Happy New Year!!!

It’s me! I’m still alive and well. As you can tell, I fully unplugged over the holidays. It was fab, and much needed. Thanks so much for your patience. In fact I unplugged so much I didn’t even make it to Ikea or Anthropologie this time! I know…I’m as stunned as you are. Instead here’s a montage of odd photos from my trip.

Me in my Christmas jammies on Christmas Eve. Excuse the split in my bangs – nobody (uh hum…my son…or poodle) bothered to alert me.

Hot cocoa and cinnamon rolls..yum…

A mix CD from my son. It says “All that I am or hope to be, I owe to my Mother. - Lincoln”. Doesn't that make you want to cry?!

Can you say “beautiful”?!!!

The best chimichanga I’ve eaten in months. Mmm, makes me want another one right.now.

A living room set I wanted to take home with me at Pottery Barn.

Loved this display too.

A mannequin with its pants down. Of course I had to take a picture…and share it with y’all.

The last night in town. Me and my boy.

I’ll be back tomorrow with something a tad more interesting…and decorating related.

Have a great Monday!

5 Things I Love About the Holidays

Five Things I Love about the Holidays

1. Opening new jammies on Christmas Eve and snuggling up while we watch It's a Wonderful Life or A Christmas Carol


2. Hot cocoa and cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning


3. Hanging out with my family who I only get to see twice a year - The distance makes me appreciate them even more.


4. Sparkly lights that make everything look magical...well...I don't know if they could make my garbage can look magical...but then again I've never tried.


5. The joy of giving

What are some of your favorite things?

Image: Country Living

Christmas Mantel

I wanted a festive fireplace mantel this year, but couldn’t fork out a lot of money to get the look I wanted…so what did I do? You guessed it, I shopped the house. I did buy a voluptuous pine wreath from Old Time Pottery, but that was it. Everything else was found in the corners of my home.

I also really, REALLY wanted to sew new Christmas stockings this year because the red is just a little too much for me. Seeing as Christmas is in 10 days, though, I’m kind of doubting that’s going to happen. Oh well…I doubt my son or dog are going to complain about red stockings :). 

Oh…and by the way, my walls were NOT painted with Lemonheads, they just look like they were in the photos. They’re actually a very lovely buttery tan (The Nester’s Tobacco Road).

The little stocking is for our dog, Kingsley. It’s just big enough for a dog treat and a chew toy.

The pitcher above is one of my favorite flea-tique store finds. I tied it with a bow (obviously) and threw some berries in.

I love my star wreath. I bought it an after Christmas clearance at Pottery Barn a few years ago. I decided to fancy it up with some ribbon and hang one of my favorite snowflake ornaments in the center.

This vase would probably be lovely polished, but I kind of like it in its tarnished state. Besides, it makes that Flea-tique store pitcher feel better about its own patina. Again, I threw in more berries and hung one of my favorite beaded ornaments.

You know I had to include a bird somewhere in there. This little guy’s happy to be hanging out in the foliage…even though it’s being clotheslined by a stray silver berry.

Have a great day!

Oh Christmas Tree

I don’t know if you know this about me, but I can be a little obsessed with decorating. Yes, please do not fall off of your desk chair from this admission. For some reason, though, I never put a whole lot of effort into decorating our Christmas tree. And there have even been a few years (brace yourself) where I haven’t even bothered putting a tree up (take a moment to collect yourself…I’ll wait for you).

Maybe it’s because we always go “home” for Christmas; maybe it’s because it’s just my son and me and it feels like a wasted effort (I know…bad parental/Christmas attitude), but in recent years I haven’t been that into it.

 

I decided to put a stop to that this year - Not by going out and buying armfuls of new ornaments, or by attaching real life sparklers to our tree, but by decorating with intention. Instead of just throwing the same old random smattering of ornaments on the tree, I thought about what I really wanted the tree to look like and decorated accordingly.

I decided I wanted something soothing, calming, and sparkly this year. So I kept my red and green ornaments in the boxes and pulled out anything that was glass, silver, beaded or sparkly.

Since I don’t have a ton of ornaments, I brainstormed and decided to make the super inexpensive super easy vintage paper chain I showed you yesterday. I really like how it fills the space, but still looks subtle.

Finally, I don’t own a tree skirt (you’re really starting to be concerned about me aren’t you?), so I just pulled out some black and white ticking stripe fabric from my stash and wrapped it around the base of the tree. It’s actually one of my favorite things about the tree. But then again, I love all things ticking stripe.

 

The best part about our tree? Turning the lights on every night and chatting with my son about his day, or watching tv together under the glow of the tree lights (was that last part a little over the top?).

My point is – the tree helps remind us of the Christmas season. It’s an extra little thing that makes our house feel like home. And even though my teenager wasn’t remotely interested in helping me decorate the tree, he appreciated my effort and I know that it helps him feel the Christmas spirit. Oh heavens…that sounded sappy.

Have a great Wednesday!

“Vintage” Paper Chain

Remember those old paper chains you used to make out of construction paper in elementary school? Well, I’ve been admiring all of the cool wreaths made of book pages (like the wreaths below from Pottery Barn), so I thought it could be fun to make a paper chain for my tree with the same look.

Supplies:

• An inexpensive book that you can destroy (I found mine at the Salvation Army)
• Scissors or a fancy scrapbooking cutter
• A stapler (or glue if you really want to go the extra mile)
• Brown ink and a sponge applicator (OPTIONAL)

First, I have to say that I made my paper chain while visiting my Aunt for Thanksgiving. She is a card making queen, and as such she had all kinds of fancy supplies for me to use for this project. Yep. I was in awe. Here’s how our conversation about the paper chain went:

Me: Do you happen to have a stapler I could use?

Auntie: I have 5 different staplers for every possible stapling need. Which one would you prefer?

Me: Oh thanks. Do you happen to have any brown craft paint or ink I could use?

Auntie: Do I have ink? I have 10 kinds of antiquing ink. I have walnut, and parchment, and vintage paper, and mahogany, and….

Yeah, she’s totally out of my crafty and creative league.

Anyway, the reason for the explanation is that I wouldn’t normally have used all the fancy stuff. I’m more of a 1 type of scissors, 1 type of stapler gal. But that’s just me. Okay, moving on…

How to Make Your Paper Chain

1) If you want to antique your edges see the paragraph below. You’ll want to do this first.

2) Slice pages out of the book with the edge of your scissors.

3) Cut the pages lengthwise into uniform sized strips with scissors or a fancy paper cutter.

 

4) Staple (or glue if you’re an overachiever) the ends of the first strip together to form a ring. (yes, that’s what stapling paper looks like…earth shattering, I know)

 

5) Insert the next strip of paper into the ring and then staple the ends of that together to form another ring. (I know this is totally self-explanatory, I just thought I should explain in case you’ve never made a paper chain before).

If you want to antique the edges of the paper (and you have a spare 4 gajillion hours …more or less), use some brown ink and a sponge applicator to lightly add brown color to the edges of the strips. My aunt said she bought the ink in the photo from Michaels.

Add the ink to the strips of paper before putting the chain together. If you wait and do it after it’s been put together then then this project will take approximately 8 gajillion hours instead of 4. I learned this the hard way.

See my cute cousin helping me put ink on my edges? She was very patient during this process. Thanks Kelsey and Aunt Shelley!

Tune in tomorrow for more about my Christmas tree.

Hosting Thanksgiving Dinner? Take a Deep Breath

Are you hosting Thanksgiving dinner this year? Are you feeling a little frazzled and stressed out right about now? This little post will be my attempt at calming you down.

I've watched my dear, sweet, wonderful, angelic mother host holiday dinners year after year – and I swear the poor thing gains a grey hair or two every time she does it (although, you'd never know it from looking at her). My sweet little mama sets impossibly high standards for herself, stresses out beyond the max about how she’ll be able to reach those standards, and then feels guilty if she feels like she’s fallen short.

Does this sound familiar to any of you? Have a seat, grab a cup of cocoa and listen to me, okay?

Does it really matter if the pumpkin pie is from Costco instead of your Aunt Ruth’s recipe that requires 5 different spices imported from the Amazon and 10 hours of intensive labor? Yes, it’s a tradition. Yes, it kind of matters, but does it really matter?

Will anyone’s day be ruined because you didn’t hand carve a mini replica of the Mayflower out of yellow squash…and make matching name cards out of baby pumpkins?

Will the world come to a crashing halt if the food isn’t quite ready when everyone arrives, or if the turkey is a little dry? Will it…really?

I know we all want to please. I know we want to put our best faces forward when we entertain, but remember what people REALLY care about. They care about spending time with you. They care about catching up on what they’ve missed since they last saw you. They care about laughing about that one time, when they were 16 and they accidentally knocked over a trash can by the side of the road with their car because you were a brand new driver (that was my friend Betsy by the way).

Let people pitch in and help you cook. Let go of expecting everything to be perfect…it doesn’t have to be. Enjoy spending time with your guests. Enjoy your food…even if the gravy isn’t as "perfect" as the gravy your mom used to make.

Take a deep breath and enjoy the memories that are being made.

Happy Thanksgiving!

P.S. Please don't throw mashed potatoes at me. I'm just the messenger :-).

Thanksgiving Table Decor

A few weeks ago I had grand dreams of writing a post where I showed you my own dining table with several different Thanksgiving table decor ideas. Oh yeah, it was going to be great. "Look at the fancy metallic gourds." "Oh, and see how easily you can made a centerpiece with nothing but twigs, berries and duct tape?".

Uh huh...that didn't happen. Honestly though, what was I thinking? I'm not even hosting Thanksgiving at my house?!

Anyway...my lazyness has now resulted in the ultimate lazy move...I'm now showing you some great Martha Stewart ideas....hee hee. At least I'm honest, right?

Enjoy!

Cheap & Easy Christmas Wreath (Sorry Pottery Barn)

I know...it's too early for Christmas wreath show and tell...but I just can't help it. Imagine your 5 year old jumping up and down and saying "Can we show them our wreath mommy?! Can we...can we?!!" Yep...that's me. I'm just so excited!!!

I admired this wreath at Pottery Barn, but not the $79.00 price tag (I'm pretty sure PB is going to start sending me hate mail...I'm sooo sorry PB...I really do love you.).

I knew I could replicate (does that sound better than "blatantly copy"?) this wreath inexpensively.

Enter my faux pine wreath (bought on final clearance at Hobby Lobby last year...it was probably $2).


A whole bunch of ornaments (some I already owned, and some I purchased...for a total of $5).


A few wire ornament hooks to secure the ornaments to the wreath (I wound them around the pine branches).


And voila! My own, lovely, easy, cheap, festive, sparkly...did I mention cheap?...Christmas wreath.

Um...please ignore the leaves on my doormat :).

This post is partying over at Kimba's DIY day. Feel free to head over for more great DIY ideas. We're also partying down at Cindy's party at Cottage Instincts.

Have a great Tuesday!

What Are You Thankful For?

I gave Christmas the spotlight Monday, so I thought I ought to give Thanksgiving its due time today. I like Thanksgiving. It's not as sexy as Christmas, what with all those sparkly decorations and so forth, but it does have great food (my son once asked if I was going to cook a "big chicken" for Thanksgiving...he meant "turkey"...oh, I miss those days).

Anyway, what I really love about Thanksgiving is that it's an entire holiday dedicated to remembering and acknowledging all of the things we're thankful for. I'm a big believer in always counting your blessings, but Thanksgiving provides a unique kick in the pants to give some thought to all of those things you're grateful for. Here are a few things on my list (I apologize for the sappyness of this post):

1) My Son: He's, hands down, the greatest blessing I've received in my entire 33 years. And he does his own laundry.

2) My Parents: They're always there for me. Always. Even though they're 1200 miles away.

3) Our Home: I'm grateful for the safe haven it is for us, and the decorating playground it is for me.

4) Friends/My Adopted Oklahoma Family: Those of you living away from "home" know what I mean. There's nothing like a friend who will watch your dog, share carpool duties, rescue you when your car breaks down, and laugh with you when it's all over.

(Um, I'm a tad chubby in this photo...but I think it was taken 2 months post divorce (and in the midst of my Oreo obsession). Oh, I'm grateful for weight loss...)

5) Choclate, flea markets, thrift stores, TJ Maxx, paint...oh yes, paint!, the internet to teach me how to fix a toilet, fabric sales, homemade lattes, good tv, the best poodle in the world, hot showers, diet pepsi, Mexican food, pedicures, micro fleece...and good music...and the fact that there are people out there who can sing better than I can.

6) Finally, I'm thankful for YOU. Honestly...I'm not sucking up to the crowd here. I am truly, humbly, deeply grateful for all of you and the joy you bring into my life.

What are you thankful for? You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but I would challenge you to write out your own list.

Have a great weekend!