A Partridge in a Pear Tree - Fun Holiday Decor

Easy to sew birds made with quilt fabric make fun holiday decor.

This year I made a few dozen holiday decorations for home and work.  I found a pattern in a quilting book for little partridges made from three different fabrics and stuffed with lizard litter, which is ground walnut shells.  The original pattern created little birds, I'm talking really little, so I made two larger sizes as well.

My six fabrics

I picked up six different fabrics, just 1/3 yard of each, at the local fabric store and went to work.  I created a template of the bird bodies and another template of the bird bases.  I cut out different fabrics for different parts in different sizes.  The cutting was easy and the sewing was easy, especially with my quilting foot to measure the quarter inch seams.  After sewing a number of birds together and leaving a small area open at the base, I was ready for the lizard litter.  It is strange stuff that reptiles love - think what is on the bottom of an aquarium that mimics the desert.  The texture is more course than sand but just as hard to clean up so I did this part of the project in my backyard.

Since I had made the birds larger than the pattern recommended, I realized that if I filled them with only lizard litter then they would be quite heavy and a handy weapon if needed.  Instead I stuffed the top half with polyester fill and then added the lizard litter and hand sewed the opening.  The change worked just fine and the birds were nicely weighted at the bottom by not too heavy.

Although they were quite cute at that point, the little partridges still needed a little decoration.  I added sequins for eyes and wool pom poms glued to sewing pins or jewelry wire to finish things off.

All told the project was fairly time consuming given the diminutive size of the results.  I think they would look good tucked into a holiday wreath, also I'm considering leaving one or two on a co-workers desk for a little holiday cheer.  Imagine adding a bird to a holiday gift basket or putting one on top of a gift wrapped in coordinating paper.

Maybe I'll think about making some pears in the same fabric.  Maybe next year.

Vintage Silver Adds Personality to Decor

Silver adds personality to vintage decor including candelabras, Champagne buckets, vases, coffee and tea service, silverware, and jewelry.

An easy way to add instant personality and character to your decor is to find nostalgic items and intersperse them throughout your room.  Keeping with the same material or theme will create a cohesive look.  Also, make sure the items reflect your personality.  If you love them, as time goes on you will not grow weary of your selections.


Silver adds personality to vintage decor.  Tarnished silver pieces like candelabras, trays, champagne buckets, vases, coffee and tea pots, and water pitchers look great in shabby chic, farmhouse and vintage settings.  The shiny items above are now tarnished because I don't have time nor the inclination to polish silver with regularity. 

Feature a silver tray on a dining room table or coffee table layered with other finds like old books, figurines, votive candles and flowers in a silver vessel.

Add  mixed height candlesticks to a shelf or mantle.  Candelabras are stunning, especially when lit. One of my favorite items is diminutive tea pots with lots of detail work. 
 

These look lovely as flower receptacles tucked in here and there in any room. Consider using them as vases at bridal showers and vintage weddings.  We threw a bridal shower for my niece at the Rose Garden Tea Room at the Huntington Library and Gardens.  Since we were in a beautiful historic garden setting it seemed appropriate to have beautiful flowers in the little tea pots on the tables.  The guests wanted to take the arrangements home when the party was over.  Silver water pitchers are great for flower arrangements too.


Think outside the box and use your silver pieces in unusual ways.  I put my Yorkie Raleigh's dog treats in a silver bowl on my mantle so they are available when he comes in from the backyard. No one knows the treats are there except Raleigh, of course.

Pearl's Cottage has beautiful silver items for sale at Etsy including my favorite mini coffee pots.  https://www.etsy.com/shop/pearlscottage?ref=si_shop

Time to Decorate Your Mantle for Christmas

Consider switching things up this year when you decorate your mantle for Christmas.  Use beautiful items that you have around your home, grouped together, to create a beautiful display.

Consider using like materials for a cohesive look.  Here I have silver plate items that are for sale at Pearl's Cottage's Etsy site coupled with greenery with red accents and some peppermint candies.  My business partner, Michelle, set up these items in just a few minutes.  The pickle castors are my favorite items because they are so detailed in their design and they harken back to a day where pickles were held in high esteem.  Now they are filled with peppermint candies to give them a little holiday cheer.

The other items on the mantle include a mini tea pot, a creamer and a vase that are filled with flowers and greenery.  These beautiful items can stay on a mantle all year by simply removing the holiday themed items.

Rare Antique Pickle Castor

Crystal and glass collectibles including vases, creamers and bowls look pretty grouped together too.  Try milk glass, pottery or whatever items you appreciate

Find greenery and flowers at your local Michael's, Hobby Lobby or JoAnn's stores.  You don't have to spend a lot, just pick up a few things to drape across the mantle and fill your receptacles.

The same decor looks good on a buffet table and dining room table.  How do you plan to decorate your home this Christmas?

Antique Christmas Tree Ornaments

It's time to start thinking about holiday decor and setting the table for Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Each year I like to do things a little differently from the previous year.  A while back I was lucky enough to find and buy hundreds of old glass Christmas tree ornaments.  It is a beautiful collection, from a woman that cherished her holiday decor.  I marvel each year at the beauty of the ornaments and the number of years that have passed since they were made.

It takes me hours to set up the tree and it feels like days to take the ornaments off the tree and put them away.  I love them so much I keep them under my bed for the remainder of the year.  No attic time for these beauties.  One of my favorites is the bird ornaments that clip onto the tree boughs.  They are extremely fragile and so I only have a few of them.

Since I've redecorated my house this year, I'm planning to make a tree skirt out of a drop cloth. I found this one at http://www.craftaholicsanonymous.net/ruffled-drop-cloth-christmas-tree-skirt.  I like the way the ruffles move from the center to the edge of the skirt.  Drop clothes come in large sizes so it is easy to make a really big skirt without any seams.

Antique ornaments can be found on Ebay and at auctions and estate sales.  It took me more than a year to collect enough to fill the tree.  When I found an abundant, pristine collection at an auction, I was willing to pay whatever it took to make them mine.  My advice is to pass up the beat up ones that you come across.  I bought some because I was happy to finally find them, but in retrospect I shouldn't have wasted the money because they were too scratched up or plain.

Once you have them, be VERY careful because they are delicate.  It is amazing that things can last for a century in someone else's house and then be in dire straights when they get to my house.

Share your holiday decorating ideas with me.  I need some new ideas.

Crystal Cruets Are Beautiful and Functional

A cruet /ˈkruː.ɨt/, also called a caster, is a small flat-bottomed vessel with a narrow neck. Cruets often have an integral lip or spout, and may also have a handle. Unlike a small carafe, a cruet has a stopper or lid. Cruets are normally made from glass, ceramic, or stainless steel.

In the Victorian era cruets were made of highly decorative cut crystal and were made to be both ornamental and functional.

Pearl's Cottage features a collection of cruets on Etsy at https://www.etsy.com/shop/pearlscottage?ref=si_shop.  They are in impeccable condition and reasonably priced at $20 to $25.  I like to group three or five cruets together on a shelf, hutch or table.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/pearlscottage?ref=si_shop

Drop Cloth Tablecloth - Practical, Pretty and Inexpensive

Supplies: 

• Drop cloth from your local DIY store, sized 18" longer and wider than the table to allow for drop and hems on both sides.  They come in all different sizes.
• Lace or other embellishment 
• Sewing machine and notions including a needle for heavy jobs

Instructions
First wash and dry the drop cloth on a permanent press cycle. It will come out of the dryer with wrinkles so the next step is to iron it.  It is very strange to iron something that is made to collect messes.

Measure your table top and cut the drop cloth 18" longer and wider in the length and the width.  Maintain as much of the existing hem area as possible.  It is helpful to use a cutting mat and a rotary cutter, however scissors will work just fine. 

On the two unhemmed sides, iron the two sides with that need hem seams.  Fold under half an inch and iron and then fold under again another half inch.  If your table is round, simply measure your table top, cut the measurement in half, and add 9".  Then find the center and hold your fabric measuring tape there (best to do with a helper) and measure out and mark the spot.  Continue moving the end of the tape and marking while holding the other end in the center.  Soon you will have dots that make a circle.  Connect the dots and your fabric is ready to cut out.  The entire edging will need to be hemmed.

Use a heavy needle to sew your ironed hems.  It's so easy!

Then sew your lace or other embellishment on the table cloth.  I had a really long piece of lace that I sewed all the way around the edging.  Another idea is to run trim down the center.  Multiple rows of different lace or trim would be pretty.  May either use a stencil and white paint or a silver Sharpee pen.  I tried a black marker and it was just a little too dark for me.

If you find you have extra drop cloth fabric, consider making a runner.  Next I'm going to make one for my kitchen counter with quotes written around it.

Show me what you have done with drop cloths!