Christmas Home Tour

Well, it’s time to give your our Christmas tour. I’ve already shown you a few areas of our home, but there are a few new rooms and pictures sprinkled in there too. If there were ever too many pictures in one post, this could be that post. 🙂

. ENJOY .

Front Porch:

I almost thought this poor little area wasn’t going to make it through the snow and heavy wind beating a couple of days ago. I may have had to search the yard for several of the items, but here it is!

Living Room:

I already showed you our tree,  but this time we have presents under it .

Dining Room:

Kitchen:

Here are our Christmas Shelves:

And my favorite little DIY trees:

And our fluffy cotton ball wreath:

Breakfast Nook:

With the adorable Christmas Countdown.

There it is! We’re all ready for Christmas, well, minus a few last minute Christmas gifts that are set to arrive any day. 🙂

Stay tuned tomorrow for a bit of exciting news!

Linking up to:

The Nester

A Bowl Full of Lemons

House of Hepworths

The 36th Avenue

The DIY Showoff

It’s Cloudy…. & Updates!

Hello All…. My plan for today was to share our Holiday Home Tour, but it’s just down right dark and cloudy outside. We’re expecting a big snow storm to hit this afternoon. Dark and cloudy doesn’t make for very good pictures…

So, in the meantime, I’m going to be working on a few more projects and some last minute Christmas shopping.

Also, I will have a rather large announcement later this week or beginning of next week. Be sure to stick around for it! It’s a biggie!

In other news, my Cotton Ball & Jingle Bell Wreath and Christmas Countdown were BOTH featured on The 36th Avenue! WOW! I feel completely blessed and so honored to be receiving all of this attention and recognition.

That’s it for today, but I didn’t want to leave you all hanging with the Holiday Home Tour up in the air. I’m sure your all just banging down the door excited to see inside our home. (Wink, Wink!) 😉

Exciting News!

Hello friends! A bit of exciting news on this Monday morning- My DIY frosted trees made Centsational Girl’s Holiday Craft Party Highlight!

Pinch me, now!

And if you joining me from Centsational Girl, Welcome! I’m so glad to have you! Be sure to browse around and check out my project gallery and take a tour of our home.

You must check out her Craft Party Highlights post- I feel beyond honored to be included in such a fabulous spotlight! There’s so much amazing creativity!

Thank you all for being such fabulous readers!

I’ll be back tomorrow with my Christmas Home Tour!

-Big Smiles!

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

The day that our Christmas Tree went up, I was a happy lady! The house finally felt festive and oh so Christmas-y!

Since this is the first Christmas in our new home (and the first Christmas this house has ever seen!), I really wanted to get a fresh tree. I had been planning it since the house was finished in June.

Then, something called corn harvesting happened and my plans for a fresh Christmas tree flew out the window. For about two days I was totally bummed and was ready to replace our Christmas tree with something a little easier to set up by myself. I started searching around for a new Christmas tree, fainted when I saw the prices of what I wanted, and made the trek to our garage to pull out our current tree. 🙂

I decided to do a silver and gold “nature” tree with a few pops of red. It turned out lovely! And I didn’t even pay a dime for my favorite decor on the tree!

Instead of doing a garland, or ribbon, I decided to use tumbleweeds from outside! They had the most perfect little snowballs all over their branches. I simply cut the branches off the stalk and used floral wire to make a bundle. It’s a stunning contrast against the tree! And easily my favorite part!

I picked up a few ornaments from Target, The Dollar Store and Walmart. I decided to upgrade most of our bulbs so they would be shatterproof.  They’re stunning and I can’t tell the difference between the glass bulbs and the shatterproof ones.

I had to include the hubby & I’s first Christmas ornament. 🙂

A few frosted pine cones here and there…

Plus a few glittery ornaments…

Makes for a lovely Christmas Tree!

Then, to spread the Christmas cheer, I filled a hurricane vase with ornaments and pine cones. What a stunning combination!

I catch myself sitting and staring at the tree. It’s all sorts of pretty.

Next week I’ll give you our Christmas house tour! Stay tuned!

Linking up to:

Thrifty Decor Chick

DIY Showoff

The 36th Avenue

House of Hepworths

Christmas Countdown

Have you ever saw something that you loved, that spoke to you, that called your name? Something that you just had to have?

Me! Me! I have!

When I stumbled upon this lovely Christmas Countdown board I had to have it!

Emily at the Jones Design Company nailed this on the head! It’s perfect!

So, like anyone who is completely smitten and in love with something, I had to recreate her awesome-ness!

Ah, I loooove it! And talk about a simple, but rewarding project. I love how customizable it it! Choose whatever catches your eye.

At first the idea of finding 25 small-ish items may seem a little overwhelming, but the craft store is an excellent place to find lots of  little items.

Get creative! I searched high and low in the craft store and was surprised to see all the cool little items that I didn’t even know they had!

I loved this little bird the second I saw it!

Christmas greenery works perfect. Just snip the top of a branch and hot glue it to place.

Don’t be afraid to use cookie cutters! They work like a charm.

Jingle bells, jingle bells…

And this mini grapevine wreath is way too cute!

I love projects that are EASY, but look so classy! I found the cork board at our local thrift store. I simply covered it with some muslin fabric (love) and cut out tags (which can be found on Emily’s website). Punch a hole in the tags and pin in place with T pins (found in the sewing section). After that, gather your ornaments, trinkets and embellishments and either hang in place or hot glue them to the tag. EASY!

To add a touch of Christmas to the breakfast nook, I put my new little countdown on our recently transformed dresser. What a pair they make. There’s a whole lot of happiness in one corner. 🙂

What a perfect little vignette this makes!

Such a rewarding project, and one that has me smiling from ear to ear! Thanks Emily!

Linking up to:

A Bowl Full Of Lemons

Southern Hospitality

Home Stories A to Z

DIY Showoff

The 36th Avenue

House of Hepworths

Shanty 2 Chic

Inspired By Charm

Design Dining & Diapers

 

Winter Cotton Ball & Jingle Bell Wreath

Happy Monday everyone! I hope your weekend was excellent.

Last week I showed you our Christmas shelves and I focused on showing you how I made a few of the items on display. This week it’s still all about Christmas, and I’m kicking it off with the “almost too easy to be considered a project” cotton ball and jingle bell wreath.

Honestly, this project is beyond easy and perfect for a first time crafter or someone short on time.

Here’s what you’ll need:

– Wreath form, I used a foam water noodle and taped it together at the seam.

– Jingle bells, any size or color you like.

– Cotton balls- I used 2 bags, but it could be more or less depending on the size of your wreath form.

– Hot glue gun & several glue sticks.

First, grab your wreath form.

Next, grab your jingle bells and decide where you want to put them. The placement is totally up to you.

Hot glue them in place.

With the jingle bells in place, grab your cotton balls and start filling in the wreath. Be sure to glue them tightly together so that you don’t see the wreath form.

That’s it! Seriously!!!

Yes, I know. Simple.

But, it’s sooo pretty!

I love the  fluffy texture of the cotton balls with the shiny and sleek appearance of the jingle bells.

And now for the cost breakdown:

-Wreath form- Free, I had the noodle on hand.

-Jingle Bells- $5.00

-Cotton Balls- Free, I had them on hand.

Total: $5.00!

I originally saw this similar wreath in Target. Their price was around $25.00.

I’ll take that $20.00 savings!

Give it try!

Enjoy!

Linking up to:

A Bowl Full Of Lemons

Home Stories A to Z

DIY Showoff

House of Hepworths

The 36th Avenue

Shanty 2 Chic

Inspired By Charm

Design Dining and Diapers