Our Christmas House Tour 2014

                                          Welcome to our home dressed for Christmas! 

This year I put our girl's stockings in our front entry. I purchased them last year at Pottery Barn kids, after Christmas sale (by the way, this is the way to go to get clearance price seasonal items).

I love these IKEA lights that look like snowballs (they are small plastic balls that go around the lights). I added some greenery and Nutcracker ornaments to the branches. The NOEL banner was made out of paper and glitter, a couple of years ago. 

When you come into our library you'll see the sofa I reupholstered in navy blue velvet. YES!! It's done!! I can really sing Hallelujah now! This was an advanced project for me and it took more time than anticipated. I will have a post soon on tips and tricks for upholstery. 

I used Pottery Barn letters with clippings of pine and plaid ribbon on our sconces. 

In our dining room, I made this quick no-sew tablecloth using stripe fabric and gluing down plaid ribbon to use for a border.  

For the centerpiece, I bought some eucalyptus and then clipped some greenery and berry vines in our backyard to get an organic look.

This simple wreath was made from our boxwood bushes in our front yard. It literally took minutes to make with wire. 

We have a Christmas village my mom gave to me and my girls absolutely love to help me set it up. On the wall, I made this advent calendar last year. On the back are scripture verses to read each day to prepare for Christmas. 

On Christmas Eve, our girls get new p.j's and a box of something Christmas-y. This year, they'll get some Santa mugs and a Rudolph CD. 

Our girls got to decorate this fresh tree this year. We will be planting it in our backyard at the end of winter. I just hope I can remember to keep it alive! 

It's fun to try different looks with the mantel. This year I decided to go with a white and turquoise color scheme. 

Thank you for stopping by to see our home! There are many other amazing homes to see over at the 12 Days of Christmas Link party, where I also show my home. I'm also linking this post to The Pretty Preppy Party. Go check it out! I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and New Year!

Christmas at Lucketts

With Thanksgiving and Christmas around the corner, my mind has turned to ideas of how I'm going to decorate for the holidays. We'll be home for both occasions and I'm really looking forward to it. With four little girls at home, it's bound to be full of excitement and traditions. 

This is about the time of year, I'm looking for great ideas and ways I can make some of our decorations so it's affordable. Every November, the Lucketts Antique Store has a big Christmas weekend with charming decorations and glorious Christmas pageantry on display in their Design House. Who knows- maybe it will get those wheels turning in your head on how you'll decorate for the season. 

The entrance is uber charming with greenery, berries and gorgeous furniture. 

This light fixtures here blow me away! I also loved the branches with felt snowballs on the table. 

                            What a fun room! I love the bright red and turquoise blues throughout.

            I had some shopping buddies with me,  aka- my twins, who loved all the sparkles in here too. 

Hand me the glitter and pine cones! I'm getting excited about the coming month! How about you? Are you already scheming DIY decorating for the Holidays or is it just me?

How To Make Your Fake Christmas Tree Look Not So Fake

 Yes, we are one of those families that have a fake tree. We love it! Putting this tree up is simple: three sections come together, fluff, pre-lit- enough said. However, I adore a real Christmas tree. For quite a few years now, it's been cost effective and like I said- simple to just put up what we have and be happy. In order to make our tree look not so fake I have done a few things that I think really help it look more real.

 Here is how our girls decorated the tree with all their ornaments. Not bad, but maybe it needs a little more decorating. I have been trying to go through some of my Christmas decorations and weed out the things I do and don't want anymore. I came up with a few sections of my favorites: star fish, ribbon, handmade fan ornaments, old Christmas cards turned into ornaments, and some cream and gold balls.

I had some clear glass balls I got last year on clearance that I painted mint condition, the leftover paint from the craft closet project

 Once it dried, I dry brushed on some splatters of pink paint to give it a textured look. Dry brushing requires very little paint on a dry brush and a paper towel to wipe off extra paint before you start paint. I simply swished some all around.

Add some real greenery in there to give it a fuller look. I also added several berry branches I clipped from our backyard. I wrapped the tree in the green striped ribbon. Throw in some pine cones and dried hydrangea and it's getting fuller. The point is to fill some of those gaps and give it a bit more texture.  

I also used some extra fabric I had in our house and wrapped it around as the base. Who says you need a tree skirt anyway? What I really love is the look with Christmas trees in buckets or baskets. Maybe next year. This year, our tree has quite a mix of treasured, handmade ornaments, natural elements and lights! Do you feel like you need to do some extra layers to your fake tree? I would love to hear and see what you've done!

Snow Days

We got snow! Our girls were home from school Monday and today. They've been having fun making snow forts and sledding. 

 For a little Christmas craft they made their own wreaths out of cereal boxes and cut up strips of paper. They turned out so cute!

I worked on my own wreath. I will show a close up later since I'm going to add a bit more to it, but it was really fun to make. 

 Christmas baking has begun. I love to make chocolate bark since it freezes well and you can hand it out when you're ready to give goodies.

We hung up our lights on our porch and wreaths on the front windows. Things are starting to look Christmas-y around here.

Candy Wreath

 I made a peppermint wreath! Now we can let the Holidays begin. Last year, I saw this idea on Pintrest and thought it was a clever little thing. Truly, this was an easy, inexpensive and fun project. I love how it turned out.

SUPPLIES:
Styrofoam wreath
Peppermint candies (got mine at the Dollar Store and used over two bags)
Duck tape (I wrapped mine in red duck tape so that you don't see the white behind it)
Hot glue gun and glue
Ribbon

                      Of course it's great to have a helper unwrap all those candies! Thanks Lauren.

 Slowly, we're getting everything up for Christmas. Hope you're having fun putting up your things for this Holiday season.

An Easy to Make Advent Calendar

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We had fun with our family on our trip and ate some good food. Today, I want to show you how I made a quick and easy advent calendar. I know it's December 2nd, but if you don't have one, then you can make something simple like this too. It didn't take long and I had all the supplies already. Chances are you do too!

First, I took a bulletin board I got at Salvation Army awhile back (these things cost a few dollars at thrift stores and I always think they are a good idea to have around). I also spray painted the frame a teal awhile back, so I thought it worked well with what I had. Then, I cut out some extra burlap I had (burlap is always a great to have on hand too- it's inexpensive and brings a natural element) and glued it down with my no-sew glue. No need to be careful cutting the edges since you can cover it up with some ribbon. I chose this plaid I've had for a long time. 

Next, I printed out some numbers on white card stock and cut them like tags (you could cut them into whatever shape you want, but for me it was simple to cut tags). I added some glitter washi tape from the dollar isle of Target (brilliant). At the top I added a Merry Christmas garland I bought at Lucketts at their Christmas Open House (the garland would be easy to make too). Sorry for the sideways pictures.

                                                    I used sewing pins to pin the cards in place.

On the back of the numbers are scriptures and an activity we will read everyday as a family. 

 
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I like the idea of these simple activities to do as a family like; watch a Christmas movie, write a letter to Santa, decorate cookies, bring treats to neighbors, or drink cocoa with marshmallows.

I hope this idea might have helped anyone who is thinking of doing a simple advent calendar. My kids are excited for Christmas and they love the advent calendar already! Can't wait to show you some of the other things I've been doing over here.