A symphony of reds

Isn't it nice to see flower blooms on a cold winters day? It's something fresh and vibrant to warm our souls. I planted three red amaryllis bulbs, but as you can see one bulb surprised me by coming out with a white center. Rebel. With the red wall, my pomegranate painting, a stack of red books and the red flower blossoms, this vignette in my kitchen is a symphony of reds.

Ice orbs

I was inspired by the ice sculptures that magically appear at First Night festivities and decided to make an ice sculpture of my own. The mercury is dipping low this week, so the timing is perfect with optimal freezing conditions. Not one to flirt with a chain saw, I took a different approach to making these sculptures by filling water balloons and leaving them outside to freeze! I could have filled them with food colored water, but decided to leave them au natural. Then I cut off the balloon and voila, ice spheres. En masse in my metal urns they look sculptural, like a magical winter wonderland, yes?

Eye candy!

Yes, I really do put two trees up each year. Crazy to most, I know—though I saw on the Today Show yesterday that Sandra Dee puts up 8 trees, so who's crazy now?! Two years ago I shared my silver tree with readers, and this year I'm showing you my 'gold tree.' I guess you can call it gold and red. As an homage to Tony Duquette, more is more, and trust me, this tree is dripping and drooping with eye candy ornaments.

The tree is first covered in illegal amounts of white twinkle lights, meaning stringing together way more lengths of lights than the manufacturer suggests one connects together, then I start  hanging the big, heavy red crackle balls deep in the tree on the thicker branches.Then, over several patient hours, and always with a never-ending glass of Captain Morgan spiked egg nog, I hang all the rest of the scrumptious jewels. Like my silver tree, many of the ornaments are made in India, such as the intricately beaded paisley shaped ornaments... the balls, pears and stars, and beaded tassels. Also, many of the ornaments are brass—brass Parisian Eiffel towers, brass musical notes, brass fleur de lis, brass snowflakes, and and large brass bells that really ding. (Duh, how else will the angels get their wings?) I have ornaments that I call sputniks, and whirligigs, and flying saucers, the latter of which are really round gold beaded coasters. There are also bedazzled, Italian or Greek looking jeweled crosses like you might see at the Vatican... super gaudy Liberace style, (she said, unashamed.), and just for fun I have gold disco ball ornaments that catch the sunlight causing 'disco fairies dance' on the ceiling on sunny days, which is super magical. At the end of the trimming process I add on loads of small gold crackle balls, and little red raindrops on the end of each branch. After the tree comes down, I pack each group of ornaments—bought in groups of at least 12— into zip lock baggies, then into beautiful gold pouches and bags that I made. So every Christmas when I open the ornaments, it's a special thing.

Three blind mice

The artist who made these adorable standing mice is Johnny Ward, from Seattle, WA. He uses some sort of alchemistic chemistry using concrete and lye to achieve the interesting patina effect on them. Check out his website here. When I first saw the mice in the True North Gallery in Hamilton I knew I had to purchase not just one but three of them. They stand outside on my steps but I suppose I'll need to bring them inside for the winter.

Brass bunnies

I pull out these darling little brass bunnies every Easter and fill their baskets with whatever I have around. This year, instead of using flowers, I used beautiful beet leaves, baby carrots and plump radishes. Wouldn't Peter Rabbit approve? Photo, Diane Carnevale

Spring at last!

photo, Diane Carnevale

A bouquet of sunny ranunculus flowers look right at home against the orange wall in my bathroom. There may still be snow outside, but the calendar definitely says spring—at last!

Currently coveting...

all images from Restoration Hardware

... that French look from Restoration Hardware. Confession: I am having a love affair with all things with that distressed French look from RH. I bought this Roman capital (above) about 6 months ago. Seriously, it was love at first sight. And then I bought this Swan's neck architectural pediment (below) around Christmastime. Love them both with their sultry, latte colors and easy rustic, yet formal style.

And... If I could afford it—and my house was bigger—

I'd simply have to have this enormous, carved wood mirror. 

And of course my windows would have to be 

swathed in these belgian linen drapes.

Heck, I'd buy this entire living room if could afford it. Gorgeous, oui? 

A girl can dream, can't she?

Of flightless birds...

Recently a friend of mine wrote to me and said he had an "extra" ostrich egg (long story, he's a slightly eccentric fellow), and did I want it. Um, yeah! I've always been intrigued by these enormous eggs of flightless birds, which I coveted for a piece of unusual home decor. You can see in this photo how huge the ostrich egg is, with its beautiful off-white color and slightly bumpy texture, lying next to regular chicken eggs! The shell is about an eighth of an inch thick, so I needed to use a power drill to poke the holes on each end to blow it out—no small feat, by the way. It's now sitting elegantly in an old metal urn. Thanks JC!

photos, Diane Carnevale

Fruits + sprigs

A bowl of citrus fruits and sprigs of pine combine to make an gorgeous Christmas decoration. This is the magic touch of my Sister-in-Law, Sheri.

Think zinc

I am so in love with anything from Restoration Hardware, and was wildly delighted when their latest, um, catalog, arrived in my mailbox. The September Vogue has nothing on this catalog for girth and weight—it's the biggest catalog I've ever seen! When I flip through the pages of this pulp behemoth, I find myself singing "these are a few of my favorite things" from the Sound of Music. The gorgeous zinc outdoor objêts shown in the photo above make my heart sing, and my wallet shout, "not today dear," though I must confess to buying a few of them over the years when I've caught a good sale. I have also found similar zinc objêts at Homegoods. It's all about the drama daahling, so I always look for oversized pieces. If you are on a budget, you can also do wonders with zinc chalkboard paint for "the look."

Currently coveting...

 

...these beautifully crafted inlaid mother of pearl pieces offered through Wisteria catalog. Black stained mango wood has been intricately fitted with hundreds of pieces of pieces of bone and mother of pearl. They'd look absolutely smashing against a colorful wall—like magenta pink or the tiffany blue shown in the photo below. Find the mirror and chest of drawers, chair, tray and bedside table all at Wisteria. I can't afford them, but I love them!

Gingerbread man ornament

Ahh... the day after Christmas... empty boxes and filled hearts, torn wrapping paper and that half-eaten gingerbread cookie from the plate left out for Santa. I made this gingerbread man ornament when I was around 8 years old out of a brown paper bag, crayons and yarn. I actually sewed the two edges together with a needle and yarn, and I remember doing the task as if it were yesterday. My mom still places this gingerbread man on, or at least near, her Christmas tree every year. 

Once there was a gingerbread man,

Baking in a gingerbread pan.

Raisin eyes and a cherry nose, 

Trimmed right down to his fingers and toes.

A gingerbread man in a gingerbread pan!

Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree...

I think that decorating Christmas trees is one of those rare times times that you can throw that old saying of less is more right out the window. It's OK to go overboard, if you wish. In true Tony Duquette style, more is more, and over embellishing and "ridiculous excess" (to quote William Shakespeare) is absolutely allowed. Everyone's trees are beautiful in their own individual way, whether they are decorated with natural ornaments such as pine cones, cinnamon sticks and dried orange slices, or decorated in Star Trek ornaments. My friend Liah does a Winnie the Pooh theme on her tree, and my friend Elaine does all purple ornaments.

This is my 'silver' tree—each and every ornament on this smallish tree is silver only. It stands proudly in a double window on the second floor of my home. On it I have antique crackle glass and hand-beaded ornaments from India—fleur-de-lis, tasseled balls, stars, paisleys and triangles—nestled next to filigree silver balls and snowflakes, Eiffel Tower keychains bought in Paris, Hand painted silver Santas bought in Rothenburg, Germany, Mexican hammered tin hearts, silver bells, round beaded discs (actually coasters) and funky little disco balls that catch the sunlight and make hundreds of "light fairies" that dance on the walls and ceiling. I try to buy in sets of a least a dozen each so that ornaments repeat throughout the tree, which is the same sort of design trick I use in the garden. To gild the lily even more I have clear glass teardrops on the tips of nearly every branch, and a beaded silver star at the tippity-top. All told, there are probably hundreds of ornaments... and this is just my silver tree! Downstairs I always have a larger tree that is only gold and red ornaments (crazy, I know). 

Read about my gold tree here: 

http://dianecarnevale.blogspot.com/2013/12/gold-red-tree.html