an end table.

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More Chrissy inspiration...

I'd say most of us have finished decorating our homes for the Christmas season but incase you're unfinished and uninspired here are some gorgeous festive rooms that have certainly inspired me!

Some have a nordic flavour and others are comfortably colonial. My home features a little of each.

(the three images above are all from Swedish Interior Design)

(the seven images above are all from country living)

(Liz Williams via VT Interiors)

While my children are still little, I have alot of decoration my children have made at school and such to which I cherish eg: the handstitched tree on a piece of linen my daughter made. My tree is very disorganized with mostly figurine and handmade ornaments as opposed to perfectly proportioned baubles.

Here is my latest edition, I found this lovely santa who I fondly refer to as my Nordic santa from the flea market this past sunday.

He stands proudly on my hall table :) My love for vintage finds certainly doesn't stop at Christmas. After seeing Tracey's post I'm now on the hunt for mercury glass baubles to place in a pewter bowl. LOVE IT!

More pics of my Chrissy decor to come...

Decorate for the Holidays Inexpensively - Part One

Many people do not have a lot in their budget for holiday decorating this year. But, you would be surprised how many nice decorations you can create very inexpensively. You may not end up needing to buy any full priced decorations.

Before you buy any decorations or any materials for the following ideas, or spend any time making any of these decorations, take the time to plan out your decorating theme. This can save you time and money that you might spend experimenting, so it makes sense to plan. Some people like to decorate with a more classy looking theme, consisting of a lot of white, clear, silver and shimmery decorations. Some people may find this boring and opt to decorate using more vibrant colors in a toy land theme for example. Some people like to go with a more subtle cabin or ski lodge decoration scheme that will look warm and cozy.

Use what you can for free from your back yard. Trim small branches from pine trees and gather pine cones and holly. These can all be used to make a centerpiece, or to decorate a mantle. Pine cones can be spray painted with gold, silver, or sparkley paint.
Pine tree branches can be used as an accent to almost any decoration, and they smell nice too, so be liberal when you are gathering them. If you have bird houses in your back yard that are going to waste during the cold months, bring them inside. Wash them off, and tie ribbons around them. Add a couple small pine branches, and you have a beautiful hanging decoration.

Check back soon for part two of this blog.

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Quickly Ready your Home for Guests

Getting your home ready for guests can turn into a big ordeal. Here are a few bare essentials you can take care of quickly that will make your home look plenty ready for guests during the holidays.

First, go outside and look at what your guests will see as they walk to your front door. If there are any ice patches to spread salt on or snow to be shoveled take care of that first. Maybe the front house light is burned out and in need of replacement. Set a couple of planters out front with Christmas plants in them such as poinsettias. Big red bows around your porch railing can look very festive and are quick and easy to tie.

Now, open the front door and check out the view. Often we have our favorite jackets, snow hats, and mittens hung over railings or on the counter tops. Gather these things up and put them away for now. You can easily get them all out again as soon as your company is gone.

Clear out a few coats from the coat closet so guests can hang their coats in it. Make room on the floor of your coat closet for guests to keep their shoes. This is especially handy if you have a dog who eats guests' shoes like I do.

Make sure there are plenty of chairs available for guests to sit in. Make sure your couches don't have excessive pillows decorating them that don't leave enough room for sitting.

Don't sweat the details on cleaning. Just wipe down visible surfaces and inside sinks. Make sure there is toilet paper, and clean the toilet if it looks dirty. Fluff the guest pillows and vacuum and sweep if you can see the floors are dirty.

Light candles and a fire if you have a fireplace as a final touch.

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Random loveliness...

(Chris Everard via Desire to Inspire)

Well the auction for our lake house came and went on thursday but didn't sell. A real sign of the times when people expect us to give away a prime piece of real estate. Nvm, more time for us to enjoy it :)

Anyhoo, it's been another mental week and I guess it wont get any slower for a few weeks yet. I had to post some of the absolutely stunning images that are inspiring me this week.

I hope you're having a joyous weekend filled with lots of Chrissy festivities :)

(Traditional Home)

(Latest Sussex)

(Eric Roth via Desire to Inspire)

(Eric Roth via Desire to Inspire)

(Eric Coher via Cote de Texas)

(Betsy Johnson via Taverne-Agency)

(Shabby Chic via Apartment Therapy)

Clothes Pin Ornaments

Old fashioned wooden clothes pins can make quite cute Santa ornaments. Make sure to get the kind pictured below, the kind with the hinges might work, but not quite as well. You’ll need red and white felt, red pipe cleaners, red, black, yellow, and peach paint, acrylic is probably the cheapest and easiest, and glue.

The clothes pins have what looks like legs already, and small torsos, so without even getting started you can imagine how the Santa will look. First glue a one to two inch piece of clothes hanger on each side of the clothes pin. If you have a drill, you can simply drill through the clothes pin and string one longer piece of pipe cleaner through for his arms.

Next, paint everything but the top part, which will be the head, red. After the paint has dried use black paint to paint the bottom sections of his legs black, like boots. Use the black paint to draw a line where his coat would be covering his pants. Draw a black belt around his waist, and draw on two small dots for his eyes. Use the yellow paint to draw a square buckle on his belt. Use the peach to make his cheeks look rosy.

Cut a small rectangle of red felt and roll it into a cone to be used as the Santa hat, then glue it in place. Glue on a bit of white felt for his beard, and use a little more white felt for trim on santa’s hat.

Using a bit of red thread and a needle, sew a loop onto the Santa hat. This will be your ornament hanger.

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A nursery fit for a princess...

(petit tresor)


Spending time with my nextdoor neighbours brand new boo boo one can't help but feel clucky. No I'm not going to go there myself lol but I do hope to design a French/vintage with a touch of glam inspired nursery someday. My neighbours didn't find out what they were having therefore planned their nursery around a very basic neutral background. When I say basic, I mean beige! But a lovely beige at that :) I think they made a wise choice. Their furniture is a very dark, almost ebony timber. Their overall colour scheme looks similar to J'Lo's nursery above :) When I ask friends who are pregnant what colour they are painting their pending babies room alot of them can't wait to experiment with lots of colour. Friends who don't know the sex of their baby often want mint green or lemon and others who know of the sex go straight for the bright pinks and blues.


I personally prefer a nursery to be predominantly white. A newborn baby is the most pure form of human therefore I believe should be adorned in white. I absolutely love to see a newborn baby dressed up in a white nightie or all-in-one suit. To me, it epitomizes their youth.

(chic shak)

When I say I like nursery's in white I don't mean ALL white like the image above. Yikes! They've just come from heaven to earth they now need to experience pops of colour ;)

(taverne-agency)

When first bringing a baby home most of us like to have a smaller bed next to ours for easy access during the night feeding phase lol. Really, babies are only able to sleep in these types of beds for about 4 to 5 months maximum therefore I think it's a waste to take up too much space out of your room with large cradles or bassinets with canopys and valances and such. I really love these sweet moses baskets. Easy maintenance, cosy, unintrusive, multifunctional and with a little monogrammed bedding I think they look fit for royalty.

(Petit Tresor)

If I were to decorate a nursery for a little girl I'd begin by painting the walls either antique white or a very pale beige.


Without going crazy with bright colours and patterns, which we all know as they say you should never do as it stimulates their mind when they are supposed to be resting, I believe there are more subtle ways of incorporating interest for the baby but at a much calmer level.

(Ohdeedoh)

I LOVE the image above. Who needs an annoying mobile hanging over the cot/crib when you could have a beautiful sparkly chandelier hanging from the ceiling or sconces on the walls. Imagine the pretty soft colours that would dance around the room when the sun bounces off the crystals.





When it comes to a cot/crib I absolutely love iron. Timber slim slat cots are lovely also but I just love the delicacy of iron cots. Again to me, children, as they get older, tend to acquire more chunky furniture, predominantely timber, so I like the thought of a petit delicate baby sleeping in a petit delicate bed. Alot of iron cots have an heirloom stigma attached to them and rightly so. They are that something extra special you wouldn't want to just throw away after your baby has outgrown it, more like pass it down the family tree.

(celebrity babies)

I absolutely love Toile patterns for the soft furnishings, especially if it depicts children, animals or nursery rhymes.


If you don't have built in wardrobes a beautiful armoire would be a perfect choice and the caning on this one is a welcomed texture.

Ok there is no avoiding some of the chunky, practical furniture every babies room needs. When you have a limited space i don't believe you should crowd the room with a changing station and a chest of draws. I love the draws/change table combination. It makes sense to make two functions out of one piece. What is it with me and monogrammes lately? I can't get enough! I'm already planning on trying to encorporate some monogrammed cushions into one of my clients formal living room and now thinking about nursery's I think it's paramount you display SOMETHING with your beautiful new babies initial/s. Really welcome your cherub to their new home by personalizing the space.

You know me and my love for painted furniture....I couldn't resist including this lovely piece as another option. It's very detailed but not tacky or overdone and if you were to keep detail painted pieces to just one again it will offer the baby interest and wont be overstated.




I love ornate furniture in a nursery, offering depth and texture with that important touch of whimsy.


This would be a sweet nightstand and perfect to neatly display all the beautiful heirloom gifts you recieve from family and friends. Actually I'm looking for piece similar for my own daughters room. Unfortunately the tufted bench I was using next to her bed has proven to be a bit of a pain and not the functional piece I'd hoped. It's now at the end of my bed where I suppose it was original made for.



Another darling option for a nightstand.




This Louis style chaise is probably highly impractical but can I just say what a gorgeous piece of furniture it is? :)

If space permits i'd be more inclined to use a gorgeous tufted glider like the one above in a beautiful vintage floral or toile fabric or combination of both. I wouldn't bother with the ottoman unless client requests.

Moving onto accents, if I wasn't using any other detail painted pieces in the room I'd love a little table and chairs set just like this, anxiously awaiting the first of many tea parties.

(house to home)

Another small but lovely detail to add to any baby girl or boys room is to display your favourite of their clothes ie: their christening gowns. I love the look of shelving with little pegs hung above the change table and beautiful baby outfits hanging in a row.

Look at that gorgeous bunny lamp?! What an enchanting element.

(french weave)

You know I would also try my hardest to get an aubusson rug in there ;)

Finally, what vintage inspired nursery would be complete without some of the beautiful artwork of Mz Besse Pease Gutman in slightly ornate white frames.

These are my three favourites!

Ok this post was a little more detailed than I first expected so I'm all babied out now and snapped back to reality lol.

I'm quite certain my next baby will be a yappy handbag dog lol

All furniture featured was from Petit Tresor