our first flocked Christmas tree

I had been thinking about having a "snow" Christmas tree

for years, but I never really made it happened until now:

And it is lovely,

messy but lovely!

And it requires planning, good weather, waiting....

As I mentioned in my Christmas mood board,

I used SnoFlock as recommended by many people.

It is not hard but requires to work outside, with no wind and no rain,

luckily it was dry and only slightly windy.

A big tarp protected the floor so cleanup was easy,

I on the other hand was quite dirty but I had a good time!

The tree stayed outside until it was dry,

bringing it back inside was slightly messy,

just like adding the lights and ribbons....

I might have used a few chosen words,

but I prevailed!

At that point, Mon Cheri and the kids joined in the fun,

and we all put ornaments on the tree as we usually do.

My 4 new ornaments from Lucketts were added to the collection,

we used mostly deer, squirrel and mushrooms

mixed with pine cones, cross stitched ornaments

and an Eiffel tower!

And it is lovely,

I really like the light snow on the tree,

and all the touches of red Miss C. requested!

On the little table next to the tree,

I set up my favorite bear with a nice red ribbon,

a nesting doll Santa,

a too heavy for the tree car ornament,

and a sweet little embroidery,

from Veronique Enginger, aka les brodeuses parisiennes,

from the same book than my advent calendar.

So far the dogs have remained their original colors,

and their tail waging near the tree has not messed up the snow!

Happy day!

the smallest of Cocoa station

It is everyone's favorite: the cocoa station!And Like everything else this year,it is quite different:

The little spot that I usually use for the cocoa stationis now taken by Brick Master's deskas he completes his college sophomore year from home,so like my fall vignette,it is just a tray on the island!
But just like every year, it has everything neededto make a nice cup of cocoa:cup, spoon, chocolate mix, marshmallowsand a few chocolates on the side,just in case one needs more sweetness!

My new bowls from Lucketts are perfect there,the little Hot Cocoa print is from Lily and Val.



Here are our various cocoa station throughthe years.....
2019 cocoa station:

2018 first aid:

2017 with card holder:

2016 nature version:

2015 red version:

2014 deer version:

While this year is the smallest,it is already hard at work!
Happy day!

building a mantel for our old fireplace

Last weekend, I built a mantel for our fireplace.

This project was years in the making....in my head!

And it took about half a day!

Simple, yet perfect!

Here is the original fireplace to our late 60s house,

totally naked, except for the blue tape I was using for reference

while I was decided on the high and width of the mantel.

(Bosco loves looking outside!)

I followed this tutorial from Shanty to Chic,

changing a few things, 

as I wanted a floating beam.

I used 3 pieces of pine: 1 x 5" x 8',

and made a long skinny box (88").

I stained it with Early American.

(you can see the tree I was flocking in the background!)

Then we hanged a 2" x 3" on the brickswith special screws, it was a little scary!I also attached 4 little pieces of the 2 x 3perpendicularly to the wall to help support the beam.

Finally we put the beam on the support,and put a few screws from the top,and voila!

Surprisingly it looks like it totally belongs!

And now I need to decorate it for Christmas,for the first time!
Happy Day!

the annual Lucketts Christmas trip to the design house

With all of these year challenges, I was not quite sure

we were going to be able to go to Lucketts to the Christmas design house,

but as soon as the tickets were for sale,

I purchased some for our favorite time to go,

just after Thanksgiving.

And it was the perfect escape!

I even matched the décor, and so did my mask,

there were few people, everybody wore masks,

we were given our own shopping bag so we felt quite comfortable,

and at the end, we even had a glass of Champagne,

it felt quite VIP! 😉

Onto the house, I took many pics but if you want to see it better for yourself,

I would recommend their Instagram feed with all the videos!

The outside was very festive, and as soon as you entered, it was grand!

I loved the unusual color of rust and burgundy,

and the beautiful ribbons and bows...

The snow room was also fun,

with textures and polar bears everywhere:

There were also so many different Christmas trees,

all richly decorated

and with their own theme, coordinating with their room.

No décor would be perfect without some dogs,

and the 2 black dog rooms were just that: perfect!

My favorite parts were these papier mache heads of deer and bunny,

the fun look of animal without the killing part!

I was very tempted to bring one home....

I also really liked the edelweiss felt garland, quite unique.

Here is the few things I brought back:

3 very heavy mushrooms (I have a thing for mushrooms!),

a squirrel on an acorn (I also have a thing for both of them!)

a 2D metal sleight

and 2 small little bowls:

(quite reasonable!)

After this trip, I was able to start working on my Christmas décor,

that I shared last week.

You can check out my previous trips just below:

2019 visit, I did not blog about it, but I enjoyed the visit: 

2018 visit:

2017 visit:

2016 visit:

2015 visit:

Happy Day!