NOTHING LIKE A CLEAN SLATE.....MANTEL RE-DO

Well I haven't been thrilled with the way the mantel came out and have been tweaking it every minute since I did it.   So that basically tells me that it's not working and I need to start over.

Here is the bare mantel...except for the flat screen play "Handy Manny" (my daughter works with my decorating disability. lol

Here is everything that was on the mantel (top and bottom) on the dining room table.

Here are the faux presents that were under the tree next to the mantel

Stay tuned tonight.....I should be done by then!

ELIZABETH EDWARDS

I'm so deeply sad to just learn that Elizabeth Edwards lost her battle with cancer.   I watched her on Oprah and Nate and I was so taken with her.   When I attended the Nate Show they he actually spoke of her (she had filmed the day before and we viewed a clip)  She was truly a unique woman, after all that she went through in her life I thought she would have beaten this too.

I was planning on visiting her Red Window shop in Chapel Hill on our way down to SC next summer.  So sad that I wont even have the possibility of getting to meet her.  I dont know how many people are aware of what amazing style she had.



I will remember her by these words....

"The days of our lives, for all of us, are numbered. We know that. And, yes, there are certainly times when we aren't able to muster as much strength and patience as we would like. It's called being human" But I have found that in the simple act of living with hope, and in the daily effort to have a positive impact in the world, the days I do have are made all the more meaningful and precious. And for that I am grateful. It isn't possible to put into words the love and gratitude I feel to everyone who has and continues to support and inspire me every day. To you I simply say: you know."

Her shop in Chapel Hill

I love it all

When she gave Nate a tour...

Elizabeth Edwards

I hope she is truly at peace now.

HOLIDAY DECOR...THE BATHROOM

Yes, my bathroom also gets decorated for the seasons and that includes Christmas too.    Its fairly blah in color so I usually use my shower curtain, towels and accessories to brighten it up.

This is what it looked like during its dismantling in the fall.

There are normally rust colored rugs in front of sink and toilet

I had already removed the towels. lol

Shower curtain is from The Great Indoors (now closed)

This is Christmas 2010

Actually my summer shower curtain, but wanted to try blue for Christmas (just not in my main areas)

Shopped the bedroom and grabbed out monogram print I made myself and a candle holder (Home Goods)

Teal towel (Great Indoors), glass jar filled with white sand and mini ornaments in silver, light blue, teal blue

Glass jars (dollar tree) filled with sea glass (dollar tree) and my empty hand napkin holder (looking for coordinating refill)

Do any of you decorate your bathrooms for holidays such as Halloween or Christmas?   Or am I just the obsessive decorator.lol

HOLIDAY DECOR...THE REAL TREE

So for 6 years now my husband has been taunting me about my "Macy's trees".   His version of a Christmas is to pull everything out of boxes and throw it on the tree!   I know this because I let him and the kids decorate the tree one year....yes ONE YEAR!   It was killing me not to rip everything off, but I promised not to touch it.

So since the kids and the husband are getting the artificial tree downstairs......that leaves me with the fabulous 9ft Douglas Fir that hubby picked up last night.   I wished for a slim tall tree to fit in the corner by the fireplace...kinda like an Italian Cypress tree.   Well I think its obvious that I didnt go with my husband nor did he hear me voice my wishes for the tree this year.

This is the monster he walked in with at 9p.m.

This is the beast it became after we cut the netting off, still enormous.

I cant see my santas of anything on that wall and its imposing on the fireplace too. OMG

Out came the clippers and I started at the bottom....leaving room for my decorative present boxes (ha this year I get to do whatever I want up here)

As you can see not much of a difference...but I did get some great clippings for the mantel and the kitchen hutch. lol

Ive gotten alot of inspiration from Ballard Designs

 This year Im going to try a more muted color scheme. This is my inspiration tree from Ballard Designs. White, Cream, Silver, Gold and natural textures like birds, pine cones, rice and nuts are my ingredients for the living room holiday design.

Lights are on...type to spruce them both up.

Here it starts off with lights and a special tree skirt.

This is my Nonna (grandmother) Anna's bedspread...its light and beautiful and I love having it under my tree.

It has beautiful detail work and in the center the phrase " Amor Mio"...I love it.

HOLIDAY DECOR....THE ENTRYWAY ***UPDATED..AGAIN**

Well it gets extremely cold in New Jersey in the winter, and we live near the water so its also very windy as well.    I try not to keep too much on my porch, I keep the wicker furniture and some pots usually.   Last year fence panels and solar lights were destroyed so Im being more cautious this year.

This year I decided I want a simple exterior and was again inspired by:

Ballard Design Catalogs

This entry is so classic & clean to me...I love it!

HOLIDAY DECOR......THE ARTIFICIAL TREE

This year we decided on having 2 main Christmas trees in the house since we now have the room.  The standby artificial one I purchased in 2008 when my husband was deployed (just didn't want to deal with the hassle  of real one without him there) will be going downstairs in the family room. Well its actually decorated as a Dallas Cowboys football room. (post on this room coming for Superbowl)

We are having a tree-trimming party and the kids and their friends will decorate the tree.   However, I'm not nuts and turning over all my ornaments.   So I put a huge assortment in a big Rubbermaid tub for them to dig through and hang on the tree.

Here are some of the highlights from our party.

Here are my 2 daughters showing the decorating skills.

My daughter was loving stringing every type of garland I had available.

Tazia is putting on the finishing touches.

My Maya is playing tag w/ her bestie Derrick..they had a blast

Here is the kids tree...without the skirt and the train somehow was moved...lol  Notice the 2 little ones in the background stuck on the tv.

Baby "Bugga" was all over so we took out the Bumbo. lol

My son playing video games & kiddos watching

Good ol' game of Ms. Pac-Man...love these kids. This is the playroom side of downstairs.

Another shot of the decorated tree....this time the Daddy's have changed the tv to football. lol

The adults admiring the kiddies do their decorating thing.

This is an older pic but kinda what the room looks like on a normal day.

This is my husbands wall of fame from football days..those pics in the frames are of him.  We moved the mean guy and put the tree to the left of the wall.

This is my husbands favorite thing to look at on any given Sunday.  I decorated this area but with all the hoopla, didnt get a chance to photograph it.

HOLIDAY DECOR......KITCHEN

The kitchen is the heart of the home.....and I stand by that notion as well.   I love my new kitchen although I still think I need more space. lol.

This year since I have my black beauty hutch in there now, it will be  hosting my Christmas teapot collection along with a few other items.

I didnt really decorate other areas of the kitchen because theyre in use constantly throughout the day with a family of 7 and friends visiting in and out.

Hope you enjoy......

This is how the hutch was finished off yesterday (Wed)

One of my teapots, my santa pitcher and a mini treat jar.

My eucalyptus tree holding my newest love....ornaments w/stockings on them.

This was a gift from my friend Chacha...she has a 2 ft one and I loved it so much.  

Burlap stocking adorn the drawer knobs, and a door hanger from my Etsy shoppe.

A folkstyle santa birdfeeder and a snowman tray from an estate sale.

My nutcracker mini tea set from Bombay Company (1994)

Kitchen side of my pass through area...thats the back of the manger.  I have my baker nutcracker in the kitchen this year.

So after doing some linky party visits today I was inspired by http://backporchmusings.typepad.com/blog/2010/12/a-christmas-cupboard.html and decided to spruce up my hutch.   Hers is done so much better but Im happy with my changes.

I edited out the birdfeeder and moved it on top and added a vintage lantern

I also moved the candlesticks up by the fireplace and added some greens snipped from the huge tree in the living room. 

This is the final Christmas Kitchen hutch.....for now! lol