Merry, Merry

Have a very happy holiday season with your family and friends!

Please remember the salvage studio will be closed Dec. 26 & 27, and will reopen Jan. 2. Our winter workshop calendar is available online on our website, and Lisa will be answering our phone line during our holiday break to take registrations.

We’ll see you in the new year.

Beth, Lisa and Amy

Lisa and I are in a group that does a holiday gift exchange where everyone makes a little something for everyone in the group. So I needed 11 handmade gifts, and find myself scrambling this season to keep up with all the fun events.


I had made some tree ornaments for the studio with clusters of vintage ornaments, tied together with a metallic pipe cleaner. I visited a customer friend recently, and she had hers hanging on a door knob, which looked quite spiffy. So I created a larger cluster by stringing one large, five medium and one small ornament on a gold pipe cleaner. With a few twists, I clumped the balls together in the middle of the pipe cleaner and then twisted the ends together to create a circle hanger for the door knob. A foot of wired ribbon covered some of the twists and added some more bling. Done in no time! I even made one for myself. -- Beth

Note from Lisa: I was a happy receipent of one of the above. I am even going to press my decorating luck and use mine into Valentine's Day!

The end of the Decor Tour

Here's the final installment of the holiday décor tour at Beth's house.




In our upstairs' hallway is this great old trunk that came from Wales with my dad and his family about 100 years ago. The Santa, sled and berries are new. The books, record and glass garland are vintage.




My Christmas angel doll and teddy bear sit on this small dresser from my childhood.

I love music stands as easels to hold art or books. I opened this book to a lovely page depicting the Angel Gabriel and placed a folk art angel to hold the page in place.

In our master bath is this combination of hand crafted necklaces hanging on a fireplace tool holder, a stack of silver plate pedestals holding some favorite floral pins and corsages, with a bit of holiday décor.

A few years ago, I bought this pink tree at Joyworks out in Snohomish. I fashioned lots of ornaments together using metallic pipe cleaners, glass beads from garlands, and small ornaments.

Here's a closer look.

I hope you've had time to add some special touches to your nests as well! --Beth

Some More Decor

A little side table with a couple of glittery trees adopted from Goodwill.



A formal lamp sits on a very unformal metal table.

Easy decorating - vintage ornaments spread on the table top.

My favorite plant stand holding a silver plate bowl of cones.

Our mantle holds another collection of Santas - these made by a Seattle artist, Jan Muth, collected one by one over the years.

Some nutcrackers on top of a family piano. Some years, I feel frisky and cut evergreen pieces to mix in at their bases. No time for frisky this year!

Atop a bookcase in our dining room is this collection of vintage clocks. I left the vignette in place and added ornaments and garlands.

Here's a closer look.

Our upstairs is next. -- Beth

More Decor

We're on our way to the living and dining rooms part of the tour, but first the hallways and our foyer.

My mom made this happy Santa.

A trio of mirrors framed in recycled wood.

Rusty gear candle/ornament holders fashioned from gears and farm machinery parts. Souvenirs from the Oregon farm where Lisa's husband, Doug, grew up.

A desk top holds this assortment of angels. The spectacular tall one with the clock face halo was made by a local artist, Shelley Holm, who has sold her creations at Sorticulture, a garden art show held in Everett in June every year.

A table by our front door. Love the bell made out of a tin can.

Decor Galore!

I snapped a few pictures of my favorite Christmas decorations today. I decorate to honor family traditions and highlight what is sentimental to me.

Here's a plate of vintage tree lights - some from our tree when I was growing up and a few recent acquisitions. The Santas are from a house that had survived a fire.



The red locker basket is from Second Use with the perfect red urn found at the Farmchicks sale sitting atop it. Inside the urn are some cones I glittered.




My favorite Christmas kitty (besides Hank and Harry) was made by Lena Staggs, A Happy Miscellany. Red and green Bakelite cutlery pieces share the tray.



A shelf in our family room holds various Santas. I'm pretty tickled with the idea I came up with to hold the tree toppers. Each rests in a small cordial glass.



These Santas are the first vignette to be arranged every year. A local artist, Alice Meyer, created a new design in a small amount each year. My sons were grade school age at the time, and were real troopers about standing in line with me. As soon as we found and paid for our new Santa, we'd head to the baseball card store nearby. Topped off with a Happy Meal, we figured we had a darn fine day together.

A little arrangement of picnic ware with some holiday added.

Tomorrow we'll visit the living and dining rooms. -- Beth

You're Invited!

Please join us this Saturday, December 6, for our Holiday Open House at the salvage studio. We'll have holiday gifts and decorations for sale, hot cider, cookies and good cheer galore! The fun starts at 9 a.m. until 5 p.m.

Oodles of our autographed book, The Salvage Studio - Sustainable Home Comforts to Organize, Entertain and Inspire will be on hand. We will be happy to personalize for you.

And just a reminder, we will be open every Friday and Saturday through December 20.

The studio will be closed December 26 and re-opens January 2, 2009.

Happy Holidays from us to you!
Beth, Lisa and Amy