Simply Christmas 2015~

Hello all!  Yes, long time, no post.  I have spent the past month enjoying time with family and friends, and preparing for the holiday season.

We enjoyed having both of our girls home for Thanksgiving, and are so looking forward to spending more time with them in the coming weeks.

I wanted to also say thank you for praying for sweet Brooke.  The doctors were able to remove the entire node during her surgery, and Praise God...it was benign.  The cancer had NOT returned.  She returned home after her hospital stay.  Unfortunately, she did have to be admitted this week as they found a blood clot on her right lung (not the lung they had to deflate during her first surgery). After several days there, and medication adjustments, she is now back home resting.  Please continue to keep she and her sweet mom, Jennifer, in prayer.

Our house was decorated early this year, as I hosted 19 members of the Children's team I work with on Wednesday mornings for a sit down brunch this past Monday.  We enjoyed a sweet time of fellowship and reflection on the upcoming season, as we dined on build your own baked potatoes, delicious salads, and chili.  I served the yummiest spiced cupcakes with cream cheese icing, topped with mini gingerbread men on top.  You might have caught a glimpse of them on Instagram.

Today, I thought I would share our indoor decorations with you.  Warning, grab a cup of coffee...lots of pictures ahead!

Our Family Room:

The tree is about 11 1/2 feet tall, and absolutely gorgeous.  It had the perfect shape, very little pruning necessary.  It also smells divine.

 Packages awaiting Christmas morning.

I love being able to use our daughters figure skates throughout our home during the season.  Both spent many hours as competitive figure skaters on the ice before and after school.  Each scuff represents a lot of hard work.  Brings back sweet memories.

I just love our Willow Tree Nativity that my sweet hubby gifted me a few Christmases ago.  The true meaning of the Christmas season.

A sweet little lantern one of my fellow Children's teachers gifted me with last year.

Love this vintage looking pillow I picked up at Home Goods along with the softest throw from West Elm.  And, who doesn't love a monogram?!!

A festive wreath along with jingle bell hanger adorns the garage entry door.

The Kitchen:

Kitchen chandelier looking festive.

Matching wreaths on the french doors leading out to the porch.

The Twelve Days of Christmas, by Lindsay Letters (etsy) hang above the french doors leading out to the porch.

Festive blooms from Pottery Barn fill my favorite blue and white planter.

Some berry garland and wreath adorn the window above the kitchen sink.

Chalkboard with part of the Christmas story.

A special part of our evenings this month is our Advent wreath.

AMEN!!!

Beautiful holiday blooms purchased at Trader Joes for the brunch.

More greenery and berries from Trader Joes, along with our Santa salt and pepper shakers from Publix, our countdown to Christmas and my favorite cocktail napkins.

The Dining Room:

Centerpiece, and old herb crate filled with greenery, snowy pinecones and mason jars with the best smelling tea lights from Anthropologie.  Poinsettias from Trader Joes in mercury glass pots, old from Pottery Barn.

Mr. and Mrs. Snowman salt and pepper shakers from Publix.

Mercury glass tree from Pottery Barn, adorned with a wreath.

I love filling my giant clamshell with festive greens and pretty ornaments.

Dried magnolia wreath adorned with a plaid bow.  LOVE LOVE LOVE plaid this time of year!

Merry Christmas Y'all sign hung on mirror above server, from a dear friend's shop All Inspired Boutique in Duluth.

Chandelier and more gorgeous plaid!

The Library:

Our vintage white tree.  All of the ornaments, Shiny Bright, were handed down to me from my sweet 97 year old Mother in Law.

Our Christmas village, and vintage Christmas books handed down to me from my sweet Granny.

My favorite Christmas book handed down to me from my sweet Granny.  Written in 1952.  I love to use this book as a devotion this time of year.  It really does help to keep things in perspective.

My favorite line from a prayer that goes along with the book:

May we not spend Christmas but keep it, that we may be kept in its hope, through him who emptied himself in coming to us that we might be filled with peace and joy in returning to God.

Mr. Rabbit looking all dapper with his plaid bow.

More plaid goodness, a comfy throw from Home Goods. Number 1 pillow, old from Pottery Barn.

The entry:

Wreaths on the french doors leading to home office.

New lighted wreaths from Balsam Hill adorn the front staircase this year. And, EVEN MORE plaid goodness.

Another pair of skates hang from the newel post.

Mirror and entry table.  Little red house and snow globes, old from Target.

Downstairs Powder Room:

Christmas towels, Home Goods, and a little tree from Michaels is all it needed to look festive.

And, my favorite guest hand towels to use this time of year..."Ain't that the truth?"

I hope you enjoyed the tour.  I pray you each have a Very Merry Christmas, enjoy your time with family and friends, and remember the REASON FOR THE SEASON.

God Bless!!

*Linking up with the 2015 Christmas Home Tours and the 12 Days of Christmas Home Tours. Thank you ladies for hosting.

A Couple New Additions to the Office~

I was in need of a place to post some of my favorite quotes and sayings, so I created a new bulletin board for my office.  I just adore the leopard print fabric that I found at my local fabric store, frugal fabrics.  I also love the addition of the greek key ribbon.  The green really pops off the blue leopard print. This was such a simple project.  All that was needed was a store bought cork bulletin board, some fabric, ribbon and my trusty electric staple gun (a life changer).  Simply cut the fabric a bit larger than your board, lay fabric right side down on a solid surface, lay the bulletin board cork side down on the fabric, wrap edge around and  staple to the back of the frame, folding corners like you would a present.  I decided to just add the ribbon in four simple strips creating a frame, however you could go with the traditional criss-cross of a memo board.  There are great tutorials for that online.

I also decided to add some art to  the top of my Ikea expedite.  The Live Laugh Love print was created and gifted to me by my sweet #1, the Hey Y'all print is from the Etsy shop-Stephanie Creekmur, the abstract art is one that I personally painted, and the other two are prints of images I found on Google-one a Lilly Pulitzer quote and the other an Audrey Hepburn quote.  I love the pop of color they add.  The frames are simple white frames I purchased from Michaels during their buy one, get one sale.

I have a lot of other fun projects and some organizational things I would like to conquer, but they have taken a back seat until I receive the results back from my resent procedure.  I am hopeful that I will have answers possibly later today, but know that it could potentially go into Monday because of the weekend.

Happy Weekend my friends!!

Office Sneak Peek~

I know I promised the reveal of our newly decorated Master Bedroom and Bath, and I truly hope to have pictures posted by the end of the weekend, but let's just say...being a mom got in the way! 

Our youngest is back in the gym playing volleyball, for which we are truly thankful.  As most of you know she has suffered with terrible migraines for quite some time now, and had to take some time off.  During her time off, she coached a 12 year old team to a tournament championship and to the top 10 in our Region.  She is almost off all of her medications and is feeling 95% better!  I think the summer sunshine and no school has something to do with it!!

So, you ask, what does that have to do with you?  Well, I am the Booster Club President and have been in the gym for the past two weeks making sure things run smoothly for our new head coach and making sure all players have turned in their necessary paperwork to our wonderful set of summer camp chairpersons.  Throw in a stormy afternoon and evening with no power, and a child who needs help packing for a week long trip to NYC and mom didn't get a whole lot accomplished!!  But, that is OKAY.  She will be gone soon enough (graduates next May).

So, I will leave you with my apologies and a sneak peek at what's to come in my new home office!  Let's just say...the story of the office is "I'm sorry mam, that is on backorder!" UGH!!

Fabric used in the room.

A few of my new desk top accessories.

Hope everyone is having a great week.  We put our youngest on the bus at 9 am for the airport tomorrow morning for her mission trip to NYC, and mom is really hoping to get quite a bit done in her absence!

House Tour Part One~

Well, I have finally managed to take some pictures of the 1st floor of our home.  I am not the best photographer when it comes to dealing with indoor lighting, so I will apologize for the "not so great" pictures ahead of time.  Plus, it has been overcast lately making it even more difficult to capture the rooms in their best light.

First up...the recently renovated kitchen.  We changed out the countertops, from Mediterrean Blue Corian to Cocoa Brown Corian, added new subway tile,new under cabinet lighting, a fresh coat of paint on the cabinets, walls and ceilings, antiqued the island, and changed out a few accessories.  We are really loving the new look.  A little bit more contemporary than the French Country look we did have (picture blues, reds, golds with a toile motif), but yet with a little bit of that Southern touch.

Next up, the family room.  This is where we spend most of our time.  Within the last year we painted the fireplace surround and entertainment center a rich chocolate brown and then distressed it.  Recently we painted the walls and ceilings.  Wow, what a difference painted ceilings make.  Now everyone notices all the beautiful crown moldings we have!  I then added my favorite Southern Living At Home and Potterybarn accents.  I am loving the color combo of the rich chocolate with the red and aqua blue.

Next up, the dining room...we purchased the table, buffet and wine bar about two years ago.  The chairs belonged to our old dining set.  I painted them a wedgewood/slate blue, then distressed them.  I love the mismatched look.

Next we have the Living Room turned Library/Music Room...we never used this room until we added the bookshelves and the piano!  Now it is everyone's favorite place to read or play a board game.

On to the office...

And finally, the front hall and downstairs bath...

Hope you enjoyed the tour.  I hope to have pictures of the upstairs soon. We just recently finished installing new hardwood flooring in every room and the upstairs hall ourselves.  And, there's been some juggling of rooms.  Our younger daughter finally got the "big" room across the hall she has been wanting for years!  Big sis moved to her 1st apartment.  But, of course she still wants a room at home...so that meant redoing little sister's old room!  Fruit basket turnover!!