abeachcottage

Dollar Free Beach Cottage Christmas Dress-Up

G'day.  

Monday morning here, it's beautifully hot.  I have sore back of legs from yesterday's too long on the beach.  It seems to be that I worry so much that the kiddos are sun safe that I miss out one area of myself every time.  So last night, very sore, I googled 'natural sunburn remedy' and found aloe vera and considering I have two aloe vera plants in the garden, hopped out there in my pyjamas and picked a few - splodged out the gel and wacked it on.  Wow, that stuff rocks!  Instant relief...

Anyway, enough of my stupidity.  We spent most of Saturday putting up Christmas decs.  Did you?  

This is our first Australian Christmas in our own home.  And our first real Christmas at the Beach Cottage, as last year we headed North to Queensland for Christmas.  And I have to say that I'm quietly excited about that because ultimately, putting aside all the horrible commercialism around it, there's nothing I like more than fiddling around with decorating, sparkly things and cooking big birds!

 

So, after vague ideas of keeping it sparse this year, I decided stuff that and rather thought we'd go for it.   I use that term loosely though, because I'm sure that some of you reading this, especially if you are in the States, could well think my idea of going for it pretty pathetic.  

After trawling through the ideas in the magazines and not being inspired by anything I decided on keeping it to one main palette of white and silver, and then adding flowers, things from the beach, things from outside and basically stuff I already had. 

This was the first thing I did - I wanted to create something in the hallway and I'd seen a mantle dressing in a magazine where they'd used real live fir tree branches stuffed with all sorts of twinkly bits and a few rustic cones.  

Well without wishing to bore you with that budget thing again *smile, I had two problems with live fir or buying an artificial.  One even if I found a real one, I didn't think it would last more than a week in these temps and two, I had set myself up to dress this place without spending much and after looking at the artificial ones in my price bracket, I thought I would rather go without. 

But press on did the hardy Beach Cottage Decorator On A Budget.  

I decided, as I did with the shell wreath to Do-It-Myself and shopped the house.  

 

I don't have a mantel here yet (I'm cooking up a way to get one though), so I cleared off the vintage unit in the hall - this is how it looked before (and go to Susan's for more makeovers)

 

 

Three main ingredients equals one DIY garland...candles, greenery and pretty things...this turned out quite OK...and I can easily replace the greenery every week and add a few fresh flowers every now and then to keep it looking cool...

 

I didn't spend a penny on this, everything came from things I gathered from this very tatty and very messy-at-the-moment old cottage.

 

Whaddya think of my playing Christmas-dollar-free dress-up?  I'd love to hear your comments...

 

The giveaway winner from last week, is Tiffany, thanks to Susannah Tucker for this and there'll be another one, a beachy one this week...stay tuned beach chicks!

here's the comment she left: my kinda girl :-) 

hey Sarah! So I am addicted to your site :) I just bought my first place, not a beach cottage on the outside (a condo in the burbs) but inside I have brought the beach. Your budget friendly ideas have so inspired me! I have done a white wash table, end table, coffee table.....on and on....but my fiance knew I was addicted when the wooden oars I ordered arrived :)

So if you need a fan to ship these lovely prints to, count me in!

xo

tiffany from maryland

oh and a little housekeeping thing - if you subscribed with Feedblitz, please re-subsribe here or with the button at the top as Feedblitz no longer works, thanks! 

The Annual Christmas Beach Cottage Pilgrimage

 

Helloooo! 

Phew that week is ticked off the calendar, one more to go with a big sports event, school event and sports award and things may get a little calmer round here. 

You should see this place.  It really is in total chaos, there's shopping I haven't put away and it's still upside down from the shoot (oh and for those of you who are interested in the other shoots I mentioned I have the pdf, I'll get that uploaded soon).

Last night we went Barefoot Bowling, yup a Christmas tradition it seems to be & still a tad strange for us fresh off the boat to go bowling outside in the evening without any shoes on for a Christmas do.  Took my camera to show you this Aussie thing and left it in the car...duh. 

Anyway last week I got to sneak in my Christmas pilgrimage to IKEA.  Different to other years where I've positively revelled in a whole day of it - a trip to the cafe for meatballs, lingering over each department.  This time it was a whistlestop drive-by on the way home from a long day of sport and with the three kiddos and one rather, how shall we say, less-than-thrilled-to-be-there Mr BC.  He soldiered on for the sake of marriage though.  Bless him ;-) 

 

nice idea, but not sure you'd paint a tree on the wall, would you?  (though I'm digging the sound of Dulux metallic paint lol)

Before I go on, as we sat in traffic on the way back to the beaches I thought about IKEA.  I know a whole lot of it is crapola and the instructions you need a degree for and all the rest of those sort of things.  Oh and yes, of course, I know, the snob factor - I mean do you really publish on the internet that you go on a crusade every year to a budget lifestyle store dahling? 

When we first came here, before we lived in this tatty old cottage and were in a different suburb, I hadn't quite clocked that one shouldn't quite share one's love of IKEA with certain, ladies who lunch.   I blathered on about things I'd got there, somewhat animatedly and will never forget one girl's total astonishment that I had been shopping in there  "What"?!! She exclaimed, looking down her very large nose.  "I couldn't even bring myself to step foot in there, I only shop in boutiques"!  

So putting all snobbish-ness aside (& please feel free to leave should you too shudder at all things IKEA) this visit, I enjoyed, and after the disappointment with the other Christmas decs around and about this year, IKEA delivered and I spent the rest of the budget in there.  And got heaps. 

I already bought a huge roll of brown craft paper so didn't buy any but could have filled a trolley just with wrapping, boxes, bags and all that paper paraphernalia.  Funny how all girls seem to love all things paper isn't it?

 

Obviously very Nordic - lots of sparse red and white, and though I love that look (& tried and failed to pull it off last year), there was silver too, which I loved and bought... there was black in there too, I already told you what I thought of that...

Some nice room settings

I loved this when I saw it on the website, but when we got there, decided against it...

 

bundles of red and white, including these little boxes which I thought would be lovely with brown paper, but didn't buy

baubles were the best value, and some of the nicest I've seen

 

lots and lots of different wreaths

& after all that, at the end...the food, the meatballs, the chocolate & the food packaging I love - all European and Nordic...but without the huge price tags in the boutiques that usually go with that..

 

 
 

 

So, it's all over for another year...

Fortunately for all those involved in this excursion, I did not turn into the IKEA Witch, however I did so wish I might fit in here with these two...

 

It was nice to get home, feet up and a cold beer...

 

Enjoy the weekend, we are tree trimming, the kids are baking Christmas Fairy Cakes as I type and Mr BC has been fixing lights just about all day.

find Christmas stuff, here, a few simple decs with the old vintage lamp here and here the white tree from last year (that none of us like and now worse, has yellowed), there was also a festive tablescape with some Nordic red, here.

don't forget the giveaway, you can still comment to enter