Christmas Living Room 2014

I'm plugging away at putting the finishing touches on my Christmas decorations this week. The most important room, the living room, is done! I'm enjoying the fire as I type away and trying not to notice my kids are flinging around the pillows and throw blankets right now. At least I have the pictures to prove it was clean at one point.

You might notice I finally got rid of the ceiling fan. It's been an eyesore for so many years (10 but who's counting). My husband loves ceiling fans so this was a big deal. I replaced it with an inexpensive light from Overstock that is very similar to one Pottery Barn sells. I didn't have many options in this room because of the low ceilings, but anything is an improvement over the hovercraft I had in here before.

The reindeer is a recent find from Target. Isn't he cute? I have a feeling if he were real he wouldn't be thrilled with being called cute. I think he would prefer majestic or regal. He may be a bit of a snob.

I didn't change much else on the mantel. I doubled up a faux garland and then added varying types of real branches on the mantel. If I have any that turn brown it will be easy to take them out and replace them. I probably won't, but at least I have that option if I'm feeling industrious. The boxwood wreath on the window is from Trader Joe's and it was only $10! I think every woman in that store walked out with one that day. Oh, and that's Jingle, our Elf on the Shelf, hanging out inside the wreath. No one is supposed to touch him or he will lose his magic so he made it into the pictures this year. I'm not risking the wrath of my 6 year old by moving him. He is very much into the magic of Christmas this year. It took me by surprise, but I'm so excited that I'm searching for Christmas movies for us to watch at night and planning on taking him to see Santa soon. Oh, what fun!

It's not quite a Rockefeller Christmas around here though. I have to show you what I'm dealing with while trying to clean up this room and take pictures.

Serenity now! If you were wondering why Mario wasn't photobombing as usual, this would be why.

Would you ever know that was going on looking at this picture?

This looks way too peaceful to be my living room!

 



The Easiest Outdoor Christmas Lights Ever

One of my favorite holiday traditions is to drive through the area neighborhoods and look at the Christmas lights. It's probably the only tradition everyone in my family looks forward to every year. Well, my husband doesn't love it like the rest of us, but he tolerates it as long as we stop by Starbucks first. I've learned as the only female in this house I can get my way about almost anything as long as I throw a little food their way first. Anyway, I digress. As much as we love the Christmas lights on homes we never hang them above the first story roof line. Not only do we have a two story house, but we have a third story gable and a very steep roof.



I can now get this house lit up in seconds with thousands of lights all the way up to the top of the third story gable. There is no hanging, climbing or Griswold antics involved. I just plug in one light and stake it in the ground.

That was a little anti-climatic. But, seriously check out what this one light can do.

Isn't this amazing?! One light! My neighbor across the street hangs lights on his roof every year and he said we were cheating. Cheating never felt so good! We positioned it so we could also light up the trees in the front yard, too. It comes with a remote and has different color options. I like the red and green mix the best, but we can also have just red or just green. I'm thinking this will be great for future pool parties. How cool will the red look on July 4th?

My mom told me about this light after she saw it on HSN (Home Shopping Network). I watched the presentation, but I wasn't completely sold on it and decided not to get it. She went ahead and bought it for me, and brought it over last night as an early Christmas present. I'm so glad to have this! The presentation I watched didn't do it justice. We tested it out last night and so many people walking or driving by stopped to ask where we got it. It's that cool! If you've ever been to Disney World and seen the light show on the castle then this will put what it looks like in perspective since it's the same technology.You can buy it here on the HSN website. I believe the square footage of how much it covers is listed, but for reference my house is 2300 square feet and I really only need the one light. 

It's about time someone came up with an easier solution than hanging lights on the house. I'm calling this my Christmas easy button!

Step-By-Step Tree Decorating

Yes, I already have my tree up! I know most people wait until after Thanksgiving, but I'm ready to get started. Anything that makes me feel like I'm ahead of the game during the holidays is something I completely support. This year I needed to buy a new tree since half the lights are burned out on my not-so-old flocked one. I vividly remember restringing lights on it last year and that is something I did not want to do again. It's been a few years since I've shopped for a tree and I was so surprised at how far along they have come. My new tree comes with a remote with the option for clear or multi-color lights. I like the white lights, but my kids prefer the "rainbow" lights. How cute is that?

Now on to the trimming! I loved the blue and silver ornaments so much last year, but I just had to do something different because I'm fickle that way. Luckily, it costs very little to change it up. I found a sage green ribbon at Hobby Lobby that I knew I would use as soon as I saw it. One tip to keep in mind is to look at ribbon that is not just in the holiday section if you want non-traditional colors. I use three ribbons and they make such an impact that I had to be careful of what I chose. I didn't want my tree to be too loud and compete with the light décor of the living room so I chose a solid cream ribbon and a silver mesh to go with the sage green.

I started winding the predominant color through the tree first. I make loops with the ribbon at intervals and then secure it very far back in the tree by wrapping a branch around it.

The satin cream ribbon is used more as an accent and I criss-crossed it under the green in a slight lateral direction. It adds interest and fills in blank spaces.

Then, the silver ribbons fills in the rest of the tree.

 

After the ribbon is done I work on adding picks, branches and pinecones. I chose silver and gold accents. I also wanted a tad bit of red. Glittery red would have been too much so I chose snow covered red berries that I already had. 

 

Then I work on the top of the tree. The poinsettas cover the area where the star is attached.

 

The final step is to add the ornaments. Just like the picks, I chose mostly silver and gold with a touch of red.

It's best at night, of course. 

 



 

I'm so happy to have at least one thing checked off my very long holiday list!

 



State of the Kitchen

There are many times I am reminded of why I don't spend a lot of money on furniture and décor in my home. Between three boys and a dog something gets broken or stained several times a week. One of the last things to bite the dust were my counter stools in the kitchen. They do get heavy use since it's my kids favorite spot to eat and do homework. If you remember, the seats were a natural woven material. My kids have a habit of fidgeting when they do homework and would pull on the strands without even realizing they were tearing the seats apart. Sometimes I just throw my leg over their lap to keep their hands and legs still while they read their homework passages. If they started fidgeting too much they would fall over and take the stool with them. That's called karma, kiddos! I kept trimming the loose strands with scissors, but the final straw was a huge, thick red stain that looked a lot like spaghetti sauce covering one of the seats. How does that even happen? If you have kids, you know there are some stains you look at and decide that it's not worth the trouble to clean. So, I was on the hunt for new counter stools that would be completely kid-proof. I laughed at the upholstered seats. I cringed at the thin, metal industrial stools that already have several dents in them just sitting on the store shelf. I finally settled on an industrial stool from World Market.

The seats are wood so they are easy to clean and dark enough to hide any minor stains. I love how heavy and stable they are, too. I'm hoping the kids won't fall over so easily. The best part is they can swivel in circles to make the stool higher instead of having to sit on their knees when doing homework. They do tend to swivel back and forth as they are fidgeting during homework time, but that's better than falling off the stool or yanking the seat apart. Yes, my kids are a mess!

I do like the way the stools look in the kitchen, too. The wood seat just adds another layer of warmth in my mostly white kitchen.

The wood doesn't match perfectly with the dining chairs, but it's definitely close enough. You might notice a few other minor changes around the kitchen. 

 

The blue Le Creuset utensil organizer next to the stovetop adds color and even another way to add natural wood grain with the spoons.

I added a bit of fall to the kitchen with items I already had around the house. Bath & Body Works Leaves candle is still my absolute favorite scent.

That is a new Dash and Albert kitchen rug. My other blue striped one got a big snag in it when I put it in the dryer. I started air drying this one and it only takes a couple of hours to get it mostly dry. I do like the smaller blue stripes better anyway.

 

A wide shot of the kitchen and breakfast room from the living room.

 

I can't believe it's been almost four years since I gave this kitchen a facelift. It looks better and homier every year as I slowly tweak it. It can be a bit tight in here with a family of five. If it were just about five feet wider I could add one or two more stools at the island. It functions really well for the most part and it's just one of those rooms that feels good. Maybe that's why everyone gravitates here? I know it can't be my cooking!

Fall Fashion 2014

I have been in a fall clothes buying frenzy lately and I've found some great stuff I just have to share. I know my choice in fashion isn't why you visit me here so this will be a rare post. Don't worry, I have made a few changes on the home front to show you soon.

I know I'm not the only one gearing up for fall weather right now. Since Christmas is right around the corner I try to get my family outfitted for our cooler months by November. It's too stressful trying to buy everyone new clothes AND Christmas presents at the same time. Oh, don't forget about decorating for Christmas! Most of us don't have unlimited budgets and that kind of time on our hands so I'll take whatever help I can get. So, when I stumbled upon two amazing fashion blogs I took notice. I love finding new blogs to ooh and ahh over. They have always been interior design related until now. These bloggers do have a similar style to mine and I noticed I already own (or have wanted to own) some of the items they blog about. Even if you have a different style there are so many fashion bloggers out there to get inspiration, just like interior design.

The first one is The Northeast Girl. Here are a few of her looks.

 

 

Cute, right? I love the preppy, yet modern looks. I've noticed a New England preppy look is very similar to a Southern girl preppy look. I wonder who loves monograms more? She has a good mix of outfits that are casual for everyday and also for the workplace.


You also need to check out The Sweetest Thing Blog. Not only does this girl have amazing style, but her hair is straight out of a shampoo commercial.

 

 

Yes, this girl out-haired me. She does give out hair tips and even posts video tutorials.

Now, on to my good finds! I have so many new things I've bought that I made a new Pinterest board here so I don't inundate you with good stuff. If it's not on sale, check for a coupon because I almost never buy anything at full price.

 

 

The blouse comes in so many different colors and I'm starting to think that all of the fashion bloggers out there own one. These Mother jeans are amazing! I found them on sale at Anthropologie and got an extra 25% off this weekend. I'm on my third gold tassel necklace now since I have a habit of getting them hung on everything. This one was so cheap since it was from the Juniors dept. And, the black leggings with faux leather inserts were just too cute to pass up. All of these links are in my Pinterest board as well as many other recent finds.

Also, check out my fashion and beauty inspiration board here. You'll see things like this Clare V clutch that is hard to find since it's become so popular.

This is the only place I've seen it still for sale. Shhh...because I haven't bought one yet.