2011 Holiday House Tour --- ENJOY!!

Thanks, Kristen, for letting us know about Smilebox!! LOVE IT!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

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Sneak Peek.....Man Cave Christmas

We have a fairly small room inour house that is supposed to be a study/office area. At least that is what it was called on the floorplan when we bought it! I have to tell you...I have never really liked this room up until this weekend.

Before we moved into this house several years ago, my husband's and sons' deerheads were on the wall in our family room. I didn't really mind because we had a formal living room at the time. However, this house has no formal living room, just the one big great room. This is really much better for us since our family is so large. I didn't mind sacrificing the formal living room. We decided on a compromise.....the deerheads would go in the office/study area, and that would become a man cave kind of room.

The boys had a big tv in there and played video games for several years, and we just moved the tv out a few weeks ago into their bedroom. Now...what to do with the room? I would love to have a formal dining room....but the room is just too small. I had to sacrifice that, too, in this house. BUT...the trade off was the ginormous kitchen which really is the heart of our home. I don't mind. We never used the dining room except at Christmas anyway.

I love, love, love Pottery Barn furniture. It would NEVER work in my great room, but I got to thinking.....it might be okay in the "man cave". I went into our local Badcock Furniture to pay my bill in November, and what to my wondering eyes should appear, but a COPYCAT PB furniture set, right down to the slipcovers!!! What a great price, too!!!! Only a couple hundred bucks each!! I checked, and I had plenty of room on my account, so I just ordered her right on up!! I knew this set was meant for me.

I'm not totally finsished, but I couldn't wait to show you. Nothing in the room changed other than the addition of the couches and I refurbished the mirror and added a buffet. I still need to distress it and work on the hardware. These are "sneak peeks", and I'll add more pics as I finish. I am sooooo pleased with how it is turning out!!! I LOVE THIS ROOM!! Ignore the buffet....I'm setting up for the party. This will be the appetizer room!!

Here's a closeup of the buffet....

 Then, when my sweet hubby took my to PB for our anniversary day out last weekend (we went to Kirkland's as well and several other stores), we spied these deer in the snow pillows at Pottery Barn, I knew it was meant to be!!

I swear I think I'm leaving these out all year long. They just tie the entire room together. 

Here's a closeup of the tree....The feather wreaths and little deer head ornaments came from Kohl's awhile back...They were on closeout!! Just a couple bucks each.....Pardon the pun!!!!  LOL

Can't wait to finish with all my "tweaks" this week as I have time....busy weekend!! Family Movie Night until late Friday night and Band/Chorus presentation today. The weekend has been gone in a flash!  I guess I will have to stay up all night every night this week and work on salvaging the house before the partay for my staff Saturday night!!!!  I have been working on the back porch, but still have miles to go!!

If anyone has ideas for seating extra people with limited seating, send them my way!!

Making Memories

One of my favorite traditions at the holidays is to make cookies with my children.  I have to tell you that most of the time, these are just the Pillsburry Ready-to-Bake predecorated cookies (you know...the kind with the reindeer, Christmas tree, or Frosty on them!). 

So, I'm not Martha Stewart.....sue me!!  I have a high-stress, demanding job that keeps me busy from early in the morning until late at night , have five kids, have my 80 year old mother living with me, so guess what??? These people are LUCKY they get cookies!! LOL

We do make the "real ones" (don't get your tinsel in a tangle just yet!).  The kids just have to wait until school gets out for us to have any time to do that.  We always make them on Christmas Eve day for Santa, and those are the real deal.  We have to serve Santa only the best!

This is a tradition I started when my oldes two boys were just a couple of years old.  Every year we get a new cookie plate that we display in the kitchen and in our glass cabinet by the tree.  I'll be sharing pictures of my collection in the coming weeks.  My cookie plates are some of my most treasured possessions.

One night we always have cookies is the night Rudolph is shown on tv every year. This has been a long- standing tradition in our family to make cookies and enjoy hot chocolate in our Christmas cups during the movie.  What's more perfect for Rudolph night than the premade reindeer cookies?  The thing I love about these is that my kids can do all of the prep work themselves!

They always have the best time arranging their cookies!

We have also been using the same tray and mugs pictured here for about 15 years now!  I can't believe time has gone by like it has.  I guess I am getting old!

They made their own hot chocolate with our Keurig coffeemaker!! They ADORE that thing!  I think we have gone through two boxes of the hot chocolate cups since last week.  I know they used one box last weekend!

They love to add whipped cream to their hot chocolate.  I must admit, I like it myself!!

This was a new addition this year, our S'mores maker.  We got it at Sam's.  Less than $20, and oh the fun we have had with it!

Pretty cute, huh?  Sooooo easy to use!  Just be careful not to catch your marshmallows on fire!

As they say in one of my favorite movies, "Grownups", we all got a little chocolate wasted that night!  LOL

I love, love, love this time of year and getting to make special memories with my children.  Can't WAIT for the holiday break...I'm counting down the minutes!!!  (The principal probably shouldn't be saying, that, though!!)  hahaha

It's supposed to be really cold here this week.  I don't think we have been out of the upper 40s here today.  For us, that is pretty chilly!  Stay warm!!

While Visions of Pink Sock Monkeys Danced in Their Heads.....

I have been soooo busy these past couple of weeks with work, and I apologize for slacking in my blogging!!  I somehow managed to get all of my house decorated, all except for the back porch.  We have had rain, so I have held off a little! 

I have lots to share, but I won't overwhelm everyone!!  I'll start by sharing my daughter's room....LOVE IT!!   know a lot of you know that I have five children, but I'm not sure how many of you realize that out of those five children, I only have ONE girl. Yes, I have four sons, and they are all older than my daughter. She has a twin brother. They were my little "suprise" package a few years ago. All of my other children were in HS, MS, and elementary when they were born. Yeah, that was a shock! So, needless to say, I have always dreamed of decorating a pink tree!!

My daughter spied this prelit pink tree in Kohl's the other day the week of Thanksgiving. It was the display and on big time sale - less than $20!!! It did not come with the ornaments, obviously. BUT...we did buy a couple of sock monkeys there at Kohl's to go on the tree. The rest of the ornmanets came from WalMart.....have you seen the decorations they have for 95 cents???

We got a box of multicolored ornaments for 97 cents!!! See the bright blue lightbulbs and the purple curly q's? 95 cents at WalMart!! Love how her tree turned out....

We also hung two snowflake ornaments and a snowman ornament (all from WalMart - a dollar and change) in her window. We decorated it earlier yesterday, and she hasn't unplugged her tree since. It's been fun getting to do a pink tree for once! I think we spent about $40 total tree and all.

This is one of my favorite trees I have put up this year.  (I think I may have said that about all of them, though!!)

Can't wait to share more of the house, but I don't want to overwhelm everyone.  There is quite a bit to show you!!!