Miniatures on Display

One of my earliest memories is of being told by someone to look at the television to see the tiny people running amongst gigantic things. In my mind's eye I saw some people hiding behind a spool of thread that towered over them.

Then growing up, my favourite movie was 'Honey I Shrunk the Kids', and I have always loved the scene in Cinderella where the mice alter her ball-gown. (There's a Youtube of it here)

And just last night I convinced Nick to watch the movie Elf with me (yes, I am late to the party on that one), and most enjoyed the scenes of the human immersed in the lilliputian world of the elves.

Suffice it to say that I have had a long standing enchantment with anything miniature. And so was quite charmed last Friday when I went to do some last minute gift shopping at my favourite department store, the downtown location of The Bay, where I took a long look at the store windows. They were decorated for the holidays and featured these cute little dioramas, with so many details to take in.

Christmas Eve at Our Place – 2012

My mom and dad and their cute dog Kiki came to our place for dinner and a sleep-over on Christmas Eve. We had a good time, eating plenty of Nick's delicious cooking, exchanging presents and listening to music.

We all stayed up a bit too late, and then enjoyed a late breakfast of smoked salmon, cream-cheese and bagels, served with capers, thinly sliced red onion and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. That is my favourite sandwich ever!

Holiday Decorations at Our Place

If it is something you're into, you will agree that it is always fun to pull out your box(es) of holiday decorations each year, because you only see the things once a year so you forget what you have in there. It's always a pleasant surprise, and a little time-capsule of your life, as often we keep Christmas decorations forever.

My personal perusal brought out ornaments from old friends, some whom I still see regularly and others I have lost touch with. It was a fun little trip down memory lane.

Since we have lived in this home for a decade (eep!) I have already decorated it in the past, so I already knew where many of the pieces could be placed. This meant that getting our living room and dining area ready for company took no time at all. Basically I just went around the house hooking things on any knob or hook that would work.

Here's a handy little trick I use to get extra spots to hang things from our walls, without making any new holes. (1) Remove a picture that is already hanging, that has some room below it for something else to hang. (2) Attach a length of craft wire to the decoration you wish to hang. (3) Twist the wire around the existing nail or hook so the decoration will hang below the original artwork. (4) Rehang your permanent piece.

I use this method all year 'round to hang things on the walls, because I am forever changing around the artwork.

Here are some quicky adornments to our home this year ....

Eddie’s Thoughts On Decorating for the Holidays

Hey friends. Eddie here. Thought we could talk about holiday decorations from a cat's point of view.

I seriously don't understand why Loulou and Nick don't see the fun in swatting at decorations hanging on the Christmas tree! I haven't seen them try it even once, while I have been having a grand ole time with it. Too bad that the only ones I get to play with are the plastic ones that are hung on the bottom of the tree. I heard Lou say that they were specifically there for me, which is sweet of her. But I do wish she had thought to give me one of those glass elves. She has seven of them after all, that Nick got her as a surprise a few years ago, along with a Snow White ornament.

Handmade Gift Tags using Paper Aged with Tea

ass="aligncenter size-full wp-image-13729" alt="handmade-gift-tag-using-vintage Christmas seal" src="http://www.loulou.to/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/handmade-gift-tag-using-vin.jpg" width="640" height="426">Hi! I have another little holiday DIY today. These are gift tags that I made with plain white marking labels, that I made to look aged by dying them with tea.In a nutshell for those on the go ... Here you will find:(1) a diy on aging paper with tea(2) a tutorial on making gift tags(3) a tutorial on making better tags. Better because they are re-usable.You can use any stickers for this project, but I loosened up my steely grip on some of my treasured vintage Christmas seals to make mine.I admittedly have a problem in that I collect old paper goods, (previously unused greeting cards, gift wrap, valentines, Christmas and other seals (stickers), writing paper, and gift tags), but then I can barely get myself to part with them! In many cases the original copies I have could be the last ones existing in the world, because of course, these things were meant to be used and not squirreled away. Greeting cards were signed, wrapping paper torn from the contents it hid, seals licked and stuck to something.I have given some of the cards away, but instead of signing them, I enclosed a note which included an explanation as to why I would strangely send an unsigned card! The recipient could then give it to someone else if they wanted to, or put it someplace to keep.