Deck The Halls .....

At the weekend we finally got around to decorating our house for Christmas. We bought a tree from a local garden centre on Sunday morning and spent what seemed like the rest of the day getting boxes down from the loft and then putting everything in place. The tree we chose was only about 4 foot high but we've stood it on a little table so it looks a lot bigger than it is - lol! I did try to take a photo of it but couldn't get the flash right. I think it looks pretty even though the same old decorations come out every year - mainly Disney ornaments from a summer visit to Florida about 15 years ago. There was a Christmas shop in the middle of the Magic Kingdom and it was John who got a bit carried way - not me, honest! Each year I usually buy one or two new things too, but this year added to the tree are some beautiful baubles from the MAMMA bauble swap.

Other new items added to our decorations this year are two altered Jigsaws from jam swaps I was involved with on the New Inspirations Yahoo group. I'd like to say a big thank you again to everyone who was involved in these.

My themes were both Christmas but with a different slant on each.

The first one was 'Musical Christmas' in the colours red and gold. I sent out my puzzle pieces to each of the other 5 players who duly altered and sent them back. I then pieced the puzzle back together again and stuck them onto a piece of mountboard which I gold embossed around the edges and dotted around some gold stickles. It is hung up by a simple gold beaded hanger. Here's who did what: From left to right, top Margaret, second row - Wendy, me - third row me, John - fourth row Viv, Carol.
As there was some empty space on the mountboard I included two ATCs - top left hand corner from Maureen and bottom right Trudy (from last year).

The second jigsaw was 'Christmas Folk Art style' in muted colours. The pieces for this one were quite large and as I didn't have a canvas large enough I decided to hang them un-mounted with a simple wire hanger (plus a few wooden beads and scraps of fabric). This one was done by (from left to right starting at the top) Jinny, Viv, Sheila, me, Wendy, Cindy.

They are both now hanging in our dining room and they look great together. I'm sure they will be looked at over a glass or two of something sparkling over the Christmas period!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone xx