Most years by this time we've had at least one snowfall here in Southern Ontario. We don't always have snow for Christmas, which surprises anyone outside of Canada, but it's usually at least cold out.
It's not cold out.
How not cold? I'm not sure that I've worn a winter jacket more than twice and I'm growing radishes. Outside. In the garden. And they're actually growing. This doesn't mean winter is going easy on us, it just means Old Man Winter is recovering from a bit of a bender and won't be making an appearance until January at which point he'll vomit enough cold and snow on us to last until April.
So the photos of the outside of my house at Christmas look as though they could have been taken at a Jamaican all inclusive resort this year. The only things missing are the drinks with umbrellas and the beach. And bikinis. And lounge chairs and lots of food and a misshapen man wandering around in a most unfortunate thong bathing suit.
Actually now that I look at the photos, really the only thing missing is snow.
Flanking the bottom of the photo are my two huge rosemary bushes which I'm hoping I can get to live through the winter outdoors somehow. I'm just 1 zone shy of them being hardy. Just above the rosemary you can see the beautifully distressed porch floor I've done. You'd almost think it was actually a mangled, peeling, porch instead of what it really is, which is obviously artistic genius.
The wreath was the cheapest, biggest natural wreath I could find (I think it was $19) which I dressed with a red velvet bow I made from Dollar Store ribbon and tails of gold ribbon added behind. I wanted classic Christmas.
If you have any old winter sports equipment now is the time to drag it out. Now is also the time to go to second hand stores or flea markets to find this stuff. The sled you may remember was hanging on the living room wall for Christmas last year. Now it's on the porch with my birch logs, a pyramid of styrofoam balls I glued together to look like snowballs and some extra greenery tied with the same ribbon that's on the wreath. An antique sled like this is normally around $150 but I found this one for way cheaper at a flea market. I can't remember how much it was but I bet if you read my post from last year I remembered how much it was then.
Yeah, a broom, cause it's December and I'm still sweeping my porch.
No snow doesn't mean no fires. A roaring fire and making chocolate chip cookies is my #1 wintertime hobby. Just ask my local fire department.
You can see the potting shed from my kitchen window so I like to put a few Christmasy things out there for me to stare at while I lean on the counter and wait for the dishes to do themselves. Last year I had some of my wood stacked there with fresh greenery on it. That's all I needed because everything was covered in snow and it looked beautiful last year.
This year I added some skis. I bought the set of skis at my local thrift store for around $6. I was going to paint them white but when I propped them against the potting shed they looked so great with the red bow that I just left them red. Maybe I'll paint them next year. Or maybe I'll have a live moose in my backyard next year instead. Who knows. At this rate I might be installing a pool with swim up bar at this time next year.
Other sports things you can pick up at flea markets or second hand stores for decorating outside are snowshoes (expensive though), old white figure skates, which would look GREAT hanging from a hook on a garage or front door or any wood sled. Oh! If you're going to put the skates out make sure they have some kind of blade protectors on them. You don't want to slide through a jugular while walking past them.
Those are the things I'd recommend you go and buy if you think your outdoor decorating is missing something. A sled, old figure skates, or snowshoes.
If you can't find any of those things for a good price you can set a chalkboard outside and literally draw a pair of skates or a sled on it. Chances are if you don't have enough money to pay for $6 used skis it's because you're a creative artistic type who doesn't get paid your worth, so you'll have no problem with the chalk drawing.
Gretchen Sexton
Love your style! Love your house! (Still want to live there...)
So glad you put the link in for last year. I liked your style then too. Even with the snow.
Michelle
Love the decorations and your house. I love snow but like Tucsonpatty live in AZ. We are quite cold for once! I wore furry boots and did not feel a fool! Anyway hoping you get some Christmas snow and share it with us sad and snowless people who look dumb in furry duck boots in the desert. Sigh still envy your fridge. Lol
Chris
I'm wondering what those cool wavy branches are. Something you grow, or from a craft store?
Karen
Bought em by the bunch Chris. ~ karen!
Pauline Cornick
Love it! Can you please share how you get your Rosemary bush to grow that big....and how you are planning to save it from a winter death! Mine always die. Happy Holidays Karen!
Karen
Hey Pauline. I bought 2 fairly large rosemary plants to begin with but these really got huge. I think all I'm going to do is put up a windbreak around them. Wind is just as bad as cold temperatures so hopefully that'll be enough to save them. ~ karen!
Dale
For the rosemary, cut back as much as reasonable. Dry the leaves for future use. Wrap the bushes with chicken wire 2-3 feet diameter and fill with tree leaves or straw to reduce the freezing of the root zone. This is worth a try. Besides El Nino may give us all a warmer winter.
I have showy milkweed rhizomes planted in my flower garden waiting for the spring and the first Monarchs to stop by for a little nectar. Good luck and a Merry Christmas!
Karen
Hi Dale. Thanks. Maybe that's what I'll tackle today. I was just going to windbreak but maybe I'll add the straw in for extra insulation. If it would stinking SNOW I'd have the world's best insulation but ... no snow. ~ karen!
jillian
So warm and homey. I feel like you aren't real and live in a Martha Stewart magazine. lol Thank you for sharing your holiday cheer!
Happy holidays back to you.
marilyn
your tiny niece despise me too but at least she doesnt really know me!
Karen
And at least you don't buy her presents!! She's warming up to me. It's the cooking lessons. ~ karen!
Jan in Waterdown
If she's really really lucky, maybe one day she'll grow up to be just like her despised Aunty, or is it already too late to mould her into a little mini-me-Karen!?
Karen
She's already pretty similar to me. She's very serious about cooking, baking and gardening. And she's ... like ... 5. ~ karen!
Kelly
Looks lovely, but it definitely has more impact with snow, doesn't it? Believe it or not, here on the prairies, we've just had snow the last couple of weeks. It's been very warm. But now everything's been covered with hoarfrost for a week or more and it's just magical (and I never use that word). My decorations sure look better. AND the Christmas music even sounds better with the white stuff......go figure!
Karen
It does! And yes, that's a ridiculous word, lol. ~ karen!
Karen Too
This all looks fantastic and reminds me so much of my grandma's house in Sarnia, ON way back in the '60's. Now I know what to do w. those old skis of my husband's and old skates of my father in laws that have been cluttering up the garage. Unfortunately most stuff blows away around here unless it's nailed down every time a Chinook rolls through.
Adrienne @ craftylittlegnome
Looks great! Love the sled. I am keeping my eyes peeled for something similar
Kiwikat
It's supposed to be summer here in New Zealand and I am currently freezing, as a cold front has come in. (Which means our temperatures are similar to yours at the moment, which is ridiculous!). Tomorrow I'll be putting up my decorations. It was going to happen last weekend, but family dramas intervened. Fingers crossed this weekend is calmer!
Lynn
I do love your ski's an I would not paint them white . If you had snow they would vanish . 6$ for skis really Karen , Can tell you are not from western Canada. Know way do we see prices like that in the west:( . The sled is to die for , we have snow an cold -24c tonight . No golfing here abouts or shorts :(. It still does not feel like winter been way to mild .
Karen
Oh, you could find $6 skiis too, lol. Just find 30 year old ones in a thrift shop. :) ~ karen!
TucsonPatty
It is all beautiful, and since I do not love snow, it looks even better to me!
I checked, and you paid $48 for the sled. I do like the looks of all that.
It is so flipping cold here - I have had thick ice on the top of my rain barrel and we have had to cover the citrus trees and other delicate-ish plants. It has been below freezing for several nights - they call it a hard freeze. I don't own a coat, I just layer, and I've never had quite so many layers on my body or my bed! I tell my family in the midwest - "Can't you hear the word "NO" in snow"?
Brrrrrr.
Elaine
It all looks so natural and very pretty, Karen, nothing really "staged" looking (even though the snowballs are glued together!) If you hadn't told us, we would never have guessed. Love the red skis and the sled.
Very Canadian woodsy look .... minus the snow ... well, except for the snowballs!
Karen
Thanks Elaine. Yes, the unstaged staged look is hard to achieve, lol. This still looks a bit staged, but meh ... it's Christmas. :) ~ karen!
Jennie Lee
It looks great, Karen! But I've beat you in the "too warm for Christmas" contest. You may not be familiar with West Virginia weather, but get this: my forsythia bush has been blooming for months, and still is. This is NOT normal. I didn't really notice exactly when it started. It bloomed in the spring, and then stopped. And then started again. And hasn't stopped.
Kim
Snort laughing. You're awesome.
Agnes Niewiadomski
Very nice Karen, keeping it classy as usual! Have you thought about turning your Styrofoam ball pile into some a little more special, like in this tutorial? http://www.craftberrybush.com/2013/11/how-to-make-indoor-snowballs.html I picked up a bag of fake snow at Dollarama this week.
Karen
ACKKKK. I love those Agnes! Thanks! ~ karen!
Deb J.
I did some of those. The snow from dollarama is great. But I only did the ones you see close up. The pile of 'snowballs' that I have in my birdbath are just slightly sparkly styrofoam balls - just like Karen's. They look really goofy surrounded by green grass and bushes:) I'm in Ottawa and we are not really used to snowless Christmases. We need some to make my 'snowballs, look less weird.
Kat
Stunning Karen just stunning. I like this so much better than a million lights stung all willy nilly over a house. Hey isn't it about this time of year or at least coming up soon you get entered into the best blogger of the year (you always forget that)?
Karen
LOL, yes, I think it is almost that time. January maybe? It might even be February. See? I don't even know. ~ karen!
MissChrisSA
Looks stunning!!!!
Karen
Thanks MissChris. It'd look better with snow though! ~ karen
Elly
Rustically beautiful! By the way Karen... did you complete the Christmas pledge on time?
Karen
I did indeed Elly! My best year to date. Everything's done so next week I can invite my tiny niece who despises me over to make gingerbread houses. ~ karen!
Katie
Tiny gingerbread houses for a tiny niece?
Edith
Everything looks so nice Karen. I really like your shed since you painted it. The weather is really crazy here in Texas too. I'm still watering the Begonias on my Patio and my Roses and Mums are still blooming in the yard. I even have two blooms on my Magnolia tree.....it's really a crazy year.
Karen
I can't believe it took me so long to do the shed Edith, I should have done it YEARS ago. Begonias at Christmas. Who'd have thunk it? Certainly not the poinsettia people. ~ karen!