FINALLY DONE!!!!

Xmas decorating outside and in!




Here's the final take on the outside...the penguins won!

This was last year's sign and is being used again for this year. I loved the penguins that I had found on some clip art on the net and modified them to suit my shop's need...........which is more workers  ;)

Although the last fat dude doesn't look like he's much help...

he's probably the one booking in sick...;}

Here's where I stuck them...

And this is what they look like all together in their blurriness....

Before you enter here's what my Xmas Village looks like from the outside...

I have more houses but can't line them up on the other side due to the fact that it's my cat's window and she hates me mucking up where she looks out on the world...;) and that I have the shelves for sign pick-up there too...


Anyways....here's my entrance way [porch] before you enter the actual shop...

You can take maybe three steps inside this area and that's all! One has to keep in mind the space that I have to work with to house all of my collectibles and displaying them tends to make it all look cluttered. I know I don't have to show everything that I have but if I can't enjoy all of it, all of the time then why bother having them at all? Besides if I had a bigger place I would need more stuff....hmmmmm


So here goes...

This is what it looks like in the morning light

I just love the soft glow through the window as I work on the computer...

My kids have given me most of the house sets through the years and I loved displaying them on my window ledges...

With only one ledge, I display the rest on my glass topped display case. Which, if you noticed, has a big piece missing out of it. That was a heavy item hitting it and broke it off...kind of scary at the time. I blunted the edge by filing it and have covered the edge with clear hockey tape for my cat's safety. She loves rubbing her face on the edge. Haven't seen any blood so it must be working.


Along with my houses I picked up this beautiful [no chips/cracks,etc] 30" tall winter scene pillar, which lights up....at a garage sale in 2009 for 5.00!

It has penguins, polar bears and Santa on it...I love it, I think it goes perfect with my village

Another thing I like and always wanted but never got because it was a "boy's" toy....is a train set! I begged this toy from my son-in-law and it is a MacDonald's collectible from 1998...the train from the movie "Anastasia"...

My other fav is the M & M characters...

Stockings seems to have snuck in also...when one picks up xmas stuff in garage sales, one usual gets more if it's in a box of stuff, which most are....:)

And for a warning to any kids...;}

[just kidding]

So it's time to enter the main work shop...

One of my new purchases...6 beaded white owls which represents my son, daughter, son-in-law, 2 grand kids and me...:) Also the wrapping paper & purple garland are new. The bear ornament represents my sister "Eener" and me as the Xmas tree holding her up [awwwwww] ;)






And as usual you will have to wait for the shop pics...

DECK THE HALLS...

Not with boughs of holly...

I used the faux pine wire ones...;)


Fa,la,la...yada, yada




Well I'm finally getting around [business is slowing down AGAIN] to posting my pictures of all of my outside Xmas decor...taken in the daylight. You already got to see the blurry night ones...;}


I love the sparkle of the Xmas lights at night but like to see a display in the day light.

Most who have the inflatable displays don't run them during the day...who can blame them! I saw dollar signs coming off of my Halloween one and decided then, not to donate more money to the power company and buy any more! Bad enough I need their power to run my lights now...candle power is just not the same...;} The wire animal/tree ones are okay but if you have a lot of snow like we normally get, they kind of blend in during the day time...;(


I'm not one for over-doing the lights either...don't care much for the blinding mini light displays!

So I opted for more of a visual day time one with a night enhancement of a combination of the soft glow of a yellowish white mini lights for the snowy FX of winter and the blue-white of the bigger LED bulbs intertwined with smaller LED red ones.


My dream when moving into this place was to do the "Gingerbread House" for Halloween...I think I mentioned this once or twice [three] before. So when I decorate for Halloween I can put up the candy canes without the pine boughs. I will be making big candies during the summer months...see planning already :)




Anyways....here's this year's Winter Workshop somewhere near the north pole...

Still not quite finished yet...undecided whether I want penguins or gingerbread men or just leave it alone? There is 14 days left til Xmas....


I don't like the space between the door and garage door...needs something inspirational?

Notice the front slope...

I cured my problem of the slippery hill! The steps [on the left] I put in this summer, helps when I have to unload my groceries. I still have to shovel the hill for any wheelchair access...:}?

The mound of snow in the middle is to cover the hidden danger of how the two meet...it would be dangerous otherwise...too uneven...okay in the summer

Plus I have to give the dog next door somewhere to mark his territory so he won't be doing it on my decorations...Grrr


Here's another great blurry close-up...

[you know... I NEVER have to worry about anyone stealing my pics...they're to blurry...;) ]

Clear as mud right...looks pretty busy inside to me and yes, it is!

Painting the door red was a good move for this setting...:)

Notice the first bit of Halloween peeking out [bottom left]...you will see bits of it left out. I truly can't be without that weird part of me peeking out somewhere in my domain. This drove the Ex nuts...:)

So, are you ready to see the rest of this busy nightmare....

Enter

Due to more interuptions by the stupid me computer....will have to wait AGAIN for the next post

XMAS PROJECTS...

All you fans out there know that I love Halloween! Xmas runs a close second in my heart.

Well I try hard to combine the two together because I just hate leaving Halloween out anywhere!...:)

Come to think of it...it stays with me in my decor throughout the other seasons too..hmmm


Anyways...




This building's exterior is really old [80-90ish] and has a different look that kind of appeals to me...;)

I have dreamt of it as a creepy kind of gingerbread style of house that the old witch lives in...bwaaaa...:}


Gotta keep up appearances...;}




Anyways...


I am not getting any younger and decided this was the year to do it....so I started with my first project in November...the candy cane tubes for my "Gingerbread House"!


These tubes come from my vinyl rolls and I have been over-run with them! They aren't the nicest things to store...yada, yada...


So have lots of vinyl scraps hanging around too [can't throw nothing away] I covered them in red and added white and green reflective stripes. The reflective didn't work to good for me as they are above the headlights and didn't shine like I wanted them to. Oh, well...deep sigh...;(


But they do shine when you don't want them to...

Cameras like reflective stuff! They focus only on that object and blurs out the rest...at least that's what I have discovered when taking shots with it in them. Like my Halloween photos!


I had jigsawed some of the tubes in half [lengthwise] and cut out 1" section for the corner canes. I fastened them to the windows and doorways with two screws.


I made LOTS of these. This was my "sit-in-front-of-the-TV-while-doing-this-at-night" project for almost a whole week!


If that wasn't enough I added these...

You know those pesky wrapping paper rolls [can't throw away either]...they got wrapped in red vinyl and got a white stripe too!


I've started to add something extra to my outside decor...a warning to my vandals

"Cursed if Stolen" with a pentagram symbol beside it.


Most call me a witch to my back...so why not utilize it?


It should give them a laugh but deep down inside the damage is done when they read it...a mental blow, so to speak...;)...bwaaaaa


Yes, I have already been vandalized once already....grrrrrrrrr 


The sweet little darlings swiped a 18" long flower arrangement that I paid 50 cents for at a garage sale last year. I had placed it too close to the roadway and it was a case of a hit-and-run-grab. They tried to take the candy candy lit fence, only I had secured it to the tree trying to growing near the sidewalk...;) They had pulled it out into the street but couldn't go any farther! They did take one cane that wasn't lit and bent the wires holding the others up. All was fixable!

My camera was dead at that time so no photo.


And NO I hadn't cursed that object...but I do now!!!....;}


And with those cane sticks I added "Snow Jewels"...

I scarfed this idea from a post that I don't recall right now [bad me] and decided it would look good with my canes. The ones that she made were pretty big and I only wanted small ones. Besides it takes one day to freeze the little ones...so it is a long project. Longer if you only use the outside cold to do it! It's pretty cold here lately but not that bad. I would use a freezer instead but  mine was too small. Each container took 5-8 drops of food coloring. I used a different shape to make them look like jewels?


They do have a down side...they melt when the sun shines on them...;(

I also secured these guys too! I had visions of red and green missals being chucked at passing vehicles [not by me]...so I froze them in with water. They also get frosty/snowy and spraying them enhances their color. Plus more ice! I'll have to chip them way before they leak their color after Xmas.


I do like how they look and they are all still where I put them...

Notice I just HAD to get into the picture...;}

Keeping the decor company is my poor sad cat ornament...

Had to put a big bow on him cause some Ahole put a hole in his chest!...Grrrrr




My other project was to deal with my garage door which I had painted this summer. The sunrise horizon stuck out pretty good and didn't suit my theme. How does one hide or deal with that...

Yup...add a whole bunch of presents!


Most of these were already wrapped from last year...cause I don't throw nothin' away


And all of these will house my decor later, when put away... partially wrapped boxes that is! Some that are kept permanently are fully wrapped.

The taller snow jewels are lined up front and I am not quite finished yet.


The "Present Tree" was put together in three sections and I barely got them out of my work room through the doorway...;}


I secured this tower together with wire, added the lit canes and the pine garland as sort of a fence, corralling them in. I wanted to add some dolls and such, to the gifts, but couldn't find any...my grand kids are too old for toys? Will look at garage sales this coming year...;) I did add two metal trains tho.


Again the other gifts that I will put loosely around the place outside [this weekend] will not blow away, because these are wrapped presents for the garbage man [after Xmas is over]...soiled cat litter!




And if that wasn't enough to do...I had to pick up a 14" tall unpainted ceramic Santa at a garage sale this year for 2.00 and I am trying to paint it...

I do mean trying!


My inner sancutary color this year is the red & purple associated with the "Red Lady" theme. This is in celebration of the older woman in her 50/60's and such. So my Santa will reflect that cause in it's colors. His coat/hat/pants might look dark blue to you but it is not. It is a rich purple with a pearlized look. Red will go on the mitts/boots and lips.


I've already been kicked off this computer once today trying to do this blog so you will have to wait for the outside pic for the next blog...

XMAS 2010 DECOR...

What it looks like at night through my new camera...

I call it my "Winter Wonderland Work Shop"

It's not quite finished yet...the huge Orb by my "Warm Wishes" sign needs something on it and I still have to change the colored lights in it to clear ones. I had planned the lights on the "Present Tree" to outline a Xmas Tree, but my mini lights went missing from the Symposium in September, so I have to make do with whatever shape you see in it...with a star on top...;(


And I might add busy penguins or gingerbread people...not sure how much time is left before my enthusiasim runs out...






Did get a closer look for you...

Kind of looks like you are seeing it through my blurry eyes without glasses...;}


I'm still trying to work with all of the camera's fancy do-dad stuff! Definitely not technosavy me!


Some might be the fault of the reflective white and green stripes on the candy cane decor?

Or an unsteady hand...

I vote for the hand...;{


Anyways...


This is a close-up of the projects that I have worked on for this display...

I made candy cane sticks for the fence...

Lined with red & green candy drops...

And candy cane tubes for the window/door/garage outlines...


But you get to see them in the daylight in the next post...;)


Here's another great blurry close-up...

Curious how it really looks...?




Stay tuned...

MY FIRST XMAS DECOR...

I moved out of our family home right after graduation [69] as things at home weren't going so well with me and the stepmother. Something about no freedom, paying rent but living under harsh restrictions....you know how the young are and I wasn't any different...;}


Young and naive, all I could afford [saved wages from part-time jobs while in school] was the basement 9x9 room in my older sisters house. I went from one nightmare to another it seems but that's not what this blog is all about. It is about my first start on MY OWN decor in my own home room! I was the chief decorator [as in, do all the work] in my family home during Xmas time, with strict rules from the stepmother! These didn't always go well with what I wanted to do...;{


With little cash from frivolous things I managed to scrape together this little thing...

Back in 69 I don't remember there being artificial trees and if there was, they probably were expensive. My sister's complaint was about fire hazards and the cost of extra electricity...I was supposed to be happy with hers? I know I didn't live there long! This too, was another unhappy story better left unsaid...;(


Did have lots of other places and my decor did grow...not a lot at first as I moved around way too much to want to cart too many boxes. The decor hording started when I started my family.


One of my fondest memory I have of my mom, was watching her decorate the house for Xmas. Being poor, we couldn't afford decorations and I remember her decor even today. It was always the same way, that never changed, only the material that she used. It was the sparkle of the tinsel that she used, that caught my eye the most. Plus the care that she took while doing it...placed so lovingly!


There was a permanent hook in the center of the living room ceiling. She would gently swag 4 streamers [the crepe ones] to the four corners of the room. Then she would take 1 strand of tinsel and drape it over the streamers about 1 inch apart...they looked like icicles! Then she would place those honey-comb [wedding] bells in the four corners and in the center. The streamers were always red. I do recall her changing them after awhile to the tight curly foil style that has come back into style once again. The tinsel draping was always the same. As for the walls she strung string to hold all of the cards that we got, so many, that there were two rows sometimes. This might have been a 10 x 10 foot room?

I believe this is where my addiction started for decorating. My Xmas weren't always the happy events that most were...too much alcohol involved...;( 

But the glitter seemed to take the harshness away...kind of like living in a fantasy world.

Glitter made me happy....


So, if I can bring happiness with glittery decor....I am certainly going to try!


LOTS OF IT!...;}


This was my general style when we lived out on the farm [17 miles west of Dodge]...

These pictures were take in 98 with my first Xmas with a grandchild...:)

The living was much of the same draping of the windows and large mirror plus the archway. I loved doing the stairs the most. The lights hanging from the stairwell made it look so magical and AJ was completely mesmerized by them.

In the beginning there really wasn't a collection started but after awhile, I noticed a preference for Santas, trains and snowmen. Also my power symbol is the snow flake, so I use it a lot!

Being on the farm we had lots of wheat growing around so I used bunches of it for floral arrangements...very rustic like. I don't do rustic much anymore!

I'm more into Santa...as noted in last years post.

As of date I have 75 of them! From tiny [1/2"] to large [3']

Stay tuned for Santa's Workshop....somewhere near the north pole [Dodge]...

AND THE BITCHIN CONTINUES...

This was emailed to me yesterday by SewLady & Tank, challenging me to email it to any 3 friends...

How about the world on blog...


This topic covers what I have been saying for years about aid going out of OUR country, when our poverty level says the same....or worse!

I, too, am heading for the retirement time and this is what I have to look forward to...


:(




Here's the story from someone Else's view...






                  We got $3.11 extra on the Nov OAP. That will buy a loaf of
bread.  Even if you only eat 1 slice a day, it wont last a whole month!!

                  Remember  this when you cast your ballot both federally
and provincially - both should be coming up soon  - (just how soon ??)

                  As a raise last year, seniors got 2/5th of 1% on their
Canada Pension and 0% on the Old Age Security.  This won't even scratch the
raise in taxes that McGuinty levied, what Premier Campbell's doing in B.C
with the 12% HST and other user fees. We're "broke" & can't help our own
seniors, Homeless, Veterans, Orphans, etc.????? This is so pathetically
true... in the last months we have provided aid to Haiti, Chile, and Turkey.
Now Pakistan, the same people that will turn around and build the I.E.D.'s
that kills our troops. Also another boat load of refugees has arrived from
Sri Lanka that will get aid that should go to the CANADIAN people that have
worked all their lives to make this the country it is today Our retired
seniors living on fixed income receive no aid while our government and
religious organizations pour hundreds of millions of dollars and tons of
food to foreign countries. We have hundreds of adoptable children who are
shoved aside to make room for the adoption of foreign orphans.
Why are so many CANADIAN citizens, and the CANADIAN government, so star
struck they won't provide for our own?

                  CANADA: a country where we have homeless without shelter,
children going to bed without  eating, elderly going without needed meds,
and mentally ill without treatment - yet we have a benefit for the people of
Haiti on 12 TV stations, ships and planes lining up with food, water, tents,
clothes, bedding, doctors and medical supplies. Imagine if we gave ourselves
the same support that we gave all of these other countries.  I feel bad for
them, but I also care about CANADA and our seniors who developed this great
country, only to be forgotten.

                  Sad isn't it?


So, so true! 




Here is another example of what goes on right here in Dodge...


What faced me in my mailbox yesterday....

The free paper with a colored picture of our Grade 2 class and how proud they were that they accomplished sending 100 boxes to the "Samaritian Purse" organization which runs the "Operation Christmas Child". These are shoes boxes filled with happines for some poor child who may not recieve anything for xmas! Which is a great idea... if they had included a box for a CANADIAN POOR CHILD, but they didn't!

These go to children ACROSS THE WORLD that need it more than ours?

WHATS WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE!

PoD and I have been fighting this project since my kids were in school here! 

I am all for a child learning to give freely....it is a great message!

What message our school is sending, is that...OUR POOR doesn't count!




And really.....who is to say that they [100 boxex] will make it to those kids anyways?




I don't say that we don't do anything else here...they do as much as they can with a Food Bank and Xmas Hampers for those who need it. I will give freely to those and do!


All This time of the year I am over run with having to support ALL of the communtiy sport/charity events with a small [?] door prize. In which I am rewarded with a small mention in the news letter...if I am not for gotten [which has happened....oops, sorry] that is! Must remember to add that I am supposed to benefit with a tax write-off.... that's harder to use on your taxes than you think!


Who gets away with not having to put out for these [door prizes], besides their attending the function [which most don't], is the private sector! Seldom do you see a family donation to the thank you list!








Good start for Dec 1....huh?




Did plan on a picture of "old time decorating" to be the first post but bitchin got in the way instead...;(




Maybe tomorrow....


Stay tuned for "Xmas Decorating" with lots minimal bitchin....