FOCAL POINT STYLING: Refinished JOY Letters & A Winter Vignette

A few years ago (back 2006) we bought our first home. A townhome in a development called Walnut Creek in Hollywood Florida. Coming from a two bedroom condo, we hardly had enough to fill the place. But over time, we acquired a table here, a chair there, and a few holiday decorations. One of the items I had purchased (after Christmas) were these silver initial letters online at Restoration Hardware. The following year, I had wanted to use them for Christmas, but I didn't know where to put them, mainly because I didn't want to nail them into the wall (it seemed too permanent). Then it dawned on me: just hot glue them - but not to the wall because their scale seemed to get lost. So I had glued them to three painted silver framed mirrors I had. Every year there after, I've been gluing them to mirrors, although last year, I glued them to blank canvas. This year I also glued them to the leaning canvases, but rather than leave them all shiny and bright, I "Arizona-rized" them with a mist of dark bronze and twine...

Although the vignette is similar to what I had done last year, refinishing the letters, and even the canvas, plus adding in a few more layers with the snowy green trees gave it a different look and feel. Here's what I did...

Simple silver JOY.

A light mist to tine down the shiny and bright...

LOVE the updated finish...

To relate the vignette to other items in the room

(like the twine bottles and galvanized pinecone filled containers) I used some twine. I tried to align the twine on the same spot on all the letters...

No glue.

Just tied in a knot and trimmed.

Lovin' it!

When I went to glue them to the canvas, I put them on too high...

So I pulled down the canvas, which was actually easier to wrap with the last but of twine.

While I was doing it, Sephora's cat instincts kicked in, and she almost took off down the stairs with it... lol. I found the twines center, then centered again before wrapping. Then, only tying it in a knot in the back, I separated & spaced the twine (also similar to the twine bottles).

Here's a look back at past JOY ...

JOY 2007

Three Trees 2007

JOY 2009

Three Trees 2009

I think the more minimal rustic look worked last year because the wall was dark and the floors were light. But here in our new place, the wall the unit is on lighter and the floors are dark. I had tried it first with less, but it just didn't feel right...

Too stark. Too plane.

Now it feels right... It's fuller and cozier... Feels like h o m e . . .

And nothing new bought - Just restyling what I already had _ which goes back to what Christmas is about: TRADITION, and how you can find JOY with in it....

What are some traditions you do at Christmas time?

What are some of your favorite decorations?

Do you change your theme from year to year?

Although I've been posting some of the projects I've been doing to create Christmas here in our new place, I should be posting a Holiday Home Tour by Monday...

Thanks for stopping by!