There’s a new reindeer in town and his nose ain’t red. It’s white. And ceramic. But he has just as much character as Ol’ Red and now (like R.dogdolf) a story that he can pass down to his grandkids too.

Sparkle is a relatively new Christmas decoration – I got him a few years back – but quickly became one of my faves. Allow me to introduce you…

Although I think this shot is funnier. Cue toddler hand stage right (or left?) I don’t know, I’m a designer, not an actress.

Anyway, what you may have noticed aside from the cute little hand and awesome reindeer is lack of antlers… or part lack. Sparkle is ‘placking’ (part-lacking – and yes, I just made that word up) antlers.

He actually placked antlers last year and got them fixed but this year when I pulled him out, he pulled another plack on me. Oh Sparkle…

You can see his previous scars and new breaks. Poor little Sparkle.

It didn’t even cross my mind to get rid of him because how can you turn your back on a ceramic reindeer in his time of need!? So, I put my thinking antlers cap on and decided that I’d glue him back together and add some… well, sparkle to hide his wounds.

Here is my arsenal of medical supplies.

I used the crazy glue (right) to piece Sparkle back together and lucky for me I had further plans because at this stage his gaps were more like crevices.

Yikes! So, I added some glitter to hide Sparkle’s scars. If you find yourself doing a similar surgery in the future I’d suggest making sure your glitter is ‘fine’ (see glitter pic above) versus the courser larger (old school) glitter. It creates more a shimmery effect and the pieces will stick better since they are more ‘powder like’ in consistency. Great for hiding boo boos.

I won’t bore you with the surgery details as I’m sure you have all applied glitter before. But it basically went like this – brush glue on, sprinkle on glitter, tap off, repeat. Don’t forget to do this over a paper plate so you can easily fold the plate in half creating a trough to pour your excess back into the glitter container.

After he rested in recovery Sparkle looked like this!

Dare I say I’m even more in love with him now?

And here he is taking his rightful place on my Christmas mantel (which I blogged about here).

What a cutie. I guess I should really call him Glitter now but we all know that that’s just a bad Mariah Carey movie so it wouldn’t be fair. Plus he looks like a ‘Sparkle”. Yes, my ceramic reindeer is a male. And I call him Sparkle. Could be worse?

{Non-hate clause: I actually like Mariah Carey}

This weekend I finally got to decorate our mantel for the holidays!

Introducing our ‘merry mantel’.

** read this post to the tune of “White Christmas” ** Why? ’cause it’s fun that’s why 😉

link party

… okay, “Christmas”, It’s the best time of the year!

HAPPY DECEMBER 1st! Our little guy is awaking to an advent calendar today. His first (he’s two and a half). Unfortunately I’ll be at work so my husband will get to enjoy all the fun with him!

But, back to the task at hand….
We may not have snow but this girl’s got balls (and I don’t feel awkward typing that – no, not at all).

As you may have noticed, I’ve been busy creating our winter planter. And the best part? Aside from the fact that I get to say something that makes me kind of squirmy (fun right?) is the cost! Or lack thereof! This whole look only cost about $10. Not too shaaabby (did anyone else just hear the Adam Sandler song in their head?).

I already had the large balls from a previous year and I used to hang them as giant decoration with our Chrismas lights on the house. However, after years of dropping them and one especially rowdy New Years Eve party where they became soccer balls (ahem, cough, Kev’s-friend-who-shall-remain-nameless) they had seen better days. In other words, I had cracked balls. Or my balls were on crack? No, sorry, the first one. Although they do sort of look like they are on steroids no? I wouldn’t really know, I’m not that kind of gal. I just thought it sounded funny. And I ramble. With me yet?

Anyway, the planter has the curly willow and pussy willow all year round so that was zero dollars… The red berries were about $5, purchased at a local garden centre. The red branches were also about the same. So if you’re good with math (I’m not, so I married an accountant) you will see we’ve already reached our grand total.

The pinecones I already had from a past Christmas arrangement. I used three large ones here.

I kept them from diving out of the planter to meet (yet another) untimely death by using some fishing wire as you can see below. I loosely hooked the balls around some of the branches to stop them from tipping over the edge. Since they are plastic they are very lightweight so the branches easily hold them. Oh, and it’s probably apparent but I just stuck the branches and leaves into the dirt. They are all just ‘cut’ so there is no real planting involved. Due to what they are they don’t seem to dry out before the season is over. How is that for easy maintenance!?

The greenery I ‘borrowed’ from the woods behind our house. And lucky for me, they weren’t charging that day.

The wreath on the front door is one I made a few years back by simply winding two large ‘berry garlands’ (found at Michaels craft store) together to create a simple wreath form.

It’s actually my Autumn wreath but I think it works better with the planter than my winter one does so it looks like it’s staying out for another season!

And that’s it! A simple porch makeover that when combined with taking the photos, writing this blog post and saying ‘red balls’ a bunch of times makes for a very effective way to procrastinate doing laundry. Oh. Laundry. Right. Drats.

But it’s SOOOO much prettier than laundry. Maybe I should just wear the balls and give the wreath to Kev? Umm. Scrath that. Laundry. Stat.

My name is Elaine and I’m addicted to Christmas. No seriously.

Okay, so I’m not crazy-put-your-stuff-out-in-October-crazy but I do LOVE the holiday season. I love the warmth, the tradition, the coziness, the shimmering lights, the hustle, the quietness, the FEELING. I love Christmas.

I also love crafting and making things and that is how my little annual tradition of Christmas Craft Night was born. The concept was to get some girls together, drink some wine, chat, enjoy each others company and make a Christmas craft! And it took off. Big time. So now it has become an annual tradition that my friends say they love. And I love hosting it. Love it. The best compliment I received was from a friend who told me that the craft night was, for her, the sign that the Christmas season had begun. She looks forward to it every year to kick off the season and get her in the Christmas spirit. Wow.

So how I start is, I pick a craft that seems doable in a few hours. The point of Christmas Craft Night is that every girl leaves with a completed craft. I always host it right at the beginning of December so that the ladies can enjoy that years craft for the whole month.

After I choose the craft I do a trial run to make sure that it’s doable in an evening and work out any glitches. Then I design an invitation to send out that features what the craft will look like. In earlier years I’d include a list of supplies for the ladies to bring but now I just pick up the supplies myself (to save them running around and take advantage of bulk deals) and then just charge a fee that covers their potion of the supplies. I aim to always keep it under $20.

Here is what last years invitation looked like: