5 Ways To Keep The Twinkle Of Christmas Going

One of my favorite things about the Christmas decor is the twinkle lights that come with having trees and garlands. 

The world needs more twinkle, in my humble opinion.

After the thrill is gone and Christmas is put away, the house looks a little sad.
You can add some winter decor as I have done in this post but I've got five ways to keep the twinkle going into the month of January.

#1. Battery Operated Candles

#2. Faux Fireplace

Ours in the sunroom adds such a cozy glow.

#3. Strings Of White Lights

There are plenty of white novelty lights that don't necessarily scream Christmas.

#4. Votive Candles

#5. Undecorated Trees

The tree out in the green house is still glowing each night.

I will be back to share more about our little green house.
I just love it. It is the cutest thing.
Keep that twinkle going.
Katie

Christmas In The Master

Hello, Darlings.
How are you?
As I was preparing for a day of Christmas decorating before Thanksgiving, my husband tossed me a box of lights.
"Here, I've had these in my closet for a year."
Well, isn't he sneaky?

These adorable star lights became the catalyst for the decor in our bedroom.
The last few years having a tree in our room has gotten on my nerves.
I decided to use the lights in our room to give it a touch of Christmas without being too much.
They felt a little Nordic to me, so I headed on that course.

A scrawny little tree from the old Cloth World and a scrolly metal wall hanging with a heart carry on the theme.
Hearts and stars are traditional motifs of Nordic interiors.

 The bed almost got made up in reds but it just wasn't doing anything for me.
We had a gray and white pillow with a yarn design from last winter.
It reminds me of an alpine sweater.
The pillow and a soft, fluffy throw adorn the bed.
Another string of star lights swags over the headboard.
These are from Target and they are about $14.99.

They weren't in with the Christmas decor if you are planning a Target trip.
They were with lighting.
Two new lamps for $34.99 each jumped in the cart.
Lamps are so subject to changing styles and trends that I prefer not investing in expensive ones.
Every time we spend a lot on a lamp, I regret it.

I was about to put the old lamps in storage and it dawned on me that they would be fabulous on my dressing table.
A white ironstone platter holds favorite bottles of perfume.

The faux paperwhites came from Pottery Barn.
The smell of real ones is a little over powering to me.
Bill made the little stained glass for me out of an old lantern from our porch.

Some flannel from Joann's was stitched up for a pillow. The gray blanket is from Walmart last year.
We picked up two of them and they are perfect for very chilly nights.
They were only $10.00.
They'd be perfect if we didn't have a giant, white, shedding machine.

The mirror was $5.00 from my next door neighbor's garage sale.
It needs a little work. I'll let you know how it goes.

That is all for now.
I hope this finds you well.
Katie 

Chandelier Over the Tub

When it comes right down to it I am pretty much a rule follower.

I wanted a chandelier above the tub. 

I really did.

I looked for months at fabulous images of gorgeous crystal laden fixtures over tubs.

When I asked an electrician to hang one for me he thought I was a little crazy 
but
I still looked for a fixture for over the tub. 

The guy at the light store told me that the code for my city requires 7 feet of clearance from water. That is not what I have. I can touch the light fixture when I stand in the tub and I am by no means tall. 

So what is a blingy girl to do?

I could have Bill climb into the attic and wire one for me.
 But I won't. 

My designer suggested that I swag the fixture and only plug it in when there isn't water in the tub.

 I tried that once. I have a picture of the mess of chain. 
I knew at the time it was not one of my better ideas because 
I covered the chain in brown fabric.

 
 Kind of looks like poop doesn't it?
 Unbelievably, my sweet husband never said a word.
We only plugged it in a time or two and it got dusty in no time at all. 
  If I tried it again using a prettier chain, I would still have to swag the cord over toward the vanities. 
Bill wasn't thrilled about having the cord by his new plug but he got a swag kit for me anyway.  
I messed with it one day while waiting for tradesmen. 
 It seemed like a mess of chain everywhere.
 It was taking away from the crisp line between the window and the vanities.

I gave up and decided there would be no electrified chandelier over the tub for me. 
I decided to hang one for decorative purposes only. 

I had two in my stash but they were the wrong finish.

 I took them both out into the yard and spray painted them with 
Rust-O-Leum Brushed Nickel.
They still didn't look bright enough so I tried some primer and Silver Krylon. 

  I am a little horrified that I have sprayed a vintage brass fixture. 
Are you horrified too?

  I have several others that are the same age and style so I was okay with sacrificing this one.
I can always strip it later if I want to return it to the original finish.
Here is the other one. 

This one was a cheapie from Home Depot. 
It used to hang in the kitchen. I took it down right after we painted the cabinets.

 The vintage fixture was my favorite out of the two. 

I will probably outfit this with candles at some point.

One of my friends flipped out when she saw it. 
She knew the code from her days as a realtor.

No worries.

The salesman at the lighting store shared a story with me. 
He had a customer that put a chandelier above the tub. 
A neighbor came over and told the man to take down the fixture. He was on the city council and he knew the code.
I don't live next to any city council members but some of them could find my blog through a friend of a friend. 
In the end it really wasn't safe and raising it higher didn't make sense. 
 
 The weird thing is that I love chandeliers but I don't care for overhead lighting. 
We usually use lamps for lighting but really I am content to sit in the dark with my 
laptop or Kindle. 
Thanks for stopping in. 
Katie
Link to our reveal here.

Industrial Farm Lighting

Bill and I were out antiquing and he picked up two of these industrial farm lights.

For some reason they have languished in the garage for a long time. I think he contemplated giving them away, but I didn't want him to. In the the right setting they would be super cute.

I would love to have them in a farm house kitchen.
Maybe in my 2nd home. :)

I found one on the shelf the other day when I was looking for something. 

It proved to be the inspiration for something for my sunroom.

My sons love these metal light fixtures.

They used them quite a bit in their early band gig days. 

They are affordable, portable and not uber precious. 

I saw some on display at Walmart and  light bulb went off. 

No pun intended.

I went over to the spray paint and picked up a can of green enamel.
I didn't even get the $3.99 brand. 

I went for the $1.49 brand.

Which used to be .99 cents by the way. With all of Walmart's Rolling Back Prices bologna they sure are raising quite a few. (Fabric is what else I  noticed.)

 They don't advertise that!!

Anyway.

I came home and took off the clip and the light bulb socket. 

I sprayed the outside green,

and the inside white.

  
Lighting has been a bit of a problem in a corner of the sunroom. You may have been one of the whopping 61 people that read about my dish dresser  paint job.

If not, feel free to read about it here.

There was no cord over on that side of the room, which drove me nuts!  It is a great place to sit and enjoy the view to the outside. No one could sit there in the evening, however.

 I realized we could use one of those computer cord cover things

and an extension cord. 

Finally light.

I used a fan bulb because the metal on these can get hot.

I can't wait to sit in this spot and work on my crochet.

I thought it would be whimsical to take a crochet class this summer.

The women in the family were going to get scarves for Christmas. I had big plans to crochet scarves for the homeless.

Clearly something just isn't right. No matter how many times I count the stitches it is crooked!!

Oh well. 
Rebekah says I should make them anyway and sit with a straight face when everyone opens cattywampus scarves. 
Maybe.
 Either way I have a cute and cheap light to sit by.
The light was less than $7.00.

How cute would these be spray painted red?

How about extra lighting for a work area or if you needed lighting near a fold out bed? 

How about several of them strung together for a party?

Can I show you the start to my picnic basket collection?

I got the green one during an antiquing weekend at the lake.
I love this green color!
I am going to have to figure out where to put those two other green lights. 
Update: A couple of people have asked me why I haven't used the real farm lights out here. They are pretty big and would be a little over sized for our small sun porch. Plus, they are Bill's frugal find. He is trying to figure out where he would like them. 

Too cute!

Katie
Linking with,
Metamorphosis Monday @ Between Naps on the Porch
 My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia for Tuesday's Treasures

Share Your Cup Thursday @ Have a Daily Cup of  Mrs. Olsen
 Wow Us Wednesday @ Savvy Southern Style
 Time Travel Thursday @ The Brambleberry Cottage 

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday @ Coastal Charm

Funky Junk Interiors