Saturday Shots-Decorating Edition

The family room complete with tree, stockings, Little People Nativity, and Black Ops. You know, because it's such a great family activity.

 Not complete, but my Santas on the left,  my Willow Tree Nativity in the middle, and my snowmen on the right. And a random easel, just for giggles.

 More snowmen on the left of the staircase, another Santa at the top, and my penguins down the right.

 Tree placement in living room. Complete with ornament boxes just to keep it real.

So that's as far as I've gotten. Looking at the pictures I see a ton of fixes. *Sigh* It's never done, is it?

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Before and After: Bedroom

There has been so much going on with the floors/remodel these last few weeks. Who can forget the closet transformation? Well, yesterday we finally got the carpet in the downstairs bedroom, which is Headless Girl's room/guest room. (She's mostly in the dorms now, remember?)

Before:

( I know you're jealous of the cement. Don't hate.)

Do you see the desk there along the right of the picture? That is my old bedroom set from when I was a little girl. I think my parents bought it around 1970? The bed is long gone, given to a young girl back in the 80's after I hadn't used it in a decade, but this desk and matching dresser have been with me since the beginning, and moved all over the country, and it's still in pretty good shape. Sure it could probably use a makeover, but all in all it's strong and sturdy and will last a few more decades, I'm sure.

After:

We held out until we found the softest, thickest carpet that we could. Pricey, but it's SO worth it. You can even feel how thick and cushy it is with your shoes on.






Yes, that's my wine glass on the dresser. I deserved it, y'all.


And yes, Mom and Dad, it's all ready for your visit!!!!

The Closet: Before and After

 This is the closet under my staircase. (Yet again, I have failed rotating pictures. Put your ear on your left shoulder for maximum viewing.) It was about 3 feet wide and 5 feet deep. I keep all of my Christmas decorations in here, plus boxes, tissue, wrapping paper. OH! And a silver tea service that we got for our wedding that I do not have adequate display space for quite yet. One day at a time, people, one day at a time.

 This is after the final cut. My contractor removed a couple of studs and reinforced the stairs with extra side supports and extra header boards. So now I have at least doubled my storage space! Yea!

Yes, I know that it's not 'finished' and there is no flooring. We'll get to it but since we ordered carpet for the downstairs bedroom I had to get things moved out of the living room so we would have someplace to put the furniture while they installed the carpet.

I'm getting there, slowly but surely.

It's not taking long to fill this baby up. Do you remember that my living room was filled with a ton of junk after our flood? Not anymore! I think I can even find a few more plastic tubs and add other holiday decorations, too. Storage, FTW!

Christmas House Tour 2009

Welcome to our home! My red birds greet you every year.... a nod to my Granny.






















The newest member of my snowman collection. Isn't she smart in her fancy coat and matching purse? Thanks Mom!





















A few other snowmen hangin' out with my prayer books. The one in the center is named "Colleen Evergreen" and I fell in love with her because she reminds me of home.













This ornament was from the first Christmas we were married.


















There cannot be Christmas without a heart and hand ornament somewhere.
















And finally, another one of my Christmas only pillows.









Head on over to The Nester's place to check out more decorating. I'm seeing if I can find a few more ideas!

One Down

Two to go.

Another One Bites The Dust

Most of you know of my love of the red wine. Equal is the love of my red wine glasses. Otherwise I would have to drink it out of the bottle, and that's just not right. 23 oz. balloon goblets from Crate and Barrel, circa 1997. We got a whole dozen of these babies for our wedding-they matched the dozen champagne, white wine and brandy glasses that we also received. Of course when we got them they weren't BROKEN!

Over the years I've broken 9 of them. This one on December 15th. *sigh*

Crate and Barrel, as far as I can find, does not sell these any more. I'm getting desperate.

And very careful.

A Before and After Christmas Tale-Updated

Once upon a time a family had a living room that looked like this:













You may have noticed the clutter, the toys, and the photos, Oh My! How would Santa enter to leave the loot? Would he have to give the headless boys the boot?

Then, after 2 years of comparison shopping, waiting, and gnashing of teeth the family decided to take the plunge. Recession be damned! "Let's enter the 21st century, already!," they exclaimed. Off to the electronics specialty shop they went, thank goodness they had already paid the rent. (Poetic, ya'll. We own the house.) A TV was what they were after...

And boy did they ever find one.















That right there is 52 inches of high definition beauty, my friends. My football-lovin' soul is in heaven tonight-even watching the Packers and Bears (Brrrrr! I'm cold just watching this game!) Tomorrow we get our HD box, and get this...


IT HAS A DVR!!!

Look out 21st century. Here we come!

Merry Christmas to us, and to all a sharp, and large! picture for your viewing pleasure.

Update: Getting this stuff set up right sucks. Cable people have been here TWICE today. If you follow me on Twitter you've seen my frustration all day. Still don't know when it will be fixed. *sigh* And I have not finished shopping (planned on being out of the house by 10 this morning.) And as of JUST NOW I have to wait on the installation guy to come back so he can figure hout what is going on. I'm in tears. Merry @#*& Christmas, yo.

Just Curious-Christmas Decorations, and a House Tour!

A while back I asked you all if you had one decoration that signaled the holidays for you. Decorations seem to signal the season, for sure. Well, welcome to my edition of "My Favorite Things-Holiday Style." I'll let you know when you reach my 'one thing' that must be up for it to be Christmas. When you're done here make sure to head on over to BooMama's place to see more merriment!

(I can tell already that I'm going to have serious formatting problems. Bear with me, OK?)


Next stop, the obligatory full tree shot. We finally got it decorated tonight, even though it's been up for a couple of weeks. There's even a few gifts hiding under there!














I love this pillow-a nod to my hometown, as well as my wish for each of you this Christmas!










My husband always gets one of these real wreaths from someone that he has done business with for years. I look forward to it, (and the beautiful cardinal that comes out for the season,) more and more each year. It is a beautiful welcome to our home!














I love my little snowmen. I have them stashed all over the house, some of them all year, but some just come to say hello for winter. I love this one because he looks so happy to be sitting on my photo albums















Next, (maybe,) is my amazing Santa. He stands about 20" high, comes bearing gifts, and his coat is made from an antique quilt. Again, a gift from my parents about 15 years ago when I was living in South Carolina.
















This is the one that you've all been waiting for (well, in my head anyway.) Behold the Punk Angel. She has graced the top of our tree for my entire life. No joke. This is the one decoration that I cannot do without. Other angels are fine, stars are nice, but No Punk Angel? No Christmas. Srsly. She is getting old and I'm concerned that she may bite the dust, but for now, and as long as she can, she'll be on the top of my tree.




Headless Dad found this wonderful nursery nearby that has the most amazing poinsettias. This is a ruby red/butter yellow, but he also got yellow/pink, a splotchy red/yellow, and traditional red, 2 of each. For years I've wanted some of these unusual beauties, and now I have them!




Now, remember, grab some hot chocolate, head on over to Sophie's place (link at the top of the page) and see how other bloggers decorated this year. Enjoy the party!

Welcome To My Garden