Christmas 2013

Christmas went by too fast this year. I've been so busy, and we truly haven't even spent a whole lot of time at our own home. It was a real go-between for all our get-togethers and holiday hangouts this year. Next year I plan to spend more time at home, and maybe try hosting our own party here. (We'll just see what my tiny 1950s kitchen will allow.) Anyway, I wanted to show you what we've been up to this year at the Howes-Tien household.

This year I decorated three trees! Well I normally do, but this year Wai helped me put ours up, which was really special. The top left is our tree of course. A purchase I made this Fall off Etsy, and I couldn't be more pleased with it. The right is my Mom's tree. I decorated this baby all by myself this year! Below is my Dad's tree. I couldn't pass up a photo of this cozy situation right here. I could cuddle up in front of that fireplace forever!

I've always had a green tree growing up, but because our cat Royal chewed our tree lights to bits last year and we had a dark tree all holiday long, I wanted to opt for something different and without lights. It took some getting used to but our first year with an aluminum tree was a real success! Not that I don't miss our old standard tree!

Bringing colour and whimsy into our home has been a goal since we moved in. Wai and I have very different styles, but we were both interested in bringing a fun and not-so-serious look to our home. That goes for Christmas too. We've been so lucky to be gifted incredible vintage christmas decorations from my Mom and Grandma. Most of our things are incredibly retro-looking, so we aimed to incorporate more pastel ornaments this year. With our home looking more and more like a 1950s/60s dollhouse every day, I wanted our house to keep its vintage fantasy look all throughout the holidays!

Last year I made this cone christmas tree. It's not quite finished and I didn't get around to completing it this year either. A definite goal for next year!

This year my mom let me take home a bunch of old ornaments I always coveted growing up. It always amazes me how careful we were around all the old christmas decorations as little kids. But I shudder when I think of the fragile mercury glass ones we broke by accident, or the ones that were swiped off the tree by the dog's tail; smashed in pieces all over the floor. 

She also found me some gorgeous ornaments this summer that were exactly right for my new tree this year! If you don't know already, she's my thrifting partner-in-crime. We constantly teach each other everything we know about antiquing and vintage-hunting. We both have such different styles, which helps us cover off a huge range of knowledge. I probably wouldn't love vintage this much if it weren't for her instilling it in me from a young age! With her new ornaments and some cute wooden ones I found at a Wisconsin garage sale, all for 25 cents in September, I decorated our tree and home in a whole new way this Christmas.

This year I was very aware of how dark our house was. Winnipeg winters are very low-light and can be quite depressing at times. To bring some much needed brightness to our home, I decided to open up our front curtains for Christmas. The cats sure agreed that it was a great idea!

This year I took part in the GoodyGoodyGiftSwap, and this was the card I made for my swap mate. I would definitely do it again next year, because it was loads of fun. The gift I received was 

over-the-top adorable! I got a pair of screw-back rhinestone earrings and long glittery-gold gloves with pearl buttons. How cute! I also took the plunge to cut off my long, dark hair to my shoulders and start bleaching it black slowly to my natural hair colour. Blonde, here we come!

Christmas is also always jammed with parties for one more reason - my little sister's birthday. She turned 22 this year! 

For us, the parties are essentially over, but I know lots of you are still celebrating away. Happy holidays to you, your family and friends. I hope Christmas 2013 was a wonderful and magical time for you and it continues on into the new year!

Love,

Marissa xo

My 2013 Holiday Wish List

Some truly incredible gift ideas for me, if the sky were the limit!

Apparently I have more interest in home decor than anything else...

Faux Fur Collar, Retro Wall Plaques, Tension Pole Lamp, 

Seafoam Bullet Planter, Anna Sui Minnie Mouse Set,

Pop Boutique Dress, Balloon Pyrex Bowl.

What's on your wish list?

Marissa xo

Getting Crafty - Handmade Wreath and Mini Mid Century House

Here's a wreath I made this season in some of my down time. It took about an hour to do in total, so if you're thinking about attempting something similar, do it! In no time at all, you'll have a very adorable new holiday decoration!

I started by mapping out pieces of cardboard to construct the walls and roof of my little home. Then I carefully glued it all together piece by piece with my fancy new glue gun. (Somehow my old one disappeared!) 

Also if you're wondering, I left the inside of the house hollow, so it would be lightweight and could later be glued easily onto my wreath. 

I wanted my house to look super crafty and casual. Sort of an imperfect, slightly wonky look you often find on vintage mini Putz-style houses. To achieve this look, for all my fabric and paper pieces I didn't do any measuring. I glued the main wall coloured paper on with my hot glue gun and the rest of the smaller pieces with regular craft glue.

Here's the other side, which I did in a completely different colour pattern! It's a 2-in-1! I liked the idea of turning the wreath around to get a new style if you were bored of the one side, or maybe it wouldn't always go with your other holiday decor. A little change can be good. 

Can you spot the little tree I cut out of shiny metallic green wrapping paper? There's one on each side for some extra detail.

The roof was so much fun to make. I used a mixture of white glitter and some vintage heavier-weight glitter, which is actually more like tiny, clear plastic chips. My Grandma gave it to me from her years of painting and glazing ceramics. She used this one for her christmas village scenes, to look like snow, so I thought this was fitting. I first covered the roof with blank white paper and then drew scallops on the top with my glue gun. While still warm I dipped it in a bowl of my glitter concoction. To create the appearance of icicles, I let the glue drip off the side of the roof a little, and dipped the sides in glitter as well.

To finish off the look I hid the unfinished edges of the house with embroidery thread. 

                               Now all that was left was to glue it onto my wreath I made a few days prior. 

                    All I did was cut a thin square out of cardboard, staple one end of tinsel garland to it and 

                             start wrapping away! Once I got to the end I stapled the other end. Super easy.  

Side one...

and side two!

I packed this one up recently and shipped it out to my Giveaway Winner as part of her prize. For some reason I always end up giving things away more than I keep things for myself. I was planning to make more of these, but it looks like I have run out of time. The next couple of weeks are already scheduled full, so I doubt I'll be making any more mini houses this year. Next year I'll make time to create a whole village!

Happy crafting everyone!

Marissa xo