Quandie

the kitchen.

Published on January 8, 2026January 7, 2026 by Quandie4 Comments

Today I’m sharing the first room I’ve completed in the free dollhouse, but before we get to that let’s take a quick look a the ‘before’ of the interior.

Conveniently, the interior walls and floor pull out as one piece. That makes it super easy to work on them.

There was just one room in the house that had any pre-existing “decor”, and that was the kitchen.

I think maybe that was contact paper rather than wallpaper, but either way it was pretty easy to pull off.

After giving the interior a good cleaning, I painted over everything with Dixie Belle’s Ecru to create a blank canvas.

Next up, I applied some self-stick subway tile wallpaper to the walls.

I purchased this last year from Itsy Bitsy Mini Store on Etsy. I was planning to use it in the bathroom of my dollhouse, but ended up not liking the scale of it for that room. But it was perfect here.

The flooring came from Miniature Crush.

I felt like the white was a bit too bright for me straight out of the package, so I experimented with some options for toning it down a bit.

I tried all three of these products on some scrap pieces.

The DIY Dark & Decrepit Liquid Patina was way too dark The Sweet Pickins Dark Oil Wax was too oily, it moved around too much on the flooring giving an uneven look.

The Dixie Belle Brown Wax was workable enough without being too slippery, and I was able to apply just enough to tone down the white without it just looking dirty, so that’s what I went with. I realize that it’s a bit hard to see in photos, so you’ll just have to take my word that it toned that white down just a bit.

My initial plan for the free dollhouse was to simply add wallpaper and flooring to each room, and call it done. I spent just under $100 for some flooring, wallpaper, supplies to create a ship lap wall in one of the rooms and some wainscoting for one of the rooms. It added up fast.

I hope to sell the finished dollhouse in the end, so I didn’t want to sink too much more money into it. I don’t think I could sell it for enough to recover any additional expenses.

But then I thought about some of the items that I already had on hand, but was unable to find spots for in my own dollhouse, like the patisserie cupboard.

I also have a set of furniture that my friend Amy gave me for Christmas.

So I decided it couldn’t hurt to ‘lightly’ furnish the house with stuff I already had on hand.

I ended up using the sink and stove from the set from Amy.

I gave them both a whole new look by painting them in Dixie Belle’s Midnight Sky.

As for that sweet little shelf that you see above the sink …

That was sent to me by one of my readers, Wendy. She actually sent me several really nice wood pieces that I hope to use more of in future projects.

But for now, that shelf was perfect for this kitchen after I painted it, also in the Midnight Sky.

I think the blue & white china (also a gift from Amy!) was a good addition to this otherwise all black and white kitchen too.

After putting some of the china on the shelf above the sink, and then also filling the cupboard …

I still have a bunch left to use in my own dollhouse (or potentially another future dollhouse project).

One thing I’m still not that good at is getting photos of completed miniature rooms.

I’ll have to keep working on that skill.

But in the meantime, what do you think of the kitchen? Leave a comment and let me know.

no. 42

Published on January 6, 2026January 6, 2026 by Quandie24 Comments

As you know, last winter I refurbished the dollhouse that my dad made for me over 30 years ago.

After re-painting the exterior, I redecorated the interior, one room at a time.

The project kept me busy for pretty much the entire winter and into spring.

If you’re interested in seeing all of the details, go to my “mini’s” category to see those posts.

That project is nearly completed though, so I was feeling rather sad that I wouldn’t have another miniature project to keep me occupied during the long Minnesota winter this year.

Then one day last summer my friend opK texted me to say that there was a dollhouse free at the curb just around the corner from my house. So I hopped in the car to go check it out.

And here it is.

Whoa, huh?! It is definitely mustard yellow!

And definitely filthy dirty.

It’s not nearly as detailed (or as large) as my own dollhouse. However, I’m envisioning something a bit more rustic looking in the end and I’m getting inspiration for that from this fabulous piece that I saw on Instagram from Black Barn Vintage.

Initially I wasn’t exactly sure how I was going to get that aged look while still completely covering that mustard color, but I thought I’d see what I could do.

My first step was to thoroughly clean the dollhouse inside and out with hot soapy water.

You’ll probably have noticed that this dollhouse is made out of a weird cheap plywood …

Is this stuff even called plywood? Or does it have another name? Either way it has a lot of unappealing texture to it, so I added some of Dixie Belle’s Sea Spray to their Coffee Bean paint and gave the entire exterior a coat of that. The Sea Spray will add some texture to the paint, which will help tone down the plywood texture.

Once the Coffee Bean was dry, I brought out Dixie Belle’s Crackle. I thought it might work well to further disguise some of that original texture.

I’ve actually had this product in my supply cupboard for … dare I say … probably 4 years or more, and I’ve never used it. I’m not sure why. Maybe because the faux crackle look kind of gives me flashbacks to the “country” decor craze from the 80’s. Actually, I hear that’s making a comeback, so if you’re into it, Crackle might be the perfect product for you.

Today’s q tip: you will see the color that is underneath the crackle medium through your final paint color. I definitely didn’t want to see that original yellow, so that’s why I started with a base coat of Coffee Bean.

OK, so once my Coffee Bean color was fully dry, I applied the crackle medium using an inexpensive brush. I like the Synthetic Chip Brush from Dixie Belle that costs a mere $1.50 for tasks like this. I randomly applied the Crackle to the corners, under the eaves and around some of the windows. I didn’t want the entire thing to crackle, just some crackles here and there, so I didn’t fully coat the entire dollhouse. I then allowed the crackle medium to dry for 24 hours.

Next up I pulled out my Dixie Belle Ecru paint and brushed it on all three sides of the dollhouse (I left the roof in Coffee Bean) and waited for the magic to happen.

Ta da!

I love those results. It definitely helps the weird plywood texture look more intentional, sort of like stucco. I think it gives off a European vibe. So I decided to lean into that a bit by adding a German stencil to either side of the house.

They actually do have buildings with writing on them in Germany, sort of like this …

I kept mine a little more simple.

I used a stencil that was given to me by Lynne from Ellen J Goods. It’s from her set of four 8″ German Grain Sack Stencils. I chose Dixie Belle’s Dried Sage for the stenciling rather than a black or the Coffee Bean (which is a dark brown/black) because I wanted it to look as though it has faded with time.

Next up I used the Ancient Findings mold from re.design with prima and some I.O.D. Air Dry Clay to create a pair of ‘plaster’ medallions for under the peak of the roof on either side.

I painted the medallion in Coffee Bean, followed by Ecru as well. I didn’t want it to jump out at you, but rather to be a more subtle detail.

I think the Crackle, stencil and medallion all give your eye something else to focus on rather than that plywood texture.

The front door and the window sills are also painted in Coffee Bean.

I considered replacing the door with something with a little more detail, or adding window panes somehow, but all of the openings on this dollhouse are a bit over-sized. So, I decided to keep it simple and just paint them.

The little brass “42” came from my scrapbook supply stash. I mail ordered the lights from Hobby Lobby for my dollhouse last year, but they ended up being too large. I think they work well here though. They do actually light up if you put a battery in them, but I haven’t quite gotten around to that just yet.

I did doctor them up a bit. They originally had a shiny black plastic finish that looked pretty cheap.

I painted the black plastic with more of the Coffee Bean, and once dry I added some of the Bronze Age metallique wax from re.design with prima.

So far I am loving how this project is turning out.

I’ve already begun work on the interior, and my plan to not spend more than $100 has completely flown out the window. But I’m having so much fun!

I hope you’ll stay tuned as I continue to work on this free-at-the-curb dollhouse!

the year in review.

Published on January 1, 2026December 31, 2025 by Quandie12 Comments

Happy New Year!

Rather than making a list of resolutions for the new year, which often leads to a sense of failure when you don’t actually accomplish most of them (hello exercising at least 5 days/week), I find that it’s much more satisfying to celebrate the things that you did accomplish over the previous year.

I don’t know about you, but I definitely tend to forget about the stuff that I’ve already done and focus too much on the stuff that I haven’t.

So for me New Year’s Day is a good time to look back and remind myself what I did in 2025, starting with my dollhouse reno.

I have to admit, when I originally decided to tackle this project I half expected it to get pushed to the back of workshop mostly unfinished. I definitely was not confident in my ability to get it done.

But as it turned out, I really enjoyed working on it. I finished 9 rooms, if you count the two hallways as rooms.

I do have two rooms left, the living room and the library (which is up in the tower). I’m just waiting for some inspiration to strike for the living room, I don’t have a clear idea of how I want it to look yet, and the library is just going to require a lot of books.

I’m sure you noticed that most of the furniture I painted in 2025 was miniature too.

I had so much fun creating miniature pieces last year.

They are so much easier to work on than full sized furniture!

But now that my dollhouse is mostly complete, I’m not sure how I’m going to justify continuing to paint more miniatures. I’m working on a plan for that though, so stay tuned.

I did manage to paint a few full size furniture pieces this year including a desk that I purchased for just $4 at a garage sale.

I also painted up this small cabinet …

and a trio of bar stools.

I hope to do more furniture when the weather warms up enough for me to work out in my unheated carriage house workshop again in spring.

I created quite a few rusty masterpieces in 2025 using Dixie Belle’s Patina Paint as well.

I use the Iron Paint and the Green Spray to add faux rust to otherwise somewhat boring (or dare I even say, tacky) items.

I love using it on plastic garden planters especially.

To me they look totally realistic, and since I don’t want to spend a few hundred dollars on an authentic iron garden urn they make a great alternative.

I also used Patina Paint to transform garish orange pumpkins into rusty masterpieces.

They were a big hit at my fall sale.

Speaking of which, I managed to host the Carriage House Sale twice last year. Once in May …

and again in October.

I definitely plan to do that again in 2026.

Of course, I also painted a multitude of toolboxes in 2025. I haven’t taken the time to count them all, but here are a few of my favorites starting with this pretty one from back in January.

I honestly could share a favorite toolbox from every month of the year, but that might get tedious. So I’ve only gone back to May for this next favorite.

It seems that I had a recurring theme of roses last year.

I can’t help it that I.O.D. has so many beautiful rose themed transfers.

I did find some other florals to use too.

And of course I did a few holiday themed boxes as well.

I did a lot of traveling in 2025. I took several trips to visit my mom (she lives in a suburb of Las Vegas).

I plan to head back there again in February.

I also took two trips to Orlando to visit my favorite theme park last year, one in February with just my sister …

And one in November with both my sister and my niece.

Mr. Q and I took a fantastic trip to the Brandywine Valley in May.

If I had to pick a favorite trip in 2025, this one was it. We enjoyed checking out gardens …

historic towns …

historic homes …

and battlefields.

We also took an Azamara cruise along the St Lawrence Seaway all the way from Montreal out to the Atlantic Ocean in September.

Honestly, this trip would probably have rated higher if I hadn’t come down with Covid halfway through.

But prior to getting sick, we did do some fun sightseeing in Montreal.

and we really enjoyed the Fortress of Louisbourg.

And despite being rather under the weather, I did get to see Quebec City which has always been on my bucket list.

I finished the travel year off with my annual trip to Puerto Vallarta with my neighbor’s family.

A week at the pool with a good book is the perfect way to relax a bit during the holiday season.

I spent a bit of time out in the garden in 2025 too.

Despite my jumping worm infestation, things looked pretty good for most of the year. I did have to do more watering and fertilizing than I used to do, but fortunately now that I’m retired I have time for that.

Although I was mostly focused on maintenance for 2025, I did finally choose a tree for the front yard.

It’s a Princeton Gold Maple, fingers crossed that it thrives in 2026.

For that matter, I hope for the same for myself and for all of you. May we all thrive in 2026! But before we move on to the new year, maybe take a moment to create your own list of the things you accomplished in 2025! It’s so much more rewarding than making a list of resolutions, and I bet it will be much longer than you think. In fact, why not share some of your accomplishments with me in a comment?!

Happy New Year!

tidings of joy.

Published on December 26, 2025December 23, 2025 by Quandie12 Comments

OK, I know, Christmas is over. It’s time to move on.

And originally I wasn’t going to share today’s project here. Especially since it’s a Christmas present and I didn’t want to give it away because the recipient does occasionally read my blog. But then I loved how it turned out and decided, well, why not share it after Christmas?

You’ll remember the recipe box makeover that I shared last week.

Well, when my niece saw that post she was about to leave a comment suggesting what a great Christmas present this would make for one’s niece. But then she saw that I mentioned it had already been sold.

Well … no problem. I decided to just make another one for her. I had another small, wooden recipe box on hand, and I also had more of the I.O.D. Partridge Lane transfer.

I did my usual prep of cleaning, scuff sanding, and applying a coat of Dixie Belle’s Bonding Boss. Then after two coats of DB’s Ecru, I first applied one of I.O.D.’s Twelfth Night paint inlays to the top of the box.

Then I added some more of the building fronts from the Partridge Lane transfer to the front …

and I wrapped them around each side.

I also added a small number transfer from Tim Holtz on one side.

You may notice that these buildings are a bit larger than the ones I used on the first recipe box. The Partridge Lane transfer comes with three different sizes of buildings, and these are the biggest.

I lined the box with some cute Santa scrapbook paper.

I simply used double sided tape to hold the paper in place. If it gets dirty and worn down the road, it can easily be pulled out and replaced.

Ultimately I think I like this 2nd box even better than the first.

What do you think?

P.S. I painted up that first box way back in October and just waited to share it with you here last week. As you can see, the view outside the window behind the box has changed quite a bit since then. It’s a little more white than green now.

OK, that’s it for Christmas projects, I promise.

What’s next? Well, I’m not entirely sure. I plan to take a short break between now and the New Year, during which time I will be working on a list of ideas for winter projects. Painting the bathroom? Making over a dollhouse that I found free at the curb? Painting more toolboxes? Adding some much needed final touches to previous home decor projects? How about finally getting around to painting the inside of my kitchen cabinets? I’ve got lots of ideas!

I hope you’ll stay tuned to see what I get up to!

merry mini christmas!

Published on December 24, 2025December 23, 2025 by Quandie24 Comments

For my final Christmas project of the year, I thought it would be fun to create a mini Christmas vignette.

And I thought of the perfect spot for it, inside my clock cloche!

I started by ordering a few items from Miniature Crush. They are a miniatures mail order company located here in the Twin Cities. They don’t have a brick and mortar, but they do ship super quickly which I always appreciate.

I ordered a wing back chair, a fireplace and some wallpaper (the star lights are from a local gift shop).

Next I got out my Dixie Belle paints and got to work. I started with the chair.

I gave the chair a base coat of Dixie Belle’s Coffee Bean, which is a dark brown/black color. I wanted to cover up the original red completely and have a dark color to distress back to.

Then I added two coats of Dixie Belle’s Putty. Once dry, I added a small transfer from the I.O.D. Santa’s Hollow set to the seat back. I modified that transfer a bit to make it work for the chair by painting over some portions with more of the Putty.

Once the transfer was in place, I gave the chair a topcoat of Dixie Belle’s clear wax. Then rather than distressing back to the Coffee Bean underlayer, I used some of DB’s Dixie Dirt in the Earth color to add some age.

I used a small brush to apply it to some of the corners and creases.

Oh, and FYI, I dry brushed some of the Putty paint over the Coffee Bean on the legs of the chair to bring out the detail.

Those adorable packages on the chair were a gift from my friend and fellow Reclaiming Beautiful vendor, Amy (they were the perfect addition to my Christmas scene Amy!).

Next up, the fireplace.

Unfortunately, it seems that I may have ordered one of the last of this style available from Miniature Crush because it’s now sold out.

I like purchasing these unfinished pieces and then putting my own stamp on them. Once again, I gave this piece a base coat of the Coffee Bean, then I added a couple of coats of DB’s Ecru over it.

In this case, I did distress the paint back to the dark undercoat.

I lined the back of the fireplace in some brown brick textured paper from Miniature Crush. Then I used some of re.design with prima’s Bronze Age metallique wax on the surround. I applied a little Mod Podge over the brick and then sprinkled on some more of the Dixie Dirt to make the brick look sooty.

I gathered some twigs from the garden to cut into logs for the fireplace.

I realize now that it would have worked better to get some photos of these details before hot-gluing the Christmas stockings into place, but … well … I didn’t do that.

Speaking of the stockings, I made those myself.

I layered ticking stripe fabric on either side of some thin batting, gluing all three layers together. Then I cut out the stocking shapes. Once I had them cut out, I had to add a little more glue to the ‘seams’ using a toothpick. Finally I added the trim from an old hanky to the top of each stocking with some more glue. Easy peasy.

One of my favorite pieces in the vignette is the ‘painting’ of Santa that hangs over the fireplace.

That came together so perfectly! I used I.O.D.’s Air Dry Clay and their Frames mold to create the frame. Once the clay was dry, I once again began with a base coat of Dixie Belle’s Coffee Bean. Then I applied their Antique Gold gilding wax over it. The dark background really makes those frame details pop.

I then painted the center oval with DB’s Ecru. Then, as though it was meant to be, that Santa transfer, also from the Santa’s Hollow set, was the perfect fit for the oval. Did they plan that? I don’t know, but I love it.

There are two more similar Santa transfers in that set and now I’m thinking I might frame those up and add them to the wall as well.

By the way, the wallpaper is also from Miniature Crush. It’s the Berkshire Damask Clay on Cream Bradbury & Bradbury paper.

The ‘wall’ is just a piece of foam core board that I cut to size. I used spray adhesive to apply the wallpaper, then I used double sided tape to stick the ‘wall’ to the back of the fireplace so it would stand upright. I also used double sided tape to ‘hang’ the painting on the wall. We’ll have to see how well that holds up over time. I may have to use something stronger down the road.

Before I move on to my final favorite detail, let’s address the elephant in the room … the Christmas tree.

You know how it is when you go to the tree farm and you pick out what you think will be the perfect tree, then you get it home and it seems to have grown 2 sizes on the drive home?

Something similar happened here. I ordered this tree from KADkrafts on Etsy. It’s available in two sizes; 7″ and 9″. Naturally I ordered the larger size, somehow thinking that the 7″ would be too small. Of course, when it arrived I realized that the 9″ tree was going to be a bit overpowering in my vignette.

However, aside from the size, this tree is perfect. I think it really looks like a real tree. So I decided to go ahead and order the 7″ one too (I can use the 9″ tree in the dollhouse garden, when I get to that). Unfortunately, even though I paid extra for priority shipping, and it was supposed to arrive on Monday, it’s not here yet. Lucky it wasn’t meant to be a Christmas present, right? So for now I’m just using the larger tree, but not decorating it with anything more than the lights.

That brings me to my final bit of miniature Christmas fun!

The tree is just waiting to be decorated with a non-collection of Shiny Brite ornaments. These were a digital download from Etsy. In other words, you download a digital file, print it out, then cut out the paper and glue it into box shapes. It’s a little bit putzy, but I love the results.

So there aren’t any presents under the tree yet, Santa will bring them tonight. But, who needs presents when you have all of these Shiny Brite ornaments?

I struggled to get a good photo with the glass cloche in place.

But there was a little too much light bouncing off the glass. However, I have to say that this little scene looks best at night when it just lit by the glow from those little star lights on the tree.

With that I’d like to wish a mini Merry Christmas to all of you who celebrate it! And to those who don’t, not to worry, we’ll be back to our regularly scheduled programing after the New Year.

the left-overs.

Published on December 22, 2025December 21, 2025 by Quandie18 Comments

Every year I seem to end up having a couple of holiday projects that I meant to blog about, but somehow they didn’t make the cut.

Sometimes it’s just because I didn’t think there was much to say about them. For example, I painted up some faux cutting boards earlier this fall, and then added some of the I.O.D. Clementine transfers to them.

You might be thinking that those don’t look like ‘holiday’ decor, but the Clementine transfer was from the I.O.D. 2025 Holiday Release. They did turn out lovely, but what could I say about them? Paint the cutting boards, sand to distress, add a transfer and bam! You’re done.

I also sometimes don’t share a project because I don’t like how it turns out. For example, I picked up a pair of rusty deer at the Bachman’s after Christmas sale a couple of years ago. They were definitely an impulse buy, and I really only grabbed them because they were 75% off.

Unfortunately, I didn’t take a true ‘before’ picture of them. However, after initially deciding to add some simple small stencils to them last year I did take a photo.

The stencils weren’t quite right. So I shoved them into the back of the closet and walked away (remember? I said I have a tendency to do that when things don’t turn out).

But I pulled them back out again this year and decided to give them a different look. I was inspired by the finish on the container in this photo …

I started by painting over the deer entirely using a Dixie Belle color called The Gulf.

Then I stippled on blotches here and there of the Iron Patina Paint and followed that up with the green spray and then waited for the rust to appear (for a more detailed tutorial on using the Patina Paint, check out this post).

Next I pulled out an old re.design with prima transfer simply called Deer. I used this transfer on this tacklebox back in 2019.

I still have some bits and pieces of it left, so I picked out some appropriate wording to add the bases of my rusty deer.

Well, somewhat appropriate anyway.

I do really like how the patina ended up looking on my metal deer. They are a bit more rusty than the inspiration piece, but I think that’s OK.

By the way, if you’re looking closely you may notice that I still had a leafy green background in the garden when all of these photos were taken. I actually finished these projects before my sale back in October.

Finally, some projects get pushed to the bottom of the list because something that I liked even better took precedence. Such is the case with a trio of brushed that I upcycled as decor.

I purchased this old wallpaper paste brush at a garage sale a couple of months ago.

I simply added some Tim Holtz Eccentric Remnant Rubs to the handle.

In hindsight I wish I would have trimmed off the words “skill and” and just went with “for amusement only”.

Too late now.

For the next brush I started by painting the metal ferrule to give me a clean background to work with. I simply brushed on some of Dixie Belle’s Truffle, and then while it was still wet I also blended in some of their Ecru.

Then I applied a label from the I.O.D. Winter Botanist transfer.

I had to cut it up a bit to get it to fit just right, but I love how it turned out.

I liked the addition of some more color in the transfer, so I went all out on the next brush with some more sweet little birds from an I.O.D. transfer.

I liked how the brushes turned out, but it just seemed like I always had something better to post so these kept getting pushed to the bottom of the list.

But with that, I’m nearly done with Christmas projects. I have one more special project that I did just for myself to share on Wednesday though, so be sure to check back for that!

the partridge lane box.

Published on December 17, 2025December 16, 2025 by Quandie16 Comments

My friend Sue picked up this wooden recipe box for me a while back.

The design on the front was definitely outdated, but other than that it was in pretty good shape.

I think these little boxes make fun, quick and easy projects. I’ve done a few of them over the years, like this one …

and this one …

These recipe boxes are fairly easy to come by at garage sales or thrift stores.

For today’s recipe box, I started out by sanding down the design on the front. It didn’t feel like it was raised at all, but I often think that only to find that the outline does show up after I add paint. Next up I gave it a coat of Dixie Belle’s Bonding Boss to prevent any bleed thru. I’ve also learned that these old recipe boxes frequently have a finish on them that will bleed (read about that here).

I then gave the box a couple of coats of Dixie Belle’s Ecru, and before allowing the final coat on the top to dry I added one of I.O.D.’s Twelfth Night paint inlays.

Once dry, I gave the paint inlay a quick spray with some Rust-Oleum matte spray sealer to seal it in. I know you sometimes see people skipping this step, but I find that it’s really easy to smear those inlays if you skip it. Better safe than sorry, right?

I then used some of the cute little houses from their Partridge Lane transfer on the front …

and around the sides.

I just love the detail on these little buildings.

After adding a little “No. 154” to the front corner of the box, I lined the inside with some red and green plaid scrapbook paper.

Finally I finished off the outside of the box with some of Dixie Belle’s clear wax.

Wouldn’t this make a fun little gift box for Christmas? Or maybe go old school and actually keep your favorite holiday recipes in it. Either way, it was a quick and easy project to work on, perfect for a winter afternoon spent indoors crafting.

I took this little box into Reclaiming Beautiful back in early November and it did sell fairly quickly.

I have a few more recipe boxes in my stash to work on over the coming months. How about you? Have you ever painted up any of these small boxes? Leave a comment and let me know.

a winter garden tour.

Published on December 14, 2025December 13, 2025 by Quandie18 Comments

Good morning from the garden!

Brrrrr!! It has been cold here! Sub-zero temps in December are not my favorite. However, we had some really beautiful snow earlier this week, so I thought some of you might enjoy a tour of the winter garden.

So bundle up, grab a hot beverage, and let’s go!

Cossetta (my statue) has her feet buried in snow, but it’s not quite above her knees yet.

Here she is in January 2023 when she had snow up to her waist!

Will we get that much snow this year? I don’t know, but we’re off to a good start.

Most of the plants that I left standing in the garden have been buried in snow already, but for now the allium is still standing. I like how the snow looks like little pointy caps on their heads.

If we get much more snow, they will eventually end up buried as well though.

Speaking of buried, sometimes I’m not sure why I bother with winter window box arrangements when they will just end up covered in snow.

Then again, you never know. Last year we barely had a dusting of snow by Christmas, so I was able to enjoy my winter window boxes much longer.

Besides, the spruce tips do look pretty covered in snow …

and even in icicles in some cases.

If you remember my post about these winter arrangements, you might be wondering if the ornamental kale and the heuchera that I kept in place are surviving.

I was hoping they would at least last through Christmas, but again, I never expected sub-zero temps this early in the season. So the answer is no, they didn’t even survive much past Thanksgiving.

We had a bit of wind with this snowfall, so some areas drifted more than others.

I’m glad I didn’t leave my red and white skates on the bench because they would definitely be buried.

They are still looking good hanging from the chippy sled though.

The potting shed is looking festive.

I’ve hung one of my sleds beside the door, and although you can’t see them very well in that photo, I have some star burst lights hanging from the roof on the right.

They do a good job of lighting up the garden after dark.

I had grandiose plans of putting a Christmas tree inside the potting shed this year, but I let it go too long and now it’s far too cold to be out there setting up a tree. Maybe next year?

Even though I cut quite a lot of my hydrangea flowers to dry this year, there are still plenty left. I like to leave them in place for the winter to add some interest to the garden. They catch the snow quite nicely.

Especially the large Limelight hydrangea to the right of our front door.

It ends up looking like a snowball bush!

As always, the carriage house provide a festive pop of red in a snowy landscape.

It’s definitely looking like we’ll have a white Christmas this year.

Now it’s time to head back inside to warm up with some hot cocoa. But how about you? Have you had much snow where you are? Leave a comment and let me know.

the cape cod box.

Published on December 11, 2025December 10, 2025 by Quandie16 Comments

I’ve got another holiday tacklebox for you today.

If I remember correctly, my friend Sue found this one for me.

And now that I think about it, it’s probably not a tacklebox. It doesn’t have a pop up tray inside like your typical tacklebox. Perhaps it’s just a lockbox or strong box of some kind?

Regardless, I gave it the usual treatment. I scrubbed it with soap and hot water, then gave it a light scuff sanding, followed by a coat of Dixie Belle’s clear Bonding Boss.

Then I painted the interior in Dixie Belle’s Barn Red.

Next I painted the outside in DB’s Ecru. Once that was dry, I taped off a wide stripe down the middle and painted it in more of the Barn Red.

After sanding to distress the paint a bit around the edges, I added some pretty florals from the I.O.D. Winter Botanist transfer.

The little bird is also from the Winter Botanist.

The wording is from an old re.design with prima transfer called Classic Vintage Labels. I’d forgotten how some of those first generation transfers could leave that faint halo around them when used over a darker paint color.

But it’s far more noticeable in that close up photo than it is with the naked eye.

I used another portion of that Classic Vintage Label on the front of the box.

I finished the box off with a coat of Dixie Belle’s clear wax.

While I had my paint out, I also decided to paint up another trio of thrift store books.

They are also painted in Dixie Belle’s Ecru, and I used that same I.O.D. Winter Botanist transfer on the spines.

I was in a bit of a hurry to get these items photographed and into the shop before I left for Mexico, so I only managed one final photo.

I’m fairly sure that the box has already sold, but I’m not sure about the books.

With Christmas fast approaching (is it really only two weeks away?), I’ll probably only share a few more holiday projects this year. But which ones have been your favorites so far? The toolboxes? Painted books? The sleds? Or maybe the ice skates?

santa’s workshop.

Published on December 9, 2025December 8, 2025 by Quandie14 Comments

First up, congrats to Ally. I drew her name at random to win my blogiversary giveaway. Many thanks to everyone who took the time to leave a comment, I appreciate every one of you!

In other news, I’m back from Mexico and working hard to get back in the festive Christmas spirit. And by working hard, I mostly mean I’m watching sappy holiday rom coms while watching the snow come down outside my window.

I have to say, it’s a bit jarring to go from 85° and sunny with this view …

back to 4° and this view, with more snow predicted today.

But that being said, it’s always good to be back home and ready to work on some projects.

Speaking of which, over the summer my friend Jackie gave me a bunch of boxes to paint, including a small cardboard case with a handle. Then, just a week or two ago my friend Susan also gave me a small black case.

Since I got such good results adding a stencil to an unpainted suitcase a few weeks ago, I thought I’d try it again with both of these.

Let’s start with the black case.

It’s a little beat up, but I think that’s part of its charm.

I first added a shadow to the words “Rudolph and Co” using Dixie Belle’s Dried Sage.

Then I applied the entire stencil using DB’s Ecru.

By the way, I think I often forget to mention it, but I usually fill in the bridges on stencils using a small artist’s brush. For more info on what that means, and also on how to create the shadow, check out my ‘how to stencil’ post.

This little case had some pretty fabric lining, but there was a big stain on the bottom. So I simply covered that up with some Christmas themed scrapbook paper.

I gave the outside of the case a quick coat of Dixie Belle’s clear wax to add some protection.

Moving on to the cardboard case.

After using my usual technique of stenciling the larger typography in a dark color, in this case Dixie Belle’s Coffee Bean, to create a shadow, I moved the stencil slightly up and over and then … well … I made a colossal mistake.

I taped the stencil down around all four sides. This particular stencil is cut pretty close to the edges of the stencil and I thought it would best to avoid getting paint off the edge of the stencil with my large Best Dang Brush from Dixie Belle (my favorite brush for stenciling, FYI) by taping them off.

I used the yellow Frogtape, which is meant for delicate surfaces, but nonetheless, when I pulled it up it took the top layer of the case with it.

Ugh!

I really should have seen that coming! It was especially disappointing because the stencil itself looked really pretty darn good.

My typical first reaction to this sort of thing is to throw a little tantrum, and then shove the item to the back of the closet and leave it there. According to my mother, this was how I handled her telling me to hang up my coat as a child. I guess some personality traits never change.

But, I’m slightly more mature now. So I took a step back and thought perhaps I could fix it with paint.

I started by stippling some of Dixie Belle’s Dried Sage over the tape damage. It’s a little more green than the background color of the case, but it was the closest color I had. Next I stippled some of the Coffee Bean over it.

It’s not perfect, but I think it sort of works. I’ve gone ahead and ordered some Dixie Belle paint in a color called Pine Cone to see if that might be a closer match. But in the meantime, I think this was a pretty good save.

As for the inside of this case, it was lined with paper that was a bit stained. So I got out my stash of scrapbook paper and picked out some Christmas paper to affix over the old stuff.

I’m not 100% positive, but I’m fairly sure that is another paper from October Afternoon, a now defunct local company that made all kinds of fab scrapbook supplies.