Tuesday 18 December 2012

Ta-dah! Tuesday - Last one before Christmas!

Hello, and welcome to another Ta-dah! Tuesday. Sorry I've been a little sketchy with this recently, you'd think being deprived of my online life would have me making more things wouldn't you? Oddly, even though it's my own link-up, I do sometimes start to feel like it's double maths next and I haven't done my homework if I've got nothing interesting to share!

Anyway, this will be the last one before the 2013 - given that next Tuesday is Christmas, and we'll all be in some kind of food coma/drunken stupor - so please please get linking up, old posts are fine as I've missed quite a bit, and I'd particularly like to see anything festive you've been creating. [Hmm, the Tuesday after is  New Year's Day, so perhaps we should reconvene on January 8th].

I've finally made my wreath for outside the house - it would have been on the door but it weighs several pounds and I couldn't figure out how to attach it short of hanging it from the knocker. Also it seemed a little unfair on the postman to have to navigate past all the unruly prickly bits in order to bang on the door. Last year I had one made of willow and fake berries - very pretty but with an unfortunate side effect they didn't mention on the sweetie darling yummy mummy over-priced website I was silly enough to have bought it from. It stank. Seriously, imagine a tramp's boots donated to that charity shop. The one you avoid because it reeks. I have no idea why it smelled so bad, but it got embarrassing to open the door, get a whiff and notice people wondering why my porch smelled like the rhino area at Longleat safari park. It had to go.

Instead I've spent the morning wandering shiftily around our local cemetery with secateurs in hand, trying to find interesting greenery. So, here's my attempt - it's in a soaked oasis wreath base so hopefully it will survive at least a week. Despite what a friend on Facebook suggested, I did not remove the finished result from anyone's grave. Honest.

Ok, there may still be a few stinky berries on it.
The bloody birds have eaten all the real ones. Pure selfishness.


Rustic
{that outside light has never worked. I don't even know where the switch is}


It was harder than you'd imagine to find holly, but I finally found a small bush right over to the far side of the cemetery  near a section of tiny children's graves which are overgrown and clearly no longer visited. All  aside from one - decorated with tinsel and flowers - belonging to a little boy who died aged two back in the 1940s. It was bitter-sweet to imagine a by now presumably very elderly parent or sibling still coming and making it pretty for Christmas, amongst all those that have been long neglected. While I was roaming around, I also discovered this grave:



Intriguing huh? Turns out that Winchester Cathedral suffered badly with subsidence in the early 1900's - cracks big enough for an owl to roost in, apparently - and the under-pinning was being hampered by the fact that the workmen's trenches filled with water faster than they could dig. So solo deep sea diver William Walker was brought in, and spent the next six years 20 feet underwater for six hours a day, in complete darkness, evacuating the flooded trenches and filling them with bags of concrete. Given that the Cathedral is still standing, he really can be said to have saved it with his own hands. He died of the Spanish flu after the First World War. [I have no idea how he ended up in South Norwood].

After all my adventures with greenery I hauled some more ivy in from the garden and have been pretending I have ye olde ancestral hall by draping it across mirrors and mantelpieces in the style I imagine Henry VIII might have liked.



How have you decorated? Kitsch or classic? Or both? Link up - I'll add some of last year's Christmas posts as I've been so slack this December so far. I do have a Christmas eBay special coming up though!

Lakota x


34 comments:

  1. Definately more kitsch than minimalist here - have linked up as I've posted pics today :)

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  2. It has to be a bit of both. I'm not clever enough to pull off classic as well as you have here, so I hide behind my attempts by pretending it's MEANT to look like a 1970's grotto.
    I started a blog post this morning with some of my craft efforts, so I'm glad you've done a Tah Dah linky.

    You could make a fortune selling those weraths.

    Lucy x

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  3. Your decs look great! I have some dreadful hessian thing I made on the front door. It doesn't really work...

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  4. I think you've done a cracking job on the wreath - it's gorgeous!!.. you should see my sad effort from last year...it's ridiculous - must take it off the door and fix it up a bit - there are two sad little cream pompoms that are hanging lopsidedly off each side like some drunken old man's balls. And lots of drooping fabric bows. Really pants.

    Our Christmas decor, what there is it of, is sort of classic with a little bit of vintage kitsch. Which pretty much sums up our house really...and the classic bits are not from me...I have no taste whatsoever. :)

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  5. Your greens look wonderful! love where you have hung the gorgeous wreath :) postie will be happy!

    Bee happy x

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  6. Knock, knock
    Cooeee - just popping round for a mince pie and anything else that might be on offer! Shut the door it is ruddy cold! Love the range of decs - I do 'classique' (ha ha) and gaudy in equal measure - doesn't really matter so long as it is a) cheap b) easy to do. The one on our door cost less than £1 to make I reckon (that was ruddy expensive glue gun glue) so if it gets pinched I won't be cursing for ever after!
    Poignant grave yards scenes
    Thanks for popping by the other week - mince pies on me next time
    Best wishes
    Jenny

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  7. Your wreath is lovely. (Mine are all fake this year) Although they were handmade by me 3 or 4 years back.
    I have vintage Christmas stuff and nowaday Christmas stuff. My NEWEST retail Christmas purchase was my brand new tree balls. Turqoise silver and grey. After using the same darn balls for I don't know HOW many years I decided we needed a change this year.

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  8. Fabulous wreath, and I love that you have been loitering with intent in your local graveyard. I've been having a right spot of bother trying to link up with your Ta-dah Tuesdays, I've not been able to for a wee while now. Keeps telling me I need to create a backlink in order to join in. No idea what the bolly bobbins that means. So will add my link here and see if I can fingure it out. Sorry hon, not ignoring your lovely link-up just clearly not doing something right!!! Em x
    http://mimiandtilly.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/happy-holidays.html

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  9. I've figured it out! Was trying to add the ink in my blog post after the link here and it wasn't letting me. Sorted. xxxxx

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  10. Great decorations.
    Love from Mum
    xx

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  11. Food coma/drunken stupor...can I come round yours for the festive season?
    Love your wreath. I'm afraid if I put one on the outside of our front door it'd get nicked!
    I posted my Christmas cards and went into town to collect my prescription that I forgot to pick up yesterday. That is about as 'Ta-dah' as I can get at the moment. Can that count?
    Z xx

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  12. Love the door wreath - all the better because you made it yourself!
    Liz @ Shortbread & Ginger

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  13. Your wreath is so pretty! Good idea using the cemetery for your floral needs.

    I've read about William Walker. It's quite a story. In fact, most of those amazing cathedrals have pretty amazing stories!

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  14. Oooh, how lovely your wreath is! I like the fact you made use of the cemetery! The diving story is ace!
    Can't WAIT for the Ebay post!

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  15. That wreath is really lovely Lakota, far more personal than a bought one. I have never thought about hanging one on our front door (I'm sure it would look a little out of place in our neighbourhood). I think Cemetry's are often very interesting places, full of unknown history xxx

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  16. The wreath looks great, only vaguely graveside chic. Ha, only joking! I like a bit of ivy over my pictures too, tree plus cards up and a few strings of lights here and there and we're done.
    That story about the boy's grave from the 1940s is very poignant. And the Winchester cathedral tale is great.
    I've linked up, but for the most dubious of reasons... Please don't ban me from taking part! xxxx

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  17. Every year I say I'm going to make a wreath for the front door, but still haven't got round to it! Yours looks brilliant and very glossy. Fascinating story about the diver - does make you wonder.

    Hope you have a fabulous Christmas! x

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  18. Still to make my front door wreath. Linked my new indoor one. Love the ivy flowers in yours. Nice to see you posting again. I sold the ice bucket at the fleamarket at the weekend. x

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  19. Truly a wonderful wreath to greet Christmas guests, just lovely.
    The story of the little boys headstone is heartwarming and sad, time moves on but the memory of a loved on never passes.
    Love v

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  20. your wreath and swag (i think thats what they are called) look wonderful, proper festive. i had a trying time trying to get holly too. my bushes died of last year and the neighbours got rid of his triffidous one-and can i find another in my town-nope. and i aint buying it so it will be placky all the way this year x

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  21. That wreath looks great but you'll need to wrap it in misted-up cellophane to get the full graveyard vibe!
    We've a glut of holly bushes in our garden, maybe I should have chopped it and tried flogging it down the market. Missed a trick there. x

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  22. That reminds me of our halloween pumpkin, it smelled really funky after a couple of days.
    Good job on the wreath, it looks excellent :)

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  23. So pretty, I love the wreath. We don't have one in our new home but we do have a wee Charlie Brown Christmas tree - not sure what the look is - cute?
    Neat story about the Walker - to think a diver saved a church!
    Have a happy, happy holiday Lakota! Xoxo

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  24. Beautiful live decorations straight from the garden, er, graveyard. Very industrious of you. I have nothing up. but I did decorate myself a bit as you can see...

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  25. Glad you got rid of the putrid wreath, the one you made is gorgeous and I'll bet the postie gives a silent thank you every day "thank god she god rid of that shit stink!" Children's graves ... so, so sad, but to hear that a very old grave is still being tended is so touching. If Henry VIII looked anything like Eric Bana, I would have draped myself in poison ivy just to get his attention - probs not a good look after about an hour though;). Been missing your fab posts darling! xoxo

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  26. I'm ashamed to say we have yet to decorate. Well I got a "spray" thingie of pine, holly, etc for the front door a few weeks ago, does that count? We have too many birthdays this time of year and always have to wait until after my daughter's party to decorate... that was on the 8th. Yes, we've been lazy, but on the 9th adopted the sweetest little kitty and have been busy socializing her with our dog (a westie who doesn't know she's supposed to be white, hence reeks or whatever she's been rolling around in.) When I manage to get tree & decor up I do kitchy. I bought a big white tree with built in lights a few years ago and adore it -- would've loved the pink better but they were all gone. Here's something funny, the first xmas when we were married, we had only known each other like 6 months and had nothing, so decorated with mardi gras beads, and a Jem doll for the star (Jem was a rocker "truly outrageous" and this one had light up earrings!) Jem would approve of your wreath as do I, and it's indeed "truly outrageous!" Love the ivy too... hmm you might have given me an idea... XXX

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  27. Now that is one spectacular looking wreath, Lakota. How unlike my furry pompom effort...(I should've linked up - never mind). I like the way you've draped foliage over your mirror. But how on earth does it stay up? Everything is falling to the floor or unravelling in our house *sigh*. xx

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  28. That's a really interesting story, being stuck underwater for 6 hours a day in darkness is not many people's idea of decent job. I love your wreath, I usually bring a lot of holly and ivy and whatever else in just before Christmas, kitsch and pagan is my style

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  29. Nice X-Mas decorations - I have joined the blog hop for the first time - is there anything extra i should do...

    Ariane x

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  30. The wreath looks great, and I like the greenery round the mirror too. This year our decorations were all totally fake - fake tree tastefully decorated with a carefully chosen selection of decorations by my daughter, fake wreath on the door and fake swag up the stairs. They look quite nice, but nothing beats the real thing, stinkiness and all!
    x

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