Our Tall, Tall Christmas Tree

Christmas decor has been a bit late to arrive here at the Chateau, as I've been sick with a very nasty cold for the past week.  Things are starting to look festive around here, thanks to the help of hubby!  I really missed not going out on our annual Christmas tree trek, but just wasn't up to it.  I sent him out on Sunday with  instructions to bring me back a nice tall, fat tree. Well, he took me more than literally, and came back with a humongous Fraiser fir!  I'm not sure how he managed to fit it into his car, let along carry it into the house!

It must have been at least 15' tall, no kidding!  So he decided to cut a few feet off, after bringing it indoors!

I finally managed to get the tree decorated the other day, with lots of help from hubby.  I'm still not feeling well, so trimming the tree wasn't nearly as fun as it should be.  But, we are excited to have it up.  It's wired to the door frame, so no worries about a toppled tree!  Notice the lack of decorations near the bottom of the tree, and the lack of a tree skirt?  Well, I'll explain why in a second!

 I took this photo from the loft, looking down.  It's still very tall, I'd say about 12'!  Hubby put the lights on, we have a mixture of led and tiny clear lights.

 Ok, this is the reason behind the lack of a tree skirt and ornaments on the lower branches. 

 A very mischievous little puppy by the name of Katie!

 I thought the reflection of the tree looked so pretty in the mirror above our mantle!

We have so many ornaments that have been collected over the years.  Many from friends and family, and many that I've made. They all are special and dear.

Ok, there are a ton of photos coming up, so I'll let the pictures do most of the talking!

 Touches of Paris.

 A sweet friend sent me a set of paper mache bird ornaments and glitter (from Martha Stewart).  She know how much I adore both birds and glitter!  I had so much fun making these sparkly ornaments!

 Peggy's Cove lighthouse in Nova Scotia.  Our talented neighbor lady painted this beautiful ornament to commemorate our trip there years ago.

 Sweet petite tea cup.

 More glittery goodness.

 Oooh, la, la!

 The sparkly Eiffel Tower below was given to me by a dear friend.

 Ornament I made filled with shredded vintage sheet music.

 I have a bunch of these sweet angel ornaments, which my mom quilted many years ago.

 Cute toy airplane, a nod to hubby's love of flying.

 Glittery blinged out birdhouse. What's not to love?!

 One of my glittered milk weed ornaments.

 A mischievous elf.

 Honoring the memory of our sweet Cocker Spaniel Emily.  I took this photo when she was just a fluffy little puppy.

 Another sweet angel, crocheted by my mom years ago.

 I don't like heights, so it's always a tradition for hubby to put our large crocheted angel at the top of the tree.

 I laid at the base of the tree and took this shot looking up.  Yikes, I can't even see the top!!

 That is one tall tree!

 Thanks for coming along on the tour!

Care to have a little helper visit your house?!

Stop back in a few days and I'll share with your my little woodland themed tree in our sunroom.

It's not nearly as tall as the tree in our living room, I promise!
On a side note, I recently inadvertently selected "Google+"  on my blog (what a pain and big mistake!), only to discover that many of you were unable to leave comments on my posts. So, I tried to deselect Google+, but people were still not able to leave any comments!  So frustrating, I appologize!  So, I have been trying to do some troubleshooting, please bear with me, I hope to get this annoying problem fixed.  Sure don't know why Google has to make things so complicated!

Glittered Parisian Postcard Christmas Ornaments

Bonjour Mes Amis!

Oooh, la, la, it's beginning to look like a glittered Parisian Christmas here at the Chateau!

I first started making these Paris postcard ornaments several years ago and offering them in my Etsy shop.  

I hadn't planned on creating any this year, but had several buyers request them.  So I thought it would be a great excuse to make some more!

I had so much fun creating them, butI forgot how time consuming the ornaments were!  I began by mounting gorgeous copies of vintage Parisian Christmas postcards to masonite boards that hubby cut out for me 

(I'm so thankful that I have a handy hubby!) 

I hand painted each board front and back creamy white, followed by a bit of distressing and an antiquing glaze to give them Old World charm.

 Above is one of my favorites, sweet little birdies flying over Sacre Couer 

(or, "Church of the Sacred Heart").

 I added my wonderfully crinkly seam binding ribbon, jingle bells that I spray painted silver and coated in fine sparkly glitter (yes, I said I spray painted the bells!  If something isn't the right color, I never hesitate to paint it!!)

 The piece de la resistance are these gorgeous glittered paper roses, which I've created from pages from a vintage French book.  They are a very lengthy process and are truly a labor of love!  Of course I had to add tiny rhinestones to the centers for more bling!

 The look so pretty hanging from a tree with their wire hangers!  Or you could display them in pretty bowls, or give as a nice gift!

 I also had to add glitter and more rhinestones to the cards, as you can never have to much glitter or bling!!

 I'm also offering them with the option of red crinkly seam binding ribbons.

 You find them in my Etsy shop, if you care to take a peek!

 A few last shots!

I wanted to thank all of you for your prayers for Nana Diana's sweet little grandson.

He has been very sick, and in the ICU for many days with a mysterious illness. Thankfully, it appears to have been hopefully solved!  Please continue to pray for him, and for Diana and her family.  They truly appreciate the outpouring of support they've received.  You can read more about it here.

Please Pray for This Little Boy

Hello and Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Today is a day that we can gather together with family and friend's, enjoying not only a feast, but each other's company as well.

While you are busy preparing, could you please remember this sweet little boy in your prayers?

He is the grandson of my dear blogging friend Nana Diana.

He is very sick, and has been in the ICU for several days.

The doctor's have been running lots of tests, to try and find out what is wrong and making him so sick.

My heart goes out to Diana and her family and this sweet little boy.  Please pray for healing and for comfort for the family as well.  I know that Diana appreciates each and every prayer.

Graduation Day!

We have a graduate!

For the past 6 weeks, we've been taking little Katie to PetSmart for obedience classes.

It was our final class last night, and all of the dogs got to wear little graduation caps for photos!  It was hilarious!

Katie turned 10 months old today, and has made alot of progress since starting "school".  We've been working on the basics like "stay", "leave it", "come", and much more.  This past week, she learned "high-five", it's so funny to watch!!  Of course, she is still a wild and crazy little puppy, there is never a dull moment here at the Chateau!

 Our trainer was great, she really knows her stuff!  She made class time fun, and really has a deep love of dogs.
I plan on taking Katie back in the spring for the intermediate class.

My goal is to eventually have Katie become a certified therapy dog, so that she can visit hospitals, nursing homes, etc.  She really loves people, and she has a way of melting the hearts of everyone she meets!
Edited to add:
On a somber note, I just heard that the sweet little grandson of Nana Diana is very sick, and was admitted into the ICU.  The dr's are doing lots of tests, as they don't know what is wrong.  Could you please pray for him, as well as the family?  I can't imagine dealing with something so scary, he is just a little guy.  You can read about it here.  Thank you, I know that Diana really would appreciate it!

Wishing you and your family a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Easy Christmas Gift Tag Ideas

Bonjour Mes Amis!

It's been a brisk and windy day here at the chateau, so I've been staying cozy inside working in my craft room!

Today I thought I'd share with you some pretty gift tags that I made the other day, that are super easy, and make use of little scraps of paper and bits of cord and ribbon that you may already have on hand.
Pretty much all you need are scissors, a hole punch, glue stick, images of your choice, cord or twine, and scrapbooking paper and some glitter glue.

I began by cutting my tags from chipboard (sorry, I didn't get a shot of that!).  I actually never buy chipboard, I just save the inserts that often come in picture frames.  Whenever I come across chipboard like cardboard in various packaging, I squirrel it away, as you never know when it will come in handy!  

Why buy something when you don't have to, right?!

For the angel tags above, I used a gorgeous image of a pretty angel, compliments of the Graphics Fairy.  I also found the French Christmas sheet music there as well. 

I covered the backs of all of the tags with pretty Christmas scrapbooking paper and vintage sheet music.  

 Here's a look at some of my tags.

 Aren't these chandelier tags the cutest?  I thought the paper was so pretty, so I kept these tags simple and just embellished with some glitter glue.  Luckily I happened to have some red and white baker's twine left over from Valentine's day projects, so all I did was punch holes in the top of each tag and add the twine.

 Here's what the backsides look like.

 I also happened to have a few of these pretty dimensional snowflake stickers left from last year.

 More tags, front and back.

Since these tags are weightier and more substantial made with the chipboard, and many of them oversized, the recipient could hang them from their Christmas tree if they wanted to.  

 The little birdy tags below are some of my favorites!  I made a bunch of them last year too similar to this.  A sweet little chickadee and vintage sheet music, as well as pretty vintage gold cording, makes for a charming addition to your packages.

 Of course you know how much I love glitter!  And the holidays are a great excuse for me to add some sparkle to just about everything (not that I need an excuse!!).

So I used my favorite glitter glue "Stickles" to add some bling to all of the tags.

 Isn't this little metal caddy just the cutest?  I found it awhile back at the thrift store, and just love it!  It's perfect for storing my crafting supplies as I'm working on projects.

 I thought about embellishing each little pot, but I actually am enjoying it as is for now!

Hope this gives you some ideas for making your own tags.

I think they would be so pretty on a simply wrapped gift, hung from a bottle of wine as a hostess gift, or even give a set to a friend as a little gift!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

In a few days I'll be sharing with you some of my stenciling experiments. I'm having a blast using my DecoArt stencils and chalk paint!