Creating Beauty in the Home

I have a number of artsy friends and I see so much of their personalities expressed in their daily home decor. It seems that love of beauty, of creating beautiful things, extends to creating beautiful spaces. I look at my home and I wonder... where is the beauty in the home?

At Christmas I definitely see my personality, my hopes, my dreams, my loves come through. What are these things that are expressed so clearly? Well, all who really know me know that I LOVE LOVE LOVE glitter. Can you have enough glitter? I'm not really sure. I love many many vintage things... at Christmas time I find myself gravitating mostly to things that have come from "mid-century modern"... i.e. the 40s through the 60s. And, I dearly miss Gram, my mom's mom. So, in many places you'll see evidences of her about... even down to the "Touch of Schlaf" in my Art and Soul display each year.

While I rarely make BIG changes on a regular basis, we sometimes mix things up in how we display them, or even some years we simply leave things in storage. This year I was all for simplifying. I was feeling cluttered in my spirit, and needed to keep the surroundings less cluttered so I could "clean house" on myself. We really only decorated the living room this year. And we pared it down. Although, our "three foot tree for the crates" became a 6+ foot tree that dwarfed our fake tree of previous years. But, that's fine. Here's the beauty we created in our home this Christmas season...

 Here's the infamous... Michelin Man tree... it's over six feet tall and ROUND. WeeOne and I went to a tree farm, for my FIRST EVER real tree... we thought we were looking for a three foot Canaan Fir... we found this beauty... a White Pine. WE LOVED it. 

 Gram's shepherds. I think these may have sat on her sideboard... I can't recall. 

 Grandpa Gene worked for the Illinois Central Railroad. When the railroad closed down the employees were given remembrances... the pitcher and creamer here are from the dining car. The silk flowers are from my wedding bouquet, the tray was a $1 find at a garage sale... shiny brites of course.. And the tag/ornament was one of a number that I made and sold at Art and Soul.

 My "bling tree"... filled with vintage shiny brites, hand made ornaments from past sales, and generally a pastel pallet. Don't you love it?

 Tucked under the tree... literally... a glass brick to give it some height, that's covered with one of Gram's hankies, and then you see some vintage candles from her house. 

 More of Gram's collection. I have two of these sweet angels. I know that truly angels are awesome and fearful to look at, don't mistake me on that truth, these are here for the Gram touch... 

 April's creations come out every Christmas... the cards underneath the bird are "The Twelve Days of Christmas." You need to see these to believe them. Her husband, Rett, helped on this I'm told. The vintage nativity card is also from her, as is the bird I believe. 

 Another vintage nativity post card from April. (I love vintage post cards!)

 April had created a number of these flowers at her house, so I created a few for myself... they sit in vintage and antique bottles on our front half-wall. 

 See this stack of primitive wood boxes? (David's dad's toy chest and his great grandfather's storage box for his scales.) This is where the "tiny simple tree" was supposed to sit. Instead you see a pile of antique books, a candle made by WeeOne and the golden basket where we display our Christmas cards. The hankie on top is from Gram of course!

 This banner reads "Christmas Joy" and is one I made to sell at the first Art and Soul. One lady was very interested, but wouldn't meet me on the price. David said he was glad that he wanted us to keep it.. so it hangs above the front picture window every year. It's a set of vintage red and green bingo cards, holiday paper and various embellishments. 

 More of April... a wreath made from old pattern papers... and of course it's covered in glitter. I love it. Was thinking of buying it, but received it as a gift. So wonderful!

 A mini Nativity ornament from David's Grammie Bolt. It's sitting on a vintage tin, also from April. (She might as well just come and decorate my house!)

This banner hangs between the living and dining room. The birds... swallows, my favorites... are stitched on paper, and hung on red and white butchers twine. Each swallow is embellished with a word such as love, joy, etc. The last swallow holds a small envelope in which my gift was enclosed that year. 

I hope you enjoyed this view of the beauty we created at Christmas. I think it's one time of year where I feel I can decorate to my heart's content and not step on anyone's toes. (I think the house should reflect the taste and needs of all who live in it, so usually you won't see a lot of glitter or pinks... ). So, what do you do to create beauty in your home at Christmas? 

Blessings,
Kim

~Sweet Inspiration~

I'm not sure how most artists get their inspiration but mine comes in odd ways. Many nights I'm lying in bed, just waiting to fall asleep and WHAM! an art project just starts forming in my head. I used to wait thinking I'd eventually just fall asleep. Now I've learned... get up, and either go down and lay it out or jot it down in a notebook.

But, somedays my art is not so free flowing. I just NEED some inspiration and that's where my inspiration board comes into play. It's really quite eclectic and even I am amazed at things I find on it. Did I really put that there? And of course the answer is "yes" because NOBODY messes with my board.

Oh, did you want to see it? Well... here it is in all it's "glory?"... whatever...

You can click on it for a larger picture and to read what I wrote...

So, minus the "artsy" fading... my creative space is comprised of several pieces in our basement. Part of this area is a very shallow niche in which we have a "book and board" bookshelf. Over the years its held any number of things, most recently it held homeschool supplies, kids' craft supplies and office supplies. I "accidentally" took it over about 4 months ago and now it's mostly home to my art supplies, plus a few office supplies. On the top shelf are completed projects, bottles waiting to be altered and a few "things" that I just love for one reason or another. At this point no rhyme or reason... I just don't have the space, so this is "home" to my stuff. And, above it all is my inspiration board where I have things hanging that I love, want to use, or simply to remind me of who I am.

Here you can see some of my favorite older images. Note the bird and the bird house? The bird house was a free find at our local recycle center at the town dump site. I've found LOTS of treasures there. The bird was from Mama Magpie maybe? The little glittery garland was a bargain at an antique sale to which Dear brought me for my birthday. I may use it one day, or I may just keep it. Have I mentioned I LOVE glitter?In the lower right corner is the flyer from my first ever art show... this past November. I can hardly believe it's only been about a year since I started creating. Time flies...

And here are the "American Heroes" which I spoke of in my first photo. There are a few more, they just didn't make the shot. You'll note a victorian postcard... I have a "few" of these... ahem! The beautiful buttlerfly was a find at our local farmer's market last summer. The artist makes them from old drink cans. Too too cool! I love the colors. And do you see the sweetly glittered snowflake? Wee One created that ornament. She has a love affair with snow!

I know, no "studio" pics... but seriously... it's a small small place. The vintage table, white enameled, is from my MIL's house. They were going to leave it behind when they moved. How did I miss that table all the years I visited that house?! The table sits right next to the shelves. I have many baskets on the shelves and on the table, along with vintage tins, holding my items. Across the room is an old old wooden library card catalog holding little treasures... post cards, pictures, brads, stickers, lace leaves, etc. And in the corner are stacks of plastic bins and  a huge ugly, but functional "wood" cabinet. It may not be the most beautiful of spaces, but I feel so fortunate that my dear husband understands my need to create and doesn't mind sharing the basement with me... across from the glitter, glue and pink is a big metal weight lifting station. Not to menton that around the corner is part of the family library, some antique rockers, a couple of desks and the computers. Quite the eclectic space. Welcome to my eclectic world.  A little bit of this and a little bit of that, it all helps my sweet inspiration.

Blessings, Kim