Tree trimming time!

So I've made you wait long enough! Here it is a week from Christmas and I've yet to share this year's tree with you! I've had the tree up for a couple of weeks now...but in between all of the holiday fun, craziness in the office and chocolate eggnog drinking (that's right I found chocolate eggnog!!), I haven't had a time to tell you about the crazy fun that is my tree.

Since November I've been giving you sneak-peeks of some of the ornaments that I've picked up along the way....and also told you about how I've randomly picked up different pieces on my way home from the grocery store over the course of a few weeks (seriously - I swear I was just going in to pick-up more chocolate eggnog and bananas....).

Decorating was reasonably easy...it was putting up the stupid tree that took forever....I'm one of those anal guys that needs to make sure that the lights are perfect - we're talking about taking three and a half hours to wrap lights around each branch as I'm building the tree...it turned out looking pretty spiffy though, so I guess it was worth it in the end!

After finally deciding on going with a blue and silver theme this season, my goal was to make my tree look kind of fresh and exciting, but at the same time make it look cozy and 'Dan like'...if that makes sense. A bit of bling, a bit of glass, a bit of fun and some burlap....(I don't get how the burlap makes it 'Dan like'....maybe it has to do with me coming from the farm....hmmm....).

After getting a bulk of the decorations onto the tree over the course of a couple of evenings (tying fishing line onto ornaments takes a long time....), I still didn't have a tree skirt to complete the look. In the past this fact hasn't bothered me....but in past years I've been a bit more on my 'A Game' having wrapped my presents early....this year that hasn't exactly happened....so there I was left not knowing what to do, not wanting to drop anymore coin on a skirt, and apparently not ready to wrap everything up. So out came the burlap!

Not too bad huh? Actually....the pic doesn't really do it justice but my $3.99 roll of burlap that I picked up at work looks pretty snazzy - it's so simple and the complete opposite of everything else that's going on....but it seems to make sense! No sewing, just a lot of fluffing....

And here you have it! The big unveiling! It might not look like something you'd find in a showroom or in a swanky design magazine, but I love it! It's goofy how much I find myself sitting with the lights turned out just admiring the tree....a couple glasses of wine (or chocolate eggnog)...some people do yoga & meditate...I look at my tree. What are yah gonna do? 

There yah have it!

Stay tuned for a couple more shots!

D-

Where did I snag everything from?


Tree - Value Village (Martha Stewart)
Silver owls - Walmart USA
Frosted & sequin balls - Zellers
Tin press birds / stockings / snowflakes - TBS! The Bargain! Shop
Standard-sized solid coloured balls - The Bay / Walmart Canada
Sparkle 'Merry Christmas' - Walmart USA
Swirled blue glass ornaments - Walmart USA
Over-sized coloured balls - PC Home Collection for Superstore / Loblaws
Rolled burlap - McDiarmid 
Christmas lights - Target 

Thrift Thursday (Monday Edition...)

The thrifting Gods have finally started to answer my prayers....well, not really, but you know what I mean. After what seemed like months of random junk at the shops around the city, I've finally started to stumble across some rather neat pieces....all of which have called out "take me home."

Case in point. These pieces - 

I really lucked out this past week when I hit-up Value Village. Lately I've been pretty unimpressed, but struck gold when I stumbled across two Pottery Barn books for $1.99 each...the dust jackets are a bit ripped, but the books themselves are in great shape! They're a few years old, but they've got some neat ideas....and we're talking about Pottery Barn....they're all about creating 'classic looking' spaces...so they're still pretty current.


Also, a snazzy Christmas tree for my office for the grand total of $.49 (with Michael's tag still attached....I'd rather pay the $.49 than the original $10.49 CDN retail) and two glass vases; perfect for more Christmas decorations! Can I get a 'whoop whoop?' No, not even a 'whoop'....hmm....

The next couple of weeks are only going to get busier and busier with the Christmas rush, which means less time to wander around and treasure hunt (I'll be too busy burning Christmas cookies). That said, I can't wait to hit the shops up in January & February when I'll hopefully be able to snag some deals on random Christmas stuff and unwanted Christmas presents. Last year I snagged a new 30PC set of Gluckstein glass balls for $2.99 and a bag of mercury glass ornaments (with tags still on them) for $1.99!

Let's make a day of it! Shops...lunch....Dan randomness....fun!


How 'bout it?

D-

Around the house...

I love lazy Sunday afternoons around Casa Dan. Except for me, lazy Sunday afternoons usually involve me spending a couple of hours scrubbing down my kitchen, dusting my living room and vacuuming everything, plus finishing up my holiday decorating. That said, I wouldn't have had it any other way.

Here are a couple of the projects that I tackled - 

I picked up three mini cedars from Safeway earlier this week and finally got around to planting them in a couple of my vintage milk glass planters. While digging around though some drawers I came across a bag of old keys that my Mom gave me awhile back....lo and behold, I ended up with this.

After tackling the cedars, I ventured out into the cold and stole a bunch of branches from my neighbour's tree....(I'm sure that they won't miss them). A bit of fake snow, some balls, one hound's tooth reindeer and a bunch more old keys later, and I ended up with this. I love the way the skeleton keys look on the branches! So unexpected, and not Christmas-y, but still, neat!

Bulb watch, day ___ (like I can remember stuff like that) and they're still growing! I must be doin' something right! I also went digging thru the closet and found yet another vase which ended up being filled with more....balls.

Let's have another glimpse of the trees! When I was scooping up the milk glass left, right and centre this summer, I wasn't too sure what I was going to do with them. I'm soooooooo happy that I finally figured out a unique and different way to showcase them.

And guess what else I did! I figured out the chandelier!!! As you may remember, earlier this week I tried to decorate my chandelier and ended up having a mini meltdown. The ribbon that I was using wasn't working out, I was tired, frustrated not only with decorating but with everything else and basically said "eff it" after three balls. However, new day, new ribbon, better mood and it turned out looking out pretty stellar!

I went digging through my totes and found some of the decorations that I hadn't used on the tree....and then snagged a few more from the tree. My fave pieces have to be the mercury glass double-ball & teardrop ornament that I snagged this summer from The Bay (reg. $12.99 on for $1.99) and the mercury glass bird that I picked up couple weeks ago at JYSK.

A busy day, but a great day! What do yah think?

Stay tuned for the great tree unveiling!

D-

What Dan's watching. Holiday edition.

Everyone that knows me knows that I'm a sucker for old movies. There's just something about them that makes me light up. Sure there's no CGI or product placement and the stunts can sometimes be a bit goofy (as can the storylines themselves), but I love them none the less. I'd rather spend two hours watching something with a couple years on it vs some Hollywood blockbuster...

And when it comes to the flicks that I end-up watching during the holiday season I can say the exact same things! I may have seen a few of my favourites 20-25 times over the years, and I might remember some of the corniest of dialogue, but there's just something about them that resignates with me...and has be turn to them again and again.

So, that said, I figured it would be fun to share with you a list of my fave holiday films / shows. And you MUST promise me that you'll check out at least one or two...

10. Singin' in the Rain - 1952

So it's not exactly a Christmas movie....but Singin' in the Rain was a staple during our Christmas season. I swear there were certain years where CBC broadcast this flick 5-6 times during the month of December.

9. Holiday Inn - 1942

A group of musicians gather at a quaint inn during the Christmas season. Lots of song, dance, and goofy jokes....and the introduction of the classic song 'White Christmas.' Bet yah didn't know that the song appeared years before the movie of the same name. In-fact, when the flick was released 'White Christmas' stayed at the top of the music charts for 11 weeks. Imagine still hearing Christmas music in February? Oye.

8. The Bells of St. Mary's - 1944

Another tear-jerker revolving around a priest, a nun, a bunch of school kids, a school that faces closure and a Christmas pagent. I haven't figured out why, but as a kid, this was the VHS tape that my sister would gravitate towards whenever she wanted to watch a movie...it didn't matter if it was the middle of August or not....

7. It Happened on Fifth Avenue - 1947

Until this past weekend, I'd heard of, but never seen this flick. The storyline is ridiculous....but still, oddly appealing and super sweet. Two homeless men - a hobo and a WWII vet who's having trouble finding decent housing movie into the NYC mansion of the world's second richest man who's wintering in Vermont. All without him knowing. Before you know it the vet has fallen in love with the home owner's daughter who's moved in with them and is posing as a poor farm girl from Wisconson. The storyline would never fly today (or if it did it would have something other than a 'G' rating...) but it was oddly appealing and chances are that I'll watch it again before the New Year.

6. Christmas in Conneticut - 1945

Barbara Stanwyck plays a magazine columinst who seems to have it all. She's the perfect hostness, an amazing cook, has a loving husband and lives with him and her perfect baby on their perfect Conneticut farm (what is it about holiday movies taking place in the Eastern United Sates? How 'bout a flick taking place in Minnesota or South Dakota...hmmm). Anways, the magazine for which Stanwyck works for offers up as a hostess to a WWII GI and his family. The thing is, in reality Stanwyck lives in a simple NYC apartment, is unmarried, can't cook to save her life and simply writes the columns for the money with her friend providing the recipes. I love this flick! It's one of those rare movies where tears are streaming down your face from the first couple of minutes...even before the real hilarity ensues.

5. The Bishop's Wife - 1947

Dreamy Cary Grant as an angel? Bang. Sold. Grant arrives from heaven following prayers from a newly appointed bishop who's trying to build a new cathedral. So entrenched in trying to build the new structure, the bishop doesn't realize that his marriage to be amazing Loretta Young is crumbling around him. While Grant comes along to save the marriage and teach the bishop a couple lessons, you almost wish that the suave Grant ran off with Young.

4. White Christmas - 1954

Do I really need to tell you about how much I love the film White Christmas? Along with my top three choices, it ranks up there as one of the top watched holiday films each holiday season. Perhaps by coincidence, this flick has a VERY similar story-line to Holiday Inn. Song. Dance. Christmas in the country. An inn. The classic song. Throw in Rosemary Clooney and you've got the biggest movie of 1954.

3. Miracle on 34th Street - 1947

Skip the remake with that creepy little girl. No seriously. That little girl terrifies me. The original is where it's at. I've never been big on Santa Claus (gasp, shudder) but I do love this flick. This movie has it all....the little girl that doubts the existence of Santa, her gorgeous workaholic single mother, the dreamy guy that sweeps in and makes them believe in love, magic and Santa again. Anytime outside of the holiday season I cringe at this movie, but come December 1st this flick melts me....

2. Gone With The Wind - 1939

Scarlett! Scarlett! Ms. Scarlett! At 3 hours, 44 minutes you almost need to pencil in a Friday night to watch Gone With The Wind. Like Singin' in the Rain, this isn't a Christmas or holiday film per say, but for as long as I've remembered it's shown up on TV during the holiday season. That and last year I forced myself to read all four gazillion pages of the book. Tara. Clark Gable. Vivien Leigh. The South. Yankees. Dresses made out of drapes....you name it, this flick has it. That and it gave us scenes like this - 

If you haven't seen this flick it's time. 10 Academy Awards. Still the highest grossing film of all time (after adjustments for inflation). What are you waiting for? Watch it!

1. It's A Wonderful Life - 1946

What can I say? I obviously saved the best for last! According to my sources (Wikipedia) this flick was originally a box-office bomb. However, after falling into the public domain this movie quickly ended up being shown on every channel, at least once a week during the holiday season for the past gazillion years. Clarence the angel comes along to show the always amazing Jimmy Stewart what his life would have been like if he'd never been born. And as they say, the rest is history.

Dig out the tissue -

So there you have it, a rundown of my favourite films to watch during the holiday season. while there are always new and different holiday flicks to uncover and watch, these are the ones that I'll always turn back to...

I've shared my favourites; now it's your turn!

Cheers,

D-

When a good idea goes bad.

As I've been decorating my place for the holidays, I've been compelled to check out various blogs, websites and sites like Pinterest to uncover new and different ideas that I can bring into my own home. Some of the ideas I've uncovered, like planting my paperwhites in my milkglass vases have been hits...which led me to thinking that I could do this to my dining room chandelier -

Source Unknown

Source Unknown

I found these pics in my online archieves and was like "I need to do this" and then proceeded to drag Mister to Michaels where I made him dig through the $1.00 ribbon bin with me. Should I mention that for some bizarre reason the $1.00 ribbon bin was outside by the front doors and that it was -14c and already dark outside as we scoured for our ribbon?

Ten rolls of ribbon and twenty minutes standing in line later, I pretty much had my mind made up that my god awful looking dining room chandelier (I'm still looking for a replacement) would go from drab to fab. (How gay did that last sentence read? Hmm...)

Skip ahead to last night when I started to play around with the ribbon and balls and I ended up with this...

It looks stupid enough that I can't bring myself to spend anymore time cutting ribbon and balancing myself on a dining room chair trying to tie everything to the chandelier arms...It looks like, well, you know.


So now I'm left back where I started with my ugly beast chandelier.

I don't know if it's the ribbon, the balls, the chandelier or the combination of all three that I don't like. How could something that looked so amazing in my head look so goofy when actually put together?

Boo.


Maybe it's time to finally cave and order some new dining room lighting....

But in the meantime it looks like it's back to the drawing board for with this project. Anyone got any ideas for what I can do with ten rolls of assorted blue and white ribbon besides using them as stocking stuffers?

Bah humbug

D-

Bulb watch. Day five.

Remember last week when I shared with you my love of Paperwhites and went on and on (and probably on) talking about them?

Well, I finally got my ass in gear late last week and planted these guys. Marking their 5th day of growth this evening. Basically at this point it's looking like I'm growing four little claws....no for real. On day two, before any green had appeared these guys were looking a bit....creepy. Then again, I'm a pretty big suck so pretty-much everything scares me.

Five days down....three weeks to go? Will these bad boys be ready for Christmas? Only time will tell!

Who wants to start the betting off?

D-

Mr. Mitchell Decorates.

My mind has officially been blown.

No Seriously.

Today is the first day of December. Seriously. Where did this year go? Wasn't it just yesterday that I was heading to the beach with Mister and our friends? Non?

Oh well. I guess if anything it means that we're just that much closer to Christmas! And to help get me feeling festive I dug out the last of the decorations, hit up the shops (yet again....we won't tell Mister how much I've spent) and starting spreading the fun around my place.

And while I've got a ways to go, I figured that it would be fun to give you a sneak peek of what I've been up to.

As this is the one and only holiday that I really get into, I figured that I have no excuse not to go all out. This year I started out with greenery above my kitchen cabinets. I figured out that I could hide a cord behind the cabinets - therefore letting me go with a pre-lit garland, which I dressed up with a mix of vintage glass and new unbreakable balls. The way the glittery balls hit the lights makes me swoon....no, for reals. When it comes to Christmas, I don't mess around.

Though my tree is up and lit (we won't discuss the three hours it took to get there....), I'm waiting until this weekend to decorate it with Mister. And while I thought I could wait until the weekend, I found myself NEEDING TO DECORATE something. So away went the shells and postcards that filled my urns and vases and out came the buffalo snow and balls in every shade of blue I could find, complimented with silver and white.

Isn't this reindeer the cutest little guy you've ever seen? I picked him and his brother up from Superstore right after they put their decorations out. He's basically the reason that I decided to go all out with the blue and silver theme this season....we won't go into detail about how I when I was in the States last month I bought a pile of red stuff (I swear....I'll use it next year).

And while I'd like to show you everything else I've done, I'm going to make you wait! I wanna unveil the finished project sometime this weekend! I'm hoping to spend part of tomorrow evening getting the tree wrapped up and then I've got a couple of other DIY projects that I want to tackle....that is if I can find the missing pieces! 

I found a couple of those pieces on the way home from work this evening....

Are you getting curious yet?

Hmmm.....

Back to the fun & eggnog!

D-

Scheming. Holiday style....

Having not completely maxed out my Mastercard this past weekend, I made Mister stop at Menards on our way home from the States. At first he wanted to know why I wanted to stop at an American hardware store....trying to work things out in my head, I figured that I'd say something about how I should check it out due to 'work'...but then I realized that all I needed to say were two magic words "Christmas stuff."

Before you knew it, we'd grabbed a shopping cart and had proceeded to fill it with trims and pieces for our respective trees. And though I found some cool pieces at 25% off the lowest (already stupidly cheap) retail, I was especially excited by all of the clear Christmas balls I found for $1.99 per box of 6. 

http://pinterest.com/pin/399242960/

Sitting in the passenger seat on the way home I started to wonder what I could do with the 18 balls that I'd picked up. I'd had a few ideas while buying them, but it was more impulse than anything that had me putting them in the cart. So, wondering what I options I had, I figured I'd hit-up my beloved Pinterest to see what I could stumble across for ideas!


Here are some of my fave ideas! I haven't figured out what I'm going to do yet, but I've got a couple of ideas up my sleeves!

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/la/holiday/clear-glass-ornament-display-038999

http://pinterest.com/pin/285847298/

http://pinterest.com/pin/191543790371212838/

http://pinterest.com/pin/282679277/

http://pinterest.com/pin/432215411/

http://pinterest.com/

http://www.etsy.com/listing/83749747/terrarium-christmas-ornament-handmade

Not bad huh? The big thing will be trying to a) find time to be all crafty b) figure out how to use a glue gun without burning myself and c) knowing when to stop. I find that whenever I attempt to do anything remotely crafty I always end up going overboard. I don't think that I'm ready for this tree to look like it came from the 'Liberace house of crap....'

So while I dig out my glue gun and try to figure out what I'm doing, let me know what you'd do! What idea that I've shown caught your eye?

D-

All that glitters.

I was lucky enough this past weekend to head to the States for a couple of days. For those of you who aren't too familiar with concept of cross-border shopping it's a pretty big thing where I live. We're close enough to the American border that whenever a long weekend of any sort hits us, we pile into our vehicles and head south to see what deals we can find on stuff we a) either can't find at home, or b) stuff that we refuse to pay the higher retail for in Canada. That and there's always a stop at Happy Harry's....I'm still baffled by how a bottle of liqueur that retails for $89.99 in Canada can go for $19.99 in the States....hmmm.....

Anyways, in addition to my usual stash of cheap work threads (I love you Macy's!), Chex Snack Mix, discounted Bath & Body Works and other randomness, I found some AMAZING Christmas decorations! And though I don't plan on putting up my tree for a couple of days, I figured that I'd give you a sneak-peek of what I found!

Wanna know the past part? Everything that I'm showing you was found for under $1.00! As much as I found, I'm still kicking myself over the fact that I didn't bring home a couple more pieces! That said, when I add these pieces to the ones that I've collected over the past couple of years, I think that I'll be able to put together an awesome looking tree! 

I can't wait to show you!

Cheers,

D-

Fun and games around the office.

So usually my Thursday thing is sharing my latest thrift find with you. The thing is, I haven't hit up a thrift store in what feels like ages. Actually, it was the other night, but really, with the except of my quick couple of minutes wandering around, I haven't been on an all out 'thrifting adventure' in over a month. Gasp! Shudder! I know....

So instead, I figured I'd share with you a shot of what I've been investigating in my office....behold my latest potential project!

That's right! I have a possession where I get to go into the office and check out Christmas stuff!! Jealous much? Haha! Right now my employer really hasn't strayed into the wonderful world of Christmas merchandise, but we think that there could be some awesome potential for us....for 2012. That might seem like ions away, but in reality, when it comes to seasonal merchandise you're looking purchasing product months and months in advance. Review now, place orders in February, receive in August, merchandise in September, blow-out in December, repeat. 

So, long story short in addition to trying to finalize some spring & summer seasonal orders for the coming season, I'm now hunting down information on more fun that I love....trees, lights, balls (get your minds out of the gutter), garlands, inflatable snowmen! I'm keeping my fingers and toes crossed that I can prove to them that I can make this work.

We'll see how it goes!

What's on your must-buy list for new holiday decorations?

D-

Christmas. Christmas. Christmas.

https://www.facebook.com

ZOMG! forget Halloween, Kris Humphries and Kim Kardashian's divorce, the fact that we've still got four days left in the work week...it's all about the new Christmas mags that have started to hit the stands! 

I picked up the latest issue of Style At Home this Evening and I've already got a gazillion ideas rolling through my head for what I'm going to do this Christmas! Aaaaaaaaaah! So excited. You have no idea! Seriously - every page has something amazing on it! Loads of metallic tones, bright yellows (score!) and softer versions of the traditional Christmas colours!

I've decided to wait until the 15th of the month to begin bringing out anything....but that doesn't mean that I'm not going to start trying to map out some ideas - I wanna go ALL OUT this year!

Bring on the paint & glitter! (That may have been the gayest sentence I've written to date on here....but who cares, it's only 50 something days 'til Christmas and I for one can't wait!!

Cheers,

D-

Oh Christmas tree?!?!

If you're looking at the title of this post and the below shot featuring some of my fave vintage Christmas decorations you must think that I've gone off the deep-end. You're probably sitting there thinking to yourself "holy !$%#! the heat has finally gotten to him. It's the beginning of August and he's talking about Christmas."

Maybe the heat has gotten to me, but regardless of that fact, there's a part of me that can't wait to dig out my many totes of Christmas swag. I don't do any of the other holidays. No cutesy bunny decorations, no fake cobwebs, no paper mache turkeys, no chains of hearts made out of construction paper. For me, Christmas is where it's at. It's my holiday.

I've been collecting vintage Christmas decorations for years. In my first year of college (when I was still young and naive), while my friends were spending their spare coin on six packs of beer, I was spending my spare coin on bags of hand painted decorations from the thrift shops around the city. I found some amazing, one of a kind pieces that looked amazing in my place - it was a challenge to see what I could come-up with for only a couple of dollars, but the results were always pretty impressive.

Fast forward about eight years and I'm still doing the same thing. Just because it's the beginning of August doesn't mean that I can't stumble across something that will look amazing come this December. I've stumbled across a few treasures over the course of the past 7-8 months (including a couple of fun pieces last week) that I can't wait to share with you in a couple months time. 


When I say "I do Christmas" I mean "I do Christmas." 


Start preparing yourself! Four months and counting....
D-


PS. I totally made up for the beer drinking in my second and third year of school...