Its Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Our first Christmas in our new house... I love this ornament my Aunt Sharon gave us to celebrate the occasion.

We put our tree up last week, all decked out in tinsel and lights. As far as I'm concerned, tinsel is magic. Forget tacky - nothing says Christmas like glittery tinsel wrapped haphazardly around the tree (the kids did the decorating). Money has been tight for us this year. Besides the economy being on the rotten side, any scrap of savings we had went into buying our new house. But a home to call our own is much better than fancy Christmas decorations!

Here's a little before and after of my living room:

Before.

And also, we aren't done decorating, so please don't judge. Blech, empty walls. I have pictures to hang but I couldn't find the hangers - must still be in an unpacked box somewhere.

And also, check out those curtains... appalling, I know. I didn't measure when I bought them... a leeeettle too short. But that will be okay, as I'll fix them soon!

Its beginning to look a little teensy bit like Christmas!

The kittens helped decorate, too.

Oh wait... that's destroy. The kittens helped destroy the decorations.

And nothing is as sweet as an ornament from a friend... this one is from the lovely Tia and family. Thank you! She made a tutorial showing how to make ornaments like these on her blog here.

Will added the finishing touch - a couple of chocolate Santa pops.

They have since been removed after I caught Gracie and Annelie stuffing empty wrappers and sticks under the coffee tables.

Done!

But hmmmm.... I think we're missing something...

Ah, now were done!
Doesn't a lit up Christmas tree at night just look like magic?

Our decorations aren't fancy, but they are pretty darned cozy. We don't have a fire place so I thought the stockings could be hung with care over the couch instead. Hey, whatever works, right?

I wish you all the merriest of Christmases, the happiest of Hanukkahs, and the most wonderful holiday season of all!

xoxo,

Getting Ready for White

Hmm... what to choose, what to choose...
nothing quite like an art collection of paint chips on the wall!

Wow, its been a while since I've updated, but let me just tell ya, you haven't missed anything. Our kitchen cabinet's are still a rotten mess, as I haven't been able to use the paint stripper on the cabinets since the weather turned cold (it just gels up on the cabinets and doesn't strip anything). So, my kitchen is going to have to be finished in the Spring. I hate that. I really wanted the cabinets done - the half lime green, half white, half paint-stripped look isn't one I love... but as there isn't really anything I can do about that now, Will and I have decided to tackle a different room -- The Dining Room.

Okay, so I had planned on painting my dining room a camel color but after collecting paint chips for ages, the perfect color just could not be found. So I thought, well, maybe white - a lovely creamy warm white - wouldn't be bad after all.

I'm not ordinarily a white paint kinda gal, but with the front room being so full of color (painted yellow and all that) and the dining area coming straight off the living room, I figured the white just might bring out the cute and coziness of the living room.

The lighting in this room is awful... very dark, doesn't get much sun. My camera doesn't know what to do with it, so I often get weird polka dots on my photos!

Okay, what you see here is the original color of the walls. The previous owners did a neat stripe treatment in the dining area, using a gloss paint and a matte paint in the same color. I really like it, but the cold grey color just wasn't for me... so the paint had to go!

Nothing is more annoying than setting up to paint.

Oh wait... I change that - Nothing is more annoying than your two year old stepping on the nearly full paint can and spilling the entire thing all over the hard wood floors.

Yep, nothing is more annoying than that.

I nearly had the room done before Annelie spilled all the paint. Only trim work along the ceiling and one more quick coat of paint in some areas.

So have I finished the room yet? Uh, nope. After spending all we could of our allotted house-improvement $$, we have to wait another month or so before we get more paint and supplies to finish. Thanks a lot, Annelie!

But do I love the white so far? You better believe it. I was afraid the white would be so stark, but it really is bright and creamy and looks lovely next to the yellow living room. Stay tuned for more photos as we finish and decorate!

xoxo,