2015 Year in Review

I could not decide whether to post a year in review or not. 

As I looked through my 2015 blog posts, 

I realized there are quite a few projects from 2015 

that I haven't even shared with you, yet! 

I've been a bad blogger.

Well, 

I decided to go ahead with the review anyway.

In place of all the home projects I've neglected to share with you,

(get ready to see them in 2016)

I have added special family events instead.

Here goes:

In March, I posted how I made a

dining room "sideboard" of sorts.

My son went to his Junior High semi-formal dance.

I put together quite a few costumes in 2015.

The first was

"Edwina Scissorhands" 

for a party my daughter attended in March.

They had to dress like a character from a movie.

In April, 

 I was completely honored to have my umbrella wreath

 featured in Redbook magazine!

In May, my daughter was inducted into

The National Honor Society.

Also in May,

my daughter went to Prom and was

crowned PROM QUEEN!

(We were so surprised!)

In June, my son graduated from Junior High.

In July, I rescued a little side table that was perfect for my living room.

In August, I shared our

completed bathroom remodel.

Back to the costume creations...

In October, my daughter had another costume party to attend.

This time, she wanted to be the 

Mad Hatter.

We channeled Johnny Depp's version here.

Then for my final costume of the year,

my son had a costume concert at school.

He plays cello & wanted to dress as a garden gnome.  

In November,

we took a trip to Orlando, Florida

for a well deserved vacation. 

 That pretty much sums up 2015 for us.  

I'm looking forward to 2016
and sharing a lot of projects with you!

Merry Christmas

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas!

♥♥♥

Much love,

 

Christmas Home Tour, Part 4 (Kitchen & Hallway)

This is the final part of my Christmas tour.

You have all been so kind 

with the wonderful comments you've left for me.

I appreciate each & every one of you!

♥♥♥♥

Here's the kitchen:

I have had a kitchen tree for the last several years.

However, I found the need for a slightly larger tree this year.

(I guess I've collected a few too many ornaments!) 

This larger tree is now

sitting at the end of our kitchen table.  

I'm not a fan of looking at the tree stand, so I'm

hoping to find something to pop the tree into eventually.

I fell in love with this gingerbread cutie.

The red spatula & cherries pulled me right in!

I played a little with my kitchen light this year.

I hung gingerbread cookie cutters from baker's twine

& added a garland of red berries.

My cabinets with the glass doors are

always fun to decorate in red & white.

The hallway:

I have always loved snowmen.

This year I decided to make a snowmen tree

because I have so many snowmen ornaments.

♥♥♥♥

I hope you enjoyed my tour this year.

I do have more that I would like to show you, but

I'm not sure if I'll actually get the time.

I'm getting ready to begin a

cookie baking marathon very soon.

I'll be in a flour haze for days & nights on end!  

Fun, fun fun! 

 

Christmas Home Tour, Part 3 (Dining Room & Sitting Room)

Time is flying by!

It truly is fascinating how quickly

time moves at this time of year.

I imagine age has a lot to do with that, too!

I'm going to continue the tour today

in my dining room and sitting room.

You will find a much more

muted palette in here than in my living room.

White, silver, gold, blue gray.

I have lots of pictures, so I'll try

to keep the chit chat to a minimum,

since I know how time is at a premium

for most of us.  

Dining Room Hutch:

The Santa is new this year.

I fell in love with him,

so he had to come home with me.

Dining room chandelier & table centerpiece:

Since this picture was taken,

I have added a cloche over the mercury glass angel.

The angel was given to me by Shannon

of Fox Hollow Cottage.

And yes, if you're spying out my windows....no snow!

  Yet!

The sideboard/buffet:

And yes, the chalkboard that usually 

resides here has been retired indefinitely.  

On to the sitting room portion:

Coffee table:

Blue dresser:

My favorite shelves:

So that's the dining room/sitting room.

I have a little more to show you,

so I'll be back again later this week.

Have a fantastic week!

11 more days!  

 

Christmas Home Tour, Part 2 (Living Room)

Hello friends!

Let's start Part 2 of our Christmas home tour today.

I shared my mantel on Monday,
so here is the rest of the living room & Christmas tree.



I kept the red & gray theme (inspired by the pixies on the mantel)
throughout the room.

My kids tell me there are too many pillows on the couches.  lol  

I used the same yarn on the wreath (below)

that I used to make the trees on the mantel.

Coffee table vignette:

If you look closely,

my tree has red & gray fleece scarves

(from The Dollar Tree)

wrapped around it!

Entertainment center shelves:

I just love this time of year!

Wishing you a wonderful day!

Next up:

The dining room

 

Christmas Home Tour, Part 1 (Christmas Mantel)

Is anyone still out there?

 My goodness,
I've been missing from my blog for far too long. 

It was a very busy fall...

birthdays, school related activities,
surgery, vacation to Universal Orlando...

you get the idea. 

Are you enjoying all the wonderful Christmas decor
everyone is posting? 

 I'm having a great time taking in all the home tours!

 I've actually been decorated since early November. 

 I know, I know, that was probably way too early,
but with going on vacation, 

I didn't want to return home & have to hurry to decorate, 

so I did it all before we left. 

Not that I haven't tweaked things here & there since we got back!

♥♥♥

 I'm beginning the tour in the living room, with the mantel.

The idea for this mantel started back in September.

Carol @ Art & Sand posted a photo of the most

adorbale pixies ever.
I fell in love with them & immediately ordered a set.

Once they arrived,
the red & gray Christmas color scheme was born!

Throughout Fall, I began collecting items

that I thought would work with my new pixie friends.

I made the Christmas trees.  

I bought some poster board,  rolled it into a cone shape,

then wrapped it with a variegated gray yarn.

A perfect accent.   

Aren't the pixies cute?

Their names are Sidsel & Silvester.  

I love the wool ball garland that I found on Etsy.  

When the cashier at Target handed me the plaid bag below,

I knew I had to use it for my Christmas decorating.  

What are the odds it would be red & gray plaid?

Are you all decorated for the big day?

I'll be back to share more of my decor.

Thanks for stopping by!