Christmas Mantel with Lattice Christmas Trees

I had this huge sheet of lattice... you know the big sheet you buy from Lowe's... that we had been using in my mom's antique booth/my art space!

However...

we didn't need it anymore.  So, I brought it home wondering...

what am I going to do with a sheet of lattice?

It was around the same time I had been thinking about my Christmas Mantel and had no clue what to do this year.

And then the light bulb went off in my head and I came up with...

Lattice Christmas Trees!

So… here is my latest Christmas Creation for this year’s

Christmas Mantel!

All I did was take my big sheet of lattice and find the shapes I wanted & marked them out with pencil. 

I suggest that you either staple or glue the parts of the lattice

that are not stapled together… 

If you don’t… it will all fall apart as you cut it and you may lose the pattern! 

And just remember that you have to cut through it… so watch out for any metal from the staples and cut around them!  I used a jigsaw to cut my triangle shapes out.  I cut different size triangles.  Next… I would glue to together my shapes… back to back… and glue a strip to the bottom of the triangle to finish framing it.

Then,

I chose to stack them and glue them…

one on top of the other… to make it look like a tree.

Here is the rest of the my Christmas Mantel…

I simple propped the Lattice Christmas Trees on some stacked cut wood rounds that I have used on several of my mantel displays and leaned them against the wall.

Lights were strung up behind them to highlight their diamond shapes more…

and to make it look really Christmas-y!!

It’s like having my own little Woodland Christmas Tree Forest!

I saw these CUTE tall plaid reindeer at Target today for $15 each

(but didn’t buy ).

Thought they would look cute standing by the Lattice Trees!

Hope you enjoyed my Christmas Mantel 2014

with

Lattice Christmas Trees!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Luke 2:1-20

Links to all my Seasonal Mantel Displays can be found HERE.

Linking to:

(12 Days of Christmas Party)

Songbird: Christmas Mantels

Remodelaholic:  Homemade Christmas 

 

A Trip to Vermont And Some Inspired Art

Just wanted to share a few pics

 from a recent trip to Vermont.

What a beautiful place!

 Everywhere we visited had quaint little towns with that ol' time-y charm and character.

And wow... that famous fall color... just beautiful!

This is us in Woodstock, Vermont...

Fall Mantel 2014

Fall is right around the corner...

the cool breeze, no humidity, the smell of outdoor firewood burning, leaves falling... 

I love it!!

As most of you may know...

every year... 

I try to do a fall mantel.

This year was no exception...

And of course... 

I had to bring out the ol' hammer, paint, and glue on this one.

My house was under construction for a few days.

But I got it finished!

Sooo...

here is my Fall Mantel for 2014...

Welcome to my

Pumpkin Patch!

I decided to go a little arts and crafty on this one.

DIY Backyard Makeover... part two

Finally finished!! 

Well, sorta... 

still adding little touches here and there... but the heavy hard work is finally finished! 

This is the continuation of our DIY backyard makeover...

In this post here... I took you through the journey of our back yard issues and our redo(s) along the way.

But finally... I can show you what our backyard looks like now...

It went from this...

To this...

Some Paintings I’ve Been Working On

 

Hi again everyone!  Two posts in one week… that’s a wow for me!

I just wanted to share with you some paintings I’ve been working on in the midst of our backyard makeover.

I try to get some creative time in when it’s raining or too hot outside to work.

I LOVE painting and creating… so here you go…

So enjoyed painting this gal and her guitar!

And… I always have to throw some Folk Flower Paintings in the mix!

This one is painted on one of those Shipping Crate Table Panels I’ve been holding on to for awhile now.

And last… but not least…

This painting (it’s a biggy) actually started out as something else… but after some frustration with it… I wiped the slate clean and painted this…

it is one of my FAVS this summer and I may do a series of them!

As you can tell… I’ve been in a colorful mood with my art here lately… and loving it!

I am always thinking about selling my paintings again… I’m in the process of trying to figure out where and when.

Thanks for stopping by… hope you enjoyed! 

 

 

Our DIY Backyard Project… Seven Years In The Making (So Far)

 

We’ve been working on our backyard ever since we moved in 7 years ago.  We initially put in a lot of hard work… was fine with that…

until we weren’t…

and then we changed it up all over again!

This is what it first looked like when we moved in.

Reflecting Back on My Art

 

Just reflecting back on some of my art today.  

Most of it was VERY COLORFUL pieces!

I don’t know if some of you even knew that I use to paint and sell online… and maybe some of you bought some paintings from me?   It was a complete leap of faith I took a few years ago… like quitting my job leap of faith and pursuing art and painting.  

As with most things… it took a few months to get established and to start developing a customer base… with those who began to collect some of my work.

 

Unfortunately, it was around the time when the economy busted and sales dropped to a point I couldn’t continue pursuing it.  

I have yet to take that leap of faith again since the economy has slightly improved…

but I do think about it.

 

In the meantime…  I just wanted to share some of my previous work that I sold online. 

I was very much into colorful beach type artwork but was able to try my hand at other types of art, as well.

I often wonder if people are still enjoying the paintings they bought from me.

Anyway…

I leave with you some of my most recent work…

My use of Color and Style has definitely evolved some.

And just to let you know…

I still enjoy my home décor styling and DIY projects I do here on Creative Ambitions. 

But…

Painting is also a passion of mine… it’s my escape and the joy that comes from it is beyond words! 

Hope you enjoyed my walk down memory “art” lane today!

Thanks for stopping by!!

Spring Mantel 2014

 

It’s

 Spring Time…

And well… that means it’s Mantel Time!

This one is a little different than my normal displays…

I kept it simple and “flow-y”… light and bright!

I created a window by using an old canvas art frame… along with foam core to create fake windowpanes.

(I didn’t have a gigantic old window… so I improvised)

In other words… got creative!!

Another Inspired Decorative Display Dress Form

Once upon a time…

I made my own decorative display dress form (from scratch)… tutorial here.

I made it out of paper mache.

It was a long and tedious project… but of course…

fun and adventurous at the same time!

This time…

I used The Polka Dot Closet’s way… (thank you Carol!!)

I bought one from Barr Display…

So much easier…lol!

I love Carol’s work and have been so inspired by her dress forms!

Ok… gorgeous right?

I’ve been wanting to make my own for awhile now…

And so… I finally made one…

Here she is!

Not too “shabby”… eh?

I really love the way she turned out!

I used a hollow back form from Barr Display.

The base is #8020 and the form is #8020W if ordering…

they are two separate items.

Thanks to Carol (The Polka Dot Closet) for the inspiration and all the info on her blog…

and thanks to Barr Display for an easy shopping experience!

HGTV.com Feature… Unique Hardware

A few months ago Marian from Miss Mustard Seed asked if she could use a photo from my quirky Tractor Steering Wheel Curtain Hangers post in an article she was writing for HGTV.com on window treatments.

((it’s the post where I couldn’t decide how to hang the curtains…

so I asked for your help… and gave a ton of options… remember??))

Click HERE…

Anywho…

I love those emails!!

Of course… as I was reading it… I was all like…

What??  Are you serious?  YES… YES!! 

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!  WooHoo!!  

Happy Dance! Happy Dance!

And then just the other day… I saw where it was showing up in my stats…

And wow… here it is…

http://www.hgtv.com/window-treatments/18-clever-window-treatment-ideas-under-18/pictures/page-13.html

So thrilled and honored to be included with some amazing, creative talent in this article on window treatments!

Thank you Marian and HGTV.com for the feature!

((click here to also see my mantel featured on hgtv.com))

Our Sweet Husky, Neeko

 

The last three months have been a whirlwind for me.

My fur-baby, Neeko, became very ill.

As some of you know… Neeko was our last fur-baby of three and he got sick back in November.  We had WEEKLY visits to the vet for two and a half months… but never could find out what was wrong… so we assume some type of cancer or autoimmune disease made him sick.

He would recover and then get sick, recover and then get sick and then recover.

We had such high hopes he would pull through it all.

Sadly, he had a setback in February that he just could not recover from.

My heart hurts as I write this… it’s still so fresh… so new to us that he is gone.   Neeko brought SO MUCH LOVE and JOY into our home.  He was such a great, fun loving dog. 

  We soooo miss his company.  We are dealing with that “empty house” syndrome right now.  Still reeling around the fact that he is actually gone. 

He was such a good companion for us… a PERFECT MATCH for us.

He BLESSED our life greatly!

So many GOOD memories!

 We miss and love you sweet Neeko!

 

 

Winter Mantel 2014

Happy New Year Everyone!

That means the Christmas décor is gone and my Winter Mantel is up!

This year’s mantel was created with a few thrift store finds…

along with some things I already had… which makes for some very

inexpensive décor.