2010 Christmas Tour

I'm linking up to The Nester's Christmas Tour of Homes as well as Kelly's Korner again this year! You should definitely check out all of the links there to see some beautiful Christmas decorations and get LOTS of ideas! Our living room is really done in classic red and green.

The last two years I have had wrapped gifts as my mantle decorations but I was ready for a change. I found this garland at Target that already had green ribbon as well as green and red Christmas balls and it fits PERFECTLY on my mantle. I already had one apothacary jar (that I use in the kitchen) so I bought another one and put them on each end of the mantle. The wreath on the mirror is the one that I made.I got these sets of green and red balls at Target and I love them!I absolutely love apothacary jars. Mine came from Old Time Pottery for VERY reasonable prices!More Christmas balls on the coffee table. My all-time favorite Christmas book sits on the other side of the coffee table - The Polar Express. I have LOVED this book since I was small and I cannot wait to read it to a little one and make it a tradition. For now, the dogs enjoy it! ;)
This church is one of my favorite Christmas decorations. It has fiber optic lights that change and it is SO pretty! My mom bought me this nativity scene years ago and it is one of my favorites! I wanted a nativity scene but don't have a lot of room for a big one. This one is just so simple but beautiful! It's a GREAT reminder of what Christmas is about! I decorate the kitchen too, of course! I LOVE to add little holiday touches to every room! I put my Christmas dishes out along with other decorations!

I found this cute basket a couple of years ago and use it to hold dish cloths

I found this plate a few years ago in Disney World for a few dollars. (Note the Mickey heads in the holly). I never really used it so I got my friend Katie to add some vinyl and I LOVE it!!!

My father-in-law gave me this for Christmas a few years ago and it is so pretty all lit up in the kitchen at night! I LOVE having little lights all over the house and spending nights at home with all of them on. SO COZY! Can you tell that this is my FAVORITE time of year???

I keep this red bowl out in the kitchen for all of the Christmas cards we get! I LOVE getting cards!

This year I even jazzed up our main bathroom! I found this cute frame on clearance after Christmas last year at Target.

I found this Lennox nightlight for a GREAT price a couple of weeks ago. It is SO pretty when it's on!

I found these towels after Christmas last year. They are so fun to me and match the frame!

I hope you all have enjoyed my little tour. As you can see, Christmas is my favorite time of year! May you all have a safe and wonderful holiday season!

"For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6 (NLT)

Ribbon Wreath

A couple of months ago, my friend Karla and I got together for a "Craft Sunday" to make wreath ribbons. Karla made one for her sister's baby nursery so now that her sister has hers and the secret's out, I can share mine! :)

We found lots of different ways to make them but this is the one that we tried first. (I will definitely try more). I decided to make a Christmas one for myself so I bought a syrofoam wreath and coordinating Christmas ribbons from Hobby Lobby.

I cut the ribbons into strips.

You take push pins and loop the ribbon to attach it to the wreath. As you can see, there is no specific way to arrange it. Your goal is to completely cover the styrofoam.

And voila!!! Cute, huh? It took a couple of hours (and a snack break) to complete.

I had an unfinished wooden "A" from Michael's and decided it would be perfect for the center of my wreath. I painted it a bright green and used a paint pen to add the red polka dots.

I used a staple gun and push pins to attach it to the wreath and the project was complete. I was originally going to put the wreath on the inside of our back door. However, I have put it on our mirror over the fireplace and it's really cute. (I'll do a Christmas tour of our house later this week) Here is a picture of the final product (it's a HORRIBLE picture because I realized while doing this blog post that I didn't have a picture of the completed wreath so this is from the Blackberry - it looks yellow and it's NOT - it's GREEN).

Stay tuned for more pictures of our house decorated for Christmas! I will try to get those posted this week! Hope you all are staying warm and enjoying the snow (if you have gotten any over the last few days)! :)

Too Many Pictures...What Do You Do?

If you are like me, you take LOTS of pictures throughout the year and just don't know what to do with them! That's where Shutterfly comes in! I go through my pictures and pick the ones that I want to actually have printed. When you sign up for Shutterfly emails, you periodically get discount and promotional codes which give you GREAT deals on pictures, as well as other items like calendars, canvas wall art, and even Christmas picture cards.

If you haven't used Shutterfly, you are missing out! I have used Shutterfly for the last few years and I love them!!! All of their products are excellent quality and they are SUPER fast getting your orders to you!! I have always had my order within the same week that I ordered it. And if you are like me with limited patience, this is IMPORTANT! :)

Last year, I chose Shutterfly for my Christmas cards and LOVED them!!! I chose the matte finish and they were my favorite Christmas cards yet!

I have narrowed this year's selection down to 3 different designs, but I'm not sharing which ones yet! ;) Once I've mailed them out, I will definitely share them with you all!!! :) One thing is for sure, they will be from Shutterfly!