This simple project is a little late for Christmas, but I think it’s appropriate as a winter decoration, as well.

Here’s what you need:
— a chandelier (ours is over the dining room table)
— a pack of jingle bells (the ones I chose are gold – they were about $2.50 at Walmart, and I only used half of the package)
— a spool of fishing line

Once you’ve assembled your supplies, you can begin hanging the bells.

Cut a length of fishing line and knot one end through the bell’s loop (a single knot worked for me). Tie the other end to an arm of the chandelier with a double knot. Trim both ends of the line. Continue until the chandelier is as full of bells as you like, alternating the lengths of the strings and the size of the bells (if you have more than one size to work with). I strung three bells on each arm.

Et voila! A simple and festive winter decoration

{All photos by me – and I promise it looks better in person!}

Some more great finds from Beach Dwelling:

sea urchin votives

bag made from reclaimed sail

over-sized wood and metal lantern

jute door stop

tote bag file folders

plump cream daybed

The moment I saw the spread on this celebration in the Summer 2008 issue of Martha Stewart Weddings, I knew I had a new favorite wedding.

The dress! The pink ties and mixed gray suits on the groomsmen! The cake! The engraved stationery! There simply weren’t enough exclamation points to express my glee.

My very favorite detail, however, was the table settings. The guests ate not on rented china, but on patterns from the Mother of the Bride’s own collection, which, as you can see, is quite large. To me, this gives the reception an elegant but relaxed feel – the most you could hope for from a backyard reception.

Ever since I saw this spread, I’ve wanted to do the same thing someday, albeit on a smaller scale. I probably won’t be able to collect or borrow enough full place settings to accommodate my friends and family, but I’m thinking it would be a lovely and personal touch to serve wedding cake on my own china dessert plates. Between EBay, thrift stores, garage sales, etc. (and no wedding planned for the near future!), I feel like this is a manageable task.

And last week I made my first purchase! 10 Pontessa china dessert plates from EBay for – wait for it – 99 cents! That’s right, 99 cents.

What do you think – worth 99 pennies?

Wouldn’t you like to spend the weekend in a tree house?

{Image source}

The designer and builder, La Cabane Perchee, writes on its site:

“The whole idea is to relive our childhood dreams of building tree-houses. This is a dream that we all had, as a child or later in life… Living high in the trees to observe, to read or write, to listen to music, to feel well, to dream, sometimes to be alone and sometimes to love.”

Well said.

{Thanks to Rachel for the tip!}