Lights, Camera, Traction!

Yesterday started well enough.
I was in my own clothes.
My own smaller clothes.
I was pretty happy with that after being 170 pounds a week ago.
So 5 more and we're back to 140, which is where I've decided I'm comfortable.

I was having a cup of cocoa and admiring the flora,
ready to launch the day's post, when the first wail of distress came:
The upstairs toilet was broken.
Okay, no problem, everyone use the downstairs, I'll fix the other one.
Second wail of distress:
The downstairs bathroom is also broken.
Okay, let me launch today's project, I'll get on it.

*POOF*

Downed limbs took out the electricity in 55 homes.

THIS is outside my HOUSE.

FINE.

I did my repairs, FPL did theirs, and by mid-afternoon all disasters were reconciled.

I had the perfect litmus test as to when the power came back on.

Once it was, I celebrated by peeing with the lights on.

Not one Mom out there even blinked, did you?

Meanwhile, it seemed appropriate to do a post about ...
LIGHT.
Candles and sparkle are a part of every season, but more so now.
We like a little extra romantic glimmer by the table.

Let's start with a fresh runner.

This red cotton number with simple white embroidery is from Dollar General
and rang up at a reasonable $8.
I nabbed 4 matching placemats to coordinate the whole dining room.

Silver glass ornaments in three slightly different sizes were just $1 a box.

Sandwich them between a cylinder vase with a Dollar Tree
column inside to hold a candle.

You can use any color that suits your evil plan,
but I like the mirror effect.

Next, we'll take our Dollar Tree fruit that we sugared with glitter.

Drop a couple of them into the bottom of a very tall column of glass.

Tuck in some white battery powered lights as you go, adjusting
so the cords will end up in the back.

The glitter shines perfectly.

We'll slide that to the rear since it's the tallest, and that will also hide the control switches.

Another airy little sandwich is to fill the space between the two vessels
with wired garland tipped in silver.

Arrange the curls to spiral upward.
It adds texture while still tying in with the icy effect we're creating.

All we need now is...ice.

The flickering glow of a flame will look captured while it refracts through this.

These bags of baubles are plastic and ran $3 each.
I needed two.
And again, I nestled a candle in a vase within a vase.
This allows you to USE the candles without wax melting all over your filler.

Lastly, I just added a plain white pillar in glass
that towered over most of the arrangement.

Decide who goes where based on visibility with a little casual
lack of symmetry, and grab the lighter!

There's 4 quick lighting options.

Chances are good, you have the stuff to do this around the house already.
No wire edged garland?
How about wired ribbon?
Plain clear marbles from The Dollar Tree?
Glass jars, ice buckets, clear cookie jars?

Buying STUFF isn't the idea~

taking a fresh look at what you already have is.

Now, after that day, I'm gonna pop the screw cap on some Knudsen Sparkling Pear
and pretend it's not non-alcoholic.

Get out of the bathroom!!!

It's Up!!!

The tree is up!

 And isn't that what really signals the beginning of the insanity?

 My Minions and Hub were good as gold, festooning the house with precision and care.

Thom was in charge of ornament placement.

For those of you have missed it, my middle child, the computer game designing

Dean's List math whiz, has autism and OCD.

I like to use these to my advantage.

While decorating, he periodically turned and asked,

"Mom, are the colors varied enough?"

The spacing is perfect, let me tell you!

 We set the whole thing in a Crate and Barrel basket to contain the mess

and allow for easy wheelchair traffic.

Simple tulle was tucked around the base in ocean colors

instead of a skirt.

 Of course...

 ...some beings saw this as an invitation...

So now that we have that done, shall we get busy with the real goodies?