Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas! 

I have seven new ornaments on my tree this year.

 Three store bought

 Three made by me

and one from Brian and Brittany.

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas!

This years forest

Here is my annual Christmas tree tour. 

They don't change much but here we go.

 In the master bedroom is my little wire tree.

 I have this little white feather tree in my sewing room - it has (new) shiny brite ornaments on it. One of these days it might get stitched ornaments. 

 This is the look-alike feather tree (it is very stiff - the white one is very soft)  in the guest room. Again, same ornaments as last year.

 The fireman tree is just inside the front door. I added the red and white beads this year. They had been in a storage tote for probably 20 years .

 I don't know why I didn't take a closer picture of this tree. This was taken standing at the front door. Just too the left is the fireman tree and white cabinet and just on the other side of the table is the big tree. (we have to turn the table around to make it fit there)

 This is the twin to the tree in the last photo. In the previous house they were both in the dining room but they are split up here and one is in the kitchen.

This is my little sweet tree. It sits on the counter in the kitchen. I've about maxed out the number of ornaments I can put on it and depending on what angle you look at it from it's a tad crooked. I might need to look for a replacement. 

And last, but not least, the monster tree. It's a bit large for this room. Last house had an open floor plan and it fit when we bought it - we have to squeeze it in here. I've been looking for a slimmer one (but not a pencil tree) but haven't found one I like and then I'm afraid I won't be able to get all the ornaments on a smaller one!

Kids are all here and we have been 'Christmasing' since yesterday. Brian and Brittany will depart this afternoon since he has to work tomorrow but we will have Jason and Timothy until later in the week.

Are you ready for Christmas?

A little stitching

I haven't worked on many (any?) big projects this year but I have done some small projects. I started this little monthly series from Lizzie Kate over the summer and I've kept up with it so far. 

I have had this frame for awhile and when I discovered this series would be a perfect fit I decided to get busy. (I also have the stamp series started but I failed to get December finished in time)

I took the glass out of the frame and covered a piece of tin with fabric then I put a magnet on the back of the finished piece so they are easy to change out every month. I wish I could take credit for the magnet idea but I'm not that smart. If you want awesome finishing ideas check out www.pricillas2000.blogspot.com. 

She has awesome finishing ideas and whips them out so fast - I don't know how she does it. Spend some time there and check out her holiday home tour - it's amazing!

I'm working on finishing up my Christmas decorating - almost done. Not much changes year to year (except when we move and hopefully that won't happen again anytime soon!) but I will share photos of the trees when I finish. (yes, I have more than one again this year)

Bedroom Update

Have you decked your halls yet? Mine still looks like a Christmas store exploded in here. We finally got our bedroom painted right before Thanksgiving. I didn't go back and look for a before picture but it was a really dark green. (It is also the only room I am completely finished holiday decorating - because there isn't much in there.)

We used Comfort Gray on the walls and Sea Salt on the ceiling. (both SW colors but purchased at Lowe's) I love it! It is so much lighter! Eventually we will paint the bathroom with the Sea Salt.

We are in the market for a new bed. Originally we were just looking for a new mattress and we were going to build the bed but I was wandering around the store and found a bed we both actually liked. The downside is that the headboard would come to just below that shelf. We would have to move the shelf up to where the pictures would be just below the crown molding and I'm not sure how that will look. We are also looking to move to a king size which is going to mean I won't have room on the sides for the quilt on the left or the ladder on the right.

The three pictures are our boys - all taken when they were 18 months old. The quilt was purchased many years ago - I think I ordered it out of Country Living magazine.

On the ladder - One of the first things I ever embroidered - pillowcases for my grandparents. Below those are two towels I bought at a antique store on top of pillowcases my great-grandmother made. I need to take a close-up of those. The crocheted flowers are 3D. Beautiful. I've tried to crochet - I can't keep the tension even - I prefer cross stitch! I'm pretty sure she also did the embroidery on the blue and white tablecloth below the pillowcases. I like having them on display and I'm not sure what I will do if we go ahead with the king size bed as I don't have anywhere else to put the ladder unless I just turn it and prop it on that side wall which would be kind of crammed in next the night stand.

I painted this chest several years ago - it's a different shade of gray and I'm not sure if I should change the color with it against the gray wall. (both actually look blue)

Love the master chest! We bought it a long time ago and I debated what color to get. A friend talked me into going for the red (I was leaning towards a safe white). I'm really glad I got the red! On top of the  chest is a small collection of quilts - some store bought but some handmade. The handmade ones are on the bottom and kind of hidden behind the sign right now but there are two from my great-grandmother's collection and one that was made for us when we got married by the mother of a lady that used to work for hubby's parents. I have no idea how old she was at the time but I would guess late 80s or 90s. It is tied with yarn and I have no idea what she used for batting but it is heavy! She made another one for our oldest that is also hand tied. The wicker rocker belonged to MIL. Above the wicker chair are photos of our boys from high school graduation

 Hubby built this shelf years ago. I'm the dingbat that measured where to put the glass doorknobs - should have had them farther apart. Anyway - The blue shirt was hubby's an the white one was mine. Photos on top - starting on the left, me, hubby, our boys, hubby and another one of the boys. Sometimes I miss the days when I could not only get a picture of all 3 of them when I wanted but I could also tell them what to wear. :) 

I bought this little wire tree several years ago in an antique store (though it isn't antique) The stained glass window also came from an antique store. When we painted I had to fill LOTS of holes left by the previous owner - I stopped counting at 85. We replaced the blinds since the others weren't in the best working order. All the windows in this house are extra long which means blinds are special order. I will make a decision on if I want to add curtains after I figure out the bed issue since a bigger bed would mean new bedding.

That's it from the master bedroom. I do have the smaller trees decorated but the monster is still waiting. I'll post more pictures later.

So, are you finished with your holiday decorating? Shopping? I need to get busy!

Hopefully I will get back with pictures of the other trees soon.