Christmas Decor Tour 2012 Part 1: The Fancy Rooms

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Hey there!  How's it going??  Are you having a pre-Christmas meltdown or are you relaxing and enjoying the season?  I hope it's the latter.

I've been to two Christmas cookie exchange parties in the past two days, I hosted one the first night and attended one the next night.

Today I'm pretty sure I've eaten my weight in Christmas cookies.

You know what?

It was awesome. :)

There are only a few days left of good Christmas eats and then it'll be back to reality (meaning no cookies for breakfast anymore).

Time is ticking down quickly and the big day is right around the corner. I'm just barely going to get my Christmas decor tour up in time.  So come on in!

We'll start in my entry way...

Just a little vignette of trees and deer.

Keeping it simple.  Loving these deer that have very similar brothers from Pottery Barn.  These are from TJ Maxx for a quarter of the price.

Then step into my living room to see my "fancy tree" with a touch of leopard print.  Leopard can give an elegant and sophisticated look but can go bad very quick if you're not careful. :)

I have leopard print ribbon on the tree and one leopard print pillow.  That's it.  It's just enough.

Each year I add a few unique ornaments that I usually find very cheap at TJ Maxx. (where else, right?)

The loops have French script on them  an the colors are perfect for my fancy tree.  It's looks handmade but I couldn't have made it for as cheap as I bought it.  That's the beauty of TJ Maxx.

The tree looks prettier when it's glowing a little bit don't cha think?

My topper started as a smaller bow.  It was too wimpy for my 9 foot tree so I just kept adding to it until it looked good.  It doesn't even look like a bow anymore, I refer to it as my tree's hair-do.  I think it's channeling it's inner Chaka Khan.

I have a little vignette on my ottoman.  This year I fell to the antler frenzy and picked up a few faux antlers at my favorite flea market.  One landed here....

And who can resist a Santa in a cloche??

My "Joy to the World" pillow is one of my rare authentic Pottery Barn items.  It's piped in burlap rope.  Love.  It was on sale last year and I got free shipping.  Merry Christmas to me.

My golden reindeer and feathered and sequined trees top my great-grandma's curio cabinet.

A view from above...

My dining room is finally starting to get the makeover that it so badly needs.  I have a little vignette set up on my mirrored table.

I started painting my dining room table and chairs.  Finally!!  My Mamaw gave me her set when they down-sized their home a few years back.  They had been an orange-ish cherry that dated the traditionally styled set.  I can not believe the difference the Annie Sloan chalk paint is making.  Here is a peak!

I really think I'm going to love it... it will be a January (or February?) project.

Well, I hope you've enjoyed my "Fancy" Christmas tour.  It isn't too fancy but my boys call this one my fancy tree and unknowingly named this tour for me.  Part 2 will be my more rustic Christmas decor in my kitchen and family room.

Merry Christmas to you and yours!

Linking: The Nester, Jennifer Rizzo, Tatertots & Jello, Savvy Southern Style

A Frenchy Burlap Pillow and Spring Decor

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Hey there, Chic-sters!  (I just gave all of you bloggy friends a new nickname, hope you like it!)  I also hope all of you moms out there had a wonderful Mother's Day.  I spent it with my sweet boys outside on a beautiful day, couldn't ask for more than that. :)

Anywho, do any of you feel like May is slipping away way too quickly?  Tomorrow is half way through the month, half way! Since May is the last official month of Spring I need to hurry up and share my Spring decor.  Pronto!

I had some TJ Maxx gift cards burning holes in my pocket and was so happy to find this fabulous Frenchy burlap pillow for my kitchen. (yes, a pillow for my kitchen, for all those times I can lay down and relax in my kitchen.  yeah, right)

Don't you love it??  I do even though it smells kinda funny because burlap just has that funny smell.  Good thing I'm never going to sleep on it.  I wonder what it says?  Hopefully not any French curse words...

Anyway, I know there are all kinds of tutorials out right now on how to make a burlap pillow and then image transfer via freezer paper (or something like that?)

But you Chic-sters know me, if I can buy it cheaper than I can make it, I'm buying it 'til the cows come home.  This pillow was less than $17 (and I had a gift card so it was free to me!)  and for all the supplies and time it would've taken me to make it, it would have definitely been more than $17 bucks.

I think sometimes it's easy for us bloggers to get so caught up in all the DIY goodness that we assume things are cheaper to make than to buy, but there are deals to be found!  Anytime I DIY it always, ALWAYS costs more than I assume it will.

To go along with my new burlap kitchen pillow I pulled out all my decorative green goodies for Spring. So not to bore you with a million pictures in one post, I'm going to split it up my spring decor between a few posts.  The suspense will be killing you I'm sure. ;)

I'll start with my kitchen sideboard.  For the past couple Springs I've been using my green birds on candle holders with flower nests. 

I needed to change it up this year and I've added some lamps to the table and now the birds are too tall to fit with the lamps anyway.  I decided to use my cloches and some greenery since green is my accent.

I tried to put the domes on cake stands but it just wasn't working.  I decided to just set them on the table but the bases blended in with the dark table top.

I added the funky zebra runner to make the bases of the greenery stand out on the dark table.  The runner was a clearance find at TJ Maxx, $3 bucks.  It was too long and instead of cutting it down and sewing up the edge I just folded it in half and now it fits perfectly and I can still use it on a longer table.  Besides, you guys know I don't sew!

Shameless Giveaway Plug:  My cloches are very clean and streak free thanks to my new Shaklee Basic H window cleaner and window cleaning cloth, go HERE to enter to win one of 5 samples!

My Spring sideboard decor is complete!

And, my Frenchy burlap pillow is part of this vignette which you can see below.

See, I definitely needed a pillow in my kitchen.  Now I can just plop down there and take a little nap anytime on my comfy new pillow right in my kitchen.  I'm sure my kiddos won't mind or bother me while I'm resting.  ;)

Linking: Home Stories A to Z, A Stroll through life

Easy Halloween Ghost Cloches... Boo!!

FREE IMAGES Happy fall weekend, friends!  Halloween is fast approaching so it is high-time I shared some of my spooky ghost cloches with you.  This was another cheap and easy decoration if you have a cloche(s) already.

These were so super easy.  I already had the cloches and pedastels so it was really inexpensive too! 

I picked up some black cardstock paper at Wal-Mart for $3.47 but I would've used black construction paper if my kiddos would've had some in their art supplies.  I already had a bag of poly-fil pillow stuffing that can also be found for about $3 bucks at Wally-World. 

I used my fancy-schmancy and cheap cutting machine, scissors.   I cut out rather sloppy looking ovals because I couldn't find a good oval to trace.

I stuck the ovals to the cloches with sticky tack but you could easily use double-sided tape.  I used my creepy fabic "table runner" from the dollar store last year and picked up some spider webs for a buck.  I already had the pumpkins too. 

I also added a silvery-grey feather wreath from Joann's Fabric that I got for 70% off.  It is so fabulous I want to hang it up all year long... going to have to think about that one.

I want to thank The Diary of Dave's Wife for giving me the inspiration for this vignette.  Ingenious!!

My ghost cloche vignette:

I think they are a scream. ;)

Linking:  I Heart Nap Time, Under the Table and Dreaming, Between Naps on the Front Porch, Tatertots & Jello

Easter Eye Candy... No Calories!

FREE IMAGES Hi friends,  this is the time of day when I crave something sweet!  I know many of you are going to be reading this at different times of the day but that's ok, I pretty much am always craving something sweet! :)
 
I need to save my calories so I can pig out this weekend on Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs stolen from my boy's Easter baskets (why are they so much better than the regular cups?? am I the only one that thinks this??)  So, I'm going to be indulging in some calorie free Easter eye candy while I eat a handful of pastel M&Ms.

My kitchen table centerpiece...  I threw this together last year and really loved it so decided to do it again this year. 

A new item this year is the egg wreath below.  I scored it last year after Easter for 90% off, paid a whopping $3.... LOVE it!

Birds on candleholders, it just makes sense.  Click here to see how I made their floral nests.

Click here to see  how I arrange faux forsythia and pussywillow branches, it's pretty much fool proof.

The other new addition to my spring decor (only 2 things this year!) is this lovely wooden tray on clearance at TJ Maxx for $3, yes $3, really. 

I love the tulips and daffodils from our yard... if they would only bloom all summer long.

The bunnies...

The kitchen Easter vignette...

The coffee table gets some Easter flair too...

And, finally...

Hope you enjoyed my zero calorie eye candy.  If not, go get yourself a Peep, I won't tell.

xoxo

Linking:  Fingerprints on the Fridge, The Shabby Nest, At the Picket Fence, Romantic Home,

Just a Girl, Serenity Now, Simply Sweet Home,   I heart naptime, Under the Table & Dreaming

Dining Room Buffet Revisited

FREE IMAGES My dining room buffet decor had been bugging me... 

Yes, it probably looked fine but it just wasn't me.  The vase collection bugged me kind of off to the side and I felt like they were a little too modern for me. I bought them at clearance prices and they matched and filled the space but in the back of my mind I was always looking for something else. 

I finally had the creative ah-ha moment after taking down my Christmas decor, I didn't want the cheap vase collection back up there, ever.

Cloches and Apothecary jars!

 

Since I really heart cloches and apothecary jars I decided I needed to display them all the time, not just with holiday type items. I finally came across my iron cake stand (I lost it for like 3 months!  In my own house!!  How's that for being organized?!  I had stuck it in a bin of kids clothes that I was carrying up from the storage room in the basement, then I took out the clothes I needed and left the cake stand, who looks for a cake stand in a bin labeled "boys clothes"? Yes, I am crazy).

Anywho, hooray for my iron cake stand because it's the only one that fits my biggest cloche!   I have lots of random grassy balls and decorative balls lying around so I started filling.  I had some small fake pears for my apothecary (notice the painting behind the buffet... pears!  My... I'm a creative one, aren't I?! ;) 

I decided to leave the almost too modern plate because it needed something else and it matches really well.  I am so much happier with the new look, (although the burnt orange lampshades still sort of bug me, it needs the color).  I used everything that I already had around the house (no $ spent = bonus points!) and I'm so much happier with it. 

What do you guys think??  Do you like the before or after?  Be honest, I won't be offended if you like the before better (wanna buy some vases?) 

Don't forget to enter my Reedmor Jewelry giveaway here!