Valentine’s Day is only a week away and I am thrilled! I look at this day as a chance to bring some colour and spice into my home. Living in Ontario, February is at times dreary and cold. So for me, Valentine’s Day couldn’t come at a better time! This past week, I took down all my gold, silver and copper touches around the house. I left my vases and jars (still filled with epsom salts or tinsel) in place. I went to my local dollar store and picked up some red hearts in various sizes and red garland. I then simply placed the hearts in the jars and vases. I also hung small hearts on the branches of the fireplace mantel. To finish off the Valentine’s decor, I wrapped the garland around the vases and jars on the fireplace and piano. I think the red is a great contrast between the white, silver and crystal.

Take a look:

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY

I can not believe that it is already Jan. 22! This year has started with some sadness, my Great Aunt Margie passed away, and I am finally getting back into a routine. So hopefully I will be able to make much more regular posts. This is my New Years Resolution:)

So let’s move on to something happy. For Christmas I came up with an idea to organize my Grandmas fridge. She has many photos of grandchildren and great grandchildren and I knew she would appreciate a way to showcase her loved ones.

When we moved into our house we had very ugly bedroom closet doors:

We have removed these beauties from each room. We haven’t purchased new closet doors but I feel I’d rather have no doors then these doors!!! (Sorry to any one that may have these closet doors:)

After removing the doors I needed the door to be half the length. I went into the garage, pulled out my husbands saw and cut through the wood very carefully.

I brought the door inside, removed the hardware and gave it a coat of paint.

I used this brown paint I had in the house from other projects.

Over a couple of days I painted several coats of white paint that I also had around the house. I painted enough coats so that the brown would not show through the white paint. Once it was completely dry, the fun part began. I gathered a fine grit piece of sand paper and went over the edges of the door. This gave the door a distressed look.

I had only one problem, that if you put a picture in between the slats, the pictures would slide through. I then measured the back of the board and headed to Home Depot. I purchased a MDF board that was a 1/4″ in thickness. I cut the board to the right measurement. I then used small nails to attach the board to the back of the door.

The pictures now stayed in place between the slats! I finished this project by painting the back white, reattaching the hinges and adding a new knob to the front.

Here is what the finished project looks like:

The only other problem I had is that we forgot to bring it my Grandmas for Christmas!! So until we went to her house again I decided to put it on top of my piano and incorporate the door into part of my decor:)

Don’t worry, it is now with it’s proper owner!

Where has the time gone?? The last few days before Christmas past before my very eyes. I was trying to finish up some last minute Christmas presents, some of them worked and some of them didn’t! I was hoping to post the project that did work before Christmas and I blinked and now it’s almost New Years. I will post this project in the New Year. I’m hoping everyone had a Merry Christmas. My Christmas was different. I have spent the last four days at my Grandma’s house with my son and sister. We usually go there for Christmas but we lost our beloved Great Aunt Janie last year and she was greatly missed. We were also faced with our other Great Aunt Margie not doing very well. So Christmas was different and tough on my Grandma. Thank goodness for children because they are a great distraction!

So moving on to happier topic, I woke up this morning and looked around and decided it was time to take down some Christmas decorations and get ready for New Years Eve!! While I was away, I went to the dollar store and picked up gold, silver, white ornaments and metallic tinsel. I cut some branches down at my Grandmas and arranged them in one of my favourite vase. I added tinsel to the bottom of the vase and hung tiny bells on the branches:

I also gathered up some other vases of different sizes and shapes. I filled some with metallic tinsel and others with epsom salts. I added some ornaments and white flowers. Here is another shot of my mantel:

I also changed changed the piano mantel:

I took the white shutters, added little bits of copper and put it up on the mantel. I then gathered up old bottles, martini glasses, a silver tray and filled them up with all things that sparkle!

I tied snowflakes with silver ribbon around the stem of some bottles.

I changed up the dinning room table centerpiece.  I gathered a glass  tray, bowl and vase. I then filled them up with tinsel and ornaments.

The last project I completed was the staircase. I took down the stockings and added gold garland throughout the greenery. When the lights are on the staircase glows. She’s pretty!

The house was already for our little get together last night. Hopefully everyone had a great New Year’s Eve and will have an even better New Year:)

Over the past few days I have completed a number of items off my Christmas checklist.

1. Decorating: the decorations are the best they are going to get for this year!
2. Shopping: I have been able to get out a few times and complete my list
3. Wrapping: while my son is asleep I’ve pulled everything out and wrapped it all:)
4. Baking: this weekend is crazy with social obligations so I got out the bake goods and baked some cookies. (Now we are already for the Christmas Parties)

I baked Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies:

I found this recipe on Epicurious webiste

The ingredients needed for the chocolate cookie:

• 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-process)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 large egg

The ingredients needed for the filling:

• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
• 2 drops (or more) red food coloring

• 1/2 cup crushed red-and-white-striped candy canes or hard peppermint candies

Once you have all your ingredients together, this recipe is fairly simple

Whisk together flour, salt and cocoa

In a seperate bowl, mix together sugar, butter and an egg

Add dry ingredients into the egg mixture

Freeze dough for 1hr

Take a tablespoon worth of dough and roll into a ball. Then take a cup and flatten the dough till it’s 2″ in width.

Bake at 350 for about 10 mins.

While the cookies are cooling:

Beat sugar and butter in medium bowl, add peppermint extract and 2 drops food coloring. Beat until light pink and well blended. Spread 2 generous teaspoons filling on 1 cookie to edges and top with another cookie. Finally, roll the cookie in crush peppermint and your done!

Christmas is quickly approaching and it is time for our Christmas tour. This being our first year in our house and in the middle of renovating, I have had to limit the decorating to our hallway, family room, dining room and outside. I hope to hit some great sales after Christmas and decorate my little heart out next year! I am joining the Nesting Places Christmas tour.

In the mud room, when you enter the house I added a few Christmas items. The great thing about snowman is that you can leave them up after Christmas!

After you take your coat off you enter the hallway:

If you turn to your left and enter through the glass doors, you would be in our family room:

I tried to put the toys away but my son pulls them right back out!

I hung little wreaths in each window:

Here is the table in our family room:

Our piano mantel:

The only gift under the tree (I’d better get shopping!)

Our fireplace mantel:

And another angle:

Looking into the hallway:

Now if you look into the dining room (soon to be our kitchen!) our table looks like this:

On top of our china cabinet, I put extra Christmas balls into our punch bowl:

I hung a wreath in the window:

I added a few snowmen accents in this room as well:

Here are some outside pics:

I will add some pictures of the house in the daylight tomorrow:)