~ Soon Christmas Will Be Here ..... Gingerbread House

Sweet Daughter called from work yesterday to tell me that Christmas would soon be here. Just a couple of weeks. Did I have a tree? When will I get one? Funny girl.

Of course I believed her that I only had "two weeks" if a couple of weeks was correct.
She was fudging on the days to get me in gear.

For years I started Christmas decorating about 2 weeks before Christmas. And tossed the tree almost the day after Christmas Day. When Sweetie Girl went away to college, she wanted to see the decorations as soon as she came home from school. So I began starting earlier. Then of course there was all the decorating going with my on line friends. And that would really get us in the mood as we got to see what each other was doing that year. Now I even leave everything out until almost New Year's.



I still have a bit more than a couple of weeks to go so I think it will be OK. We will go get the tree this weekend. Only Sweetie Hubby will go with me. He is patient as I look at one more tree to find the perfect one. I can tell when he has held the last tree without saying anything about me being so selective. I'm sure he enjoys himself!

The gingerbread village was so aromatic and beautiful at the festival. Isn't that house fabulous. The chefs and companies try to do out do each other. (That one is a faux gingerbread one though.) It took me forever to figure out where I put the pictures from the festival on the computer. I'll get them resized and start putting them up for you all to see next week.

After all.....soon Christmas will be here!

See ya' soon!

~ Happy ThanksGiving

Wishing You All a Wonderful Day to Give Thanks

~ ThanksGiving, Giving Thanks Monday

If you've known me a long time, and some of you really have, you will have seen this picture before. That's because I haven't stopped long enough yet to even think about a little decorating for Thanksgiving. This may be the same items I put there anyway. It's my favorite pumpkin and I love decorating with it this time of year.

But my mind has been filled with Giving Thanks. I spent all of the weekend trying to be with both Sweet Hubby and Sweetie Girl, and they had different interests. There was necessary shopping trips, watching movies, eating yummy food and a lot of my favorite things. As a special treat, Sweetie Girl took me to the Festival of Trees. It was an extension of my "birthday week." You do know that you should celebrate it for at least a week! She whines a little about the festival being boring or the same ol' thing, but she knows how much I love going. I really think she loves it, too. I've been taking her there since she was so little that her daddy had to pick her up to see all the gingerbread houses. Now at 5' 8" I guess she could pick me up if I needed it. As usual it was so beautiful, and it really helps get me the Holiday mood. This year it has been cooler though which also helps a lot.

I'll share some pictures after I get them downloaded from the camera. Hopefully some came out because I haven't even looked.

It looks like the opening of the Lollishops site is going to be pretty close to the projected time of Nov 28th. I'll keep you posted. Everyone is working very hard on it to make it happen.

Happy Monday, Have a Wonderful Day!

~ Chandelier Silhouette Art & Happy Friday!

It's probably time to go spend a moment or two dancing the dust bunnies, but first I wanted to say Happy Friday! I'm ready for the weekend, how about you? Seems to have been such a busy week. Both Sweet Hubby and the Sweetie Girl have said more than once... is it Friday yet? during the week. I'll spoil them some on the weekend. Although I have cooked more this week than usual. And it was chocolate chip cookie time. Love those days when it is finally cool enough to feel like cooking.

Copyrighted Art, Donna, The Decorated House

This is what I've been busy with during the week. I love how they are turning out. It will be a really nice series, so they can be featured alone or added to to over time.
(Thank You dear Suzie Q who has already found them!) They are starting now to be added to the shop, come by and look around as I try to get ready for the Holidays.

Happy Friday! Hope your Weekend is a Wonderful one!
See ya' soon!

~ It's a Beautiful Day!

Thank you to everyone who came by to spend a little time here for Halloween and for letting me and a few thousand others visit your sites for the holiday. It was fun!

I remember what a big deal it was not only when I was a kid but when Sweet Daughter was little too. Not as many cute kidlets at my house as then. BUT...
boy did they come out over at Sweet Daughter's new house! Tons of them. She ran out of candy.

I'm working on some Christmas cards and putting them in the shop. I try not to think "Christmas" until after Thanksgiving usually. But I learned last year that you have to start much earlier with being online.

It's a beautiful day, not just in my backyard, but in the world. A day of hope, at long last. The sign reading "white only" has come off the big white house.  To all the millions and millions of people who stood in line, or mailed their precious ballot in, you are amazing. Thank you, no matter who you favored.

~ Happy Halloween!

Wishing all those who travel by
a Happy Halloween, with lots of Treats!

See Y'all Soon~

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Click on any of the pictures below to shop  art from The Decorated House 

~ A Wee Bit More Halloween Decorating, the Missing Jack O'Lantern, Pumpkin

This time of year is so much fun that you can feel the excitement in the air. All the little (and big!) kids waiting as patiently as possible for that big day. Chocolate Day! OK, so maybe it's really called Halloween.

Last year I really thought that Sweet Hubby had broken my "almost vintage" pumpkin Jack O' Lantern that I loved so much, and of course I was sad about it. It's been with us since the early 80's. Only "vintage" by some loose definitions of today. Somehow even the 80's seems like vintage these days. It is fashioned more like those which are older though. The jack o' lantern was handmade by a potter. I don't remember his name, nor any of the other things he made. But I love how it is obviously handcrafted and not mass produced from a mold. Of course I have some of those, too.

I decided to look again for the missing pumpkin. When I asked Sweet Hubby before if he had seen it or remembered breaking anything that looked like it, he said maybe he had.... seen something broken that could have been a pumpkin. Sweet man, confessing just in case. But this time I found it. Right where I thought it was supposed to be. Of course I'm sure it was in a parallel universe. Somewhere, somebody was admiring my wonderful jack o' lantern last year. If "they" do measure time in years, or at all. I'm happy that my jack o lantern pumpkin returned to me.

He's showing his age these days. He's a little cracked and showing some signs of getting older. But that's fine. He's just perfect the way he is.

~ Halloween Decorating, White Pumpkin - Black Pumpkin? Yes, Please

Have you had fun visiting all the Halloween Blog Party sites? I'm about half way through, I think. If you run into a few that don't have many Halloween pictures or a post, just keep going. I started at the end and now working my way up the list. Usually people start at the top and don't make it to the bottom. So be sure to visit the ones on the end, too!

How-to:
The little pumpkins were either green or orange ones that I bought years ago. I liked the shape and I'm really looking for ways to reuse anything so I don't add to the garbage in the world.

These are the foam ones that are so cheap.
The secret is Fusion Spray Paint. Fusion is made for painting plastic, but I have found that it is one of the best all around paints. I've painted wrought iron outside and it holds up very well. It is also excellent on wood.
(They are not shiny, it's just the light from the window.)

~ Halloween Decorating Countdown, White Pumpkins & More

2008 - The last couple of years I've started adding some white pumpkins to the mix of Halloween decorations.Years ago, there were only orange faux pumpkins and no white ones at all. Better Homes and Gardens and Martha Stewart both seemed to start featuring them about the same time. This year, I was so sure I would swing all the way over to doing all of my Halloween decorating in just black and white. But it was not quite Halloween-ish enough after all. We just needed a  touch of orange. This is the only time of year that happens. Pumpkin colors, terracotta shades, yes, but not orange. Suddenly about the time the maple trees start showing off their fall colors, that little tiny once-a-year-orange desire hits. It makes Halloween more fun as well to embrace a color that I don't usually use.

I changed the bottom book underneath the small pumpkin that was posted before. First of all the book was dark and didn't show up as well on the black marble, and the one that is there now has so much more character and is very torn up! Perfect.

The larger white pumpkin wears a monogram transfer, which has the tiniest touch of orange around the medallion. You might need glasses on to see that though.
The pumpkins are not actually "white" but more of a cream color. This color does actually occur in nature so they don't look quite so fake.

The spiders continue to have quite a party on the entry table, and one of them seems to think she can snatch that silver crown from the pumpkin. But on the other side of the table, a nice size raven is watching him. Stay tuned for more.

See ya' soon!

~ Decorating for Halloween Continues & Meet Emily Grace

I simply love celebrating each season of the year, and Fall and Halloween are two of my favorite things. Just a little something here and there to remind us of the new time of year filled with new hopes and dreams, and cooler weather.

In years past, few people decorated outside, or inside their homes for Halloween. As a kid, none of us would have noticed. We were way too busy thinking about trick or treating. It was about how much candy we could find in such a short time, just one little evening before returning home and to bed. Kids went out all alone, no need for parents to tag along. There would be so many kids running around and going house to house. I can't really remember any houses that didn't give out candy. I really think that Martha Stewart fanned the flame of desire for Halloween decorating. And that's a good thing, most of the time.

The juxtaposition of an ornate mirror with a shredded cheesecloth draped on it is exactly what I look for in decorating anytime of the year. Mix it up, make it unexpected, and don't follow a cookie cutter formula. Toss in some spiders, with a touch of glitter, and it's just the right recipe for fun, whimsy, a touch of elegant, at least for Halloween anyway.

And speaking of fun and whimsical, meet Emily Grace. Each one of these art prints becomes my new favorite. After hours of dressing them up, and adding friends for them to play with, they have their own personality to me. Emily and her friends are in the shop now and available for quick delivery before Halloween.

See ya' soon! I'm happy to stopped by.

~ Halloween Decorating, Whimsical, Elegant or Scary

No matter what style you like to decorate with, Halloween is just plain fun. What other holiday gives everyone the OK to be mischievously like a kid again? When doing your own decorating for this fun holiday, you can go in any direction you wish. It can be a bit scary and ghoulish, which I've seen Martha Stewart do very well, or it can be a bit elegant and whimsical.

The best place to start is by looking around your own haunted mansion, or your sweet little cottage, and find things you already have to embellish and build upon. What do you do you see that you can transform into something else, or add a few touches to make it a part of the season? Old jars, books, fabric, paper, photos, etc., and I bet you can think of a bunch more! Think of new ways to display your old decorations with some new (old) things you have somewhere else in the house.

Since I've been using black and white and damask for a long time, it was the perfect way to start my Halloween decor. And I still have no sofa in the living room and that room remains in the "meantime" stage, I almost skipped doing anything on the entry table. But I missed not having the fun of doing something to usher in the holiday. So the entry table and mantel will have be about all that is decorated this year. And a little bit outside, of course. I need to see a smiling Jack O Lantern on the porch, too.

Doesn't every pumpkin deserve a hat if it wants one? This little cone hat was fairly simple to make. It's just an embellished cone using damask paper, with a flat round bottom. To bring a touch of elegance and to the candle I, wrapped it in some damask paper, too. (Although I lit the candle for the picture, I would not leave it lit with paper on it.)

I'll continue to post a few little peeks until the Halloween Blog Parties begin.

I love making Treasuries on Etsy. The one above came from a bit of insomnia last night. It happened to open at midnight. So the name is "Midnight Hour." Lots of great goodies, mostly from the Design Style Team (InteriorDesignTeam)

This treasury has ended, but you can find some beautiful things on Etsy by searching "interiordesignteam" or "cssteam"

See ya' soon!

~ Halloween GiveAway Winner!

Thank you to everyone who came by
and left a little note.

The Winner is TEAH! Congrats!!

Send me an email with your address and I'll have the Vintage Witch Print in the mail.



There are a couple of new prints in the shop. One is the art print above.
Halloween goodies for just a little bit longer.
Halloween is getting so close and I haven't even bought snickers yet! Oh my.

See ya' soon!