Welcome to my blog!

Thanks so much for stopping by! I believe that everyone can have a beautiful home without spending a fortune! One of my favorite things to do is find creative ways to re-purpose things I already have on hand, or have picked up at yard sales and thrift stores. Join me as I share with you some of my favorite ideas for crafting and decorating, as well as travel adventures, and fun things that I pick up on my treasure hunts! Much of my work is influenced by my love all things French, nature, and of course shabby chic! I have gotten so many creative ideas from you very talented bloggers out there, and I hope that I can be an inspiration to you as well!

Thursday, December 9, 2010

A Hand Crafted Christmas

Greetings, ladies!
My very favorite type of Christmas decorations are those that have been created by hand!  Sure, I love to buy new ornaments every now and then (especially hard to resist them after the holidays, when they can be purchased for a song!).  But to me those that have been crafted by hand have so much more meaning.  So, I thought I would share some that we have on our tree.
One of our neighbors hand paints ornaments and presents us with a new one each year.  Isn't this cardinal gorgeous?  I love birds, and have quite a few bird themed ornaments on our tree, so this is one of my favorites!
I had so much fun creating these ornaments that I filled with hand torn pages from vintage sheet music books.  I have them in my Etsy shop.
A few years ago, hubby and I took a trip to Nova Scotia, so our neighbor painted us this pretty lighthouse at Peggy's Cove, which we were lucky enough to visit.
And I love this pretty angel that she painted!
A cute little angel ornament that my mom hand stitched.
Another angel, that a favorite Aunt of mine created.  Doesn't she have the sweetest face?

And she made this little cutie, too. Love her wings!

Another of our neighbors creations, which she painted in honor of the beautiful swans that live on our lake.
I picked up this adorable little Santa at a garage sale a few years back.


 I made this set of Parisian Ornaments for my Etsy shop.  I've been having to much fun making these pretty paper roses from vintage book and sheet music pages!

 I made a bunch of these ornaments last year from milk weed pods.



A couple of shots of our tree.  It's really tall!!  We even have to wire it to the door frame!
I'll share more of our ornaments and decor over the next several days with you.  Have a great night!

15 comments:

Unknown said...

As I was reading your post I thought to myself, "I wish I could see the whole tree, I bet it's amazing with all those ornaments...."
THERE IT WAS!!!!!! oooooh, ahhhhhhh, oooooh!!!
Can you tell I love it??!!!!
xo
lynn

Musings from Kim K. said...

Your hand-painted ornaments from your neighbor are amazing. The detail work is just beautiful. That is one glorious tree! I love the height. Don't you just love Christmas!!

ArtfullyJune said...

Wow, that is one massive tree. It looks gorgous. Thanks for sharing. I loved looking at some of your special ornaments.

Leo said...

Oh my gosh. Your tree is amazing. Mine looks like a little table top next to yours.

Prior said...

Your tree is stunnng! I LOVE the milkweed pod ornaments especially. Lezlee

Kelly said...

That's the tallest indoor tree I've ever seen!

Not only are you talented, but you have some talented friends as well!

Kelly

Anita @ GoingALittleCoastal said...

Omg, that tree is ginormous. I love it. Is it real? I love the ornament you made out of the milkweed pods. Those are great.

Erin said...

Love your tree and those hand painted ornaments are amazing!

Tete said...

Love it all, Donna- but I have always wondered how people get these really tall trees in the house and put up without them falling over and killing everyone. How tall is it? Looks huge to me.
How do you get the lights on it? I am vertically challenged- 5'2"- so my 8 foot tree is massive to me!
This would make a most interesting post! Like how many lights and ornaments it takes. How long does it take to decorate?
I love the blue and white lights on it- so cool- looks like ice to me.
Oh please, tell us how you do it! I have never had a live tree before. I am most curious.
Hugs-Tete

NanaDiana said...

Donna- Everything looks beautiful! That is quite a tree! What little elf scaled the heights to decorate that baby? I love all the "history" connected to each ornament...that makes it all so much more meaningful...and those PODS are to die for. I guess they are your own special brand of EYEpod? (get it IPod- EYEPod-never mind)..Back to work for me-last day this shift- YEAH!!! Hugs-xxoo Diana

Debbie said...

Holy cow Donna! when you said your tree was tall, I never imagined!! It's gorgeous! LOVE all your hand-made ornaments. Makes decorating fun, and so special.
Debbie@lakehouse

Linda @ Itsy Bits And Pieces said...

Your tree is so pretty, Donna! I love all of your hand-made, personal ornaments!

Cindy Adkins said...

Oh my gosh, this is all so gorgeous. WOW!! I LOVE your tree and all your ornaments--and your house! It's so awesome!
XO
Cindy

Anonymous said...

All of your handmade Christmas ornaments are so lovely, Donna! My favorite ones are the postcards... beautiful! Your tree is just stunning... so tall and magestic!!
Happy Holidays!
xoxo,
Jo :)

Anonymous said...

Your handmade ornaments are beautiful! It was nice to see on from my neck of the woods there too.. (Peggy's Cove). Love your Quebec pics too!!
Happy Holidays!
Susan in Nova Scotia