{my favourite projects of 2010}

Hard to believe another year has flown by!

 It has been an exciting year - I have met many wonderful friends through blogging and have had some of my projects featured in some amazing blogs and websites.  

A big thank-you to all my followers and friends that read my humble blog, it makes my day when you leave such encouraging comments. 

There will also be a few changes in the new year at hodge:podge, my new blog header is getting some final tweaks and should be up in the next week or so and I plan on launching a new series, so Canadian, eh? where I feature and/or interview various Canadian bloggers, designers, artists, and etsy sellers. I hope to have the first feature in a few weeks! Stay tuned....

But....

We can't end 2010 without re-visiting some of my favourite DIY projects from this past year.


{January}


 Taking a thrift store lamp from gram to glam....



{February}

Recently this tutorial was featured on Adventures in Renovating a Brooklyn Limestone.



{March}

Not much happened as I spent 2 weeks in Hawaii with our eldest daughter's track team. 

I know life is rough.


{April}



{May}

Monogrammed a small chair just for my niece.


and had the pleasure of getting together with local design bloggers at the quaint Little White House Cafe in Fort Langley


{June}

Transformed a junkstore mirror with a little spray paint.


{August}

Made subway/eyechart art for my son's room.


{September}

Created an art wall in my eldest daughter's room.


{October}



{November}



{December}

No exciting DIY projects but instead had a few projects featured on various blogs and
enjoyed getting our home ready for Christmas.


Wishing you all a prosperous and blessed New Year!

and
and

{merry christmas}

My posts will be sporadic over the Christmas break, I will be enjoying much needed family time. We have a fun filled break, enjoying Christmas Eve with my sister and family, then an open house party for the neighbourhood at our home next week, tickets to see the Nutcracker ballet with the kids, maybe some skiing at Whistler and just some R&R! 


I would like to wish everyone a wonderful Christmas from our family to yours!

 I have been overwhelmed by the all the support and followers of my humble blog, which I started to document how I turned a ho-hum rental house into a warm and inviting home for my family using my imagination and ingenuity. Thanks for all your support!

Merry Christmas!

{as seen on HGTV.com}

Remember last month when I mentioned that I had a major website interested in one of my projects? 

It was HGTV.com!


They contacted me and asked for photos of my diamond-tufted headboard. It will be featured on several galleries. The first one went live yesterday! 


 Check out my diamond-tufted headboard featured on HGTV.com 20 Over The Top Headboard photo gallery! My humble headboard gets to share the gallery with the amazing Janell Beal's from Isabella & Max Rooms, All Things Thrifty, Niche Interiors, and Troy Beasley!

What a great Christmas present!

XO Barbara

{czech nativity}

Thank-you 
to everyone who left such flattering comments on my {holiday home tour 2010} post! They gave me such joy!


 Many of you admired my paper Czech nativity, wondering where I got it from. Since there was an overwhelming interest I thought I'd write a post about it AND I wanted to give one of favourite bloggers, Dana from Bungalow 56 some joy. She admired my nativity so I am linking up to her "Finding Joy" link party.


 Here is a bit of family history behind that nativity. My parents have the same nativity,  which they displayed every year at Christmas time. So beautifully illustrated {designed in 1923}, this version of the nativity has been part of Christmas since I was little that I was thrilled when my dad bought it for my sister and I on one of their trips to Prague. It came on a large sheet of card stock which you painstackingly cut out each figurine. The nativity is designed to be  displayed with each figurine taped to a platform, but I decided to glue a bamboo skewer to the back of each character and then poke the skewer into a batting covered foam. 



The figurines in the nativity are all representatives of typical villagers in a Czech village wearing traditional Czech dress, each bearing a gift to the Christ child, something they specialize in, for example, a musician is playing a violin, a baker is bringing bread, and we can't forget the neighbourhood pub owner who is even bringing a pint of beer {the Czechs like their beer}. As a child I loved to stare at the scene and make up stories in my head about each figurine. I love how beautifully illustrated each piece is, with so much detail.

What I am thrilled to share with each of you is that after a quick internet search you can download and create your own nativity!

All you need is some really good card stock and a great colour printer.


To download and print one just like mine you can find it here.

The fun doesn't stop here, I found another web site that has a plethora of more traditional Czech nativities that you can download and put together. 
The website is called the "Crechemania Store", it is full of free and for purchase creche downloads such as this one
You can even print ornaments, fold out nativities, and little houses to create a village.





Merry Christmas,
Barbara

{holiday home tour 2010}

Welcome! 

We are all dressed up for the holidays!


 Come on in.....


 Our living room....



{Living room reflection from dining room mirror}

{even comes with a lovely blue exercise ball :)}

 Christmas vignettes...




Handmade green and red embossed velvet stockings...









Moving on to the dining room...






 Getting cozy in the family room...


 Traditional Czech nativity {cut from paper}...




Our Christmas tree..


 Gingerbread houses....



Hope you enjoyed my tour, come back and visit again!





XO Barbara

{thanks}

Thanks to







Hoping to join in the Nester's Christmas 2010 Tour of Homes tomorrow, trying to sort through photos.


My new blog header has also been delayed due to my indecisiveness about colours and fonts. Crazy, huh?
Didn't think it would be so difficult!

xo Barbara