The Christmas Village Tree

Yesterday, my hubby and I decided to have some fun decorating one of our smaller Christmas trees.  I had seen this on Pinterest and it looked like something I wanted to try - a Christmas Village on the Christmas tree.  My main Christmas village is set up in a different area but I still had some smaller pieces that I could use.  My hubby secured the buildings for me using fishing line.  It holds and it's practically invisible.  If you want to know how well it held, read about it near the end of this post.

We didn't have enough pieces so we just pushed the tree into the corner and decorated what we could.  If you're wanting to try it yourself, the buildings are often available at thrift stores if you want to do it cheap.  The figures can sometimes be purchased at your local dollar store.  I used cotton batting for the snow (hubby's idea and a good one) and hung some icicle decorations up to brighten things up.  Keep reading...I may need to make a visit to the thrift store and dollar store myself...

Sooo...I put the fishing line to the test today.  As I was cleaning, I "gently" moved the little stool the tree was on when KERSPLAT (is that how you spell it LOL??).  The tree toppled over and landed face down, I was scared to look.  I think it toppled easily due to most of the weight being on one side.  Unfortunately, 3 pieces were slightly broken but it held up much better than I thought.  But do you know what?  As I picked the tree up, the buildings were still hanging on (and I do mean hanging, they require some rearranging).  The fishing line held.  My hubby is out purchasing my Christmas presents right now.  I bet he'll be thrilled to find out I broke something else.  He must really love me.  I hope he doesn't share this with Santa haha!!

On another note, this is a photo from 2 days ago while I was getting ready for work.  It was just starting to get light outside.  Our warm weather lasted a really long time this year but as I live in a snow belt, I knew it was just a matter of time.  We have had lots of snow and have been having snow squall warnings daily for possibly a couple of weeks or so.  There is no wind today though.

The sun was starting to come up.  I know, the icicles aren't a good thing but I thought they looked pretty.

I love the blue sky but in the winter it means it's probably cold.  And it was.  This was yesterday.

Looking out the livingroom door towards the pond.

We forgot to bring the table in off the deck, it looks like it will be a little hard to get to now.

I hope you have a wonderful week ahead and thank you so much for dropping by.  I'm always thrilled with your visits.

~ Kelly ~

The Barn Wedding

So here it is...The Barn Wedding.

The barn wedding post has finally been completed.  What an adventure it has been.  I had so many troubles with accidentally multiplying photos, losing photos, actually losing the whole post at one point.  I won't go into too much detail but this one was a struggle.

So without further delay...

Let me introduce to you the newlyweds.  Brad and Char (Charlene), my hubby's nephew and his new bride.  These two are deeply in love and we wish them all the best for a wonderful future together.  

An interesting fact about these two is that they were born on the EXACT same day in the EXACT same hospital.  Who knows, their beds may have been side by side.  As they grew up in different towns, they didn't actually meet until about 3 years or so ago.  They were married on their birthday.

This photo was taken at the front of our home.

They had an uneven number of the ladies verses the gentlemen.  When the ceremony was over, they walked down the aisle in 3's and one set of 2.  It worked great.

These two were so lucky.  We had days and days and days of rain prior to the wedding, even the day before it poured.  On the day of the wedding, the sun was shining and it was a warm, beautiful day.  The following day?  Rain.

There were actually 3 more members of the wedding party.  Three females.  They also walked down the aisle.

Zoe

Bailey

Frankie

I stole the photo of the barn from a previous post of mine.

Let's go inside...

Do you want to see the loft?  Then come along with me...

The left/balcony is a small area directly above the kitchen and washrooms.  The groom and his "boys" spent their time here while waiting for his bride to arrive.

The view from the loft.

The chairs weren't available for the photo as they had been placed outside for the ceremony.

I didn't like these lights at the beginning as they looked like tavern lights with colorful shades around them.  I decided to try replacing them with canning jars.  It worked.  Now I love these lights.

So let me take you outside to show you where the ceremony occurred.  Come this way...

Just outside the main entrance of the barn.

My hubby's sister, her husband, their granddaughter who was the flower girl on the left and Lily on the right.  As you can tell, Lily just loves spending time with them.

This planter is actually a milk strainer that I found at a farm yard sale.  Unfortunately due to many days of rain and no sunshine, my pentunias weren't exactly in full bloom.

I had this hanging on the front of my home.  I hope the hydrangeas hadn't wilted by the time the wedding party arrived for photos LOL.

It's now time to take you back into the barn...follow me...

I love the old beams.

Looking up to the other side of the loft.

This old piano came with the barn and we didn't have time to deal with it before the wedding.  The bride got creative and used it in her display behind the head table.  She also has mini lanterns strung up but they weren't lit up at the time of this photo.

You can see the display at the back of this next photo.

This photo is actually from the rehearsal dinner the night before.  This poor little girl was exchausted from having the countryside to run and play in.  Everyone was stepping around her and she slept through it all.  She still needs her puppy naps.

The kiddie table.  It looks like a lot of fun to me.

My granddaughter, Lily, was invited to the wedding.  She's having a great time playing with the Play-Doh.

Oh my...

In memory of grandparents that are no longer here.

The bride and groom are animal lovers.  They have 3 dogs, 2 cats and 2 rabbits.  The cake topper really reflects their lives.

Their engagement photo.

This wagon was used as a wedding card box.

I'm sure most of you know John Wayne, "The Duke".  He came with the barn.  He was not invited to the wedding but insisted on staying.  It resulted in a shootout between my hubby and The Duke.  My hubby won!  Sorry Johnny.

The sun was beginning to set.

And they lived happily ever after...the end.

I'm so glad you came for a visit to my barn, I hope you enjoyed the wedding.  There were so many photos that I didn't have - lighting at night, guests, etc. so these will have to do.

I am so thankful for the comments you leave, it's always a pleasure to read them.

 Thanks for stopping by.

~Kelly ~

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