O' Christmas Tree

It is starting to look, feel and smell like Christmas!

We got our tree

And it's up and decorated and even has gifts underneath it! He is a rather large fluffy guy, but looks great!! I still need to add the ribbon and bow at the top, but I have to wait for my mom, the bow master.

Just for fun, here is ANOTHER photo of my favorite thing!

The living room complete... my tiny shoe box living room... How is this suppose to hold 10 people for Christmas?? We are all going to be really cozy!

Now that everything is complete, we can have our baby now!! 5 days until D-Day!!

Holiday Time

My Sister and I did it. We woke up at 3:15 am on Black Friday to go shopping! We weren't going for us though, mainly to pick up the last for Christmas gifts for the family. My Sister has never been shopping that early so it was an experience for her

We started at Kohl's where the line was wrapped over half way around the building just to get in. After getting it, we headed straight for the towels which were marked down to $2.49 ea. We got 12 for my Mom. She was hurting to bad with her arthritis and knew she probably wouldn't be able to get up there and get them herself. After grabbing the towels we headed straight for the register and surprisingly didn't have to wait at all!! By the time we were done checking out there was a long line that had already formed. We were GOOD!

Then we headed to JC Penny's to pick up a few things. It was busy, but it didn't seem bad since they are a department store with 3 levels and cashiers all over the place. After JC Penny's we called it quits since I started having some contractions.

We were home by 630 am and back to sleep by 7 am.

After waking up, Mom and Dad came over. The dogs spent the night with them so they brought them back to us. Dad and Matt's plans for the day was to hang Christmas lights on the house. We have only hung Christmas lights once since living here and lets just say it was pretty sad looking!

The guys went their way and did their thing and us girls decorated for Christmas. The night before after dinner, on Thanksgiving, we went up to Michael's where they were having 70% off all holiday ribbon! This is a GREAT deal. Ribbon that was normally $17.99 was marked down to $5.50. I also got about 4 boxes of bulbs originally price $7.99-$9.99 marked down to $2.39 and an entry way tree for my front porch marked down to $14.99. I got so much stuff for around $40.

With all this ribbon I got on sale, Mom made beautiful bows for my present wall art. I will have to say it is my favorite thing in my house! SO CUTE!!! I then made huge gift tags to go on them.

The guys were hard at work hanging the Christmas lights when it started getting pretty dark outside. We didn't think the news was calling for rain. The only warning they has a a loud thunder clap and all of a sudden it started DOWN POURING!!!

Since Matt was on the roof at the time, he figured he would hang out under the eves of the house to try and stay dry. Surely the rain would let up soon....

It broke just long enough for him to get off of the roof before marble sized hail started coming down. The hail wouldn't stop! It looked like snow all over the lawn and coming out of the down spouts... kind of fun, but not when you are in the middle of hanging Christmas lights and soaking wet.

The rain eventually stopped and the lights were finished. You cant tell by this photo, but it's cute!! I will post a better one soon.

During all this commotion I was having contractions every 5 mins. Luckily, they didn't turn into anything and went away which was nice since I was getting my Christmas tree the next day and wanted it up before the baby comes!

Holiday Decor

Holiday decorating is coming along... since most of my decorations are only half done, I can't post any photos yet. It is looking pretty cute!!! It's interesting to see how the decorating has developed over the years. I was just looking at past Christmas photos from a few years ago and I would NEVER decorate like that! I think it looks horrible. I am sure in a few years I will look back at these and think the same thing!

To be continued.... (with completed holiday decor pics)

Christmas is coming!

14 days until due date!!

I have made a decision. I will be decorating for the holidays next week. Why?

I will be 39 weeks pregnant and I dont want to wait any longer. If I go into labor and have the boy soon, decorating for Christmas will be the last thing on my mind and I want to have the house done before he gets here!

Another reason is that it will take me a few days to get everything out and decorated so this will help pass the time and maybe take my mind off the fact that the baby will be here soon. It will help make the time go by faster...

We will wait until after Thanksgiving to get our tree, but I am already 90% done with Christmas shopping and all the gifts are wrapped and ready to go!

It's crazy to think how fast this year has gone by... Exactly one year ago it was snowing in Ohio.
I was already done decorating for Christmas and I was enjoying lots and lots of Go Girls, fresh from California.

Exactly 2 years ago, my house was already beaming with Christmas cheer. So decorating next week, I am actually a little "behind".

I love how I can look back at life through this blog!

Stay tuned for Christmas! It will be here soon!

Fall at Home

It's Fall in California and we are the only house on our block that has leaves everywhere... maybe because we are the only people on our block that still have trees that have survived the past storms.

Can you see which house is ours?

I want to rake them all into a pile and then lay in them =) If I had my baby right now, this would be a PERFECT photo op! Yes, I would put my newborn in a pile of leaves if it meant I got an adorable photo I could cherish forever!

I didn't decorate for fall to much this year since I did it the day after we moved back, but I have enough out get the point across. I can't wait to decorate for Christmas. That's just in a few weeks!

A Little Love

I wasn't planning on decorating for Valentines day since I just finished packing up Christmas...and I don't need to be spending more money on Valentines Day....

Well I got bored yesterday and thought a few little love items wouldn't hurt and at practically no cost!

First, I cut out a bunch of little hearts on my Cricut machine, but you can do this by hand too, and punched holes in them. I then added some pink ribbon and hung them from the branches that I still have on my table from Christmas. (I really like the branches, so they will probably stay for a few more holidays, however, the pine cones should really go)

The red balls on the branches are just heart wire garland that I got from the Dollar Store. To make them fit the branches, I just wrapped the garland around a pencil to form a swirly and then hung them off of the branches.

Now, I needed some cute little candles that matched. All I had were 2 small tin cans that are cinnamon scented, left over from Christmas, but they were red and would work! I got the candles for $.50 ea. at Michael's.

I cut out a strip of paper and taped it to the canister.

To add an extra touch, I cut out 3 little little hearts, punched holes in them and strung them on a small wire. I then took the wire and wrapped it around the candle. I repeated this process again for a total of 2 candles.

The finished project

Then I made some extra hearts on ribbon so I could hang them on other items around the house...

Like my plates that hang on the wall

Even though the black candle pillars really don't match the whole V-Day decor, but I'm not going to repaint them just for V-Day.

I wrapped some more of the heart wire garland around the candle and the pillars and added a photo of Matt and I, in love, on our first anniversary in Yosemite.

Valentines day wouldn't be complete without conversation hearts...and a few more hanging hearts!

Remember this frame? I reused it but putting in different paper and different letters. It serves a purpose for every holiday!

That concludes my Valentines Day decor.

Hope everyone has a loving Valentines Day!

Valentines Day Easy To-Do Decor

Valentines day is just around the corner!

Here are some cute Valentines Day decor, courtesy of Better Homes and Garden

Sweet Somethings
An arrangement of lollipop flowers with paper petals makes an eye-catching centerpiece. For each flower, fold colored card stock in half and cut out six hearts. Punch a small hole near the tip of each. Insert a lollipop stick and arrange six hearts on the stem, fanning out the petals around the stick.

Wreath of Hearts
Cut heart shapes from scrapbook papers and wire together to form a circle around a candle. Use this same technique to decorate a greeting card, gift tag, or package.

Valentine Glow
Fill plain glass votive candle holders with candy nonpareils for seasonal color. Small glass beads from the crafts store offer a similar look.

Valentines Day Place mats and Coasters

Flight of Fancy
Dozens of colorful hearts flutter on card stock cut into the shape of a wreath. Use paper punches (about $5-$20 at scrapbook supply and crafts stores) or scissors to cut hearts from colored vellum and lightweight decorative papers.

Curl the cut-out hearts by scraping them between your thumb and a butter knife just as you would curling ribbon. Then layer them on the round card stock base and attach each with a dab of clear-drying glue, either in the center or near one edge. Hang it with ribbon.

Table Grace
This romantic table setting couples luscious orange roses with passionate pink silks. Crisscross two table runners in juicy colors for a bold foundation. Then choose flowers with equally vibrant color intensity. Fill a tray with glass votive holders, then place water and a single rose in each. Be sure to snip the stems short enough that the blooms rest on the top edge of the glass.

Heart to Heart
Make a garland of hearts cut from fabric scraps layered and attached with iron-on adhesive. Punch small holes in the sides of the hearts and tie them together with ribbon