Christmas Touches Around the House {2015}

I'm not sure about you, but this is my very favorite time of year! Christmas is our favorite holiday, so we decorate for it way more than we decorate for any other holiday. My favorite part of Christmas decor is the twinkle lights. Every year, I find more ways to incorporate twinkle lights into the decor. I love when it gets dark outside and the house is all lit up and cozy!

I wanted to share some of our Christmas decorations from this year. Enjoy the mini home tour! Come on in!

I mainly used things we had on hand already for our mantle. Remember the Christmas trees I made a few years ago? They're still going strong!

I did pick up new glittery garlands last year after Christmas from Michael's. I only paid a couple dollars for them! The mercury glass votives were an after Christmas clearance steal from Target last year. Love them!

I threw some greens from Trader Joes into a white pitcher dressed up with some Target Dollar Spot ribbon. The cute little sign is also from the Dollar Spot!

The built-in is another area where I used things from around the house... Vases and gift wrapped books got dressed up with greens and berries for a festive touch. Cheap decor for the win!

Every year, I host a Favorite Things party (SO fun!) and this vase was one of the things I came away with. I love it and can't wait to switch out the contents to match the seasons! Thanks, Heather!

I bought the reindeer a while ago off a friend who was moving. Our Elf was totally found riding it this morning. Haha! And don't get me started on that wooden snowflake! I found that for uber cheap at Home Goods!

This basket holds our Christmas books. I wrapped the front book to make it look cuter--and let's face it, we can't set out presents ahead of time with little kids at home, so this is how I get to have pretty wrapped "presents"! ;)

Not much has changed with our tree. We use the same red bead garland and silver ornaments each year as our base, then layer on the sentimental ornaments. It's just the right combination of coordinated and homey.

Little Man brought home this ornament from school today for Hubby and I. Melt!!!

The stair banisters got decked out in cheap Ikea garlands and wrapped in Dollar Spot LED lights. The dining room got a few basic Christmas touches, but nothing as elaborate as years past. (Click here for my favorite dining room decor to date!) 

The "joy" sign remains one of my favorite Christmas decorations of all time!

I found this cute little tree on clearance for a few bucks at Target in spring or summer. It was a weird time, but that is probably why it was dirt cheap!

I switched out the ribbon on the reindeer wreath for something a little more relaxed and love it even more now!

Our entry got touch of Christmas via a $6 tree from Michael's that I threw into an old metal bucket and topped with some ribbon. The advent calender was another after Christmas Target find that was super cheap. Are you sensing a theme? Shop after Christmas and get decorations on the cheap! I usually buy things when they are 75-80% off!

Hope you enjoyed the peek into our home! Blogging from now through New Year's may be a bit sporadic, but I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas celebrating Jesus' birth!

Glittered Reindeer Wreath

The other day, you know, back in August when weird prepared people start thinking about Christmas decorations, I spotted this adorable deer wreath at Michael's. I scooped it up super fast and started dreaming up plans for it.

I originally was thinking of painting it white and layering it over a boxwood wreath, but sadly Trader Joes hasn't had their $10 boxwood wreaths and I can't afford a good-sized preserved one. Sad times. After more stewing, the idea to use glitter popped into my brain and the rest is history!

I sanded the wreath down really well, focusing on the rough edges and making sure to get it nice and smooth. I gave it a couple coats of white spray paint. Then, I brushed on Mod Podge where I wanted glitter and sprinkled on a generous coat of extra fine glitter, tapping off the excess. I just had to add a cute little red nose!

I hung it up using some dollar spot ribbon from Target and command strips. I love how it turned out!

Happy weekend, everyone!

Linking up with Savvy Southern Style, Remodelaholic, Pocketful of Posies, Just a Girl, and many other awesome blogs!

Miniature Christmas Display

Hey, Friends! It's been two weeks since I got to blog and I've missed you all! Where in the world have I been?! Well, let me tell you about our last month... I traveled, then when I returned our entire family traveled, then the first night back home our oven control panel shorted out and caught on fire. Thankfully, it was a small fire, but still, two firetrucks (including the giant ladder truck) and 6 fireman later and we are ready for things to settle down! 

The fire was only a week before Thanksgiving, so we were scrambling to get a new oven! Thankfully, we were able to get one in time for all of our holiday cooking! Since then, we've been busy busy busy decorating for Christmas. On top of all the decorating and holiday crafting, I've been on an organizational tear and have been going through every nook and cranny of our house getting rid of things and cleaning. It feels so good! 

I have so many things to share with you all! The first up is this cute miniature Christmas display we created! Growing up, my grandparents had a similar display and I loved it! It was one of my very favorite Christmas decorations and as a small child, I used to imagine who could live in the house what it would be like. I really wanted to recreate the magic for my own family!

I bought a shadow box way back in March and started collecting tiny furniture.

When I finally had all of my pieces collected, I started arranging them into my shadow box. And it was all wrong. The box looked nearly identical to the one my grandparents had, but the rim was too thick and blocked a lot of the items inside. The openings were too small and some things didn't look right. What to do, what to do?

I went back to the store and spotted a tree shaped shadow box. Little Man loved it, so I decided to give it a try. The items fit perfectly, so I decided to roll with the tree shaped box. I painted the box white trimmed in red with a sparkly silver star.

I glued on the pieces, stood back, and felt like a complete failure. It didn't look like Grandpa and Grandma's. Theirs was rectangular and white and had a cute little arm chair with a folded up newspaper and an umbrella stand. Mine felt all wrong.

I was about to hang my shoulders in defeat when Little Man came in the room. He squealed with delight and immediately started giggling about how funny it was that the cookies got to be on the floor and imagining all the fun that must be happening in this little tree shaped home. Jeremy looked at me with a big grin and declared success.

And you know what? He's right. It may not be just like my grandparents', but it has the same effect for my kids as the one I loved had on me. The kids love it and look at it all the time. They make train noises for the trains, talk about Mary and Joseph and Baby Jesus, imagine cutting down Christmas trees, making gingerbread houses, and decorating trees.

I originally had it on the entry table, but the kids stole it to add Christmas cheer to their playroom.

Jeremy's right. It's a total success. :)



Linking up with Savvy Southern Style, Remodelaholic, Pocketful of Posies, Just a Girl, and many other awesome blogs!

Holiday Gift Guide for Him

*Affiliate links provided for your convenience. For more info, see my full disclosure here.

Hey, Friends! Please excuse the silence over here on the blog last week. Our computer died and we had to wait for a new part to come. But, all is well now and I'm stoked to get to blog again!

Are you guys starting to purchase Christmas gifts yet? Do you get stumped with what to get for the men in your life? I have just the thing for you--a holiday gift guide geared at the men! This post was supposed to go up last week, but due to the computer problems, I had to wait to finish it up. Thankfully, though, it's up just in the nick of time before the Black Friday deals come out! Whew! :)

My husband helped me curate this list of items for you. He personally owns and loves every single item on this list! They're tried and true favorites!

1) Tape Measure*- Jeremy has two requirements for a tape measure-- it has to have rubber grips and it needs to have the easy read measurements. This one fits the bill!

2) Flex Ratchet Screwdriver*- Jeremy's dad had such a knack for rummaging through our garage and figuring out what tools Jeremy was missing or would enjoy using. He gave Jeremy a flex ratcheting screwdriver a few years ago and Jeremy has really loved it! You just attach any drill bit to the end and suddenly screwing and unscrewing becomes way faster and easier!

3) Dominion*- Our good friends introduced us to this game a couple years ago and it became a fast favorite! We love playing it with friends, but it's also a great two player game! It's one of Jeremy and I's favorite things to do together after the kids go to bed and a great alternative to watching TVsince our tastes in TV shows are polar opposites! Ha!

4* & 5*) Jeremy loves to play video games and has really been loving Destiny and Elder Scrolls Online! If you have a gamer in your life, check out these games!

6) Gaming Headset*- Speaking of video games, Jeremy finally broke down and bought a nice set of gaming headphones. They are surround sound and have a mic for chatting with other players. He loves the sound quality and how light they are on his head!

7) Microsoft Ergonomic Keyboard- Jeremy spends most of his workdays on a computer, so a good ergonomic keyboard was critical for him! He's tried a couple different ones, but this one is his tried and true favorite!

8) Mechanics Gloves*- I bought these gloves for Jeremy the first year we were married and he was having to do car repairs in a scalding hot apartment complex parking lot. He loved having them for mechanic use, but they have become his trusty gloves for so much more! He uses them when doing carpentry work, yard work, car work, etc. Basically, if he's working outside, you can almost bet that he's got these babies on!

Hope this list helps shopping for the men in your life a little easier this Christmas!

Gratitude

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! I'm getting ready to pack up our Christmas decorations and get our house back to normal. Sniff! I'm especially going to miss this joy sign. Anyway...

This week is very exciting for us! After nearly 5 years at his company, my husband decided to move on and started a new job this week!

As the new job offer has unfolded, I've pondered how God has opened and closed doors along the way to get us to this point. While Jeremy was in grad school, he was diligently searching for a job and was specifically targeting his company because it was a great fit for him, mixing industry and his PhD work. We spent many months praying about the job and hoping God would open that door--and He did!

Jeremy was blessed with an amazing director and many opportunities at his company. I love seeing how hard he works and what a high work ethic and standards he has. Honestly, Jeremy's always been this way since his first job at a grocery store in high school. I used to literally jog to keep up with him when I'd pop in to flirt  eat lunch with him on his break. :)

Just as God opened the doors for Jeremy five years ago, He has made it clear that it was time to move on. An exciting job offer came in when Jeremy wasn't looking. It's a really interesting position that shifts focus from industry to policy and was too good to pass up. But... they wanted us to relocate. When push came to shove, neither of us wanted to move (at all!!!) and we didn't think we could afford to live in the new city. Just when we thought he would need to turn down the job, they offered to let him work remote. From our house. Every day. For Real! Cue angels singing and Jeremy and I break dancing in the living room!

Just had to insert a picture of my handsome hubby! Photo credit: Kristin Tucker :)

Ready to see more of God? When we were looking for our house three years ago, we looked at a bunch of homes. We actually got within two weeks of closing on our previous house before we found a new house to buy. From the second we pulled into the driveway, we loved this house. As soon as we opened the front door, I knew this was the one. We were completely sold on the house before we even went out back and saw the detached garage with a mother in law suite! It just so happens, that mother in law suite is the *perfect* home office! Jeremy wrote his entire dissertation up there shortly after we moved in. He has used it often for working from home and loves it because he is at home, but can't hear what is going on and doesn't get interrupted. Little did we know, he'd be working from home every single day and would need such a nice, quiet office space! Isn't it amazing that three years ago, God lead us to a home with a perfect office space for this new job?!

Looking forward to 2015 and the new opportunities Jeremy has at work, as well as generally just slowing down as a family. 2014 was a hard year and was entirely too busy with traveling, etc. We are exhausted and worn out and looking forward to slowing down the pace in the coming year. What are you looking forward to in 2015? Have a Happy New Year!

Top Gift Picks for Baby

I've been wrapping gifts and finishing my Christmas shopping today, so in the gifting spirit, I figured I'd stop in and share my favorite gifts for baby. If you are looking for a last minute idea for your little one, check out one of these!

1. B. LucKeys- Little Girl is very curious and goes for all the things in our house that are not toys. Seriously, she will crawl through a sea of toys to get to the one non-toy item in the room. After lots of searching, I found these keys that are very realistic, minus the sharp edges of real keys. She loves them. They are one of her favorite toys, even after owning them for a few months now! I thought $10.99 felt a bit high for toy keys, but the quality has turned out to be worth the extra pennies.

Comes in navy or red.

2. B. HiPhone- After our raving success with the keys, we purchased this phone for Little Girl for Christmas. The pictures don't do it justice. The entire "screen" lights up at once, just like a smart phone does. It makes realistic noises, "calls" the child, and you can even record messages for your child on it! Priced at $11.99, it doesn't break the bank. 

Comes in purple, blue, green, or red. 

3. VTech Learning Walker- I'll be honest, I really wanted a classic looking wooden walker, but it didn't end up fitting into our budget. So, I researched walkers and this one had great reviews. We decided to go with it because you can adjust the wheel tension so the walker doesn't fly out in front of the baby. Several similarly priced walkers do not have this feature and felt cheaply made. Another benefit is the great activity panel on the front. Little Girl loves it! We snagged it on Amazon for $25 last month which was a fabulous price! It looks like the price is $35 now, but it's still a good price and quality compared to the other walkers out there. And, who knows, the price may come back down. 

4. LeapFrog My Own Leaptop- We have the older version of this laptop that we bought for Little Man when we was around 1 or 2. Both kids have loved it! You can have it send "email" messages from you or other family members, it helps with their letters/sounds/numbers, teaches them to spell their name, has songs, teaches animal names/sounds, etc. Little Man used to play with this when we were out shopping and I always got a kick out it when he would "check his email" or "write a new blog post" while riding in his stroller. Multitasking, ha! It comes in at an affordable $14.99 and has held up great through the years. 

5. Infantino Go GaGa Deluxe Twist & Fold Gym- We had a great baby gym for Little Man, but part of it disappeared in our move a couple years ago. We were so sad and after much searching, had to give up and purchase a new gym. We picked this one and were very happy with it! Little Girl was around 4 weeks when we bought it and as soon as we laid her on the mat, she started cooing at it. It was so sweet! She loved it and I was very sad when she outgrew it. Baby gyms are all pretty pricey. This one comes in at the middle at $49.99, but we got it for $35 when it went on sale and had a Cartwheel coupon, so know that it does go on sale! :) 

Hope you all are enjoying this Christmas season so far! 

Image Credits: Target and Amazon

Monday Ramblings

Our simple Christmas wreath made with leftover garland that I floral wired to a grapevine wreath and embellished with beads, floral picks, and a bow I had leftover from last year. Easy peasy!

Just wanted to pop in and wish you all a Merry Christmas!!! We decided to do Christmas today in case Little Girl decides to come early. It was so fun! I love soaking up quiet, family days. I even made cinnamon rolls for breakfast and a full Christmas dinner for lunch...at 9 months pregnant. Who da mom?! What What??? Hahaha, just kidding. Of course, it helped that Hubby washed the dishes and I bought a premade pie and frozen rolls... Massively pregnant women are allowed to cheat. Oh, what am I saying? Anyone is allowed! :)

I also wanted to update you on what this blog will look like for the next couple months. I may post a random post here or there when I'm up to it, but otherwise, I will be taking a hiatus from blogging until after Little Girl is born and we are in some kind of rhythm again. I will miss blogging, but will definitely still be keeping up with all you bloggers--probably at 3am when Little Girl is hungry. ;)

We already have a big project planned for the new year, plus a few smaller ones. Can't wait to get started on them after the holidays and new baby craziness slows down! Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and New Year! 

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

This is our second year getting a real tree and I LOVE it! I'll never go back to fake! Of course, our old fake tree was the most pitiful tree on Earth, so it's not much to compare. ;) 

Last year, we got our first real tree from Home Depot. It was not really a very romantic experience to dig through a pile of trees, but we were afraid of killing the tree and wanted the return policy. Haha! 

This year, we went to a Christmas tree farmer and had a great time picking out a tree. This tree is so full and fresh! The farmer had just cut it down the day before we bought it!

Over the years, Jeremy and I have come to a good comprimise on how to decorate the tree. I love matchy matchy and he loves random. We've hit a good middle ground that we both love with silver ornaments and red garland, plus lots of sentimental ornaments. We love the mixture!

I saw this Christmas tree skirt at Lowe's and loved it! It's the first tree skirt I've seen that I loved and thought was absolutely perfect and exactly my style. I stewed over it for a month, then finally decided to spend the money on it. So glad I did! I was able to repurpose our scalloped tree skirt for our advent tree. 

Every year, we purchase a new ornament that represents the year. Love this one from the year we bought our first house. :) 

These snowflakes are some of my favorite ornaments! They were my grandparents and have hung on their tree ever since I was a little girl. My grandma gave them to me a few years ago and I love hanging them up each year. 

Every year, my hubby plays this little game where he sneaks his Darth Vadar ornament up to the top of the tree when I'm not looking. He insists on it being the highest ornament on the tree. He only gets his way because he's over 6 feet tall and can reach higher than me. Haha!

One of my favorite things is to turn of all the lights and snuggle under a blanket with some hot cocoa and admire the lights on the tree! Only 13 more days until Christmas! 

Linking up to Thrifty Decor Chick and A Thoughtful Place!