Out with the old

All the Christmas decorations are down and the house looks admittedly bare and miserable. I have, however, saved some things and have a few ideas in mind to add some winter wonderland-ish touches here and there. First off though I should probably clean up all the wayward glitter (and dust!) that has been left behind.

In the spirit of decorating on a shoestring, I did buy this pretty little vase this morning for a whole dollar - I do adore the Christmas Tree Shop, sister of Bed Bath & Beyond - you just never know what you'll find! . Don't know if it's plastic or some version of glass but it does have the look of vintage mercury glass and sparkles nicely with the help of fairy lights.

The next step is emptying my collection of hurricane vases, bowls and assorted dishes of the Christmas potpourri and adding a more wintry filler. I figure the pine cones can stay and I did find a new mix for a bargain price. It's called 'ocean' but the blue shades will fit my palette of white and blue hues. I'm thinking some faux balls of yarn would fit in nicely too,

We'll see. Cheap and cheerful, yet tasteful,  is the name of the game.

Ringing in

The New Year is almost upon us and besides the usual resolutions and general merrymaking comes the bittersweet job of taking down the decorations. As well as bringing a clean, fresh canvas there's sadness at putting everything away for another year. I'm really tempted to keep a few things out and about, especially the knick knacks with a more wintry feel and I'm loathe to lose the warm glow of the strands of lights.

This is my favorite display from my home this year and I really want to keep it , perhaps with a few changes such as losing the garland and finding something to replace it to work with the lights.

Same thing goes for this mantle in my bedroom. I love the soft glow of the lights at night so I just have to imagine and create a new seasonal display.