Home for the Holidays ~ 2014 Christmas Home tour

Hello and welcome to my very first legit Christmas home tour, ta daaaaa…

I am hosting a virtual open house, along with 24 other wonderful bloggers, we are opening our homes at this CRAZY time of year to invite you in… to inspire and to share, some will make you laugh, cause they are that funny and some will make you cry, because they are that special, but all will leave you with a little Christmas magic! xo The entire tour list (a who’s who) will be at the end of my own virtual tour.

I did a little Christmas share last year too but I didn’t really expect anyone to see it, so I am counting this one as my first (and possibly last). 😉 If you’re curious how last year looked go ahead and have a peek…

My wonderful bloggy friend, Angie sent me a message, oh about a month ago asking if I would like to be a part of a great Christmas home tour with some other wonderful bloggers that I really admire… I was thrilled and excited to be asked. Sometimes I say yes too quickly, a knee jerk reaction… do you know what I mean!? Don’t get me wrong, the bloggers in this tour are all awesome, it has nothing to do with anyone other than my crazy self, because once I said yes my brain went into overdrive, I became a touch (aka a lot) manic… strange transformation really. Why? I have NO idea! I have 32 lists, millions of ideas and bags under my eyes! It’s funny now, yes, but I wish I would have come to my epiphany sooner than I did throughout this whole process.

What was my epiphany?

Drum roll please, things are what they are and nothing is perfect! What??? I know, crazy talk!

I’m sure many of you know this already, just call me a slow learner! I realized while trying to do everything, every tiny, big and huge thing on my list that it wasn’t going to all happen… a kind of calm then came over me (I’m fudging the time line here a bit… this calm only happened YESTERDAY), I realized then… I’ll just invite all of you wonderful peeps back when all of it is done. Well, all as in the mantel and the tree completely trimmed. 🙂 Gasp, yep I have things I just didn’t, couldn’t get to.

But let me show and tell you what I was able to accomplish… Mr. Mans and I tend to lean towards the rustic, natural kind of Christmas… we enjoy simple, warm and cozy.

This is our entry way… the stair’s hand railing isn’t the best place for garland in our house, I placed it at the bottom of the rungs this year and truly love how it looks.  I am mad crushing over those little hockey skates, I apologize right now, because I took tons of pictures, of just them! 😉 Simple, warm and cozy… some holly, cedar and pine with some “winterberry”, add pops of red in just the right places. See how I made  fake winterberry here.

Too cute for words!

Everyone carries personal feelings around this time of year! Hopefully they are good ones… I am a sucker for things and people that spread cheer, love and kindness! Is that hoaky? Maybe, but that is what Christmas makes me feel, I get all sappy and sentimental. Ever since I can remember I have adored Christmas and all it has to offer all of those special feelings and treasured times. The magical moments throughout my life that have made me feel warm and fuzzy and yes hoaky. This past year has been a very trying one… I’ve been exhausted,  spending all of my energy to make my world just stop spinning. For those of you that pop in to visit here and on Facebook know that both of my parents passed away this year, 2014 has been rough and that’s a HUGE understatement. Getting ready for this tour has been emotional for many reasons, I’ve been taken back to my childhood and have brought things from Mom and Dad to the forefront without even realizing I was doing that… for example, my Christmas pillow.

It’s made with Dad’s military blanket, you can check out that post here. It’s so special to me! That is what I am learning throughout this process though, the memories and things that are special to you hold you up and give you that bit of strength when it’s needed the most.

This little fellow was my Mother’s deer… she loved this deer! You see Mom was a very simple lady and didn’t have many material things, not because she couldn’t, but because she didn’t care to have material things for herself, she was always a giver… this deer really was her special thing. It must have broken her heart when his little head came off… there really is no nice way to say that. He broke and my Dad tried a bunch of different ways to fix him. I have now fixed him and was going to hang him on the tree… I just couldn’t put him there, the thought of him breaking, made me shudder! I have placed him in this little cloche I made, he’s in a little winter scene… I think Mom would really like this. Memories are cherished and special and are what I seem to be gravitating towards lately… why fight it, I’m going to go with it. On with the tour, I will not cry, I will not cry! 🙂

Okay lets start over, one more picture of the skates and I pinky swear I’ll take you into the house!  Those vintage hockey skates and that baby tree, from Ikea… adorable! So, remember when I told you I didn’t get everything done, this is one of the things I couldn’t, or didn’t finish. This hall tree isn’t painted yet and there is no mirror… but you know what, I love it anyway, it’s beautiful now, I can’t wait to see it when she’s all done! Don’t worry, you’ll see this again because this is the VERY first Vin’yet piece Mr. Mans and I will be selling in the New Year, yep, LOTS of stuff will be happening very soon! Eeeeeeekkkk! I will not cry, I will not cry!

Welcome to our living room… straight away I have to point out what’s not done. It’s a sickness I tell ya! The tree isn’t completely trimmed yet and that mantel… this mantel is temporary and I just am not feeling inspired, I think I will be carrying the dried orange theme (from the kitchen) into here and this seems like the spot to do it… more greens and some contrast with orange slices. Ya, I think that’s it. Thanks for helping a girl out! 😉 Seriously though, I’ll be inviting you back for a porch tour and we’ll pop in then to see the finished tree and mantel. Lots of Christmasy stuff still to happen in here, I like the way it’s going so far though. 🙂

I love the glow of the candles and the Christmas lights in this vignette.

Some of the “gifts” under our tree are actually gifts that were once given to our little one (he’s 6′-2″, not so little any more), we’ve kept them, they seem so perfect at this time of year. Ah memories…

This mirror vignette, with vintage and antique wedding pictures, so special… my parents kissing though is of course my fave. xo Okay, on to the kitchen… that room is done! High fives and happy dances!

I LOVE that upper shelf… it’s from a barn Mr. Mans and I dismantled many moons ago (way before it was the in thing to do) we had all of the beams milled and we left a couple with the original hand hewn marks, I found some awesome rusty corbels and you have the perfect (IMO) kitchen shelf.

A bright kitchen makes me happy! That little industrial stool was an awful green colour, if you are following me on Instagram you saw me working on that, I really like the way it’s turned out.

I had fun on Pinterest the other night… just added a bit of red ribbon to the chalkboard drawing, it’s cute and now I have a mistletoe, kind of. 😉

Orange garland… so pretty when the sun shines through it… we unfortunately were having a snow day when I snapped these. Kitten didn’t even want to go outside.

I love playing with different things to make an interesting vignette… this red is so perfect for Christmas.

Clothesline pulleys, make adorable little wreathes, don’t you think?

A sneak peek of our coffee station… this vintage library cart was found on a dump run one day… that’s a future post, but it’s perfect for our coffee and some of our vintage treasures. The zinc-ified top turned out awesome!

Command centre! This is my go to place… need scissors, no problem, a button, a pen… yep this area has me covered! Holly and my special pitchers and this is ready for Christmas… simple, rustic and done.

I love the pitcher filled with Dad’s hankies… special things all around me.

I have been known to love Christmas too much! Ya, I know crazy right!? that feeling when you were a kid laying awake with all of the thoughts of what tomorrow morning would bring. I have never out grown that feeling or magic! I am grateful for that. Christmas for me and my family is a time to reflect and be grateful for all you have, to be thankful for the gift of memories and cherished times with those we hold so dear… simple times and little things make us the happiest.

Thank-you for stopping in for this tour, I was very happy to have you here, once my manic mind calmed down that is. HA!

Pop back in next week… I’ll show you the porch. xo It’s all ready, so no more cray, cray behaviour… I think!

Here is a sample of what’s happening on the porch.

If I don’t see you again before the big day though, have a Holly Jolly! 😉 xo See, I told you, hoaky!

PS. I am so very glad I did say yes now to this tour, our home is almost 100% done and ready for Christmas… this usually doesn’t happen not this soon anyhow, our tree doesn’t usually go up until the 20th!!! This was an extremely positive thing, I’ve met some new friends and bam, house is decorated… just a couple.more.things.on.the.list! Once a nut bar, always a nut bar! xo

Thanks so much for popping in, I hope you enjoyed the tour.