Tuesday, November 29, 2011

I'll Have a Blue Christmas...


     It has been a busy few days at our house. I'm sure the rest of you have been decking the halls, putting up the outside lights, shopping, wrapping or at least thinking about doing some of those things as Christmas suddenly seems as if it is almost here. We decided to do things a little differently this year and "walk on the wild side" by adding some blue lights to the mix. We have only used white lights outside for more years than I can remember. The above picture is the right side of our front porch. I always hang out my old skates, a vintage lantern and some lights, greens and berries.


    The left side of our small front porch has our twig trees and a sleigh that my husband found at an auction for $15 this summer. I filled it with fresh greenery and a few more blue lights. Ignore the roping, it is so windy here that we just can't get it to stay put. The large wreath above our garage is also blue this year. It was surprising to see that several of our neighbors mixed blue in with their white lights this year. There is a blue glow in the neighborhood.



     I decided to use the blue outside, because I was using the blue inside! With the puppy (she is 11 weeks old now) I knew that we couldn't have our regular tree. I bought this silver tinsel tree at an auction for $1 this summer. It isn't as tall as what we normally use, so I could sit it up on a table. So far, the pup hasn't discovered the packages. There are way too many shoes, toys and people to chew on.


     I knew I wanted to use turquoise with the silver. The topper is a variety of silver twigs and sprays along with three turquoise fan shaped pieces. I wired them together and then added a single turquoise peacock. I like to use more than one ribbon color, so my bow is layered with turquoise ribbon and a silver/jewel toned ribbon. I also added royal blue, hot pink and purple ornaments to the tree. You can find instructions to make both bows and tree toppers on my sidebar.


A mix of silver wrapping papers tied with both colors of ribbon finishes the look.


     Last year I put 1300 lights on my tree. This tinsel tree has one strand of lights wound around the center "trunk" of the tree. The tinsel sparkles from just those few white lights. I also put fewer ornaments so that the tree would be more visible. It was like taking a vacation from tree decorating this year. I have to admit, I loved the fact it only took an hour to decorate instead of the normal 8 or more. I may never go back to my usual look!
I hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving. I'll be around to visit you soon!
I'm joining Susan @ A Southern Daydreamer for Outdoor Wednesday and
 Kim @ Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesdays.
 Please take time to visit our hostesses!



13 comments:

Barbara F. said...

Beautiful decorating, and puppy proof too. Great idea, and I am happy to see you were able to change the background. xo

Leigh Powell Hines said...

That's lovely!

Glenda/MidSouth said...

Everything looks so pretty and festive! I got a little done, but nothing to get excited about.

Low Tide High Style said...

Really beautiful, I love the blue! And I'm so jealous that you have a tinsel tree, and you got it for such a bargain price!

Give that sweet puppy a hug for me!

Kat :)

Blondie's Journal said...

You did a beautiful job, Sue...I like the blue and silver together...it looks very elegant and festive! I'm glad you were able to figure out what to do with the puppy! or at least what to do around the puppy! lol! Have I missed a picture of him?

I am moving very slowly along...just waiting for that darn tree!

XO,
Jane

xinex said...

I love your blue Christmas decor, Sue There is something about blue that makes it so solemn...Christine

Jane said...

Love the touch of blue! It's brilliant! That color seems to really stand out. And I find it humorous that you use your skates as part of your display. (I use our Flexible Flyer...looks kind of funny at our FL coastal home!)

Holly Lefevre said...

Blue is perfect - it seems wintery and the perfect compliment to the white! So pretty. Your topper is amazing! My mouth is wide open - 1300 lights! I love it...one day.

Linda said...

Very pretty...your front porch looks great! I love that you even changed your blog to blue! Wonderful!!I haven't yet begun to decorate...I better get busy!

Ricki Treleaven said...

I don't know how your tree looked before, but I think it is stunning! I like all the blue and blue lights you have used. *pretty*

NanaDiana said...

I am your newest follower...I'm a Mom (and a grandmom) so just call anytime you need help!;>) I found you through Kim @ Savvy SStyle-xo Diana

Angie said...

Looks beautiful, Sue! I love the blue for Christmas :)

Diane said...

Very nice looking blog page and love your decorations and your Thanksgiving time table.
Thanks for sharing.