Getting there...

It's starting - the Christmas decorating!  After spending a wonderful Thanksgiving here with family, along with a festive weekend of parade and tree-lighting hoopla downtown, I'm ready to get into the Christmas spirit.
The boxes have come out and the transformation is starting...

A Christmas village atop this shelf in the living room...

Sweet angel on a vintage window...

Jeanne D'Arc Living-inspired Santa ornaments:

(these are for sale in my Etsy shop)

Victorian Santas seem to be a focus this year...

Soft colors...

A little sparkle mixed with aged appeal...

I'm trying really hard to keep our antique daybed in the living room, whilst still being able to fit a tree in there.  Here are some peeks of the daybed area:

(sacred heart milagro from ShabbyFufu)

I've just given you peeks of the decor, since aforementioned boxes are still afoot.  The house always looks in disarray before it is 'done', right?

Sharing with these lovely parties:
Feathered Nest Friday
Vintage Inspiration Friday

White Makeovers

Folks, I've got a series of white transformations to show you today - a chair, a (faux) horse, a dress form and a Santa.  How's that for variety? 
Before Thanksgiving, I get into creative mode for the all-out Christmas decorating.  Here's what I've been up to...

This chair got a Jeanne D'Arc Living-inspired makeover:

I used some leftover paint from our bedroom, 'Sea Pearl' by Benjamin Moore for the chair, as well as a grain sack I had hanging in the kitchen to cover the seat.

Here's how the $5 chair looked before, after I rescued it from the White Elephant outlet store outside in the rain:

The wet seat cover was removed and I replaced it with new foam & batting after painting the chair.

Now to the horse...I've always loved the look of wooden horses in Christmas displays.  Here is a page from my favorite 'White Christmas' book by Tricia Foley:

And here is another source of inspiration from the latest Jeanne D'Arc Living 'Touch of France' Xmas book:

A couple of months ago I spotted an unusual paper mache horse at my thrift store.  What are the odds of finding something like that?  It looked very retro 80's with all the dried up flowers & pink ribbon:

I knew this fella had potential.  I took it to the check-out counter, ready to spend my $1 on it, when I encountered a lovely lady who exclaimed just how adorable it was.  I didn't have the heart to tell her I had major plans to transform it to this...

I just dry-brushed on some white paint mixed with gesso, and left the torn areas a bit exposed for a vintage look.  Gone is the cutesy pink!

I can't wait to adorn my horse with some greenery for Christmas!

Now...on to the mini dress form.  This pretty gal from TJ Maxx...

...got a similar dry-brush paint treatment to age it a bit:

Ooh la la!

Are you still with me?  I've got one more small transformation to share.
Do you recall this jolly Santa I scored in June while treasure hunting with my peeps?

I wasn't fond of the bright gold gifts in his sleigh.  After unwrapping the gifts, I discovered they were made from styrofoam blocks (how clever!).  I used the gold wrap as a template and cut out white muslin pieces the same size:

The gifts were wrapped using hot glue, and adorned with lovely seam binding ribbon.  Now Santa's sleigh is more my style...

Well, this is certainly my favorite time of the year.  I can't wait to see what the rest of you have been up to!
Sharing with these fabulous parties:
Vintage Inspiration Friday
Feathered Nest Friday
Blissful Whites Wednesday (next week)

Hope...

Back to 'fluff' again...one thing that gives great hope is celebrating the joy of Christmas.  The birth of our Savior, to save the world.  I do get caught up in decorating and planning for Christmas, I'll admit, but it is because the season brings such joy and peace.  We can always have hope for the world when He lights our way.

Here are a bit of random light and bright images...

New listings on Etsy for Christmas:

A peek at a chair I am working on.  It was found at my favorite outlet store, outside in the rain.  I've lightened it up with paint...

...and plan to make a new seat with this grain sack:

I'll show the entire transformation when I'm finished.

The best part of the day at the outlet was spending it with my 7-year old son.  It was the first time he tagged along with me on a vintage treasure hunt and I loved seeing what he experienced (he had a keener eye than me for some little things).  I hope he'll always want to tag along.

Another thing that got painted lighter was this antique urn we had outside (which was black).  I'll be putting ornaments in it for Christmas, but here's the fall look:

Ornaments will look great in this $2 thrift store bowl, too...

The last thing I want to mention is how much I've been enjoying the Creatively Made Home e-course with some of our favorite bloggers.  One of the big things I've taken away from this course is how these bloggers really speak to the reality of our home life (and with a dose of humor thrown in).  Glossy magazine photos of perfect homes, as well as amazing images from admired blogs can leave us all feeling a bit discouraged when we look around our own day-to-day homes that are lived in.  Although these images are meant to inspire, we have to remember all the staging that went into them.  I can attest to tossing a lot of 'reality' off to the side as I take photos to post.
The most important thing is to feel comfortable and content in our homes and to not take decorating too seriously.

That being said, another source of great insight lately has been this book by Miss Mustard Seed:

Marian Parsons truly keeps it real when she shares her humorous struggles and the satisfation of DIY hard work.  I own (too) many decorating books, and this by far has been the most well written and relatable.  Truly. 
So off I go into my little corner to read...

I'll leave you with one last image, which was inspired by a photo in Marian's book.  It is a reminder to unlock your potential and be hopeful about what lies in store.

Sharing with Blissful White Wednesday next week. 

Humility

I was all set to write one of my usual lightweight posts on decor.  To be truthful, today I am in a funk... a bit shocked by the disappointing results in the election.  Our great nation is suffering and choosing to continue down the wrong path.  What do I do with this sobering news?  Pray and remember to have Faith.
Most of all I pray for our leaders to be great by being humble.  The virtue of humility is sorely lacking in leadership today, as well as in much of our culture. 

The happiest people on earth have been the Saints, who were the most humble.  They have also been the most courageous.  It is a mistake to confuse humility with weakness.
I have faith in the Saints of yesterday, today and tomorrow, following the truth that is Jesus.

St. Therese

It's going to be a tough next 4 years.  I could choose to lament all that is lost and stay in my funk, or I could take more action, get more involved and become a happy warrior for Truth.  I'll continue to pray for guidance and for this country and its' children most of all.