The House Dressing Company

Written by : Julie Cove

Well the day that you have all been waiting for is here!  I can’t wait to share the winners with you.  Are you ready??  Great, but first I have to thank all the dedicated decorators, writers and crafters who took the time to photograph their talents and submit along with a generous donation to the food banks.  We raised $1882.00 for the food banks to be shared between the Sidney Lions Food Bank and the Mustard Seed Food Bank in Victoria.  Yeh!  That was the reason for this fun contest–to give back to the community while inspiring you to share your talents.  Mission accomplished!   Our panel of judges had a tricky time trying to narrow down the selections but we did it, so here we go!

•Best Christmas Decorated Room with Tree = Top Prize-$1000 ($500 cash, $250 Design Services, $250 HD Gift Card)  – Gerta Bartels

Gerta’s room reflects the simple European elegance with fresh white and an accent of red.  The variety of displays and holiday decor collections over many, many years of decorating are incorporated with clean easy living style and simple sophistication- understated yet detailed.  Congratulations Gerta for a decorating scheme well done!

Honourable Mention = $50 HD Gift Card – Anne Pettinger

We couldn’t not recognize Anne for her before and after efforts.  Here is the cozy transition from a simple room to a holiday room. Fresh amarylis, paper whites, orchids and poinsettias with fresh greens and branches are nice natural elements that make this room inviting along with hand sewn cushions to match.  Congrats Anne!

Special Recognition = $50 HD Gift Card – Rebecca Trapp

This home is decorated with a serious passion for Christmas.  We loved the extent that Rebecca went to for the holidays and wanted to recognize her efforts.  It may be over the top for many decorators but the spirit of Christmas is certainly present.  Congrats Rebecca!

•Most Unique Decorated Christmas Tree = $250 ($125 cash & $125 HD gift card) – Donna Rae Coward

This is Donna Rae’s tree (one of many she decorates in her home) with a collection of years and years of 100’s of intricate ornaments including Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz with the sugar plum fairy on top.  Amazing collection Donna Rae! Congrats!

•Best decorated Mantle = Candle Gift Basket – Anne Tetley

The wispy pine and modern silver sparkle made this mantle stand out from the crowd- great job Anne. Congratulations!

•Best hand made Christmas card = $50 HD Gift Card – Marilyn Norman

Marilyn’s card is a photograph of a Christmas painting that she created.  We couldn’t resist the effect of her talented work turned into a card with the gold trim picking up the ornament details.  Wonderful job Marilyn!

•Most gorgeous or uniquely wrapped present = Thymes Frasier Fir Gift Basket – Anne Tetley

Lovely shimmer paper with pretty adornments and a key tag make this a gift you wouldn’t want to tear apart!  Very nice Anne!

•Most nostalgic Christmas Tradition = Tea Forte Gift Basket – Jan Staebell

Jan’s inflatable snowman from the 70’s made for a unique tradition in their family.  Thanx for sharing Jan, well done!

•Most Memorable Christmas gift received = Thymes Fragrance Gift Basket – Deborah Whitmore

Deb wrote a wonderful story that warmed our hearts.  Great job Deborah, thanx for your creative writing efforts!

•Most Creative Christmas Family Photo = Picture Frame (8 x 10) – Jessica Lam

Awe, this is precious Jessica.  Congratulations on your pregnancy and on this creative photo!

•Best Decorated Christmas baked goodies = Wildly Delicious Gift Basket- Jennifer Witvliet

Wow Jennifer, these are lovely and what talent you have with a brush!  I wouldn’t want to eat these.  Congratulations Jennifer!

•Best Decorated Ginger Bread House = Whimsy Kitchen Gadget Basket – Bernie Grimes

Just look at this village!  So great!  Congratulations Bernie!

•Largest Food Bank Donation = $100 Gift Basket From Fresh Cup Roastery – Marilyn Norman

There were no submissions for the following categories;

•Best handmade Christmas Ornament

•Best Homemade digital card•Best Kids Christmas Illustration

•Most Creatively Decorated Workspace or Place of Business

•Best Christmas Dining Table

I hope you enjoyed this contest as much as we did- this is only a fraction of the entries we received so we had a lot of fun going thru all the photos.  What we loved the most in every single photo was the pride that each of our entrants take in making their home merry and festive or crafting in a way that celebrates the spirit of season.  This is what really warmed our hearts and we thank you all once again for sharing!  I hope you all have an enjoyable holiday and all the best for 2010- the new decade!

ps. If you are the winner in a category please leave us a comment on this blog that you have recognized your placing and we will then know whom we must contact personally.  You may collect your prize at the store by showing ID to the girls in the shop.  Congratulations once again.

Written by : Helen McIntyre

Well here we are – the presents have been opened, the turkey and trimmings have been eaten, and the decorations will soon be lovingly packed away for another year.  We hope you were all well remembered by friends and family, and are now looking forward to a new year full of creativity and inspiration!  We’d love to be a part of that, and will continue to bring to you our design tips and ideas as well as keeping you up to date on what is happening at the store.

Right now, we have all our Christmas stock at 50% off and it is flying out the door!  It’s a great time to pick up items that you may have seen at full price before Christmas.   We still have quite a lot in stock and some examples are seen below.  The little silver crowns are so sweet in a tree or to set on a table or shelf.  You could give one to the prince or princess in your life – tie it to their gift next year!  The metal snowflakes are lovely either hung against the windows or put into a tree or hung from a chandelier.  The ceramic pine cone ornaments are my favourite – very crisp and fresh looking either in a tree or in a bowl on the coffee table.

Our coir mats are all 50% off as well, and we have some beauties!  Some of them are extra long – perfect for double doors.

Wreaths and greenery are always a big part of Christmas decorating, and whilst it’s great having  fresh, real greens, they do dry out and become messy – sometimes leaving sticky residue behind on your walls, floor or furniture.  We have some gorgeous pre-lit or unlit wreaths in cedar or pine.  They are so real looking, we sometimes see customers actually sniffing them!  The berry wreaths are also beautiful and you can add fake (or real) greenery to them to add a bit of interest.

We hope you’ll take some time to pop in to see us at the House Dressing and pick up some goodies for next year’s Christmas season.  It’ll be here again before we know it!!!

We’d like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very Happy New Year, and we look forward to helping you in 2010.

Written by : Julie Cove

Well here we are.  In a few more hours we will be celebrating that special day that we all get excited about and hustle and bustle  around for.  I am amazed at how quickly it seemed to arrive. Today I want to share some sneak previews of a couple of the contest entries and also inspire you with an outdoor holiday lighting tour we did!

This season my plan was to do as much fun holiday stuff as we could fit in– so we filled our December days with many, many wonderful activities with hopes of building memories and traditions for our family.  Last night we had a lovely family dinner with the cousins and nieces and nephews and then took in some of the wonderful holiday lit homes on the Times Colonist Christmas Light map. Take a peek at what glowed before our eyes!

These are from the incredible house at 4091 Tuxedo Drive, just off Quadra St.

And below are from Alan Road just off Wilkinson Rd.

I couldn’t believe how many lights were placed on this bush!!  There must be thousands!

Below is the incredible display of Gip and Donna Forester on 4252 Ponderosa Cres.  We spoke with Gip and picked up one of his Christmas CD’s with wonderful Christmas stories, and he shared that this is the 13th year he has set out his display! We love playing I Spy in his garage.  You could visit 10x’s and not see every item in there.   We love his passion for sharing with all of us.

This last one is our very favourite Christmas story display that is on Wallace road just before it meets West Saanich Rd near the Red Barn.  We have been driving by this house for 13 years since we moved to Brentwood and it is tradition to pay attention to this story with Santa trying to get off on his way for Christmas eve and the mishaps that happen with trying to get him on the roof to depart!  The home owner is the owner of Russell Books and his blog for this wonderful passion of his is right here

We had such a great time enjoying the efforts of all these home owners.  In past years we have filled a thermos with hot chocolate and the kids are dressed in their PJ’s and off we go!  Hope you are inspired to take in some of the wonderful sights between Christmas day and New Years just for the fun of it!

And now…. for a sneak peek at a couple of the entries from the Contest.

This one is a modern room with traditional red berries and baubles to celebrate the season.  The clean fresh approach is nice and simple yet very elegant.

This second entry is a more traditional setting with lots of white and a touch of red and has a European flavour.  I’ve only included one snap shot of each of these two entries but when we announce the top winners from the many, many  entries, I will be able to share more.

The contest has been such a fun way to raise funds for the food bank and at the same time peeking inside your homes admiring your creative talents.  Our entries include a wide variety of styles and we will have a very tricky time trying to choose the winner.  Our judges range in age and we have male and female! So a diverse opinion will assist in the big decisions we have as this contest comes to a close.  Thank you to all who submitted and we will announce the winners on December 29th!

I hope you have a wonderful, memorable and healthy holiday season.  Cheers for a fantastic 2010!

Julie

ps. I may be able to post the holiday decorating Shaw TV segment later on if I can over come the technological difficulties that sometime arise when you least need them too!

Written by : Ingrid

As this is the last blog post before Christmas day – just 3 sleeps away – Helen and I decided to collaborate on this one to wish all of you a very, very happy Christmas and to share with you some of the decorating we have done in our own homes this year.

We both love to decorate!  Helen has been so incredibly busy with decorating the store as well as decorating several customers’ homes, that I don’t know how she managed to find the motivation to do her own!  I love the simplicity of Helen’s Christmas designs.

Her mantle and tree are subtle, yet elegant.  Her eye for detail is very keen and she sets up her vignettes so that they are balanced in both colour and arrangement.  Helen has used lots of  sparkling clear glass and silver, combined with natural elements like fresh greens and pinecones that she collected on her long walks in the woods with Hana her dog.

Helen’s tree is a pre-lit, narrow, perfectly shaped ornamental tree that she dresses up beautifully to complement the mantle.  It’s full of gorgeous baubles – glass, silver and white.  So pretty and sparkling.   Helen said that next year she would love to have two trees – the one she has set up now with her beautiful decorator theme, and one natural tree with ornaments that she and her husband are starting to collect as a young married couple.

My decorating is a bit different – I have a lot of decorations which our family have collected throughout the years since we were married 30 years ago!  Things that my girls have made and collected over the years and very old pieces that belonged to my husband’s grandmother and mother too.  They are not designer pieces, but mean a lot to us and are like little treasures each year as we unpack them from their boxes to hang on the tree.

Our tree this year is a natural tree that was cut down under the power lines on Salt Spring Island for Cannor Nursery, where we bought it.  It’s really funky and has branches going every which way!  It has 3 leaders, so the poor angel is sitting off centre, which just adds to the goofiness of the tree.  It’s a little bit Dr. Seuss-like.  My husband insists on having coloured lights in the tree, as well as plain white, which I have to admit, look pretty nice!  He also came home last year with old-fashioned bubble lights which add more whimsy to our already loopy tree.

I have a small Charlie Brown tree that I’ve set up in our dining room.  It is decorated with white, green and blue baubles and plain white lights.

I have also decorated our family room/kitchen area in mainly green and white coloured baubles and snowflakes.  My Florist friend, Claudia Logan whose business is called Twisted Tulip, made this wonderful arrangement of greens with red roses, called “the Grinch”.  I absolutely love it!

Every year, both Helen and I and the rest of the staff, find it hard to resist the gorgeous Christmas decorations, ornaments, garlands and accessories that come into the store at this time of the year.  There are still many more to choose from, even this close to Christmas!  Hope I can restrain myself!  If you’ve been inspired to do a bit more decorating before the big day, come in and we can certainly help you with ideas.

We hope that you’ve enjoyed seeing what we’ve done in our own homes.  Remember, we have our competition going (see previous blogs for details) and there are still 3 days to enter!

Have a wonderful, joyous Christmas and a happy and creative New Year!  Best wishes from Ingrid, Helen and The House Dressing Team!

ps.  this picture of Helen, me and my dog Tucker, was taken just before our “Polar Bear” run around the neighbourhood to see all the pretty lights!  We came home to a warming bowl of chili and later, a delicious hot chocolate with peppermint schnapps!  Yummmmmm!

Written by : Julie Cove

This is a special Christmas Bonus just for You for being such a loyal readers of our blog or following us on Twitter or Facebook.  We truly appreciate each and everyone of you for giving us your attention when we send you a message.  Our hope is to inspire you to create a home that reflects your personality as well as inspire you to live your life to the fullest while incorporating some of our local favourites.

To redeem these savings please print this &  bring into the store.  Just click the image above and print.

We wish you a wonderful holiday season and hope that you will make another visit to the store so we can wish you this in person!

Julie & The House Dressing Team