Hand Made Christmas Presents

Come Christmas time my family always does such a wonderful job of finding, or making, each other the nicest gifts. This year I got some really wonderful hand made gifts, one of them being this charming "White House Farm" sign that my sister made me.

She knows that I love black and white signs and cows:) I decided to hang it in the kitchen and I couldn't be more tickled with it. My sister is so talented, she is the one that makes the signs that I sell in my Etsy shop . She had a very busy year this past year with my niece getting married but she has started a whole new batch of one of a kind signs for my shop. And if there is something in particular you may want on one let me know because we can do custom orders.

Above the sign I hung an ironstone plate that I got at the flea market for 25 cents this past summer. It is in the Wheat pattern, my favorite.

I also wanted to take the time answer one of my reader questions....Lori asked what treatment I use on our butcher block counter top. When we first moved in and put the Ikea Numerar  counter tops in I only used the butcher block oil ( it is food grade approved) that they sell at Ikea on them.

But as time passed I noticed some water damage occuring on the right side of the sink where the dishwasher is. Ikea has a protective shield that goes between your dishwasher and counter top to protect it but I am an obsessive counter wiper and I often lay dishes on a towel to dry there and the butcher block oil wasn't providing enough protection. I decided that I needed to use something else in this area and I don't actually ever chop food on this part of the counter so I didn't need something food grade safe. The best part about a wood counter top is that it is sand-able if it does get stained or damaged.  I sanded the counter to get off the parts that were starting to get water damaged and then I applied 4 coats of semi-gloss polyurethane.

You can see in the picture that the right side is shinier than the left.

As for the left side where I do my chopping I only use the butcher block oil. I apply it with a rag every couple of months, usually when we are about to go away for the weekend so that it can really seep in.

In the next post I will show you the rest of my wonderful hand made presents!

Christmas In The Dining Room

I never had the time to show our dining room/sitting room area before Christmas but now that all of the holiday hustle and bustle has eased I managed to get some pictures taken.

The large antique water pitcher is a new purchase. I bought it over Thanksgiving break in Brooklyn on Small Business Saturday.  American Express always has incentives on SBS (last year I bought the hemp table runner, seen here but that shop closed sadly) and this year they refunded $10 for every purchase over $10 up to three times. The pitcher was $20 so with the refund it only cost me $10!

I love changing up what I put in the unit Neal built me, this year little ironstone pitchers seemed like the perfect thing.

A new extra large ironstone platter that I just bought for a steal found it's home on my dining room table.

My niece used lanterns as center pieces for her wedding instead of flowers and we all ended up with one. I took one of the white ones (shocking I know) because I knew it would be perfect come Christmas.

I can't believe it is time to take all of the Christmas stuff down already, I feel like I just got it all up:) This December was so busy that I never actually got to enjoy all the decorations. I will definitely be leaving up the pine boughs and all of the greens for a couple more weeks this year.

Over the past four months I haven't slept more than two solid hours with out Millie waking and it was starting to catch up with me. However, Millie only woke for one feeding the last couple of nights so the cob webs in my brain have begun to clear and I feel like a have a new lease on life! I have lots of decorating/renovation ideas that I really hope to get to in the new year so stay tuned! And I got some really amazing gifts for Christmas this year that I can't wait to share with you!  I hope you had a wonderful holiday season, happy new year!

Merry Christmas!

Here is our kitchen and family room decorated for Christmas!

Our family room wasn't quite completed last year so I was so excited to decorate it this year.

True to my style I added lots of pine boughs, simple candle holders, and touches of red, mostly with linens, to get a relaxing and rustic feel in the room. No fireplace for us yet but I think it still manages to feel cozy.

After months of searching Ebay for a red and white quilt I finally found the perfect one...

faded and worn just like I was looking for.

I have been trying to build my white with red stripe linen collection but the the antique ones can be rather costly especially since they usually have to be shipped from other countries. I have been able to find some reasonably priced ones on Etsy (the one pictured above and on kitchen table) but I was super excited to find the cloth napkins below at hm.com. They come in packs of two and are only $5.99! They are very well made and have a great texture, I orderd two packs but now I am wishing I had ordered more.

Our new kitchen table has been great for all of the cookie baking and gift wrapping we do this time of year. Eli is such a big help and especially loves making the sugar cookies every year.

Over the summer I bought this old chips and snacks holder at a yard sale for $2, it is perfect for all of the holiday cards that we get.

And while shopping for Christmas presents I treated myself to this galvanized metal carrier at Hobby Lobby, perfect for holding all of my gift wrapping supplies.

I put the antique tote  I used to use to hold all of my wrapping essentials up for sale in my Etsy shop...

it is a beauty:)

It has been a very busy and often stressful month but we are so excited to celebrate Millie's first Christmas and spend the holidays with our family. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas with the ones you love!

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HANUKKAH!