A Cozy Vintage Christmas

Hello and welcome to my home! I’m so glad you came! Last season I had an amazing time participating in the fall home tour with some other Canadian bloggers – our Canadian writers are some freaking talented and amazing peeps and I’m honoured to be a part of it again for Christmas! Big thank you to the DIY Mommy for organizing and hosting the tour. I wish you were all here in person, I’d give you a mug of hot chocolate (maybe with a little something extra in there) and we’d settle in for a cozy chat around the fire. That was my goal for our space this year – vintage, cozy, warm. And we need it! It’s -30C as I write this. Brrrrr!

My favourite part of the home right now is the mantle. I made over an old clock housing I’d had kicking around for years and it just sings! The center is done in machine embroidery so it has fantastic texture and the housing was made over with acrylic white and gold craft paint. I added in some red berries and it’s the star of the show. Surrounded by bottle brush trees and vintage brass, the clock feels right at home on our holiday mantle. The birch bark wreath behind it completes the scene with more cozy texture.

Mixing woods, metals and pretty much everything gives an eclectic feel which I adore. I am never good at sticking to a colour scheme because I love it all so, I pick what I love and put it out and somehow it works. If you follow me on Instagram you’ll be aware of my love for copper. When I found this candlestick at the thrift shop for next to nothing I had to grab it.

Yes, yes I painted the oak mantle! This is the same deep blue that I’ve used in our kitchen. This open concept space feels much more balanced now that I’ve pulled this colour over to the living area. I’m pretty happy with it and it was done in about an hour. There’s more I would love to do to the fire place but it will wait until I have a good chunk of time to deal with it.

This brown chair. Oh this chair. It’s about 10 years old and it’s a terrible magnet for pet fur. I’ve tried to get rid of it so many times but you know what? It’s my spot. It’s comfy and it’s right by the fire and it’s good quality construction. I’m going to try to recover it or make it a slip cover or something in the new year but for now I’ve dressed it with a cozy crochet blanket (pattern here) in Hudson Bay colour yarn and a felt poinsettia pillow that I made with my Brother embroidery machine.

On the other side of the fireplace is the old German radio (no, I won’t paint it even though the finish is not so perfect) and I am so happy to have it back in our space! It spent far too much time in the garage waiting to have it’s leg fixed. It was broken in the move and honestly, the movers might as well have taken my heart and stomped on it. I love that thing so much. On top I’ve got a little vintage Thermos collection and some more copper. Cozy!

Is there such a thing as too many bottle brush trees? Too many brass deer? Too many mixed metals? Nope. Like the felt machine embroidery coasters? You can download the file free here.

Our tree is a traditional live tree that we’ve decorated with family ornaments from years past. I recently replaced our haggard angel with a red star and my husband was none impressed. The angel will be fixed so it can be used again next year. It’s nothing precious but we have had it a long time and she had a way of settling into our hearts.

Traditional red pulls the Christmas theme all together in the space.

I added some wired ribbon and it looks great with our ornaments. My daughter brought home a star with her precious face on it from pre-school oh…5 years ago and I’m so happy to have our memories hanging from the branches of our tree.

On the other side of the room is the dining hutch dressed in twinkle light garland and the typewriter table, the typewriter has been replaced with a wee festive sled that I DIY’d.

Moose, check. Bottle brush trees, check. Red berries, check. It was a quick and fun craft for a chilly afternoon.

I had loads of fun with DIYs this year and love this copper bundt pan wreath – tutorial here I did earlier. It’s so cute with the star shaped lights!

Well my friends, thank you so much for coming by to see our cozy, vintage inspired Christmas home. I hope you enjoyed the tour and I hope you’ll follow on Instagram or Facebook to see what I have in store for the fire place and brown chair on my to-do list. I want to say thank you to Brother Canada for helping me create the pillow, coasters and clock face for this holiday season. It’s been incredible working with their machine and I will have more embroidery file downloads coming for next year.

Now please do go on through the rest of the tour participants listed below – there are some incredible things to see! You won’t be disappointed!

Monday

northern style exposure
The Learner Observer
The Uncommon Law
Heather In Heels
Clean and Scentsible
THE SWEETEST DIGS

Tuesday

Amidst the Chaos
Brooklyn Berry Designs
lemon Thistle
Suburble
Life is a Party
PMQ for two

Wednesday

Love Create Celebrate
Satori Design for Living
A Pop of Pretty
So Much Better With Age
VinYet ETC
Woman in Real Life

Thursday

The DIY Mommy
Fresh Crush
Time With Thea
A Pretty Life
Home To Heather
Nalles House

Friday

This Little Estate
Craftberry Bush
The Happy Housie
Kimpowerstyle
Elliven Studio