Happy Holidays to You!

Holiday Vignettes

I went a little overboard decorating for the holidays this year.  Some years I am not into it and some years I am all in.  This is one of those years.  I am enjoying all the lights and tinsel and every corner of our home is glittering.  Ask me in January when I have to put it all away if I am this enthusiastic!  For right now I will bask in the glow of twinkle lights.

Come for a tour with me...

We've had two snow storms and unless we get a big warm up in the next week I think it is safe to say we will be having a White Christmas..yay!

This is our front porch and door which we never use.  Typical New England…very few of us use or shovel our front doors!

This is the back door which we use each day.

This was left on my door step by my good friend Carol.  Each year she makes wonderful arrangements for all her friends and family.  She put these little vintage creatures in mine because she knew I would love them and I do!  I am keeping it outside because it will last well into January that way.

This birch bark wall vase was made by a good friend and fellow Walpole Artisan Carolyn Kemp.  Carolyn is super talented in so many disciplines.  She is a master basket weaver, an amazing watercolorist and painter, she makes jewelry and creative ornaments for the garden out of natural materials, especially birch bark.  

Walk around the front of the house and this is what you will see.  I wish I could get a better picture of it.  I decided to set up my Dickens Village (first time in several years) and display it on the glassed in porch for everyone to see.  We live on the village green so it will be enjoyed by many!  It really shows up nicely at night.

Here is what it looks like inside:

It's a lot of work to set up and put away but really fun to fiddle with all the details.

Come back inside.  It's cold out there!

I have two bay windows that provide perfect surfaces for decorating.  Here is my little woodland Christmas terrarium.  I am in love with these LED string lights on a thin wire that can be bent any way you need.  They are magical.  I don't think I will ever put them away!

My gnome tower.

A favorite vintage Mrs. Claus vase.  She doesn't get the credit she deserves this time of year.

A lovely terrarium made by my good friend and neighbor Jeanette and topped with one of my handmade light boxes.

My Little Red Dollhouse has finally been taken out of the attic and decorated for the holidays.

I got this shadowbox frame a couple of years ago and it is fun to deck out for the different seasons.

This little girl is well over 100 years old.  She is a bit frayed around the edges but loves to come out for holiday season.  The book is one my Mom gave me (this is my first Christmas without her) and the illustrations are gorgeous.

I made this crepe paper wreath from a Martha Stewart kit several years back and it has held up pretty well.  Come into my "White Christmas Room".

White is my favorite color and I love doing the mantle all in white and silver and a touch of gold.  That portrait is of my great Aunt Helen.  My great grandfather took the photograph and hand colored it.  My grandmother painted the frame and preserved it.

This is one of the soldered boxes I made this year.  The tiny pink elephant always sat on the window sill of my grandmother's bedroom.

And finally come back into the Living Room to see our beautiful tree.  I found an untrimmed tree this year.  I do not know why Christmas tree farms insist on clipping their trees like hedges.  I like the natural untrimmed kind and I was able to find this in a unused back lot.  My daughter India was heavy handed with the tinsel but it really is quite enchanting at night.

Hope you enjoyed my tour.  Happy Holidays to you!!

xxoo  Loribeth

Have Yourself a Very Pink Christmas

I've been doing a little holiday soldering and tossing in some vintage elements.  Somehow this little pink elephant that belonged to my grandmother found his way inside.  I am enchanted by anything under glass!

St. Nicholas Book Village

Here is a little display I created for our Walpole Town Library using old books and pages from old books.  A little Book Village!

Sewing for the Home

I have had the opportunity to do a little overhaul of my daughter's room while she is off at college. This pesky door never stays open (old house = old uncooperative doors) so I made this handy door stop from a pattern that I got from Selvedge magazine.  It is filled with beans and weighs just enough to hold the door open without marring the painted woodwork.   These are the little projects that make me happy!

Frida Inspired

We are having a little scarecrow contest in my village and I was feeling inspired.  Thank you to my friend Racheal for loaning the beautiful Mexican dress.   It's been a while since I've made a scarecrow so this was fun even though I should be working on a million other things right now!

I used one of those cheap plastic pumpkin pails from Target ($1) and papier mache strips to cover it.

Painted and sealed the head

Some flowers in her hair of course and those cool hand earrings

Here she is in all her finery

And here is one Racheal and I created for our Artisan Gallery...An Artiste with an exceptionally long neck creating his masterpiece.

Happy Thanksgiving

For all my friends in Canada, enjoying a wonderful day here on Prince Edward Island. 

Recommended Reading

Just finished this book which was very entertaining.  A bit like A.S. Byatt's "Possession", "Out of Africa and a season of Downton Abbey all rolled up in one good mystery with some romance thrown in for good measure. 

Lavender on my Mind

I think I must be obsessed with lavender these days. It started with my lavender sea glass pendant. When I went to display it in the gallery I decided to create a scarf with vintage cream silk trimmed with a lavender silk velvet ruffle.  It just need the right background to be appreciated. 

I am up in PEI now and a friend suggested I visit a lavender farm run by five sisters, one of whom lives most of the year near me in Vermont. 

What a gorgeous farm. One sister lives in PEI year round and the other sisters visit regularly to help harvest and run the farm.  If you are going to grow a crop, I've decided lavender is it!  No chemicals needed and even weeding is a pleasant chore because you are bathed in the scent of lavender all day. 

This small farm and cottage industry sits on a hillside in the small village of Kelly's Cross on Prince Edward Island.  We were given a lovely tour and walked the charming fairy trail in search of hidden fairies and their most famous resident fairy Luci

We missed the harvest last week which we were told was early this year but there was still plenty of purple to see.  We sampled some lovely lavender vanilla iced tea and I purchased some culinary lavender so I can continue my obsession in the kitchen with lavender shortbread, pound cake etc....

Here is the lavender being distilled to produce the lavender oil. It takes 25 pounds to make just a few ounces of the oil so now you can see why it is so expensive.  

After the farm we made a short drive to one of my favorite villages on PEI, Victoria by the Sea.  Every scene there is postcard perfect. 

We had a yummy lunch at the lobster barn on the wharf and headed home.  A perfect and aromatic afternoon followed by a beautiful sunset. 

Purple Rain

What do you do with a nice chunk of lavender sea glass?  Combine it with some amethyst chips, vintage rosary beads, some stamped solder and an old sterling silver earring to make a long pendant necklace.

Littlest Mermaid

Look what washed up out of my sewing basket.  I bring a small suitcase of materials on vacation and challenge myself to make something from only what is inside.  It's amazing how much you can create from just a small amount of raw material. If you bring only the "good stuff" you will be assured something nice in the end. 

Quick Summer Craft

What to do with those wooden berry boxes?  Wash them with watercolors and trim them with bits of vintage fabrics. Next time you are looking for a cute container to hold homemade shortbread or other homemade goodies, you will have them all ready. These make great little hostess gifts for those last minute invites.  

Gifts from the Island

My daughter and her friends brought back this haul from the sea the other day.  She is a clam whisperer and can find clams so easily!  It is addictive to dig them up like little buried treasures. I cooked them up and we ate the small ones like steamers with a bit of melted butter. The larger ones and the one quahog I chopped up and made baked clams...yummy. The razor clams were a bit tough though. 

This was my island dish today. 

Can you guess where I am?!   Not only is this a beautiful island but there are some good eats here too!

Happy Summer days to all of you.