Happy Friday, friends! It's almost Christmas, WE MADE IT. I do hope you get some time off this weekend and/or next week to recharge and hang with loved ones. I know I'm looking forward to some much-needed down time. And pie. (Mmmm, pie.)
I won't keep you long today; I just have to show you our decorated Hobbit
Door!
AAAAAA LOOK HOW PRETTY AND FESTIVE
It's a point of pride with me that we didn't buy anything new for this, other
than a bag of cotton batting for "snow." The wreath is scrap Pex tubing from
the garage, then two different garland remnants I painstakingly disassembled
and zip-tied in place.
Speaking of wreaths, here's another pretty one:
Speaking of wreaths, here's another pretty one:
I made the Hobbiton sign for craft night several months ago. It's made of foam
with googly eyes for rivets.
K, back to the door:
K, back to the door:
The garland is the one we use almost every year over this doorway. It
has sparkly fruit in it, perfect for Hobbitses.
I spent so long trying to get the "snow" to look right.
The snow in the bottom of the wreath hides the battery pack for the lights.
So hey, ready to go inside?
We did a little video walking in:
And now, PEEKTURES.
And now, PEEKTURES.
Love this morning light.
Though after dark is when we get all the glowy colors:
You've seen our giant faux fireplace before; we first used it for the Hufflepuff Slumber Party:
... then again for the goblin throne room for our Labyrinth Christmas party.
This year John modified it to have a circular opening:
More Hobbit-y this way.
When we want to watch TV that entire center panel slides out and sets on the floor. The greenery swags are hiding the seams, so it looks like all one piece.
When we want to watch TV that entire center panel slides out and sets on the floor. The greenery swags are hiding the seams, so it looks like all one piece.
Before Cake Wrecks John and I worked in honest-to-goodness mansions doing faux
finishes like this brick work, so it's fun to watch him break out The Skillz
again.
Cute stockings we bought years ago thinking we'd eventually have a
Burrow-themed party. Turns out Hobbits and The Burrow have a very similar
homey aesthetic, so it's nice to finally display them.
I added Fall colors and leaves to the greenery, and LOTS
of pumpkins. Just trying something different... and since orange is my
favorite color, I'm really digging it.
It was a challenge finding Hobbit-y holiday pillow covers - everything tends
to be modern or covered with words! - but I'm so happy with these:
These are all embroidered with amazing textures. They're from Amazon:
Here's the leafy vine set
and the single accent pillow, which
comes in lots more colors.
I'll leave you with a cute picture of Suki, because of course every
festive Hobbit hole needs a cat or three:
Merry Christmas, and may the rest of your 2022 be merry and bright, my friend! I think I'll take
the next week off here on the blog, but I'm sure I'll still be posting in my Stories, if you miss me. ;)
Oh, and thank you for all the well wishes for John after his surgery. He's almost completely back to normal, and is back to planning far too many projects in too little time, ha. Our "Second Christmas" Hobbit Holiday party isn't until the 7th, so I hope you're not tired of Hobbit content just yet! Stay tuned for a few more Middle Earth surprises and silliness. (John's started on the menu this week. I... hope you like potatoes. HEE.)
*****
Oh, and thank you for all the well wishes for John after his surgery. He's almost completely back to normal, and is back to planning far too many projects in too little time, ha. Our "Second Christmas" Hobbit Holiday party isn't until the 7th, so I hope you're not tired of Hobbit content just yet! Stay tuned for a few more Middle Earth surprises and silliness. (John's started on the menu this week. I... hope you like potatoes. HEE.)
*****
P.S. If you use Amazon, please consider bookmarking my Epbot Amazon shop! I keep it stocked with lists of things I use and love, and anything
you purchase through my links or shop gives a little back to help support
me and John.
In fact, here's one of my latest purchases that I highly recommend: my favorite tea!
Stash Tea, 100 count
A few years ago one of you lovely readers sent me one of these teabags with your Christmas card, and now it's my favorite tea year-round. "Christmas in Paris" is chocolate, mint, and lavender, and Amazon sells it by the boxload: 100 bags for less than $20! Stash also has lots more flavors I want to try, like cinnamon vanilla, licorice spice, and sunny orange ginger, ooooh. Plus all of their flavors are caffeine-free! So perfect for folks like me who have anxiety, insomnia, or just like to avoid caffeine.In fact, here's one of my latest purchases that I highly recommend: my favorite tea!
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Your hobbit door and fireplace look amazing!
ReplyDeleteRegarding tea... I like Stash's lemon ginger tea when I'm sick. It's very soothing. However, my favorite Stash tea actually does have caffeine: double bergamot Earl Grey. The Amazon page you linked seems to be all herbal teas, but Stash makes standard caffeinated teas as well.
Stash has loads of caffeinated teas too! My favorite is double spice chai, although their decaf black pumpkin spice tea is also delicious!
ReplyDeleteThe fireplace is genius, and I am constantly in awe of how well you sell every illusion. You mention spending a long time getting the snow right and your efforts def paid off- it looks incredible.
ReplyDeleteand my favorite tea right now is Stash's ginger peach green/matcha tea. Fruity and light and spicy, mmm.
What a majestic floof!
ReplyDeleteA few years ago you said you'd keep posting the discord invite but you haven't been. I can't find it anywhere else please help.
ReplyDeleteHi, there! I'm one of the mods over in the Discord. This one will work for a bit: https://discord.gg/Ck4h2bT3 We're a friendly crew and encourage people to use the "#🦄introduce-yourself" channel, but you're also welcome to lurk.
DeleteMy favorite Stash tea is Chai Green Tea~ You wouldn't think those flavors would go well together, but they really do! I can't have *much* caffeine, but I absolutely love spices, so it's been my go-to for breakfast for years~
ReplyDeleteWhat is that thing in the top right of the wall containing the "fireplace" that looks like a bunch of eye stalks? (Knowing your style, I am guessing it's a bunch of eye stalks!)
ReplyDeleteLOL, you are correct, it IS a bunch of eye stalks. Specifically the ones from that most majestic of 80s fantasy films, Labyrinth. We had a big Labyrinth Christmas party in 2019, and some of the decor from that is still sprinkled around the house. (Not sure if you can see in the vid, but one of the Labyrinth door knockers is on the wall to the right of the eye stalks.)
DeleteHere's the full Labyrinth Party tour, if you're curious.
Stash tea is great, I can confirm! The go-to flavor in my house has been the Lemongrass and ginger. Not entirely by choice, though! We bought a small box, and told a friend about it
ReplyDeleteSaid friend surprised us with a bigger box a few days later... after we just bought a bigger box ourselves!