Tuesday, December 15, 2015

On Christmas Decorating

ON CHRISTMAS DECORATING

     Well folks, BizzyLizzy has been real busy decorating for Christmas and giving the bedroom a well- deserved makeover. 

     First off, here’s some pics of my Christmas tree.  I had painted the milk can blue back a few months ago, and really liked the color, so when it came time for the Christmas tree, I decided to put it in the milk can.  Last year the tree sat on a small table, and it just looked so forlorn, not happy at all.  I wanted something different this year and when I saw a pic on Pinterest, I thought it would be just the thing.

     I guess you could call it a Redneck Christmas tree because it’s sort of shabby and country and it is SITTING IN A MILK CAN!!!! 







     Then there’s my wreaths.  I made two.  One for outside and one for inside.  For the outside one I wanted something different from the usual ribbon, bows, Christmas balls, etc.  When I retrieved my Dollies from their resting place, this little snowman caught my eye.  He had on a pair of skis and had ski poles in his hands. This would not do, so off come the poles and skis and on he goes to the wreath. 

    His arms are wired, so I could arrange them so it would look like he was waving.  I had two burlap flowers left over from another project and thought they were just different enough to be interesting, then I just added a little greenery, and here he is.  And because the entire wreath is not so Christmassy, I can use it all Winter, at least until Valentine’s Day.  So cute.  And no matter how hard I tried, I could not get the glare from my neighbor’s house to go away. 

     And yes, the sign on the window says “Caution” oxygen in use – no open flames.  I do have COPD and am on oxygen 24/7, so I have to be extra careful around open fires.  That’s why you may see candles in my decorating, but they will never be lighted.



     For the inside one, I saw another pic on Pinterest of an angel wreath.  This angel sat atop our very large Christmas tree for years, but she is just too large for our small tree.  She spent the last couple of years tucked carefully away, but this year she’s out and about and looking very pretty in her new home.

     The balls have been around for years, the hot pink ones have been around for at least 60 years.  I remember them from when I was a child.  The others aren’t that old, they’re only around 25 years old.  And I love the “pearls” with the burlap.   I think she’s just elegant.



     And then there’s my dollies.  Every year I buy a new doll for Christmas.  This year it was this adorable little reindeer.  Isn’t he cute?  I’m not sure where his permanent Christmas home will be, I’ll just move him around until he looks at home. 






     I mean, just look at that face.  Who could resist that face? Adorable.

     And here’s some pics of some of my other Christmas dollies. 







     This Nativity was painted by Hub’s aunt in 1951.  It has been around the block several times and was looking worn out and tired. 

     This is a representation of what the entire Nativity looked like.  The paint was flaking and some parts were missing.  Notice the ears. 






     After brushing with a toothbrush to get all the loose paint off, I sprayed it with primer, then two coats of Americana Décor chalk paint, and when it was good and dry I sprayed it with ModPodge Hi-Shine super acrylic sealer.  I wanted it to look like porcelain, not the chalk ware that it is.  It is a complete set, with the wise men, the camels, a shepherd with sheep, a cow, a donkey and of course, Mary, Joseph, Jesus and the Angel.  I choose to use only Mary, Joseph, Jesus, the Angel, the wise men and the shepherd.  The animals actually took up too much room and needed a little more work than I had time to devote.  Maybe next year I’ll tackle the animals and use all of them.





     This next picture I added just to show some weird photographic effects.  I was playing around with lighting when I got this.  I had turned off all the lights and used the flash.  The clear marbles actually glowed under the flash.  As I’ve said many times before, I am not a photographer and anything can happen.  I think this was one of those lucky things.





     Not to call this little guy an afterthought, but actually he is.  When Hubs got all the stuff out, this little guy was left over, I just couldn’t figure out what to do with him.  He really was ugly.  Grey, and it was a dirty looking grey, not a nice grey, and the antlers were brown, yes, I know, in real life that’s the color, but you know me and BROWN!  Spray paint to the rescue.






     But where to put him?  On the dining room table, of course!  I cleared away the original arrangement I had and made this one with this little guy.  I like it much better.  And if you look very closely, just in the background you can see the angel candleholder that I inherited from Hubs Mother.  She has been around as long as Hubs.   

     And that’s about all I’ve done for Christmas decorating.  With a torn rotator cuff it’s a miracle I accomplished this much.

     This will be my last post for the year.  But BizzyLizzy will be back in January 2016.   OMG!!!!! 2016.  When I was in second grade (1952) we were talking about the turn of the century 20th to 21st and I thought that was such a long way off and I would never live to see it, well I have and then some.  Hoping for lots more.

     So here’s wishing all of you a very, very Merry Christmas and an excellent New Year.  May all your dreams come true, and may you get all your wishes granted.  But if you don’t, it’s for a good reason.

     And always remember – Never give in, Never surrender, and God bless.


Victoria a/k/a BizzyLizzy

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

MY BEDROOM MAKEOVER

This title may be a little misleading as I didn’t really makeover the entire bedroom, only parts of it. 

If you’ve been following me, you know I have this love/hate relationship with BROWN.  Look at the before pics, the standing mirror (cheval glass) was a mahogany color, and the picture frames were the same ugly brown.  (I had already removed the mirror when I remembered to take pictures.)






I have been looking at this mirror and those picture frames for 14 years and decided ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!!!!   I can’t take it another day, so Christmas decorating was postponed while I finished this project.

Hubs helped me disassemble the mirror, it’s easier to paint that way.  I decided I wanted it two-tone, so out comes my favorite color, PINK, although I did add a bit of white to soften it up a bit.  The frame was painted white, it’s Americana Décor in Everlasting.  It’s a chalk paint and covers so easily.  I did use two coats on everything, then sprayed it with a colorless semi-gloss sealer. 

Once it was painted it still didn’t look especially happy, and was just screaming out to me for some bling.  So it got it!!!!!  I rummaged around in my stash to see what I could find, and most of it’s on the mirror.  The sea shells came from my daughter’s trip to Miami several years ago, the jewelry was in my stash, broken pieces, missing earrings mates, rhinestone pieces that were missing stones, etc.  I had the burlap rose left over from another project and thought it would look good, sort of 1950ish.  If you look real close you can see where I added one rhinestone to a rose petal to mimic a dew drop.

When I wake up each morning this is the first thing I see and it makes me smile.  Just starts my day off on a happy note.








And although I don’t see the pictures when I wake up in the morning, I see them every time I walk into my bedroom.  You can’t miss them, the door is across from the bed.  They look like brand spanking new.  The prints even look brighter and happier.  

All I did was paint the frames with the same chalk paint, added a little pink accent close to the glass and painted those gold dots a very soft grey.  I think grey and pink go together well and plan on using this combination on some other things. To save some money (you know how expensive mats are?), I just flipped the ones I had around.  They were white on the back side; I did go over them with a very light coat of the white paint.  If you look closely you can see the grey dots around the edges of the frame.  As I said before, I'm not a photographer and I don't see too well, but I am working on producing better pictures.  








And then there was the waste paper basket.  I didn’t get a before pic because I hated it so much I just wanted it to disappear.  Originally I loved it, it was sort of a beigy color with huge cabbage roses in a rosy pink color.  But with age the beigy color became closer to a light brown and the rosy pink faded and it was just dirty looking.  I actually considered just throwing it away and buying something else, but the thrifty gene kicked in and I decided I could just cover it up.

I love garage sales, thrift store, estate sales, etc.  I bought several old tablecloths at an estate sale months ago, not knowing what I was going to do with them.  I certainly wasn’t going to use them as tablecloths (they were square and my table is round), so I just stashed them away for future projects.  The pink check one was perfect for my waste paper basket because I didn’t have to measure anything.  I could just use the checks as a guide and glue it on.  The tablecloth actually has/had a sort of macramé edge all around and I used this as a decoration on top.  Just glued the back edge down, flipped it over and glued the top edge over and there it is.




Now the question is, should I paint my bed?  It's really dark, but with all the other white and pink (and eventually I'll have white curtains), I'm thinking that leaving it dark will ground the room. When I get that dresser I've been looking for, then I'll decide.  If the dresser is natural wood, then I'll probably lighten up the bed a bit, I'm thinking not paint, but something like a stain, except in a very pale color.  Well, we'll handle that when that time comes.  


Yes, this is a short post, but believe me, I am working on several projects that’s going to be mind-blowing when I finish.  It may just take a month or two, but I’ll have something to post between now and then.

So, until next time, keep those paint brushes busy and keep making those castoffs happy.

And remember – Never give in, Never surrender and God bless.

Victoria a/k/a BusyLizzy