Merry Christmas To You!

I know it's been pretty quiet around here this Christmastime...

Woodland Christmas in the Dining Room

Have you ever been inspired to decorate a room from a scrap of fabric, piece of artwork, or even a pillow? Sometimes I find something out shopping or through my travels that sets of a chain reaction of decorating and in the case of decorating my newly-painted dining room for the holidays, a simple decorative towel inspired a "Woodland Christmas" feel...

The Scoop On Creating a Handmade Christmas - Embellishing Christmas Gifts

Ever since I was a little girl, I can remember looking forward to wrapping the presents I would get for my family members.  It was so fun to get ribbon, bows, and tags and make the gifts look pretty.  I can even recall a time (long before I could ever purchase anything) when I wrapped some tinsel and an evergreen branch up in a little box for one of my older brother's Christmas presents!  I'm sure he was thrilled to receive that :)

Christmas in the Living Room

What a whirlwind last few days of decorating it has been!  I held off until after Thanksgiving to start decorating for Christmas, but that meant getting all the decorating done quickly.  It didn't help that I needed to paint all the walls before I could start decorating either!

Decorating with Natural Elements...Highlights of Christmas Pasts

Christmas Living Room 2012

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  I've held off decorating for Christmas until this weekend so I'm knee-deep in ornaments and greenery right now, but I wanted to share some Christmas highlights from the past couple of years from my previous home in case you are also decorating this weekend and would like a bit of inspiration...

A Year in Review - Favorite Projects and Posts of 2012

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas this year!  We had a great time around here with a full house for Christmas dinner and out-of-town guests for several days.  Before I start breaking down the Christmas decorations, I wanted to share a recap of some of the favorite and most popular posts of 2012. Since I started blogging regularly during the 2011 holiday season, 2012 is pretty much my first full year of blogging and sharing projects.

Personalizing Store-Bought Holiday Plants

As I was entering the garden section of the store last week, I noticed a huge amount of fresh plants wrapped in cellophane and decorated for Christmas, but what really caught my eye, was the clearance prices on these healthy, beautiful plants!  While there is nothing wrong with how these plants are themed for Christmas, they did not specifically go with how my house is decorated for Christmas.  With a little imagination, it's easy to take home some inexpensive store-bought plants and transform them to work in your decor.

Christmas Home Tour 2012

I thought I'd share a quick round-up of my home decorated for Christmas and pull together some highlights of the Christmas posts from the past month, so pull up a chair and get comfy...

How to Make a Garland with Magnolia Leaves

A few weeks ago, I shared my garden-inspired Christmas mantel with my handmade magnolia garland and I promised I'd share how to make one with you.  It just took longer than I thought to get the tutorial done and thanks for being patient if you happened to be waiting for it!

Christmas Stairs and Entryway

Before I share anymore Christmas decorations or projects in my home, I feel the need to express deep sorrow for the loss of all those beautiful children and staff in Newtown, CT.  I know it is on all of our minds and as a mother of three children (one being a first grader that turned 7 on the day of the tragedy), it is so hard to wrap our minds around this event.  I can't help but wipe back tears when I watch the news and think of all those families.  I cannot imagine how they feel and our prayers are with the entire community.

Kid's Candy Tree & DIY Sprinkles Ornaments

If you've been following my blog a while, you'll notice that my Christmas decorations are generally neutral in color and not something a child would have picked out...

Garden-Inspired Christmas Tree

If you recall my Garden-Inspired Christmas Mantel, I've decorated my front living room for Christmas around the colors and existing decor of the room (pale blues, neutrals, birds and nests).  I didn't stop at the mantel with the garden theme...

An Easy Christmas Centerpiece

Since painting up my long wood box a few months ago, I've enjoyed decorating it for Fall and now for Christmas!  

A Christmas Cabinet and a Story...

Out of all the furniture that I currently own, as well as all the furniture that I've bought and sold over the last six years, this rustic antique cabinet is my favorite...

Christmas Dough Bowl

Who doesn't love those classic antique wooden dough bowls?  I've certainly been a fan of them for a while, but didn't come across any I was willing to plunk down the cash for. Well, if you look long enough, you'll eventually find a deal... I now have a really large one (it's almost like a small canoe!) and most recently came across a perfectly-sized round one on my Greensboro shopping trip...

Great Room Rustic Christmas

Our great room is really the heart of our home, but I've rarely shared much of the room because it is still a work in progress and since it's the main hangout for our TV, video games, etc, it's generally full of kids and their toys. Well, I cleaned it up and took some pictures of the Christmas decor before the kids threw all the pillows on the floor and sprawled out on the sofa!

Simple Garden-Inspired Christmas Mantel

The Christmas mantels at my home were kept fairly simple and as natural as possible this year.  I love fresh greenery and try to use it in place of artificial greens as much as I can because not only is it less expensive, it's prettier too!
 

A Bit of Christmas Past - Part Two

I'm up to my eyeballs in Christmas decorations around my house right now.  I have my tree and stairs done as well as several wreaths for inside and outside, but still have much to do!  In the meantime, I'm sharing some of my last year's decorations until I finish up (you can see part one here)

A Bit of Christmas Past - Part One

I hope all of you had a great Thanksgiving yesterday!  We have almost the whole family visiting here in NC and I finally got to meet my new little nephew yesterday.  It was a great day!

Snuggled in for Christmas

I hope everyone is all snuggled in with their families this Christmas Eve...

Enjoying some Christmas baking...