lifestyle

Christmas Around the Corner

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When I was a child, there was a house around the corner from us, that always decorated their house and yard with enough Christmas lights that they could have charged admission and given tours. One year my family was talking about how Christmas was “just around the corner” as we were passing by that house, and so we instantly dubbed it the “Christmas Around the Corner” house. Now, whenever we see a brightly decorated property we say to each other, “there’s Christmas around the corner!” 

I do love decorating for the season, (or basically every season!) so I admire and enjoy how much effort some people go to with their decorations- I certainly don’t go to those lengths myself! This year, however, is my first year working at a decorating store during the Christmas season, and so I get to go all out and “decorate for Christmas” pretty much every shift. Needless to say, it’s been a lot of fun!

I never decorate until December (on whichever weekend is the first of the month) and this year I got my decorations up on December 3rd. It just seems too early to me, to start decorating in November. To be honest, I’m always switching things around, and so I would get bored with the Christmas stuff if I had it up for two whole months. Also, considering that we always have a real tree, and this year I have real evergreen boughs, it would be pretty dried up if we put it up too soon! 

I was planning on investing in some nice faux evergreens this year, but didn’t see any that I liked, and so I actually ended up getting real boughs from my parents place. I love them so much that (until they one day move away and no longer have wooded areas for me to pillage) I will continue to do that every year! I don’t do a tree at my place, since I spend Christmas at my parent’s house, so in lieu of a tree, I did an evergreen and branch bouquet and hung some of my vintage ornaments on it. 

The main crux of my decorating involves my vintage ornament collection- this year my sister and I found six boxes of vintage ornaments at the thrift store- we couldn’t grab them fast enough! We also hung some of the vintage ornaments in the fig tree, which looks very pretty in real life, but didn’t really show up well in the pictures, so you’ll just have to believe me 🙂 I also got these new reproduction mercury glass ornaments this year at the store I work at- I absolutely LOVE mercury glass and I love how they paired with the pink vintage ornaments. This tray looks very “millennial” doesn’t it? (Millennial pink anyone?)

This wood burned garland by Kluane National Workshop is also new this year. I picked it up at a craft fair, but if you’d like to check them out, they have a shop right here.

Well, this is a fairly heavy picture post, but I guess I’m making up for all the posts I haven’t written this past month 🙂 

When do you put up your Christmas decor and what are some of your Christmas decorating traditions? 

As an extra bonus- here is the mantle I did at my parent’s place. It turned out very pretty with the fairy lights, greenery and nativity, so I couldn’t leave it out!

Lilacs to Welcome the First Day of Spring

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Lilacs to Welcome the First Day of Spring, the artyologist

Happy first official day of Spring! A quick look out my window still shows piles of snow, despite what the calendar says, so today I am sharing a look back to these photos I took last Spring. I took this set last June, but never published them so, since there are no flowers growing around here yet, nor will there be for a quite a while longer, I thought I would share them with you today, even though they are almost a year late!

Lilacs to Welcome the First Day of Spring, top view of tea, the artyologist

We did get another huge snowfall this past weekend, despite my wishes to the contrary in my last post, but yesterday it was such a warm day, that the snow is melting fast. I have decided that there will be no more photos including large drifts of snow here on the blog, until next winter! This might mean that all of my photos will need to be taken indoors, or I won’t have any outfit photos for a while. . . but I am so ready for winter to be finished. So until spring really feels like it is here, I will have to make do with looking at last years photos, and enjoying the bouquet of tulips my mom bought for me last week!

Happy Spring dear Readers!

Is it looking and feeling like Spring in your part of the world?

Lilacs to Welcome the First Day of Spring, tea cup, the artyologist

Lilacs to Welcome the First Day of Spring, books, the artyologist

Lilacs to Welcome the First Day of Spring, tea and lilacs, the artyologist

Lilacs to Welcome the First Day of Spring, bouquet with tea, the artyologist

Lilacs to Welcome the First Day of Spring, bouquet, the artyologist

Lilacs to Welcome the First Day of Spring, bouquet and tea, the artyologist

The Artyologist Turns Two

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It is my blog’s second anniversary, woohoo! Although does that mean I am entering the “terrible twos” now? I hope not! (Actually, the anniversary is tomorrow, Jan. 27, but as I wanted to post this on Friday instead. . .  here I am a day early!)

I can’t believe that it’s been two years since I started this blog, or for that matter that it’s been an entire year since the first anniversary. I feel like all I ever say lately, is “I can’t believe how fast the time is going by”, but really what else is there to say? It does go by quickly 🙂 When I started this blog, two years ago, I really had no idea what I was doing. Actually I still don’t. Pressing that “publish” button was the scariest thing! I had no idea if anyone would ever read my blog, and I wondered if I had made a big mistake in thinking that I should be a blogger. But, it turned out that starting this blog was one of the best things I’ve ever done- not only has it proven to be fun, and a great creative outlet, but I’ve also met so many lovely people through it. (Either because they are readers, or because I discovered their blogs, since I was no longer intimidated by “putting myself out there” so to speak). Two years in, I have no intention of stopping any time soon!

Last year, I marked the 1 year anniversary by doing a blog makeover. As I still quite like the blog format, I am not planning any sort of changes on that front.* I thought that, since I didn’t do any sort of 2017 year end recap or the like, I would today re-share some of my favourite posts from the past year, as well as posts which have proven to be the most popular with readers. I kind of like to look back at old blog posts from time to time. 

I feel like sometimes in this digital age, we always have to have “more”. New posts, all the time. Fast and disposable like the rest of our culture is. We look at something for a minute, and then immediately move onto the next. We quickly scroll through our readers and feeds, trying to get through the list, without taking the time to enjoy. Social media in it’s very essence is always about the “new”. But, even though it is web based, it is ironic that amidst all that, there are still our blogs. A digital scrapbook of sorts, which capture the memories of a year gone by. I don’t know if I would notice the passage of time so much, if I didn’t have this blog. The very act of taking photos, and creating posts is a way to capture a memory, and then it gives you something to look back on (which makes you realize it was so long ago! And also how many phases my hair has gone through). I’m just rambling now, but all that to say, it’s nice to, instead of always looking forward, take a moment to look back as well.

Thanks so much to all my lovely readers who follow this blog. You are the ones who make this so worthwhile and fun. I mean, I could still blog if I had no readers, but that would be super boring. So, thank-you!

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The 5 Most Popular Posts

Well, the number one most popular post I ever wrote was my history of harem pants- it was still the top post for 2017, and I wrote it in the summer of 2016! But, since it is from two years ago, I will share the top posts of 2017 instead.

bringing back coupon busters, one pair of shoeclips at a time, the artyologist

Bringing back “Coupon Busters” One Pair of Shoeclips at a Time

a sentimental history of lockets, the artyologist

A Sentimental History of Lockets

shopping ethically for vintage repro

Shopping Ethically for Vintage Repro

vintage-blogger-meetup-2016_edmonton the artyologist, Blogger Meetup with Jessica of Chronically Vintage

My First Blogger Meet Up with Jessica of Chronically Vintage

Operation Save the Petticoat (Or a Simple Petticoat Alteration), the artyologist

Operation: Save the Petticoat! (Or, a Simple Petticoat Alteration)

Apparently my tutorials are popular. I shall endeavour to do more things this year, so I can turn them into posts 😉

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My Personal Favourite Outfit Posts

Lilacs and Love letters, the artyologist, portrait feature

Lilacs and Love Letters. This is the post that almost didn’t happen! And it is one of my favourites.

Modern Girl Goes Vintage, the artyologist, navy blue and tan skirt

Modern Girl Goes Vintage.

Wearing Vintage (Or Other Alternative Styles) vs. Wearing a Costume, the artyologist outfit

Wearing Vintage (Or Alternative Style) vs. Wearing a Costume. Discussing the differences between dressing up in a different style and dressing up in a costume.

A Feather in My Cap. The first “public” photoshoot!

Fashion Revolution Love Story: An Ode to a Humble T-Shirt. This was a fun post to write.

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Five Other Memories

Tea and Tulips on a February Day, the artyologist, teacup and vase

Tea and Tulips on a February Day. I just really liked this photoshoot and wanted to re-share it.

The Artyologist Art Shop. I opened my art shop in July!

Tanith of Tanith Rowan Designs and I hosted our first My Vintage Cover challenge in August, and it was so much fun!

I was Interviewed for Alive Magazine, talking about ethical fashion!

Falltime at the Farm, the artyologist, hanging-apples-with-fence

Photo Journal: Fall Time at the Farm. Some experimenting with my camera and lens at the farm. I was also happy with these pictures and just wanted to reshare.

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*I said above that I had no plans to change my blog format, but, that being said, are there any things you wish were different about the format? Any ways I could change it to make it easier to read etc? Thanks!

A Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year to You

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nativity, the artyologist

Well, here we are only a few days away from Christmas now. . . I can’t believe how quickly 2017 has gone by! I’m going to be taking a bit of break this week to spend time with friends and family, although I do have a New Year’s post planned for next Friday. Today I thought I’d just share some pictures of my Christmas decorating. This was the first year decorating in my own new home, and I had a lot of fun with it. I love collecting ornaments, especially vintage ones, so I enjoyed being able to finally display them all in my new place. (And my nativity, which I made in kindergarden, and is still going strong! 😉 haha)

Anyways, as this is my second to last post for this year, I would like to say thank-you so much to everyone who has been following along this year! All of your comments and support for my blog have been wonderful and have made this hobby entirely worth it. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas season as we celebrate the birth of our Saviour!

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“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.”

Isaiah 9:6-7 

bookshelf-decorations, the artyologist

ornaments-over-window, the artyologist

wreath, the artyologist

china-cabinet-decor, the artyologist

peacock, the artyologist

top-of-bookshelf, the artyologist

branches-and-ornaments, the artyologist

ornaments-over-window-closeup, the artyologist

presents, the-artyologist

side-table-decor, the artyologist

The Ladies Garden Tea (Which is not in a Garden): The Decor

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The Ladies Garden Tea (Which is not in a Garden): The Decor, tea table, the artyologist

I am beginning to think that the second weekend of June is marked for rain. For the second year in a row now, I have planned to host a Ladies Garden Tea, in our backyard, and though we have had sun in the days leading up to, and sun in the hours and days that follow, during the hours of the party itself, it has rained. We have decided that it will now be called simply, “The Ladies Tea”, and have given up on hoping that gardens will have anything to do with it at all!

I’m not too worried about it though, because this year we planned to host it indoors, and made our preparations accordingly, so there was no last minute scramble to move the party indoors when the day dawned with grey clouds. An added benefit of holding the party indoors, is that even if it doesn’t rain, you sometimes must contend with wind, sun in your eyes, sunburn, flies in the lemonade and mosquitoes that refuse to leave you alone. By setting up the party indoors, you avoid all these problems, and you can always open the windows to let the fresh air in (and the bugs out) 🙂

The Ladies Garden Tea (Which is not in a Garden): The Decor, teapot, the artyologist

We changed things around this year, (because we were thinking ahead for once) and set up the sideboard and a table along the side of the living room, so the food and drinks would be close at hand. It worked so much better, rather than having the food in the kitchen like we did last year, as people didn’t have to break up the party in order to go in search of sweets. Last year we had so many leftovers of desserts that hardly even got touched, and this year we had very few leftovers. On second thought, maybe we should have the food in the kitchen again next year; I wouldn’t have minded a few leftovers. . . 😉

The Ladies Garden Tea (Which is not in a Garden): The Decor, food table

Since the party was supposed to be a Garden Tea, it had to have a summery and “gardeny” feeling to it. So, the morning of the party we went in search of flowers for bouquets. Last year we had peonies, but this year the season is late and so the peonies had not started to bloom. However, we managed to catch the very last of the dark purple lilacs. Two days before the party, I thought to myself, “The lilacs are still in bloom, and should stay so until the party”, but the very next day when I looked at them again, they had started to wilt, turn brown and fall off the hedges. Only one day before the party!!! We thought that we wouldn’t be able to get any for a bouquet, but fortunately the dark purple ones still had flowers. They were falling fast though, and if you even looked at the bouquet, I think that petals were dropping off. We got two lovely bouquets though, and paired the purple flowers with Caragana branches. Caragana is a rather strange bouquet material, but I love how sculptural and fluid the bouquets turned out to be, and yellow and purple is such a lovely colour combination. For the rest of the smaller bouquets, which we placed on the tables, we gathered wildflowers and weeds, and came up with enough material to make several miniature bouquets. All in all, the room did have a rather summery and festive feeling to it, despite the rain.

The Ladies Garden Tea (Which is not in a Garden): The Decor, lilac bouquet and menu

The Ladies Garden Tea (Which is not in a Garden): The Decor, teacup and table

And of course, the rain didn’t dampen the spirits of those who attended the party! There were sixteen of us, some of whom were new acquaintances who came with friends, and we all had a lovely afternoon of tea and sweets and conversation. I can’t wait for next year!

Do you enjoy tea parties? Have you ever hosted an event? And have you ever been rained out?

The Ladies Garden Tea (Which is not in a Garden): The Decor, teacups

The Ladies Garden Tea (Which is not in a Garden): The Decor, tea-table-2

The Ladies Garden Tea (Which is not in a Garden): The Decor, food

The Ladies Garden Tea (Which is not in a Garden): The Decor, lemons

The Ladies Garden Tea (Which is not in a Garden): The Decor, tablescape

The Ladies Garden Tea (Which is not in a Garden): The Decor, teacups and bouquet

The Ladies Garden Tea (Which is not in a Garden): The Decor, desserts

The Ladies Garden Tea (Which is not in a Garden): The Decor, teacup-collection

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