A Little Touch of Fall

Fall is my favorite season. I love the warm colors. I love the cooler temperatures. I love jeans and sweaters. And I love decorating the house with pumpkins and candles and little woodland creatures.

I'm including just a few quick snapshots of our living room and dining room. Some "shelfies" if you will....

The BOO pumpkin was purchased at Pottery Barn a few years ago.

And these little white pumpkins are my favorite. I got a few at Meijer last week. I LOVE the long, green stems.

This dining room shelf is my favorite to decorate in the house. I change it up every season/holiday.

And this little squirrel? Target for $3!!! Target has the BEST Fall/Thanksgiving decor in their dollar spot this year! And this little guy was my favorite. I could buy all the white-ceramic-objects!

Happy Fall, Y'all!

DIY Christmas Card Display

Over the past few Christmases, we've received quite a few love Christmas cards and photos from friends and family and yet have had no place to display them. 

They ended up in a stack on the counter, I believe. That's no way to enjoy them.

So, this year, I wanted to come up with an easy place to display the cards. So, using materials I already had on hand, I created a little clothesline that could hang the photos up along the front windows of our house.

We used to have our Christmas tree in this front room, but we moved it to the living room this year. So, it's nice to have some extra decoration in this room now. 

Very few materials were needed. I used red twine and taped the ends on top of the window molding. I used mini clothespins I had purchased at Target this year. And then I hung the Christmas cards!

To add a little extra fun, I printed and cut out letters to form the word "J O Y" - I found these on Pinterest. 

I just love easy little Christmas projects like this. It took about 5 minutes and is fun to see every day!

DIY Felt Christmas Tree

I'm over at Incredible Infant today sharing the details on how to make this baby-friendly felt Christmas tree!

I made it shortly after Thanksgiving and my babies have been playing with it daily - a big distraction from the REAL tree full of breakable ornaments!

To make one for yourself, see the DIY instructions here!

Merry Christmas 2014

We included these simple pictures of Jeremiah and Emma in our Christmas cards this year. I took them in front of our Christmas tree. They aren’t perfect, but getting an almost-two-year-old to sit still is nearly impossible. ;)

 

Spice It Up!

In honor of this lovey-dovey Hallmark inspired holiday, I thought we'd look at a few spunky rooms that bring some RED and PINK colors into the mix. Many people love to decorate in red, but I gotta say that the pink rooms are actually my fave. I fall for fuchsia every time!

The first 5 rooms incorporate RED, and the second 5 rooms incorporate PINK. I'm curious which ones you prefer ...

1. Red and lively bedroom in a beach house.



2. 1960’s era kitchen complete with a red island, custom patina copper vent hood, and farmhouse sink.



3. Greenfield Hill Residence - the fabric on those chairs is beautiful!



4. Nautical entry with red lantern pendant and sconces. I love the white table outlined in red paint.



5. Farmhouse mudroom by Sarah Richardson. I love the red closet doors and fun patterned curtains.



6. Gray & Pink Office/Craft Room. Love the colors!



7. Ladies Lounge - this Living Room is pretty with those pink patterned upholstered chairs.



8. Pink polk-a-dots are the way to go in a cute girl bedroom. Love the green ball-fringe euro pillows.



9. Candice Olson girly Living/Dining Room. I will always love this room - from its board and batten walls to its pink chandelier shades. Perfection.



10. Pretty in Pink stripes! Who wouldn't want to glam up in this hott space. Gray is the perfect accent color to ground all that pink.

Sources: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

It's Christmas Time: The Dining Room

Yesterday I showed you some of the living room decor. So, today I figured I'd show the dining room decor too. It's my usual blue, white, and silver winter theme. I never tire of it. And since winter lasts a while, the decorations can stay up too.



The table is set with my Noritake china. You know, the kind of china you use a couple times a year and then put away for a while. And the snowflake tablecloth is still my fave. Wish I could find another just like it (but in a bigger size).



The simple centerpiece is a trifle bowl with faux snow, pine cones, and ornaments. There are some mercury glass votive candles set around it.



And the chandelier above the table has the same silver ornaments hanging from it.



The left wall has an assortment of my blue Wedgwood china and more ornaments (I love ornaments in case you didn't know). The white platter at the top has a silver "Merry Christmas" ornament hanging from it. Underneath the 2 side shelves, I hung some icicle ornaments and a glittery candle ring from a nail.



The center shelf has a bottle brush tree sitting on top. I LOVE bottle brush trees, yet I can't seem find them anywhere. I got this one from my mom, and she had it for quite a while. Anyone know where to buy pretty ones? When I find them eventually, I'm stocking up!



The right wall has a shelf full of snowflake-themed items.



The snowflake platter is new from Target. I set it vertically to add height to the space. The white pitcher on the opposite side of the shelf keeps things balanced.



I hung a snowflake ornament from the center of my glittery wreath.



The center of the shelf has a variety of items sitting including a book with my favorite poem by Robert Frost (and beautiful illustrations).



And lastly, a few pretty ornaments hang from the pegs below the shelf. Of course, a couple ornaments have to fit in to my snowflake theme.



So, there you have my wintery dining room. Hopefully, by this time next year, we'll have new window treatments and a new area rug in this room. We'll see what 2012 holds for us!

It's Christmas Time: The Living Room

The other day, I shared some pictures of our Christmas tree, but I thought I'd share a few pictures of the living room, which I finally finished decorating last weekend. I kept it pretty simple - using just some reds, greens, and golds to add a touch of color and that Christmas feel to the room.



The fireplace and built-ins got the most attention. Even though I can't place a lot of decor on the mantel (since the TV gets in the way), I loved hanging the garland down around it this year. Your eye tends to focus on the fireplace and garland rather than the TV when sitting in the room.



And I must say that I still have no regrets about painting the fireplace white this past summer. It's the perfect backdrop for all the red and green. On top of the mantel, I placed a bunch of individual picks across the top. Then one continuous strand of garland hangs on the bottom.



I bought the red and gold ball picks for a few dollars and stuck them in throughout the greenery. They look like ornaments even though they are just plastic balls with a green wire attached to them.



The shelves to the right of the fireplace were just layered with a few simple items. I left the baskets I normally have sitting there. I added some Christmas place mats as a colorful surface for setting the lantern, candles, magazines, and glass hurricane on. I hung the pretty glass ornament from a thumb tack I hammered behind the ledge.



The top shelf has a big poinsettia my parents gave us (we have to keep it up high so the cat won't eat it). I also added one of my favorite Christmas books and pretty candles I got last year. The 2 candle holders I recently bought at Target.



On the right wall in between the windows, I hung a new canvas print I purchased in November. I'm getting a coordinating print from my mom (it's wrapped under her Christmas Tree). The prints are beautiful for hanging during the Christmas season. There are actually about 8 prints total in the Christmas set.



Here's a view of the living and den from the other direction. I love having the tree centered in the doorway.



A few accessories I placed about the room are Christmas pillows, a Tree snow globe, and a Christmas wreath that I made in about 10 minutes using a grapevine wreath, winter-y picks, and a little nest and bird candle in the center. It hangs on the front door in the living room.





So, tell me, what is your favorite thing to decorate at Christmas time? The tree? The mantel? The staircase? Share, share!