christmas at my house

welcome to my house!

it has been so much fun decorating my house for christmas this year. finally being in our OWN home after renting for 5 years is a tremendous blessing!

i like the door color ("leap of faith" by benjamin moore) even more after seeing it with the fresh greenery!

if you follow me in instagram, then you saw that i bought some rope at home depot!

here it is! i just draped a few feet of it around the door, paired with the fresh cedar garland and some white lights.

the wreath is from costco. every year, they have beautiful fresh wreaths with a few pine cones and a few ugly things that i remove. you can see previous wreath makeovers here and here. this year, i used the nut + crystal clusters that i made two years ago, and paired them with pine cones and a tone on tone green ribbon. 

maybe next year, there will be a fireplace and built-in bookcases on this wall, but for now, my buffet is serving as a backdrop to most of my collection of mercury glass, some fresh garland, loads of ornaments and pine cones, and of course, my new nativity set.

 
the large star was a clearance purchase last year at pier 1. i love the hugeness of it!


another look at the nativity backdrop.

 i made this crystal + nut garland a few years ago, and i LOVE pulling it out every year and figuring where to put it. you can see how i made it here.

fresh garland, gold balls, pine cones and some fun pine cone balls with tassels (that i bought for 90% off two years ago and have never used!) adorn the stairs.

i put some garland and glass balls on the chandelier to free it up a bit.

 my entry table, with my antlers, a fresh wreath and some leftover crystal garland.
this vignette makes me happy. :)

 i "took back" the tree this year!
for the last 10 years, our tree has been a collection of family ornaments, and mismatched decorations.  while i have loved it, i was ready for a more grown up tree this year.
AND, we broke down and bought a fake tree this year. at first, i wasn't sure i was going to like it, but after having it up for a week, and having zero needles on the floor, i am IN LOVE.

our tree has a TON of glass icicles, gold, silver, and all shades of soft metallic glass balls, as well as a few dozen picture frame ornaments.

 
i actually made these little striped ornaments from some 47 cent paper mache ones that i found at michaels.

 (these are some more paper mache ornaments that i painted.) i like the touch of black that they add to the tree!

thanks for touring my house!

merry christmas!

PS--i am still struggling with my internet service. i am actually sitting at mcdonalds right now, writing this post. after 3 days, 2 technicians, and over 8 hours or visits + phone calls, my internet is not working at ALL. i am hoping that things will be fixed my this weekend. if not, i may just go a little crazy in the head.

my post about halloween

halloween always seems to sneak up on me. one minute, school starts, and the next...it's halloween! if you are a mom, then you know how busy this time of year can be--costumes, treats, parties...it all adds up to a lot!

here is my simple halloween door this year:

 i have had the witches brooms forever---i bought them at big lots for $4 about 10 years ago, and it is a miracle that they have lasted through our many moves. they are one of those bulky items that i *almost donate every time we move, but i love them SO much, and i always manage to talk myself into keeping them.
(yep. our exterior door has still not been painted. it's on the short list of things to get done!)


and, in the "if it ain't broke don't fix it" category, i am still using this  this easy and very affordable wreath that i made 5 years ago. i love it because it only looks better the more battered and worn it gets!
you can get the low down of how i made the wreath here.

i love halloween!
i try to make the treat we give away at least a little special.

 this year, i made some cute, simple labels to wrap around Hershey's bars.
(i bought the full size bars at costco---they come in a pack of 24)



if you like these wrappers, feel free to grab them and use them!

these would also be great to bring to a halloween party or to give away to your childs classmates!

here is a peek at some gift bags i gave away a few years ago:

seeing these always makes me happy!


you can also get these wrappers that i made two years ago for an assortment of candy bars:




oh, and take a look at the buddy the elf costume that i whipped up from some thrift store finds and a little fake fur and fabric paint!

we started with a sleeveless green mock turtleneck, a black t-shirt, and a black belt, all from the thrift store.

i cut the collar and cuffs from some fake fur (made templates from paper first) and hot glued them in place, and then embellished the green tunic with some gold fabric paint. the leggings were found on ebay.

i made the hat out of three pieces of felt. (i made a paper template and then traced it)

i never actually sew my kids halloween costumes from scratch, but i am pretty darn good at taking a dress or shirt or whatever from the thrift store and transforming it into a costume!  (it always seems like my kids want to be something that is impossible to BUY...!)
here is a look at some of my kids costumes from the past few years:


vicious gladiator + two goddesses.


medusa, a pirate + cleopatra.

medusa make-up closeup.

mummy bride + gangnam style guy. (sigh. my son changed his costume about 5 times last year. this was what he settled on. the night BEFORE halloween!)

teen wolf.


teen wolf (close-up) talking on the phone and WAAAAAAY too busy to take a picture....
(wish you could get the full effect of the creepy red contact lenses! they were expensive, but made all the difference!)

be sure to check out my HALLOWEEN pinterest board--i have all of the goodies from years past, including some scanned images that are some of the most pinned images from my blog!

PS---i have been having some HUGE issues with my pinterest account. about 5 months ago, there was some glitch that stopped the counter going up on my followers, and would not allow certain people to follow me. i kept waiting for them to resolve the issue, and they finally did! so---if you *thought you were following me, and then for some reason you weren't, that is why! try again--all is finally well!
CLICK HERE to follow me. (again.)

spooky+ cheap halloween wreath

this wreath cost less than $10 to make!

the ingredients:

one grapevine wreath ($3 on sale)

dollar store "happy halloween"sign ($1)

crows and other black birds purchased on clearance last year 

(.20-1.50 each)

cheap black ribbon ($2)

black spray paint (already had)

clearance christmas picks 

(already had, but i usually have a stash on hand for 

adorning christmas gifts)

i spray painted the wreath and the christmas picks,

and then started gluing!

i cut the ribbon in thin, jagged strips, and then scrunched it to look tattered and worn.

i'm pretty happy with the way it turned out.

it's just spooky enough, and i love that it is all black with just a touch of orange.

plus, it was cheap and easy!

i'm linking to:

the diy showoff

the girl creative