Show & Tell Friday...Seasonal Snippets!

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Hello my friends...I'm so happy to see you today!
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Today, I'm joining in with Cindy from My Romantic Home for "Show & Tell Friday"!

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Please go by and pay Cindy a visit...I guarantee that you'll be glad that you did! Cindy has a fabulous blog and one of the prettiest homes in Blogland! While you're there...you can check out all of the other "Show & Tell" participants!
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Seasonal Snippets...

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Ohhh...do you know that we only have 35 days until Christmas? I'm so excited...Christmas is my favorite holiday!!!

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I'm trying to be patient...I mean, we haven't even had Thanksgiving yet! Hehe! So I will leave the dining room, which is presently decorated in all of its Fall finery, alone...until after Thanksgiving! However...I have started a little bit of my Christmas decorating in the living room.

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As many of you know...I just finished putting in a faux fireplace in my living room and I've just been "bitin' at the bit" to decorate that new mantel! Hehe!

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I'm not ready for the "reveal" but I wanted to share just a few "Seasonal Snippets" with you....

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so without further ado...

Christmas 2009 at Happy To Design!

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Santa Claus is coming to town...
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I started collecting Santa Claus' about three years ago. I haven't gotten very far...I only have three! Hehe! This Santa is one of my favorites! He looks very elegant in his cream colored velvet robes...trimmed with gold...don't you think?
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Ahhh...just look at that sweet face! I love his kind and gentle eyes!!!
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And...where would Santa be without his reindeer? Hehe!
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I recently found this set of reindeer at Hobby Lobby. They were on sale for 50% off...yeehawww! I love the burnished gold and that fabulous filigree cut-work!
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Just a pretty French finial amongst some Christmas berries!
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Shhhh...I'll tell you a little secret! I have even started playing Christmas music already! I especially love listening to all the Christmas songs about the birth of Christ...my favorite!!!
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"NOEL"...french for Christmas! This beautiful "Noel" sign is another Hobby Lobby find. I bought it last year...during their "after Christmas" sale. I could hardly wait to get it out this year and use it! It really is beautiful...I love the french scrolled border! It's a nice sized piece...standing about 12 in. tall...and it's very heavy! If I remember correctly, I only paid $4 for it...it was marked 90% off!!! I love after Christmas sales...that's when I buy all my decorations!!!
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AND...I'm giving you a "sneak peak" at my brand new...decorated for Christmas...mantel!!! Stay tuned for the full reveal! Remember...this is about "Seasonal Snippets" today! wink!
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Joyeux Noel...

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Merry Christmas!!!
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I know...I know...it's a bit early! Hehe! But...it won't be long now...Christmas is drawing near! Have you started your Christmas decorating?

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Well my friends...thank you so much for coming by today! I hope that you enjoyed a few of my "Seasonal Snippets"! Please leave me a comment and let me know that you were here...I'd love to visit with you!!!

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Love ya'll,

Chari

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Met Monday & A Faux Fireplace Update...Part III

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It's Metamorphosis Monday!
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Hello my friends...I'm so happy to have you stop in for a visit today! I hope that you're having a marvelous Monday!
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Today I have another update on my faux fireplace project! I really appreciate Susan over at Between Naps on the Porch for hosting Met Monday and giving us the opportunity to share our latest and greatest projects!
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Please go by and pay Susan a visit and while you're there you can check out all of the other fabulous Met Monday participants!!!
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Part III...A Faux Fireplace Update

The faux fireplace saga continues! Hehe! Many of you have been following the progress of my faux fireplace project...so I will try and not reiterate too much!

To see Part I...just click HERE.

To see Part II...just click HERE.

My Inspiration Fireplace

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This is my "inspiration fireplace"! I fell in love with this fireplace the minute I saw it! And...it's not just the fireplace...but it's also the warm, rich ambiance of this room that I love!
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Soooo...when I found a fireplace mantel that I thought would be very similar and would work in my living room...the project began!
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The Living Room "Before"....

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My living room is a very long and narrow room. The wall that you see featured in the photo above is a wall that juts out into the center of the room. I have always struggled with this wall...what to do with it...until a couple of years ago when I decided to just go ahead and make it a "focal" point. We added panel moulding to this wall and I really was quite pleased with it!!!

Then....when I found my "dream" mantel...I decided that this would be the perfect wall for my faux fireplace! It already looks like a fireplace should be here...simply because this 10 ft. wall juts out about 2 1/2 ft. into the center of the room. It's perfect!!!
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The Faux Fireplace Project Begins...
Step I...Taking the Moulding Down

The first step was to take the panel moulding off the wall. Yes...I agonized a bit over this decision...I really, really did like my panel moulding! It just didn't work with the fireplace mantel though...besides the fact that it wouldn't allow the mantel to sit flush against the wall...it also really looked "busy" to me!
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I must admit though...after taking the moulding off of the wall...I wondered if I had done the right thing...it looked pretty "rough" at this stage!!!
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Step II...Patching & Repainting the Wall

The first thing I did after removing the moulding was to patch that wall and repaint! After doing that, it was a bit easier to picture the "finished" project!
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A "Real" Faux Fireplace
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From the beginning of this project, I had established that I wanted my new faux fireplace to look as "real" as possible! Actually, I could have just placed the fireplace mantel right against the wall and on top of the carpet. But...I wanted more! I wanted my fireplace to look real!!!
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Step III...The Hearth

Now it was time to concentrate on making this beauty "real"!!!
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I really didn't want my new mantel to just sit on the carpet so my honey built a hearth for the mantel. He used 3/4" MDF and built a box with a ledge on top...painted it black...and VOILA!!! I now have a fireplace hearth!!!

After setting the mantel up on the hearth...in place...I decided to paint the wall behind the mantel black...to look like the firebox. So what do you think? Is it looking more "real"? I think that my faux fireplace project really started to come together at this point! I was very pleased with what we had done so far...but...it was still lacking!

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Step IV...A New Tile Surround

I did say that I wanted this faux fireplace to look "real"! Hehe! Well...the fireplace needed a tile surround so honey came to my rescue once again! He's the bestest honey ever!!! Thank you, Russell!!!

We had some left over tile from our bathroom floor project from a couple of summers ago...just enough to use for a tile surround for the fireplace! Honey just took 1/2" plywood and cut it to the shape of the fireplace opening...and then added the tile to the plywood. Ooops...I almost forgot to tell you...the tile was white with a gray marbling, so I had him spray the tile with a flat black spary paint. I really wanted to do a faux finish on the tile and decided to use a gold metallic paint. The photo above shows the tile surround...ready for my faux finish! Yep...it's right on my kitchen bar...it's where I do my best work! wink!
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Faux Fireplace Complete!!!

Taaadaaa!!! Here it is...in all its glory!!! My completed fireplace!!!

Ohhh...and here is my latest treasure find...new chairs!!! I found two of these pretty chairs on Craigslist...they are perfect for this area in the living room. Before, I had a matching love seat and sofa here. I was never really happy with the arrangement because the furniture was just too big for this narrow space! Sooo...out went the sofa...we took it to the upstairs guest room. Now I just have the loveseat and these two pretty chairs...they fit perfectly and now this end of my living room looks larger and more balanced! I'm very pleased!!!
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A frontal view of the fireplace with its new tile surround!

Now you can see the faux finish that I did on the black tile...using the gold metallic paint. The metallic is really picking up the light from the photo in this shot...it's really not quite this shiny. In fact, the photo below better represents the true color, etc.

I do really like how the metallic picks up the light though...it's really pretty!
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See how the metallics are picking up the color from the carpet...a beautiful effect!!!
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A close-up of my new chairs! I am thinking about refinishing these little beauties though! Hmmm...another project for another day!!! Hehe!

Well my friends...my faux fireplace project is finished and I'm very pleased!

Now I'm ready for the fun part...decorating that fabulous mantel!!!

Stay tuned...maybe there will be another Met Monday post in the making! Hehe!

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Thank you so much for coming by today and taking a peek at my finished project! Please leave me a comment and let me know that you were here...I would love to visit with you!!!

Love ya'll

Chari

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