Well, I didn’t get to the antique shop because I looked for the porch Christmas lights and couldn’t find them anywhere, which leads me to believe they’re tucked away under the stairs with the other decorations. As I’m not ready to move the egg cup cabinet yet, I decided to go to Target and buy some more. Why not? They’re inexpensive and it’s probably time to get some new ones because, as you know, some bulbs are almost guaranteed not to work.
So I headed out and stopped at Target and Michael’s.
The lights are currently hanging from this cabinet and the stair railing so they lose the kinks in the cords. I’m going to drape them on the porch railing later this morning.
I found this guy in the china cabinet in the office, so he’s now on display.
But basically, the rest of the decorating will happen at the end of next week. Except for the dollhouses. They get done first.
I bought some trim at Michael’s.
They were marked 50% off. My idea is to clip off the little balls and hang them on my mini Christmas tree. I’ve never been totally happy with the way I’ve decorated that tree and I’m going to try to step it up this year.
If you’re new to the blog, you might not know that I made this tree several years ago. The branches are a preserved pine called lycopodium. My memory of that day is of glue covering every inch of my fingers and hands. I love it, though – it was worth it. It looks very realistic. But the pine is dark and it needs some colorful ornaments. I added one little ball last night just to see how it looks.
I also bought some battery operated lights there.
But now that I look at the box more clearly, I realize that the string is 8 feet long! Way too long for my little tree. Hmmm. I’ll have to come up with something else.
I also want to try to do something with this silver tree. My thought it to put it in the more modern dollhouse that I bought last year. It’s too tall, so I’ll have to cut it down somehow. I’d like to eliminate some branches so it looks less like a bottle brush tree and more like an artificial mid-century silver tree. Either that, or lots of ornaments to hide its bottle brush origins. Or, I might go with the smaller gold tree that you can see on the right and put it on a table.
Fingers crossed.
I like decorating the dollhouses. Even Don’s mini studio gets some holiday touches!
I’m off to eat some oatmeal, take a shower, and hang those porch lights. Don and I are going to Rick and Doug’s tonight for a movie night – Rear Window, one of my favorites. When we head back home after the movie, we’ll see our pretty lights as we come down the street.
I’m going to reiterate a couple of things I’ve shared with you in the past. Even though I have a Blogger blog and Google account, it has become impossible for me to leave comments on other Blogger blogs. I know others are having the same problem. So, even if it appears I’m not reading your blogs, I am!
The other reminder is this: when you choose to respond to a post by replying to the email version of the post, I have absolutely no way of responding to you. I can read your reply, but as it comes from a separate email address meant only for sending out the post each day, I can’t write you back from that address. Even though I’ve been clear about this several times in the past, the occasional reader gets ticked off at me because they think I’m ignoring them. I’m not. I’d much rather you respond in the comments section on the blog, but if you’re not comfortable with that for some reason, send your response to my email address which you can find by clicking on the envelope icon at the top of the sidebar. If you’re fine with me not responding, that’s okay, too.
Happy Friday.
I really like the funky silver tree! I mentioned to my daughter this morning about it being the first day of December tomorrow and how that meant Christmas decorations for the dollhouse. (Much rolling of eyes, I’m afraid.) We may have limited RL decorations this year – rescue cat is just way too energetic and interested in everything. Enjoy your classic movie night!
At least you can decorate your dollhouse, Barbara!
I can’t wait to see the dollhouses decorated. I like how you create so many items yourself. I’ve got all the bins out and open for decorating. I’ll downsize a bit also. Each year I let go of things and its good to have less to store. I do enjoy my Christmas decor so it won’t ever all go away. I’m lucky Annie just looks at my Christmas tree and sleeps under it but is not interested in playing with the ornaments at all. Enjoy your day!
I try to create what I can, but of course, I’m not one of those incredible miniaturists!
You’re lucky with Annie! I have so many friends who have curious cats!
sounds like a great day … yesterday and today … enjoy the process and the results!
you did a great job making that tree and am sure you can fix that silver one as you like. will be fun seeing your sweet cottage decorated for Christmas (no pressure intended).
i don’t have a place for lights outside (rental), but am sure glad other people do … love the happy lights and wish they’d stay up all year long.
i love that movie (and my jimmies … stewart and buffett)! have a wonderful weekend!
kathy in iowa
The lights are one of the best things about Christmas!
How exciting; I can’t wait to see the little houses decorated! There is nothing more uplifting than coming home after a long, stressful day, in the dark, to see Christmas lights on the house. Magical!
As for movies; Rear Window and Vertigo are my favorites too!
Enjoy!
Deb
I agree. I like them in the early morning, too!
Such a great movie – ENJOY! Can’t wait to see the doll houses when decorated. Have a lovely weekend Claudia.
Thank you, Belinda!
Hi Claudia,
I am curious about your glue method on the tree, which is awfully cute and even more so when you get the red bits in. And Rear Window. Sigh!
Blogger issues seem to be the thing lately. I’m not able to receive email comment notifications anymore and though I’ve tried everything blogger help says, none work, so I’m replying to all via email since I know most people don’t always return to the post once they leave. I once tried clicking on “send me comments for this post” and that was an epic fail — I got everyone’s, not just the blogger’s! Could you do me a favor, visit http://themarmeladegypsy.blogspot.com and comment on any post and then email me at jeanie@wkar.org and let me know you have or if it didn’t work for you? I’m curious about the commenting-in problem and wonderful if that’s part of it. I was also just told about a FB blogger support group called LadyGadget & KimSix Blogger Support which I just signed up for at the recommendation of fellow blogger who was greatly helped by them. They might be able to address your issue. Cheers — and happy decorating! I’m looking forward to the dollhouses!
Depends on what I’m gluing, but I used Quick Grip on the tree.
I’ll leave a comment, Jeanie.
I tried to leave a comment but the verify images popup came up and it didn’t work right. Very frustrating!
Thanks for telling me. I’ll see if I can try to get rid of them. Who knows… Blogger is ticking me off!
xo
I know you will be so happy you put the lights out when you are driving home this evening. Ours are up and on every night now, and it makes me quite happy!! Love to see your dollhouses all decorated, too.
Have a good day, enjoy the movie, and happy lights aglow!!
Lights are up and turned on. Can’t wait to see them! Which will be soon, considering how early it gets dark.
The Doll Houses will be great fun,can’t wait for that!
YAY! for Christmas Lights. I’m pretty sure you already know, you can get some of those battery
powered lights, in strings as small 3 or 4 lights. I had forgotten about your little Tree,and how fab it is! Great Post,Claudia Thank You. Judy A-
Yes, I know, but I can’t find any of them around here at the moment, Judy!
Thanks, Judy!
Claudia, I love Rear Window too, and one episode of the now off-the-air episode of “Castle” inspired by Rear Window. (I used to be a Nathan Fillion fan, but there have been articles of him not treating his Castle co-stars right, so I’m not such a fan anymore, but I still like the series for what it was.)
I like your little trees for the dollhouses. A mid-century make-over for your silver bottle brush tree would be terrific. You could probably rig up one of those revolving lights to reflect off the tree so it can turn from green to red to blue to yellow, or whatever. As I’ve written before, I can’t have massive amounts of decorations because of the cats, but I do have a couple of tiny (6″ or less) trees that I keep out year-round, one of which, ironically, is on my memory tray where I keep the small urns of my previous cats. There is also a collection of my daughter’s nutcrackers that are out year-round.
And, we’ll string outdoor lights this weekend, if it doesn’t rain. We bought LED lights a couple of years ago. They seem to be more reliable.
I’ve studied how to make that tree look less like a bottle brush tree, but I think it will end up being a mess. So I’ll stick lots of ornaments on it so that they take the focus. Fingers crossed!
I like that you have the nutcrackers out year round, Wendy!
I love your cottage! and the fairy lights! they are totally Christmas to me!
and you never know how the lights might be helping other people.
in the last apartments where I lived I decorated the whole balcony and the French doors with them. it was the entrance to my apartment and I left them on all through the night. one early evening just before dark I was turning them on. a voice from a car below said … “I want to tell you how much your Christmas lights mean to me when I come home and see them. I’m an intern resident and when I come home they’re so cheerful and beautiful they make me forget the ER and long hours and how tired I am!”
it made me feel so good that I could make HIM feel so good! so they can be little blessings we’re not even aware of!
Yes. We can decorate or hang lights and have no idea what it might mean to someone passing by. Lovely story, Tammy.
Hi Claudia,
Both trees are great. I look forward to seeing them finished!
Two of the common names of Lycopodium are ground pine or creeping cedar (no doubt because it looks like miniature fir branches), but Lycopodium is not related to the firs; it’s a club moss and fern ally.
I’m a veterinary homeopath and Lycopodium is one of our common (polychrest) remedies.
I actually see it called Princess Pine most often. I’ve seen mosses like it around our property.
Cute miniature trees…can’t wait to see the dollhouses all decorated. I have an under the stairs area, too, for storage. Our Christmas decorations are there as well. I ventured in….only to be thwarted by a huge spider. I don’t like spiders in the house…how is he even surviving there…it’s cold, and there certainly isn’t any thing for him to eat? Decor can wait another day…maybe he’ll be gone.
Hope you have a lovely time at movie nite. I’m sure your cottage is going to look very welcoming when the lights are twinkling! ;)
I don’t mind spiders at all! In fact, we let them be around here and save them when they’re in danger of being pelted with water in the shower. But I do know some people can’t stand them. Spiders can survive on all sorts of things, by the way.
Looking forward to your decorated doll houses. Have a great week end.
Marilyn
Thank you, Marilyn. You, too!
I hope that you and Caroline have a wonderful time decorating Hummingbird Cottage!
We will, though I tend to do all the heavy lifting!