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Friday, November 18, 2011

Another Way to Get Around It....

This morning I realized that it is just a bit over a month until Christmas is here....Again....As I am still not in the mood for the half inch house, I needed another excuse....

I wouldn't want to be a bad influence on Claudia by encouraging her to start another house before she finishes her first house, so maybe I should put it away for a while....

Last year, about this time, I started thinking about doing a Christmas living room with Santa inside. Somehow, that just didn't thrill me. It has been done so many times.

I got out the box of Christmas Minis, and as I passed through the house, I spotted the gazebo that I did a few years ago. It is now pretty boring and stale.

As Tessie dug through the box, I remembered that, when I was little, it was a tradition to go somewhere to sit on Santa's lap and tell him our Christmas wishes. There are still stories of the first time my parents dragged me into Sears to sit on Santa's lap and I screamed bloody murder because they wanted me to sit on the lap of that strange, scary guy with the white beard. I never did live that down. I still got presents, so I soon figured out that Santa was a myth.

I think that Tessie has had that figured out for a long time. She still sat on his lap in the Christmas box and asked for a long list of gifts. He finally pushed her off of his lap and stood up so that she couldn't ask for more.

I seem to remember that one year the "real" Santa was set up in a gazebo of sorts and it was more fun than just Santa sitting in a big chair in front of a fake backdrop. Sooooo.....I put two and two together.

With the help of Tessie, Zar and Santa, we whipped it into shape in no time.

Here's the old version.

Basically, I painted over the lavender flowers that were on the trim. I changed out the wicker for an easy chair and footstool for Santa. Oh, and a rug in Christmas colors was installed.
This is the new version.

I used the sparkly chenille stems for wrapping the posts. I installed a few bottle brush trees. After all, this is Arizona and we don't do real pines as much as other parts of the country. You are just lucky that Tessie didn't plant prickly pears and saguaros around the outside.

See the slight sprinkling of snow on the ground? I raided the pantry and used some Kosher Salt. After Christmas, I will just dust it off. Critters and bugs don't like salt, so I am not worried. Not that I have critters and bugs. Just a statement of fact that it won't attract them....

Santa is now ready and open for lap-sitting. Of course we all know which person is going to be first in line. I am not sure how she managed it, but she already has a package in hand.

I will probably go back and do something with the bases on the bottle brush trees in the front. More railroad greenery, coming right up.

See you tomorrow.

11 comments:

Phyllisa said...

Hi Casey. I like your Santa/gazebo
idea. I have a Santa and gazebo. I
think I'll put them together for a Christmas display. I also have children that can visit santa. What
fun! Let's see what else do I need
.......... garland, check; trees,
check; packages,check; "Visit Santa"
sign,check. I'm all set.
Phyllisa

Lucille said...

Mookie, (that's his name, right),(LOL) is looking so cute as he observes Tessie. I just love the colour of his fur. Very nice what you did with the Gazebo, Casey! I'm starting to get the Christmas mood at this time of the year. Pretty soon, I'll be watching my taped Christmas movies!

Caseymini said...

Cate, something happened to your comment. I am not sure what. It disappeared when I ok'd it. Yes. I know about the beekeepers quilt. Very pretty. I am more of an instant gratification kind of knitter....Socks are faster.LOL

Lucille, That is Widget. He's the striped one. Mookie is the solid one(part Russian Blue)It's easy to mistake one fot the other. They are both shades of gray.

Thanks Phyllisa, I forgot to put out a Visit Santa sign...Maybe with shop hours.

Claudia said...

Don't worry about being a bad influence. I'm already eyeing that box with the half inch house every time I go into the office. I have to pick out wallpaper for the bathroom and craft room in the 1"house, do the floors, and trim and then it's time to furnish. That may take a while. (I'm eyeing that Reutter Aga stove. I want it for my kitchen!)

So I just may have to start another project. I love the gazebo and Santa.

I'm looking forward to decorating my dollhouse (at least on the outside) this Christmas!

xo
Claudia

Phyllisa said...

Hi Casey. Have you seen the
Mackenzie-Childs Themed Dollhouse? I just found it.It's fantastic. I want one!
Here's the link:

http://creatingdollhouseminiatures.blogspot.com/2011/11/mackenzie-childs-themed-dollhouse.html

Phyllisa

Susanne said...

Very sweet, Casey!
Love, Susanne

Fabiola said...

Good idea! The Gazebo with Santa is fantastic.
Bye Faby

jeanuhlik said...

Hi! First time here, but been reading your blog for about 3 days now. Trying to find out where and when you and Tess met (please don't tell me, I want to be surprised) My only problem is when I click on the month...it has the number of posts in parenthesis behind it, it only brings up starting in the middle of the month..about the 16th or 17th. How do I read THE WHOLE MONTH? This is addicting reading your blog, by the way...love it!!! ((huggs to Tess) Jeanie

Caseymini said...

Jeanie, unfortunately Blogger has changed the format since I started. They now cut the months into sections. I don't know if it's that way for all blogs, but it is for mine, because I haven't missed a day since Feb of 2008. If you want to be brave and start from the beginning, you have to go to the bottom of the list and start with Feb(8) That means that there were 8 entries for that month. The problem with the longer months is, you have to click "Older Posts" at the bottom of the page to get to the first of the month.

You can pretty much go through the whole thing just by pushing "newer posts" at the bottom of each page if you start at the beginning. I know that you will tire of reading after a while, but if you are determined, you can just put the date that you are on(URL) in your favorites and go back to that page and just keep going.... Tessie first showed up about a year after I started. That's the only clue I will give you.LOL Let me know if you have anymore questions. Happy to answer.

Merri said...

Ohh I like this idea. It's darling!

Hey, I have three houses all in an unfinished state. I just went back to work on the biggest, but it won't be totally ready for Xmas :( Still, I can hang some wreaths outside for the holidays, and put up some lights!

Caseymini said...

Merri, I did a half scale Christmas house when I first started. It was really fun. Then someone offered me good money for it and I sold it....I sometimes wish that I hadn't.