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Christmas Tour of my House 2012!
December 23, 2012
Merry Christmas sweet faithful readers!!!
Are you ready for Christmas? I am almost finished gift wrapping – just have the gifts for my 2 girls left….and I can’t wrap until they are in bed!! 
But at least I have finished all my Christmas decorating….and I would love to give show you how I decorated my house this year. So welcome to my Christmas Tour 2012!!!
Let’s start with the first room you see when you enter through the front doors and turn to the right — the Conversation Room AKA the living Room:
This year I decided to go with a glamorous gold tree versus the white one I have put up for the last 3 years. I am very happy with how it turned out. It goes perfectly with the blue and gold theme in the conversation room and of course, it is ultra glamorous!!
Here are some of the new decorations I bought for the new gold tree. One of my favourite things to do each season is find new decorations that reflects my mood.
The theme remains the same: birds, owls and fabulous shoes. However, the first one is an adorable lucite motorcycle – for my hubby and the 2nd one is a tiny Eiffel Tower. A trip to Paris, France has been promised to me in the near future. 
There is an electric fireplace in the conversation room and each year I love to decorate it in shimmery silver and whites.
Although I love all the glitz and glamour, there was something missing between those 2 windows. So I decided to do a quick DIY project and make some glamorous feather wreaths.
Some Dollar Store finds quickly became
this……I love it…simple but oh so glam!!!
Now lets head into the foyer….here is where my purple Christmas decor theme begins.
Oh wait, I decided to add my 2nd white feather wreath here….much better don’t you think?
Ok, let’s turn slightly right and head into the dining room where I continue to use purple accents.
This year I decided to intermingle large pinecones with different sized purple ornaments in various textures as the centrepiece on my dining room table. I call it rustic glam! And the dining room wouldn’t be complete without my beautiful lucite reindeer. To this day, I still get asked where I bought them.
Now lets head to the back of the house into the family room where we showcase the real tree that we cut down at the tree farm each year. Here is where we have fun with our decorations and the girls actively decorate. Our home has 10 feet ceilings on the main level and normally our tree is that high….however this year we were a bit late getting to the tree farm so its just under 9’ft this year. And it made a huge difference in how many decorations we could get on our tree.
This is the instagram photo I took of our tree. (On a side note, if you are on instagram, than please follow me here and I will follow you back!)
If you noticed from my gold tree and this one, I do not like tree toppers. I much prefer to continue the decorations all the way to the top.
When we were at Disney World last March Break, we purchased some fun decorations.
This one is Mya’s Minnie Mouse ears!
And this one is Mackenzie’s…..Santa Mickey!
Can you guess that this one is mine?
The feather theme also continued into this room with my gorgeous purple peacock feather trees and wreath.
And last but not least, we can’t forget about Mr. Reindeer…..we couldn’t leave him out….doesn’t he look festive?
Well, this is the end of the our tour…..hope you enjoyed it! And I hope that you and your families have a fabulous Christmas celebrating with lots of good cheer!!
Merry Glamorous Christmas!!! xoxo
Dabble Magazine: Dabbling in Gold!
December 12, 2012
Did you receive the latest issue of Dabble Magazine in your inbox? Its all about celebrating the upcoming Holiday season. I absolutely love the Christmas tree on the over….the blues and purples are gorgeous and not your typical traditional Christmas colours.
Lately I have been majorly crushing on anything GOLD. And I talk about this in my latest What’s Trending column, as you can see from the image below.
There’s also more Golden goodness on the Dabble Blog. If you are so over silver and chrome in your home, then hopefully these featured products will inspire you to add some glamorous gold into your home decor for 2013.
To also help you get into the Christmas spirit, My friend, Nicolas Rosaci, the resident Dabble DIY Guy has some great DIY ideas to enhance your gift wrapping this season.
Later this week I will give you a holiday tour of my house all decorated for Christmas. In the meantime, there is only 6 more days left till Christmas…..Yikes!! Good luck!!
On a more serious note: As a mother of 2 young girls, I was heartbroken about the terrible tragedy in Connecticut that had 20 beautiful children taken from their parents. Our children and families are so precious and we must never take them for granted. Please kiss and hug your loved ones today and everyday. I know I am.
Posted in Christmas, Dabble Magazine, DIY, Glam Slam, Glamour, Online Magazines, What's Trending | 
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Project Pink & Orange: Homework Room Update!
October 30, 2012
I meant to post this last week but this little puppy kept me very busy last week! Meet Marilyn Monroe, our new tiny Yorkie!
Isn’t she absolutely adorable?
Anyway, last week my painter/wallpaper installer came in to work on the girls’ homework room. It is looking absolutely fabulous and I couldn’t be happier.
Here’s a sneak peek of the wallpaper and the wall colour: Raspberry Blush by Benjamin Moore.
Then I was able to “force” my husband to put together the Ikea desks and chairs I bought for each girl.
Doesn’t it look fantastic so far……the girls are ecstatic and my vision for their homework room is coming to fruition!!
Can you believe I bought these adorable little storage bins from the dollar store…..you would think they were made for the wallpaper, they accent the paper and colours perfectly.
And the FILLSTA table lamp is perfect. Although I must admit it took me a while to figure out how to put this lamp together. 
So far so good!! What’s left to do is put up shelving above the desk, create an art wall for their pictures & paintings and get going on my DIY chalkboard. So stay tuned for another update soon!!
Glamorously yours,
Christine xoxo
What’s Trending in Dabble Magazine
August 14, 2012
The latest issue of Dabble Magazine went live at the end of July but since internet is quite spotty up at Emerald Lake I wasn’t able to blog about it.
If you haven’t had a chance to read the June-July issue then click on the cover below and get caught up on all the Dabble goodness!
My current What’s Trending column is all about Ombre in home decor. One piece is all you need to add this fun effect into your home.
My good friend Nicholas Rosaci, Dabble’s DIY Guy has created a very stylish DIY project for this issue. He really is sooooooo creative.
Dabble also has an IPAD contest running right now. See below for all 3 ways you can enter and win this great prize!
Believe it or not, I’m currently working on the next issue highlighting fall trends which is my favourite time of the year for fashion and interior design. Can`t wait to share it with you next month.
Well, that`s it for now. I`m off to work on my Bunkie so I can share with you another progress update.
Ciao!!
Glamorously yours,
Christine xoxo
Decorate As You Dress: Turquoise & Orange!!
June 19, 2012
I have loved the colour combination of orange (whether you call it tangerine, citrus or coral) and blue (turquoise & teal especially) for many years now, and it is still going strong. So for this month’s nail colour I decided to honour my adoration for these 2 colours.
I also made my first official DIY canvas art using this fresh colour combo – highlighting another love of mine – chevron — this time last year. And it is still in my family room on display!
In my family room I have 2 bold orange occasional chairs that I had custom made 4 years ago. Who knew that orange would be so hot 4 yrs later!! Yay me!! My walls are painted in Benjamin Moore’s Rain Dance colour .
Yesterday my friend Leigh-Ann Allaire was on Cityline showing her DIY outdoor cushions in this colour combo. You can watch the episode here.
If you are thinking about adding this oh so classic colour combo into your home, then here are some ideas to get you going!
A bold orange sofa will make quite the statement in a room, especially when accented with hits of teal blue.
Or course orange walls will always spice up a room!
This neutral living room gets its VA VA voom from the light blue walls and the orange accessories and cushions. Subtle but bang on!
Orange & Blue look great in a child’s room or a guest room. Everything about this room is so perfect!
And sometimes all it takes is just a few colourful accessories to get the ball rolling!! It’s like adding orange or turquoise earrings to your white dress – and you have instant style!
Leave me a comment and let me know if you would introduce this colour combination into your home…..or tell me how you incorporated it into your home decor.
Hope you have a fabulous day!!
Glamorously yours,
Christine xoxo
A Mom, two girls and tea!
May 11, 2012
Yesterday I got to spend the entire day with both my girls at their respective schools which was a perfect lead-in to this Mother’s Day weekend!
First I headed over to my youngest daughter’s Montessori school for their Mother’s Day Tea…with lots of singing and baked goodies.
Look at the pretty tissue-paper flowers that greeted the moms when we arrived!
Then this fabulous group of children sang beautiful songs for their mommies. Here is a snippet of one of the mother’s day themed songs:
Mya and her friends singing a song to all the mothers.
We then enjoyed iced tea and baked treats that the kids had baked earlier in the week! That mini carrot cupcake was so delish!!
Mya then presented a drawing she made of the 2 of us. And you’ll notice that the both of us are wearing crowns on our heads! She is definitely my little princess!
And here is present #2: a stunning DIY art project! I am absolutely floored by how fabulous this keepsake piece of artwork is. And it is so easy to do. Just glue the crayons to the top of a canvas, turn on the blow-dryer at high heat and watch the melted wax drip down the canvas board!! And voila, you have a piece of original artwork!!
Oh and look how amazing her printing is getting!!
Here we are enjoying some tea and baked goodies together. Look how proud she looks after giving me her precious mother’s day gifts!!
After tea, I rushed down to the Medieval Times Castle in Toronto to volunteer at my oldest daughter’s Grade 4 class field trip! Mackenzie and I had a great time watching all the cute Knights joust and sword-fight, while wearing our crowns and eating with our fingers!
I am incredibly lucky to be the mom of these 2 precious little girls who I know love their mommy very much! I’m looking forward to spending this weekend with my family – and getting a ton of kisses and hugs!
My wish is that you too have a wonderful Mother’s day weekend filled with lots of love. And if you are not a mom, then I hope you get to spend some valuable time with your own mom!!
Happy Mother’s Day!!!
Glamorously yours,
Christine xoxo
Decorate as You Dress! Mint Green Obsession!
February 23, 2012
Hi Everyone,
Lately I have been obsessed with mint green in both fashion and home decor. To the point where I just got my nails painted in this lovely hue!
I also started a board on Pinterest highlighting everything I love in fashion and home decor in Mint Green. You can follow my board here if you have an account.
In the meantime, here are some glorious images of this fresh colour to inspire you to add some mint green to your closet or home decor this spring!!
The current issue of House Beautiful is all about green!! Love that stunning chair!
The fashion runways for spring 2012 also showed a lot of mint green. However, this colour has been popular for many years now as seen in the gorgeous Haute Couture gown by Elie Saab from her spring 2010 collection. So there really is no need to be fearful of adding this colour into your closet or a few toss cushions!!
Now let’s look at some interior design highlighting mint green in all its glory!!
source unknown – via Pinterest
Gorgeous mint green walls!!
Room design by Nick Olsen
How about a mint green kitchen??
If that is too much for you, then how about some mint green pieces for the room: Like this vintage green fridge by SMEG! FUN!
A simple green chair can also make quite the impact!
I’m loving how fun this mint green vintage tub looks in this bathroom!
How about a quick DIY: Grab some mint green paint and freshen up your bookshelf for spring! (don’t you love how the shelves were styled also!)
I absolutely adore the look of this room. Imagine a sea-side cottage and you’ve got this gorgeous room. I love the mint green grass cloth wallpaper and accessories. 
!!
Here’s a sneak peak into my family room. The wall colour is called Sea Haze / BM 2137-50 and depending on the light it can look like sea foam. I really love this colour by Benjamin Moore because it changes to so many colours throughout the day! Highly recommend it!!
And last but not least, I couldn’t resist including these vision boards I found on Pinterest – they basically say it all!! I love Mint Green!!
So are you obsessed with Mint Green now….I hope so, because you will be seeing a lot of it this spring!! Have a great day!!
Glamorously yours,
Christine xoxo
Posted in Accessories, Bathrooms, Decorate As You Dress, DIY, Fashion, Glam Blog, Home Decor, interior design, Kitchens, Runway to Home | 1 Comment »
Cityline & Dabble Day: Tips on Styling an Étagère
July 14, 2011
WOW! What a fantastic week it has been for me professionally and personally!
1) The Dabble Magazine Day show on Cityline aired on Tuesday, July 12th!!
2) I had a group of great women join me for breakfast that morning with lots of champagne and OJ to watch and celebrate my debut on Cityline!
3) I’ve had wonderful feedback and comments from many, many people on Facebook and Twitter!. So thank you very much!
So if you didn’t get a chance to watch it live, then you can click on the link to see it via the Cityline website.
Oh, and this really excited me also!!
It may seem insignificant to some but it’s a big deal to me – especially when you are trying to build up your business –- my name and company name was on the website as a Guest Expert!! Whooo Hooo!
So just to quickly summarize the styling tips I shared in this segment:
· Think in layers when placing items on the bookshelf and in different heights (i.e.: glass bowls layered in front of the picture.)
· When selecting objects, be aware of the scale and color. Objects shouldn’t blend in or get lost on the shelves. Beware of adding too small decorative items that will just end up looking like clutter
· Books are wonderful home accessories, so showcase the most beautiful ones in your collection.
· You can arrange the books by size, subject and color. And don’t forget to place books horizontally as well as vertically – it adds a nice rhythmic pattern to the shelf
· Most people love symmetry when styling their shelves….it provides some structure and balance to the room…especially if the rest of the room has more chaos – like kids toys, etc. – this can be accomplished through matching book ends
· When grouping objects together – just remember the basic rule of threes — objects tend to look better when gathered in odd numbers, like 3s or 5s
· Adding objects such as shapely ceramics, decorative boxes, small sculptures, family photos and original artwork makes your bookcase more visually appealing and personal.
And because I was so nervous I totally forgot this last point I wanted to mention which was:
· Don’t forget about the background of your shelf….in this case; the shelves are open so you can see the dramatic painted dark wall…which helps your decorative pieces stand out stand out.
· Or you can paint or wallpaper the back of bookshelves to add a pop of colour and really bring the shelf to life
Well I hope you enjoyed watching this Cityline/Dabble Mag segment as much as I enjoyed taping it. Have a lovely weekend!! Cheers!
Christine x0x0
Dabble Magazine, Cityline and ME!!
July 11, 2011
What are you doing tomorrow at 9am – that would be Tuesday, July 12th at 9am or if you prefer afternoons…than how about 2:00pm?
Why you ask? Because one of my career aspirations is coming true tomorrow!! I’m appearing in a design segment with other fabulous Food & Design contributors from Dabble Magazine on Cityline.
It’s an action packed hour with Kimberley Seldon and her daughter Raleigh on stilts!! yes, that’s right – stilts!! Dabble Chef Corey James Burgan prepares a Caesar Salad to die for and great tips for having a great picnic!
![264737_357981454948_514474948_1431764_6979490_n[1]](http://decorbychristine.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/264737_357981454948_514474948_1431764_6979490_n1.jpg "264737_357981454948_514474948_1431764_6979490_n[1]")
In this photo: , Corey James Burgan, Raleigh Gilliam Seldon, Nicholas Rosaci (photos), Christine Da Costa (Erin Mercer
Dabble’s DIY guy AKA Mr. Chic-ster Nicolas shows everyone how to create a funky étagère
![268582_357980554948_514474948_1431746_2324859_n[1]](http://decorbychristine.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/268582_357980554948_514474948_1431746_2324859_n1.jpg "268582_357980554948_514474948_1431746_2324859_n[1]")
And I get to provide tips on styling a modern informal étagère versus a formal more traditional étagère.
![261247_357980254948_514474948_1431742_1062612_n[1]](http://decorbychristine.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/261247_357980254948_514474948_1431742_1062612_n1.jpg "261247_357980254948_514474948_1431742_1062612_n[1]")
Do not ask me what Tracy and I were laughing about after my segment….I swear to god it is all a blur to me right now. When I watch the episode tomorrow it is going to be totally new to me also!!
![263667_357981039948_514474948_1431756_7097229_n[1]](http://decorbychristine.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/263667_357981039948_514474948_1431756_7097229_n1.jpg "263667_357981039948_514474948_1431756_7097229_n[1]")
In this segment Nicholas and I were teamed against Kimberley and Tracy and Corey and Raleigh to see who could set up a picnic table the fastest.
![267567_357981144948_514474948_1431758_827538_n[1]](http://decorbychristine.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/267567_357981144948_514474948_1431758_827538_n1.jpg "267567_357981144948_514474948_1431758_827538_n[1]")
I won’t tell you which team won!!
![263452_357981209948_514474948_1431759_6562056_n[1]](http://decorbychristine.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/263452_357981209948_514474948_1431759_6562056_n1.jpg "263452_357981209948_514474948_1431759_6562056_n[1]")
Then we showed Tracy what each of our favourite item was to bring to a picnic!!
![269567_357981259948_514474948_1431760_1654076_n[1]](http://decorbychristine.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/269567_357981259948_514474948_1431760_1654076_n1.jpg "269567_357981259948_514474948_1431760_1654076_n[1]")
A great pic of Dabble contributors, Kimberley and Tracy
![264867_357981369948_514474948_1431762_4916504_n[1]](http://decorbychristine.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/264867_357981369948_514474948_1431762_4916504_n1.jpg "264867_357981369948_514474948_1431762_4916504_n[1]")
End of the show Kimberley and I were all smiles!!
![270567_357981794948_514474948_1431774_501124_n[1]](http://decorbychristine.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/270567_357981794948_514474948_1431774_501124_n1.jpg "270567_357981794948_514474948_1431774_501124_n[1]")
Thanks so much to Kimberley for this great opportunity and to everyone at Cityline for making my first time on Cityline so much fun!
Hope you will be watching tomorrow!!
Christine xoxo
Lee Ann’s Kitchen Reno: Part 6 – Adding Femininity via Up-cycling!
June 22, 2011
I will be revealing Lee Ann’s kitchen reno next week with the granite and backsplash installed, along with the awesome faucet Delta Canada provided for Lee Ann. In the meantime, I wanted to show you a little up-cycling project I just completed for Lee Ann’s kitchen.
With all the hard lines of black, white and grey going on in Lee Ann’s kitchen, I really wanted to add some softness and texture to her kitchen. And the easiest way to achieve softness is through fabric. But since our budget was practically depleted, I decided to find a used chair in great condition for her small desk area.
If you are in the Toronto area, than you have probably heard of Moveline Hotel Liquidators – their products originate mainly from major hotel chains across North America. Quality furnishings at fantastic prices. This is the chair I purchased for Lee Ann.
This is the fabric we chose to update the chair through Crown Wallpaper & Fabrics. What do you think??
In addition, the legs of the chair were pretty banged up so I had them sanded down and painted a high gloss black.
And this is now the $55.00 chair!!!
I adore it and so does my client!! I think it’s very glam,chic and feminine! What do you think?
All that’s left is window treatments for the window by the sink to complete this kitchen reno. Anyway, stay tuned for a look at the completed kitchen reno next week…..and my dilemma with this chair.
If your kitchen is craving a glamorous makeover, then contact me online or in person! I’d love to help!
Glamorously yours,
Christine xo
Posted in Accessories, Budget Decorating, DIY, Glamorous Decor, Kitchens, Renovations | 4 Comments »
Dabble Mag Dec/Jan
Cityline Sep 25, 2012
Cityline Nov 8, 2011
Watch Me on CHCH TV
Cityline Sept 12, 2011
