For Nora and Lucy!

I try to make Thanksgiving weekend my cutoff date for furniture painting projects. After that, it's time for the cars to reclaim the garage for winter. But this year, I had to fit in one more project for two special little girls ~ Nora and Lucy. Their mom Meghan is one of our favorite Elizabeth & Co. customers. Rumor had it that Santa might be delivering a kitchen set for the girls, so of course they would also need a table and chairs too.

All the pieces were found separately. But in their fresh beachy colors,

they work beautifully together.

The table is painted with my favorite Buttermilk shade of milk paint, then fun stripes were added with Old White, Louis Blue and Provence chalk paint.

The chairs were also painted Provence.

Seriously, how cute are these curvy chairs?

Then all the pieces were lightly distressed and waxed.

Delivery was made on December 23rd.

I made it before Santa!

Merry Christmas to two of my favorite little girls!

And that's it, my last furniture project for 2011!

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Domestically Speaking Power of Paint Party

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you all a warm and wonderful holiday!

I am so grateful to be a part of the

generous and supportive blogging community.

And I so appreciate the time you take

to spend here at Elizabeth & Co.

You are a constant source of inspiration.

And your friendship, kind words and encouragement

have enriched my life beyond measure.

Wishing you the best in 2012.

May all your dreams and wishes come true!

Winter Ice Candles

Today is officially the first day of winter. I think someone forgot to tell Mother Nature! Our forecast is calling for temperatures near 60 degrees. Hmmm, not what I was expecting. And I'm not usually one to complain about warm weather, but I really like the holiday season to be cold and snowy. And I was hoping to make some beautiful new ice candles to welcome our holiday guests, but it is just too warm at the moment. This was one of my favorite projects from last winter. And since we have lots of new followers, I'm going to share it again. If it's cold where you are, then you are in luck. You can make ice candles!

I made these on the morning of a gathering at my house, so I made them fairly small. I needed them to freeze by evening. But you can get creative with the size and shape. Big chunky ones would be fabulous! Just fill a waterproof container with water. Add a second smaller container also filled with water for weight. The smaller container should float so that there is space for ice to form under it. The space created by the smaller container creates a cavity for a candle.

Filling the outside edges with cranberries helped to center the smaller container and just made the candle so pretty! Get creative. Orange or lemon slices and some greenery and pinecones would look really great too.

I put the containers in my freezer to help them freeze faster, but this will work outside as long as the temperature is below freezing. Once they were frozen, I just ran some warm water over the larger container and they popped right out.

I added candles and nestled them in a basket of greenery and pinecones.

Warm and welcoming, don't you think?

And they will last outside as long as the temperature stays below freezing or you can pop them in your freezer to keep them from melting on a warm day. You can even use them indoors for a special occasion. Just be sure to put them in a container that allows room for the melting water. And even indoors, they will melt fairly slowly.

Is it cold where you are? Make some warm and welcoming ice candles!

Happy Holidays!

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