Christmas Decorations

We decorated our house in time for the dessert and drinks party we had last weekend. 

Our decorations are very simple.  here is a look at our dining room and bar area.

The dining room table.

Some garland my mom was getting rid wrapped around a candle holder I got at The Will the day after Thanksgiving (for $1.50), some ornaments and candle holders from Ikea.  All inside a tray I made for the table. 

Remember the platter holder? I added some over sized ornaments I got on super sale the day after Christmas a few years ago and look how nice it looks all dressed up for Christmas!

I love the red snowflake against the white platters!

And a reindeer family that my grandpa made years and years and years ago (before I was born maybe). 

I put random things in the hutch - just a little something here and there to give it a Christmas feel.  Like some red beads my mom was getting rid of and some more garland in a pitcher.  Holly and a pine cone on the cake stands. 

And a pine cone in a margarita glass. 

Another over sized ornament and some garland. 

Here is our beautiful tree!  Michael decorated it and it is just perfect!

We have a lot of duck ornaments since Michael is a duck hunter.  This ornament I bought at a Christmas store in Truckee (?) with his mom and sister after Christmas last year. 

A pink ribbon - Michael's mom is a breast cancer survivor. 

I wish we could find an orange ribbon for Leukemia or a cancer sucks ornament would be even better!

We have a few John Deere ornaments. 

My amazing mom used to make egg ornaments - we have two on our tree. 

My graduation ornament - I graduated with my B.A. 5 years ago - WOW!!

A Canada Goose ornament Michael's mom and sister brought back from their trip to Canada this summer. 

We have like 500 dog ornaments on our tree (and 1 cat).  Ok, seriously we have at least 5. 

And to top it all off we have this beautiful amazing wonderful star that I just love!!

And the bar ...

We put a random table in the corner with the chalkboard, my grandpa's old guitar, and a hurricane glass full of ornaments.  LOVE this corner!!

My grandpa made this reindeer, sleigh, and Santa set.  Why are there only 5 reindeer you ask?  Well, they are pretty old and the Christmas before my grandpa died Michael was hanging something on the mantel at our old house.  My dad and I were sitting on the couch and Michael dropped the thing (it was a wooden stocking) right on the reindeer.  A few reindeer lost their life that day ... We took them to my grandpa's house so he could fix them but he was battling cancer (we didn't know it yet but he had been for 4 years).   After he died they disappear from his office.  So, now we have only 5 reindeer. 

Here is a close-up of the sleigh.  That wonky looking elf - I have no idea where it came from but we have had this set since we were kids and we must have thought it was perfect.  We also wrapped all of those presents as kids.  Every year I think about making new presents but then I don't because they are pretty old and dated but I still love them!

So, there is it - our dining room and bar area all decorated for Christmas!  I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and get to spend some time with those that you love!

Busy Busy Weekend!

We had a very busy weekend!  On Saturday we hosted a party (pictures to come) and we finally decorated our house and tree!  On Sunday we did some improvements to our house! 

So, now our house looks like this:

See our tree?

Our house is a total disaster (you should see the garage) but I am VERY HAPPY!!  I can't wait for us to finish up so I can show you the amazing results. 

Hope you had a great weekend!

Platter Holder Tutorial

If you saw the dining room and bar tour, then you know that our table sits in front of this beautiful bay window.  What wasn't pictured was this part of the room:

Nothing there (but that random cable cord) and I thought that one day I would put in cabinets or a small buffet table or something.  Then, one day I was reading Country Living (LOVE that magazine!!) and found this, an amazing platter display cabinet shelf thingy (I am pretty sure that is the technical term for it):

I thought and thought ... then (months later) got out paper, a pen, a tape measure, and some trusty blue painters tape and started taping to see where I wanted my amazing platter display cabinet shelf thingy to go. 

I taped and taped then retaped and adjusted - poor Chance was pretty bored.

I even got out a chair to make sure I could reach the stuff on the top shelf. 

I kept readjusting the tape, until ...

I finally liked what I saw.  You can see I even got out a platter to make sure they would fit and come in and out of the finished piece easily.  I made a drawing and wrote all the measurements.   

Then, I went to Home Depot with my drawing and the magazine and wandered around the lumber section for an hour.  This step is optional ...  I took the boards down and made a mock up of the amazing platter display cabinet shelf thingy on the floor (luckily it wasn't busy). 

I purchased 2 furrowing strips, an 8' 1"x4", a 4' 1"x6", a 12' 1"x4" (which I had them cut into 3 equalish pieces), and three dowels (1/2" or 3/4" - I can't remember).  It was less than $20.

Brought them home and did another mock up on the garage floor. 

Got a tape measure, something straight (a ruler for fabric), and a pen.

Then I set up a cutting station in the garage (if you have a table saw you rock, so you won't have to do this) with a table, some clamps (both are what I take to the farmers markets), and a circular saw. 

Then because I wanted a straight cut I clamped the board to the table and another board to the board I was cutting so I could run the edge of the circular saw and have it cut exactly where I wanted it to. 

I started at the top (the 4' 1"x6") and put the sides on (the 8' 1"x4" cut in half).  Then I cut a piece of the furrowing strip the fit.  Remember to measure twice and cut once!

I attached the sides and the furrowing strip with 1 5/8" gold screws - which I counter sunk to make a nice finished look. 

Then I measured and cut the bottom (a piece of the 12' 1"x4" I had Home Depot cut).  Then attached it with the same screws - counter sunk again. 

I started with the bottom shelf.  I measured and cut the bottom shelf (part of that 12' 1"x4" I had Home Depot cut). I hard the hardest time trying the make it level - I must have called my mom 15 times.  She said either use the level or your tape measure to make sure the shelves are even, and if you use the level make sure your floor is level first.  My floor wasn't level so I went with the tape measure method.  I measured up from the bottom and made sure it was at the same distance on both sides.  Then I screwed it in.  I measured for the furrowing strip, cut it and attached it. 

I did the same thing for the next shelf. 

Measured for the furrowing strip again, cut and attached it. 

Then, I measured for the furrowing strip to got at the bottom.  Cut and attached that. 

I had to choose where I wanted to dowels to go on each shelf so I got out a platter and adjusted it until I was happy.  It was 6" up. 

I measured 6" up on each side for each shelf and drilled a hole the same size as the dowel.  On the right side I drilled all the way through and on the left side I drilled about 1/2" into the side. 

I put the dowels in, stepped back and hated it.  Even though I got thick dowels they still drooped and just didn't look right to me.  So, I took the dowels out and it sat in the garage for a few days. 

Luckily, I didn't cut the dowels so I took them back to Home Depot and searched the lumber department to see what else I could use.  I found 4' long squares of thick wood (sorry, but I have no idea what they are called - I found them by the dowels).  I measured, cut, and attached them with the help of my studly boyfriend Michael. 

Then I was in love again ... but apparently did not take a picture. 

Michael patched the holes (including the holes I drilled for the dowels).

Then he sanded the whole thing.  He is so amazing - he took a day off work to go to the DMV (super fun, right?) and got done early so he did this for me. 

Before you paint, make sure to protect the garage with an old sheet or some plastic.  Putting it up on buckets is easier on the back (and knees and butt) and if it is up it won't stick to the sheet. 

He painted the back first. 

Then he put a coat on the front. 

I added another two coats.  We used white paint we had left over from painting the bathrooms when we moved in. 

We let it dry and Michael held it up for me while I looked at it until he looked back at me and told me that it wasn't light.  I guess I was looking too long - I couldn't help myself, it is so beautiful!  We put it exactly where I wanted it and marked the bottom of each shelf.   

 It took us forever to find the sneaky studs. 

We found the studs - which by the way are on 12ish" centers.   

We drilled like 10 holes to find each stud.  Then put it back up and attached it to the wall with 2" gold screws. 

Doesn't it look AMAZING?  We are not going to live in this house forever and I wanted to be able to take it with us when we move, so I didn't want to putty and paint over the screws but, I didn't want to be able to see the screws, so I went back to Home Depot and bought these screw covers.  They were $2.50 and worth every penny.

Just to show you how amazing these fancy screw covers are, here is the before:

and after.  LOVE them!

And that is it!  I put my platters in/on and realized that I need more platters to fill it.   

And there it is again . . . I am planning on putting pitchers on the top.

And, because I love before and after pictures:

This was very easy to make, cost less than $25, looks great, and is a great use of space!  I love that it looks like a built in and provides a place for those hard to store platters.

Although it can be customized to any size this 4' by 4' square was perfect since I had almost no wasted wood.  If I were to make a bigger one I think I would make 2 of this size and mount them side by side - or 3 look awesome with the middle one higher. 

What do you think?  Would you make something like this?