Tuesday, November 30, 2010

decking the halls...

Yes, I'm still at it. But you will never hear a complaint from this girl about decorating, especially Christmas decorating. My house is bumping with the tunes of Christmas, and smelling like a fresh pine forest! My husband even joined me in watching A Christmas Vacation... and of course, hysterically laughing the whole movie. Last night, Elf was the choice, and I even started wrapping presents to put under the tree. Here are a few more of the decorations I've put out, and some crafts, too! But first, I will start with out 2010 Christmas Tree! 
MERRY CHRISTMAS, Y'ALL!!!!!!!! 
2008 Christmas Ornament
 2009 Ornament
 2010 Ornament - purchased on our trip to Carmel, California.
 Wedding Ornament
Our beautiful tree!!!
Now for a super easy, and adorable project... a branch vase with hanging ornaments. Start by going outside and finding branches in all different shapes and sizes. I added a LIGHT coat of white spray paint because I also wanted the look of the natural wood to show through. After that completely dried, I added a quick spray to the ends of the branches with snow spray. Turned out pretty cute. I just stuffed some floral foam in the bottom of my pitcher and stuck the sticks into that, then added some torn white tissue paper around the top. Just add some bulbs and your set! I filled my platter with some sprays of leftover fresh garland, and some red berries.
Another easy project... a new door wreath. Not only was last years wreath SMASHED in the storage box, it was looking a bit worn... so a new one was a must! I wanted something simple because of my red front door... I started with a grapevine wreath ($3.00), and gave it a light spray of white paint.  I then added my glitter branches, white berry sprays, and bulbs with floral wire. For a finishing touch that I COULDN'T pass up... a teeny tiny silver birdie. I love birds, and this one fit perfectly! Makes the whole wreath, actually! 
I will close this with one last photo... my mantel. I can't even tell ya how much I love it. I swear, it's not coming down until February! I mean that! ;-)
Monday, November 29, 2010

Christmas Mix

Just a few of my favorites I thought I would share... to put you in the spirit!  Enjoy.



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it's beginning to look a lot like CHRISTMAS!!!!

Thanksgiving was yesterday for us... So today started the Christmas season! My sweet husband had a fresh Christmas tree and 25 feet of fresh pine waiting in the house for me... So I got straight to work. A mantel is my absolute favorite thing to decorate... And I will just say, this years mantel beats every other I have ever decorated. I absolutely LOVE it!!! My main colors used are silver and blue... but there are splashes of red throughout.
Here are some photos of my holiday decor... So far!  Much more to come!
Happy start of the Christmas season to you all. I am so in love with this time of year!
Emme enjoying the Christmas Decor
Oliver joins
While standing in line on Black Friday, I scored these adorable little candles, one with a D, and one with a J... love them! 
I had to keep the H out, so I just hung a few bulbs over the edge.
  
I added some hanging bulbs from my mantel, and I absolutely love how it turned out!
I also added hanging bulbs from my side window, and used the same bulbs to tie back my curtains.
The beginning to our tree.
Christmas Wishes
Sunday, November 28, 2010

Party a SUCCESS!

Yes, our Thanksgiving dinner party was a success!
We had so much to be thankful for yesterday... especially the great food, and great friends to share it with. We had an amazing dinner... And we should have considering David and I were in the kitchen for two straight days, it seemed. Here is our table setting, and our menu...

 chocolate chess pie... SO SO SO SO SO SO SO GOOOOOOOOOOOD!
 cream cheese stuffed pumpkin muffins with streusel topping
 spinach artichoke stuffed mushrooms
 me and david hard at work...
 our 2010 Thanksgiving picture
 with my holiday mantel :-)
 the stuffed bird
 making the gravy
 all the fixins'
 Stephen... the turkey carver!
We also enjoyed two delicious bottles of wine!
I will speak for us all by saying we were very thankful for this dinner!
Hope everyone had a fabulous thanksgiving!!!
Wednesday, November 24, 2010

worthy of sharing...

Thanksgiving is nearly here... and the aroma of the 'fantastic annual feast' is starting to fill our homes. Unfortunately, I will be working 12 hours tomorrow, but we will be having a lunch. When asked what I would bring... I knew without a second thought... cranberry sauce. This year, we have chosen a couple recipes from Tyler Florence, and his Cranberry-Orange Sauce Recipe is a WINNER! It is whipped up in only 25 minutes, and tastes like it took hours to cook...  HERE is the recipe... enjoy!
Along the way, we took pictures of the cooking process - 
 Start with your fresh cranberries, then add your orange zest and the juice of the orange.
 Add 1/2 cup of sugar (shew), then a cinnamon stick...
 Watch the cranberries burst, and the amazing smell fill your home...
 When finished... it will look like this - a mushy, delish mess... put in a pretty little serving bowl, and your set!
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
Monday, November 22, 2010

thanksgiving projects complete!

In my last post, I wrote about our thanksgiving dinner party that we are hosting this year... this Saturday, actually. I am super excited because I love to entertain, and so I need my house to look the part, as well! 
Today, I tackled 3 different projects... and here they are!!!
The first are these lovely little wine cork napkin rings. We have reserved a couple really good bottles of wine for this occasion, so what better way to add decor than by using your wine corks... and believe me, we have a million to spare. 
I collected six of the same corks, all Charles Shaw, and grabbed the power drill with the appropriate drill bit, and headed outdoors to make some noise :) This was a very easy job, you literally drill through the middle of the cork, then drill out to clean your hole. I then took twine (one of the main features throughout the house) and put it through the hole, then tied it around my napkins. 
Moving on to project number two... name holders. David had brought home a bag of miniature pumpkins for me around Halloween, and before tossing them out, I decided to use these little gems as my name holders!  Aren't they just adorable :-) All I did here was print out names on blank paper, cut them into squares, punch a  hole on the edge and string it onto the pumpkin... easy peasy.
And for the finale... my favorite project of all... my thanksgiving burlap banner to complete my holiday mantel. This was also super easy, just using burlap, twine, fabric paint, stencils and a stencil paint brush. I went with thankful, because it seemed very appropriate. Here are photos showing you how I did this -
 Start by making a template of a triangle, then use that to cut your burlap.
 Using a paper plate, or whatever you have around, lay your stencil on the burlap, and paint away.
 Peel your stencil up, and let your paint dry... warning - the front and BACK will be wet, so seriously, let them dry completely!
 Once all dried, fold the top of your fabric over and using a fabric hole punch, make a hole on both sides.
 It will look like this. The holes are so you can string your twine or ribbon through.
 HANG AND ENJOY! ISN'T IT JUST ADORABLE!!! SOOOOO VERY THANKFUL!
 I have always loved a mantel, especially during the holiday seasons... it is the most fun to decorate!
Also added a little of the twine around this vase holding dried hay... I just can't get enough. I can't wait to set my table Saturday morning and see how everything looks all put together! 
Hope everyone is having a great Monday!
 

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