Christmas Decorations in Flora Vale
We have a few of our Christmas decorations up and wanted to show some off.
We were merrily hanging lights when we realized that we have never had home of our own to put lights on. We had decorated, extensively some years, but never was it ours. So here are a few with some snow to add to the look. We would like to add alot more for next year, but this will do for now.
We very much enjoy paper snowflakes. And they are very much like pumpkins in there transitory nature, which we also love doing. So we make alot of new ones each year and hang them. If done right they can be incredibly elaborate. Here are our "Snowflakes of Exceptional Size" hanging in our upper clerestory widows.
These are cut from a large roll of craft paper. Each is approximately 2 1/2' in diameter. This is our first year to do ones this big. They look great from the outside and are wonderful to wake up to. Now making paper snowflakes is a real art form and I won't really teach you how to make them here. The best site for a basic diagram for folding them is Here.Once you learn the basic of a proper fold which is what produces the correct 6 sided geometry, then you just need some great patterns. You can find some fine ones at the aptly named www.papersnowflakes.com.
So once we take a correctly folded paper we make it look something like this:
The white lines were added to show where the paper used to be. So once the cutting is done, we unfold, press it in a heavy book over night to get it flat and it looks something like this:
Pretty huh? It's really alot of fun and if you haven't done it in a while then perhaps it's time. So here is our patio door with a few on it:
Now we only have a tiny artificial tree this year. In the past at our studio apartment, we didn't have room for a tree. So a Christmas wreath was hung on the wall and ornamented. Funny thing is, that once we got our little tree, we realized we could have a much bigger one in the space. So maybe next year. Until then, this will do:
We have had a bit snow up here in the mountains already, which is part of those Christmas decorations as well. You can see how much with our road completely covered. This was taken a few days ago and it has already begun to really melt off.
Now it's a little known fact that I love the Father Christmas image. In his wizardly robes, and pointy hat, with a sprig of holly in the crown, well, he has more than a bit of the Green Man about him. And some years ago I taken with one of those silly little figurines of Santa. A woodland one, with brown corduroys and pine cones on his hat. As I am well known for wearing brown cords, my wonderful mother-in-law bought it as a present that Christmas. This lead to a growing collection and further interest, which I might go into more later. So here they are, and amazingly enough, they fit perfectly on our new mantle.
I am most proud of the one in the center. That was created by my very own mother.
And our final picture is our front door. I love to make real wreaths from grapevine and live greens. Everything on this one is from our property, which makes us especially proud. Except for the giant Texas pinecones, which are from my Nanny's property. A touch of home to remind us of there. We have blue spruce, boxwood, flat cedar, holly, barberry, ferns, rosehips, and a special touch of money plant seeds. I think the wreath makes our collection of Green Men casting smile.
Merry Christmas.
We were merrily hanging lights when we realized that we have never had home of our own to put lights on. We had decorated, extensively some years, but never was it ours. So here are a few with some snow to add to the look. We would like to add alot more for next year, but this will do for now.
We very much enjoy paper snowflakes. And they are very much like pumpkins in there transitory nature, which we also love doing. So we make alot of new ones each year and hang them. If done right they can be incredibly elaborate. Here are our "Snowflakes of Exceptional Size" hanging in our upper clerestory widows.
These are cut from a large roll of craft paper. Each is approximately 2 1/2' in diameter. This is our first year to do ones this big. They look great from the outside and are wonderful to wake up to. Now making paper snowflakes is a real art form and I won't really teach you how to make them here. The best site for a basic diagram for folding them is Here.Once you learn the basic of a proper fold which is what produces the correct 6 sided geometry, then you just need some great patterns. You can find some fine ones at the aptly named www.papersnowflakes.com.
So once we take a correctly folded paper we make it look something like this:
The white lines were added to show where the paper used to be. So once the cutting is done, we unfold, press it in a heavy book over night to get it flat and it looks something like this:
Pretty huh? It's really alot of fun and if you haven't done it in a while then perhaps it's time. So here is our patio door with a few on it:
Now we only have a tiny artificial tree this year. In the past at our studio apartment, we didn't have room for a tree. So a Christmas wreath was hung on the wall and ornamented. Funny thing is, that once we got our little tree, we realized we could have a much bigger one in the space. So maybe next year. Until then, this will do:
We have had a bit snow up here in the mountains already, which is part of those Christmas decorations as well. You can see how much with our road completely covered. This was taken a few days ago and it has already begun to really melt off.
Now it's a little known fact that I love the Father Christmas image. In his wizardly robes, and pointy hat, with a sprig of holly in the crown, well, he has more than a bit of the Green Man about him. And some years ago I taken with one of those silly little figurines of Santa. A woodland one, with brown corduroys and pine cones on his hat. As I am well known for wearing brown cords, my wonderful mother-in-law bought it as a present that Christmas. This lead to a growing collection and further interest, which I might go into more later. So here they are, and amazingly enough, they fit perfectly on our new mantle.
I am most proud of the one in the center. That was created by my very own mother.
And our final picture is our front door. I love to make real wreaths from grapevine and live greens. Everything on this one is from our property, which makes us especially proud. Except for the giant Texas pinecones, which are from my Nanny's property. A touch of home to remind us of there. We have blue spruce, boxwood, flat cedar, holly, barberry, ferns, rosehips, and a special touch of money plant seeds. I think the wreath makes our collection of Green Men casting smile.
Merry Christmas.