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Holiday
Decorating

Christmas Inspiration

Over the past few years, decorating for Christmas has been mostly about work.  That sounds terrible, because I love Christmas, but with a blog, freelance writing jobs, magazine shoots and a retail space, Christmas started in September, ended in February and often sprang up in July or some other random month.  By the time it was really Christmas, I was sort of Christmased out.  This is the first year that I have nothing going on.  No articles.  No retail space.  No magazine shoots.  While all of those things are an exciting and a fun part of my business, it’s sort of nice knowing that decorating for Christmas will just be about my family and decorating for us.  Yes, I’ll share pictures on the blog, but that’s not what it’s about. So, I’m looking at holiday decorating with a fresh perspective and excitement this year.  I look forward setting up a

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November 30, 2013 19 Comments
Antiques

German Glass Glitter

** I’m sorry I sold out of glitter so quickly.  I just ordered more and will have it back in stock ASAP! ** Years ago, I read an article about German glass glitter featuring Wendy Addison.  I think I even clipped out the article and put it in my old school, pre-Pinterest “idea binder.”  Fast forward to when I started my business. The very first thing I made was hand painted wooden ornaments, but the second holiday season, I wanted to do something different, so I sought out the German glass glitter I fell in love with in that magazine article. I remember getting my first order.  It was so sparkly and beautiful…not like any other glitter out there.  I started glittering anything that would hold still long enough… Paper pinwheels… …Pine Cones … …a metal star found for a dollar at a thrift store that topped the Little tree in the living room last

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November 14, 2013 25 Comments
crafts

HGTV.com Christmas Tutorials

The Christmas tutorials I wrote for HGTV.com are live now!  I know a lot of people have been waiting for these, especially the preserved boxwood wreath.  I promised I would link to them when they became available, so here they are… Preserved Boxwood Wreath Boxwood Topiaries Boxwood Kissing Ball I bought all of the preserved boxwood in bunches from a wholesale floral supply website, but they are currently sold out of the bulk boxes.  I’ll keep an eye out for them to come available again and order some for my online shop.  You can preserve your own boxwood…I just didn’t have any bushes to clip branches from!  I found THIS TUTORIAL on preserving your own, which is a much more economical option.  While purchased preserved boxwood is expensive, it will last for years if kept away from direct light and intense heat.  I give mine a spritz maybe once a

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October 29, 2013 24 Comments
crafts

Milk Paint Pumpkins

I received a lot of wonderful comments about my blue pumpkins and squash, but several people shared that they couldn’t find them in their area. Well, that gave me an idea… I’ve been itching to play with milk paint since attending the retailer training earlier this week, so why not test some custom mixed colors on a few pumpkins?  I know painting pumpkins isn’t anything new, but I don’t know if I’ve seen milk paint pumpkins out and about.  Given the natural variation in the pigmentation of the paint, I figured it would mimic the variations in the skin of blue pumpkins nicely. So, I started out with mini white pumpkins… …and mixed up six different custom colors.  They’re all variations made with Grain Sack, Boxwood, Shutter Gray, Eulalie’s Sky, Trophy and Kitchen Scale. I have found that these little ironstone mugs are my favorite to use for small paint

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September 27, 2013 48 Comments
Decorating

Fall Decorating Update

 Last time we checked in on my fall decorating, I had plopped a pumpkin in a dough bowl and called it a day. A couple of days later, I went to the farmer’s market up the road for some apples and found the prettiest blue hubbard squash and a fresh kale plant.  Neither were very expensive, so I picked them up.  Then, on the way from my my shopping trip on Thursday, I passed a huge wagon overflowing with beautiful varieties of pumpkins, including the blue Cinderella’s, so I picked up two of those and some mini white pumpkins for $12. I mixed in some pine cones and dried artichokes from my basement to round things out. So, now I have an arrangement in the dough bowl… …and a vignette on the dresser in the family room…     (I love how it looks like these two are nestling up

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September 23, 2013 47 Comments
Decorating

how I decorate for the seasons

I know as a home blogger, I’m supposed to crank out awesome new holiday projects weeks before each season starts.  Well, I honestly don’t do a lot to decorate for the seasons.  I like to throw out a few natural elements…like sea shells in the summer, a few eggs in the spring, some evergreen boughs and pine cones in the winter and I’ll buy a few pumpkins for fall.  So far, I bought one pumpkin at Wegman’s the other day and plopped it in a dough bowl.  Done. I’ll probably pick up a few more as I see ones that I like, but that’s really about it. I already had some feathers in an ironstone pitcher and those look fall-ish, so I moved them up to the living room to give them a more prominent place. The times when I do actually do a project, it’s almost always for an

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September 17, 2013 86 Comments
a slice of life

Victories, Defeats & Christmas in April

I’ll start off with the victories.  I made it through the first block (4 weeks) of P90x.  I can already see and feel improvements in my fitness and have lost some pounds and inches.  I’m going for walks with my family and teaching my six year old how to play tennis. I’m finding some balance, so everything isn’t about blogging, antiques, home projects, writing and photography.  It’s been great and is a real victory. Now for the defeats.  More active time means more time away from the computer, e-mail and the blog.  That means I’ve been dropping the ball on some things and getting overwhelmed with everything I have to accomplish over the next few weeks.  It means my inbox is out of control, my wood floors are a little fuzzy and the Legos don’t get picked up at the end of the day. Tonight, I visualized a gymnast on

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April 24, 2013 43 Comments
Decorating

Christmas Recap

  Today was a wonderful Christmas.  It was definitely one I will look back on with great fondness.  First, we got about 3″ of snow last night, which was magical for both Christmas Eve and Christmas morning.   My parents, brother & his wife & mother-in-law came over to join us.  It was the perfect amount of people and was very relaxed.  I did get a little carried away with my super simple Christmas table I talked about a couple of days ago.  I decided to make a fruit topiary centerpiece and add some name cards.   The topiary looks fancy, but it was really simple to make.  I’ll actually be making a tutorial for HGTV.com for next year.    I was a little in love with photographing it.   The name tags were craft card stock punched out with a decorative circle cutter.  I wrote on them with chalk

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December 26, 2012 No Comments

I’m Marian, a painter, writer, and lover of all things creative. From art and antiques to home projects and everyday life, I share my journey in hopes of inspiring you to embrace your own creativity and make beauty in the spaces you live.

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