Christmas Entry Table

Pin It

The only new things I bought for this area were the $6 brown cardboard trees, $4 felt snowflake garland, and 2 poinsettia plants.  The rest is just a mish mash of old Christmas decorations I already owned.

 I am definitely no artist!  However, I do enjoy changing up the chalkboard every month and have a Pinterest board HERE that gives me tips and inspiration.

I wanted to keep our banister simple, I attached these little swigs with ribbon.

The Jig Is Up

Pin It

First things first, I couldn't resist the elf skirt from Target and so Chuck has become a girl elf.  

Secondly, I have already forgotten to move the elf.  Oopsie!

  Evie noticed and asked me about it...I looked her right in the eyes and told her I forgot.  I am sure she knew it was me anyway.  However, I am still telling her that Santa is real and that now she has to believe me because I told her the truth about the elf.  hee hee.   She is eating it up!  Anyway...now we have been taking turns moving the elf, which has been fun!  The first night it was Evie's turn to move the elf, I found her under the Christmas tree trying to escape a dirty sock that was stuck on her head.  Today I found her taking a ride on Evie's stuffed Cheetah.

One of the greatest parts about being in second grade where my kids go to school is that they get to decorate "gingerbread" houses.  Here is how Evie's house came out today.

He's Back!!

Pin It

Last night our elf (we forgot what we named his last year, it was either Larry or Bob.  This year we decided to rename him Chuck...which Evie wanted to make into Chucky. EEK! I quickly vetoed that.) appeared from the North Pole to watch over the kids!  He made his debut by rolling down the stairs in a roll of toilet paper, an idea I got from Pinterest.  You can see the rest of the ideas I have been saving up on my Elf Inspiration board right here.

The kids don't really believe and they know it's me...but they still get a kick out of it!  Last year, our elf began his naughtiness on December 1st, about two weeks in, I was sooooo over it!  I was forgetting to even move him half of the nights.  I decided this year, I would start the fun 14 days before Christmas.  :)

Christmas Mantel

Pin It

First off, I don't know why...but I always want to spell mantel m-a-n-t-l-e instead of mantel.  Why is that?

Secondly, I had grand plans for our mantel this year, including many pinterest pins of over the top, gorgeous Christmas mantels!  In the end simplicity and ease won out.  

I purchased stocking hooks that I really love and a few new $5 vases.  I filled the vases with stuff I already had from years past and propped one vase on top of a $1 store candlestick.  I also picked up a mercury glass tree from Kmart.  I changed the candles to cream,  added a garland and pine cones I already owned...and called it a day!

Overall, it does give a cozy feel to the room and I enjoy the mix of shiny and natural combined with the creams, tans, and golds.

 

I already had the cream and tan stockings from last year, along with the glittery hanging initials.  (which were picked up from the $1 section of Target...and yes, our family initials are M E L T.  Cute, huh?!)

 

Oh Christmas Tree

Pin It

Here is our Christmas tree this year.  We have a red, white, and silver...mixed with some gold, baby ornaments, and lots of Disney ornaments theme going on.

It seems like every year I retire a few old ornaments and pick up a few new ones.  This year my favorite new ornaments are the large gray ornament from Target and the plaid ornaments from Meijer.

Christmas Dining Room

Pin It

I am low on motivation and time to decorate for Christmas this year!  So things are simple, but overall I am pleased with how they turned out.  Throughout the house, I like to combine bling and glitter with natural elements, like pine cones and burlap.

Fall Pictures 2012

Pin It

I finally found a few minutes to take those fall pictures of the kids that I talked about back in September.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving with their families.  Let the non-stop Christmas music begin!

 

An Apple Pie a Day

Pin It

That's not how the saying goes? Oh well.

  We had a bag of apples still left from our visit to the apple orchard.  Today, Evie and I decided to put them to use in an apple pie.

 I can't remember where, but I once read that you should put a small layer of butter on the bottom pie crust.  It acts as a barrier from the moisture of the apples and keeps the crust flaky.  I am not sure if it works or not, but I figure a little butter is never bad?!

Yummy!  Apple pie with ice cream and caramel sauce.

Halloween 2012

Pin It

This year Evie was a flapper girl and McKinley was a Werewolf....although his mask pretty much only stayed on for these pictures!

It was a challenge to try and make Evie's long hair look like a short flapper style.

Colonial Williamsburg - Part One

Pin It

 On our way to the Outer Banks (and on the way back) we stopped for a night in Colonial Williamsburg.  It's one of my favorite places on earth!  In fact, it's where we spent our honeymoon. :)

The kids seemed to really enjoy it, which made me very happy to be able to share something I love so much with them.  When we have more time, we will definitely be making a trip back for a more extended stay.

The peaceful setting and gorgeous buildings just beg to be photographed.  I would love to use the pictures we snapped somewhere in our home. That will be a project for after the holidays though.

During one of our walks, I let the kids have the camera to take pictures of whatever spoke to them.  They got some great shots, including these!

There was a lot of this too...

Back to Reality

Pin It

We spent last week in the Outer Banks of North Carolina.  Sadly, this week it is back to school and work.  

The weather was beautiful and we spent a lot of time at the beach.  We also managed to climb Hatteras lighthouse, visit the aquarium, fly kites at the sand dunes, and take a sunset boat cruise.  One of my favorite things we did was rent a 4WD Jeep and drive the northern beaches.  The roads end and from there you can just drive right along the water on the sand.  The beaches are also home to wild horses and it was fun to search for them.

We rented an oceanfront house and the sunrises took your breath away.

Popsicles on the pier 

 

When you see a chair this large, you are obligated to stop for pictures.

We like to play with silly hats in gift shops.  shrug.

I also attempted to take pictures of the kids on the beach...the results did not turn out as well as I had hoped, but I still got a few cute shots.  Ugh, still need to get those photography classes I have been saying I need for the last 5 years.  Someday!

I picked up the white dresses, for Evie and my niece, from Naartjie, love that brand!  Plus, I just never get tired of taking pictures of Evie on the beach in white dresses.

Without realizing, I re-created this shot from our beach pictures two years ago.  Crazy to see how much they can change in just two short years.

2010

2012