Thursday, December 15, 2011

christmas decor


here is a bit of the christmas decor.  new idea for this year is another spin off on the electric candle holder deal to the left....putting bubble lights in it!



and as requested by ms. pagoda seen below is the display shelf that i used for the displaying of cluttered up little vintage christmas crap that normally doesn't all get put out due to lack of space.



and our main tree's theme is the simpsons.....( we made the Andy tree for my mom's house)

we doused it in a bunch of officially christmas simpsons ornaments along with previous BK kid's meal toys, parts from simpsons games, dvd covers and some printed out images on cardstock.

i am a bit grinchy this year.  i did not decorate much more than shown in the photos. i teeter on the verge of hating christmas at times. too much to do, to make, to remember, to buy, to take out and put back up.
it will be over soon.... only a few more days to go.


Tuesday, December 06, 2011

there are so many neat and clever ways to upcycle old suitcases.... mini bars, pet beds, tables, craft transports....  but i wanted to put this simple solution out there for during the holiday... a suitcase with a key/lock is a nice place to stash gifts. ;)

Thursday, December 01, 2011

Andy Griffith Christmas Tree




the theme for this year's tree is The Andy Griffith Show.  We are HUGE TAGS fanatics around here. Pumkinbutt's first real hair cut was done by Russell Hiatt, the man Floyd the barber was based on.... We have visited Mt. Airy, the town Andy grew up in and Mayberry was based on, many times... all ate the porkchop sandwich at the Snappy Lunch....watch the show every night and quote the show on a daily basis. example: when someone is sitting around stalling i usually pull out the Malcolm Tucker lines on the bottom (see below) and insert whatever activities work, along with "going to Thelma Lou's". Here's the whole set up:

Barney Fife: [while relaxing on the front porch after Sunday dinner] You know what I think I'm gonna' do?

Andy Taylor: What?
Barney Fife: I'm gonna' go home, have me a little nap, and then go over to Thelma Lou's and watch a little TV.
Andy Taylor: Mmm-hmm.
Barney Fife: Yeah, I believe that's what I'll do. Go home... have a nap... and then over to Thelma Lou's for TV.
Andy Taylor: Mmm.
Barney Fife: Yep, that's the plan. Home... little nap... then...

Malcolm Tucker: [interrupting] For the love of Mike *do* it!
Malcolm Tucker [shouts] : Do it! Just *do* it! Go take a nap, go to Thelma Lou's for TV, just *do it*!
***
So enters the theme...

For the love of god! DO IT! Go make some ornaments, decorate the tree, go to Thelma Lou's for TV, post about the tree! Just DO IT!


i think i made about 8 different ornaments.  They were all from images i found on the internet, printed on cardstock, and embellished a bit.

on the left is a combo of two images, a vintage TV set and i inserted a still from the opening credits.  right, a christmas group shot, a bit of glitter on the wreath and attached to a round wrapping paper covered disk.

these are images of coloringbook covers with a bit of glitter.


left, cover of a TV guide, glitterfied. right, a autographed photo of Otis with a small bottle of hooch attached.

my fav episode, the pickle story.  an image of opie with "good ol' store bought pickles" flanked with images of homemade canned pickles.
barney as santa image.  i embellished the beard with some white yarn and put some snow glitter behind him.
  "Toot, Toot, Tootsie Good bye!" Aunt Bee's solution to becoming a spring chicken again... Colonel Harvey's Indian Elixer! these are those stocking stuffer sized bottles of liquior with handmade decals by my stepdad. We also had little silver sherriff badges (from the kids section for cowboy parties)  hanging on the tree as well.  for the over-all-pull-it-together feel, we used those large multi color lights and doused the tree in silver icicles. Silver icicles were very hard to located and we opted to use the shredded gift bag filler from $ tree. cheap and effective!
Of course, i came up with a few other ideas for ornaments after the fact; such as making Ernest T. Bass rocks, mini boxes of Mircle Salve, sticks of dynomite for Jimmy the goat to eat, plastic kids handcuffs, fishing lures, images of deep freezers with the text "Aunt bee, just call the man!" on them....