PhotobucketPhotobucketPhotobucketPhotobucketPhotobucketPhotobucket
Showing posts with label christmas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label christmas. Show all posts

Friday, December 30, 2011

My {better late than never} Home Christmas Tour & the Weekend Craft Soiree!

   Hey there! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! I would like to begin by apologizing for my absence these past few weeks. It has been so hectic around here between trying to finish wreath orders before Christmas, being sick, Jeff being sick, baby Schnauzer pups being born, Christmas shopping, preparing the house for guests, etc, etc, etc... I didn't even finish putting up the Christmas decorations until a couple of days before Christmas! Phew... My birthday was the 27th, so I have been trying to take it easy, compared to usual, since then. I think we all need a few days to rest and recover from the holidays. I hope you have been able to! I also hope that you and your family had a wonderful Christmas season filled with joyous family time to celebrate the birth of our Lord.  Sometimes we get so caught up in the hustle and bustle of it all, before we know it, we have let it slip away from us without even taking a moment to reflect on  the real reason for this season. I hope you have taken time to cherish each fleeting moment! 
   I have a confession to make. I was beginning to take down all of my Christmas decor tonight without even sharing my home with y'all! I am so glad Jeff saw what I was doing and encouraged me to get back on here! He reminded me that if I didn't share some of our Christmas, I would regret it later. He was so right, so I started taking pics! I had already taken down a lot, but at least you can get the general idea of what Christmas felt like in our home! Keep in mind, these pics were taken at night, so the quality isn't too great. 


 This is the first thing you see upon entering the home. The staircase. I found close to 70 vintage glass ornaments (from the 1950s) that belonged to Jeff's mother. I decided to hang these from the stair garland. They are gorgeous colors of hot pink, bright greens, and blues. I also changed it up a little this year and went with colored lights to stay with the retro feel of the ornaments. Please excuse the unfinished gallery wall going up the stairs. I am actually hoping to have it finished very soon! ;)

Hanging on the wall is  $1 chalkboard I made here. This is what I wrote on it:  "For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:11





I did have lots of presents going up the stairs. After they had been opened, I moved my nutcrackers and snowman there.
  Do you remember the hanging glitter leaves I made here? I decided to replace them with snowflakes (from the dollar store). I am going to leave these up throughout the winter :). I also intend to add a few more. I added a wreath like the one I made for the front door here to go on the door that goes down to the basement. 




  My camera does not do the tree, nor does it do the round room justice. This room looks spectacular at night when the reflection of the lights can be seen on each window. 






Kitchen "Alabama Crimson Tide" Tree
If you have ever read my blog, you probably know that we are huge Alabama fans. I decided to do an Alabama tree in the breakfast area this year. On the left is a loopy ribbon wreath I made earlier in the year and an old bench I painted and reupholstered with houndstooth. I actually placed a red and white polka dot pillow and a houndstooth pillow on this bench, although they aren't shown in this picture. On the left is a Daniel Moore print I placed here to go with the Alabama theme. 





This is the view standing in front of the Alabama tree in the kitchen, looking down into the den area. You see the sunburst mirror above the pass-through window? Learn how I made it from toilet paper rolls here



I didn't get the chance to make personalized stockings for the kids this year, so I just placed a photo above each one to identify who each one belonged to. 

This is the view looking from the den into the entryway. 


These next few photos I attempted to take outside. Keep in mind, this pics were taken after I had already started taking decorations down. It is completely dark outside, so the quality is pretty bad. Sorry about that! 

  Here is my tomato cage Christmas tree. I also had white lights on the wreath that is on the front door. I usually love to go all out with my outdoor lights. We live pretty far off the road (1/4 mile) so in order to make an impact, there really needs to be lots of lights. I didn't have as much time this year, but had to add a little something with the amount of time I did have. 

The view into the round room windows from outside. 

Coming into the house, the office (formerly the dining room) is to the left. I added some lights to an artificial tree I have in here year-round. 

And the final pic before the Weekend Craft Soiree begins.... 

Just wanted you to see this sweet baby Schnauzer I have in my arms as I write this post... How much work could you get done with something this sweet looking up at you? :) It isn't easy, that's for sure!

  No rules for the party this weekend! I am just happy to be getting back on track! I have also decided that I will not post features from the previous parties this time, although I have featured many of you on my facebook page! I want to start fresh with the new year! :) I hope you all have a safe and fun New Year's weekend!  Please remember NOT to drink and drive! Happy New Year, my friends! 












Tuesday, November 29, 2011

My First Christmas Wreath


  I am so excited that the Holiday season has finally arrived! I just love decorating for Christmas! Today, I have a very easy, traditional wreath to share with you. Last night, I was able to make this in well under an hour and I didn't have to go out and spend any money buying things to make it. I already had everything I needed. 


Materials I used:
18 inch grapevine wreath
green garland
ornaments
glittery picks
hot glue gun


  First, I wrapped the garland around the wreath. I just tucked the ends into the wreath. It is ok if your grapevine wreath is visible through the garland in some spots. I actually found that it is better this way. 


Next, glue the ornaments into the bare spots. I started with my bigger red ornaments, then added some tiny red balls. 




Then, I added these pretty glittery picks. I cut the long stem off all but a couple of inches and just stuck them randomly around the wreath. I used red and bright green.


I thought the wreath might still need a little something more so I added a few apple green glittery ornaments.


  That is all there was to it! I hope you like my new Christmas wreath and feel inspired to make one for your own home! 


Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Christmas Peppermint Punch

Hello all! I'm sorry I haven't posted in several days! I has been so hectic around here and, being the procrastinator that I am, I have yet to finish my Christmas shopping. I think that deep down, I just love the craziness and pressure of finishing at the last minute, because that is how I do my shopping every single year! I have been several times to finish it up, and I end up wondering around aimlessly in the stores buying things with absolutely no relevance to what I intended to buy! Can anyone relate? :) Getting to the point of this post, I wanted to share this wonderful punch that has become a new tradition around here! A lady at my church shared this recipe with me years ago and since then I have made it almost every year. I will post pictures when I make it this year, I just wanted to go ahead and share this recipe in case any of you want to make this oh-so-easy, festive punch this week!

Christmas Peppermint Punch
1 qt Egg Nog
1 liter bottle of Club Soda, chilled
1/2 gallon Peppermint ice cream, softened
hard peppermint candies, crushed
     Stir together first 3 ingredients in a punch bowl. Sprinkle with peppermint candy, and serve immediately.
*If you have time, something I like to do is dip the rim of the punch cups into the crushed peppermints.

   I hope you enjoy this as much as I do! It is just wonderful! Happy shopping and I hope you are all slowing down enough to enjoy this wonderful time of the year!

~Crysta :)

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Holiday Coffee

   I have a wonderfully easy festive treat to share with you today. 
 This is all you do:
  • Add 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon of cinnamon on top of the coffee grounds before brewing your regular pot of coffee.
  • After coffee has been made, pour into a cup and add whipped cream on top
  • use a candycane to stir
That is all there is to it, and let me tell you, it is perfect! The longer you drink it, the better it becomes as the candycane melts and adds that sweet peppermint flavor. If you like it a little sweeter, 2 candycanes instead of one make it even better! Enjoy :)
~Crysta :)

Monday, December 6, 2010

Love this Shabby Ruffle Fabric Wreath from Vintage Polyanna! Oh-so-EASY and Cheap to make!!! :)

How can you not LOVE this idea?! All you need it some fabric scraps and a foam wreath from the DollarTree! Seriously! You don't even use glue! TOO Cute! I just HAD to share it with you all!


http://vintagepollyanna.blogspot.com/2010/12/shabby-ruffle-fabric-holiday-wreath.html

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Easy & GREEN Dough Ornaments! Simple, chic, and safe for the environment! :)



Dough Shapes

1. In bowl, mix 2 cups flour, 2 cups salt, and 1 cup water.

2. Stir, and then knead into a ball.

3. Roll out dough to a 1/4-inch thickness.

4. Cut into shapes using cookie cutters, and poke a hole through the tops with a pencil.

5. Bake on a greased cookie sheet for 20 minutes or until hard.

6. Loop a ribbon through hole and tie a knot.

   I love making these little ornaments! They make a great project that you can let the kids help with! Be sure to paint and maybe glitter these. You can even paint the year on the back and have these as keepsakes for years! The possibilities are really endless!

*This tutorial for this super-easy and green idea is from wholeliving.com... They have many more cute ideas that are safe for the environment! Hope you all are having a simply wonderful beginning to this Christmas season! :)

Friday, November 19, 2010

Simple and Festive Christmas Lamp from BHG!

Decorative Christmas lamp
Festive Christmas Lamp


Add a little flair to a lampshade for the holiday season. Just buy an inexpensive shade that will fit your lamp. Glue or tack garland to the bottom edge of the shade, then hang little ornaments to the lower edge. How simple is that! I will definitely doing this with many of my lamps throughout the house. I am going to try and find a way to do this without buying new lamp shades. I will post the outcome very soon! This is a totally cute and easy project from BHG!