Deck the Halls Installment #5: Crazy Kitchen

My favorite colors since I was a little girl have been purple and pink. I love them! When I tried to come up with a theme for my kitchen, I went with my favorite colors and tossed in some Gingerbread items for good measure.

I use battery operated garlands with a timer for the cabinet tops with pink ribbon woven throughout. I bought a large purple polka dotted ribbon to add to them next year.

Looks like I am ready to make the traditional iced sugar cookies soon!

Deck the Halls Installment #4: Living Room Garland and Nativity Scene

I was shopping with my mom one year and happened upon a beautiful, ornate Nativity Scene at Sam's Wholesale Club. My sweet mom bought one for me, and one for her home. We put it out every year. I love it because it reminds me of her, and also because it is the prettiest one I have ever scene. The outfits on the figures are ornate and detailed and made of fine fabrics. The camel is one of my favorite pieces, as well. :)
I added an angel from my angel tree to the set, because I thought it needed one.

I updated our mantle decor this year, as well. I have a very heavy, large garland that I now place on top of my mantle and let it hang down both sides.  I used to hang it from the mantle with nails-it was hard to do and then you had to fill in the holes afterwards. Why don't we think of better ways to do these things right away? LOL
This year, I added gold deco mesh to the garland and a new animal print ribbon from Garden Ridge. The ribbon matches my two giraffe inspired fabric chairs in that living room, that I just love. I also added clusters of oversized gold ball ornaments, which made a nice impact. I opted not to hand the matching wreath above the fireplace this year, and just let the garland make the statement instead. I am a big fan of reindeer, so the golden ones adorn the center of my mantle.

Deck the Halls Installment #3: There's a story behind this tree...

There's a story behind this tree.....I had been admiring a tree full of golden angels at Garden Ridge one year and had decided that if it were on sale after Christmas, and if I had any money left over,  I would try to buy it.

Luckily, I received $200 that year as a gift. So, very early on December 26, I waited outside the store in the cold with other bargain shoppers waiting for the doors to open. Once they did, I rushed to "my" angel tree, stood guard and looked for an employee, who was nowhere to be found. I ran around the store and located one and told him I wanted to buy the tree, decorations and all. He got a manager, because I wanted to buy it as it stood, lock, stock and barrel for a mere $200.

Somehow, I convinced the manager to accept my offer, if I would be responsible for "un-decorating" it myself, which I gladly did! While the store's employee disappeared to find a box for me to use, I had to keep multiple customers from taking ornaments off of my tree! Hahaha..I bet I was a sight! When the employee finally returned, I excitedly placed the treasured angel ornaments into an empty cardboard box, placed the tree on a flatbed cart, paid for my find, and proudly took it home. This 7.5'  tree came with gold ribbon, gold plastic beaded garland and more gold angels than I cared to count. I was thrilled! (It does have a gold tree skirt, but I have a dog who insists on peeing on our tree skirts, so I don't put them out!).

 I place this golden covered gem in my entry every year. When I divorced in 1999, my soon to be ex-husband demanded possession of my tree in mediation. Needless to say, he did not get it! Unfortunately, over time, lights began to go out, and a well meaning friend bent the tree pretty badly one year while helping me put it away. So, I replaced the original tree with a 9 footer. Over the years, I have added new ribbon and a few ornaments, but, basically, it still stands proudly in our hallway, greeting our guests and reminding me that every once in a while, you can find a real bargain that not only makes your home more festive, but also has an interesting past. Just like me!

Deck the Halls Installment #2: Red and White Candy Cane Tree

We love to decorate for CHRISTmas and one of our trees is red and white with Candy Canes, Santas, and such. It's a flocked tree and makes quite a mess when setting up, so I suggest you invest in a tree bag to store it in, if you have one.
Here are some pictures:

To get this look, I added C9 white twinkle lights from Decorator's Warehouse in Texas, red and white striped deco mesh, red and white striped ribbon, red glitter ribbon, red ball clusters, red and white balls, red and white candy lollipops and ribbon candy, peppermint sticks, berries, assorted picks, and stuffed Santas with other assorted ornaments.
For the window, I added several flocked garlands with the same deco mesh, balls and assorted ornaments.
The effect is a pretty tree. Enjoy the holidays!

Deck The Halls!!!!

CHRISTmas is a BIG DEAL at our home!

It's our favorite time of the year and we love everything about it! We decorate just about every room in the house-with trees in every room, complete with garlands, Santas, Reindeer, a beautiful Nativity Scene and more! I will be blogging several posts about the season. This one will focus on how to deck your outdoors for a fabulous Christmas!

This year, I decided to go with blue, my son's favorite color . I upgraded to mainly all LED lights and added battery operated wreaths and garlands, to boot.

Here's how I began:
I hung garlands across the top of the garages and tucked in blue deco mesh followed by ribbon.

Then, I added clusters of blue balls and snowflake lights and glittery snowflake cut outs from Target.

Above the front door, I used a large garland around the perimeter and tucked in blue deco mesh along with a pretty shimmery silver sheer fabric.

Then, I added the same blue and silver ribbon, large snowflakes and clusters of balls to finish.

For the wreaths, I did the same-and added a large bow out of the ribbon.

All in all, it has turned out well so far.....more to come!
Enjoy the holidays and remember: Jesus is the reason for the season!
:)

Breadstick Cornucopias-A Thanksgiving Tradition!

We have a tradition in my home every Thanksgiving where I make cornucopias from breadsticks for family and friends. We fill them with vegetables, fruit and ranch dip for a delicious and pretty appetizer.  I gave them to a few friends the first year that I made them, and have had special requests for them every year since.

To make them, you will need 2 cans of breadsticks for each cornucopia

Nonstick foil (or regular)
Assorted mixed veggies cut up into bite size pieces-we use broccoli, baby carrots, celery, bell peppers, cucumbers, grapes and tiny tomatoes
6 Tablespoons milk or 1 egg white for brushing on dough before baking (Optional)
Ranch dip for dipping

To begin: Take a large sheet of foil and make into a cone shape. I often tape the seam together with scotch tape. Crumble up foil into balls to fill the foil cone shape to help it hold the bread dough weight.

Next, open the breadsticks and separate into the precut strips. Start by wrapping one strip around the tail/closed end of the cone shape (squeeze the end of the cone together first). Then, take another bread strip, and wrap around the end of the cone, just above the first strip, slightly overlapping so that the bread dough strips touch all the way around the cone. Continue with another bread strip above the third one, and so on, until the cone shape has been covered with bread dough strips. Note: it helps to slightly stretch the strips out and when they don't reach all the way around the cone shape, flip the cone over and apply another piece of a strip to each end of the strip to connect it. Pinch ends together completely.

For the top of the cone, take three bread strips and stretch slightly and pinch the top ends of the three strips together and lay on clean counter workspace. Then, braid the three strips together, sealing the bottom together. Wrap the braid around the cone top, and use another bread strip to complete the circle underneath the cone, pinching ends together.

You may use milk or egg white to paint over the cornucopia before baking, if you wish-optional. Bake according to package directions-about 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven and cool.
Once cooled, carefully pull out the foil stuffing and then the foil cone shape from the bread cornucopias.

Place on platter and fill with veggie mixture, letting veggies spill out of cornucopia and onto platter. Serve with ranch dressing or anything you would like to dip the veggies with. Enjoy!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Trick or Treat!

We are fortunate! Our neighbors put on a free Haunted House that draws huge crowds of trick or treaters! We love it! I decorate our yard with lots of lights, spooky trees, flashing bats, a circle of ghosts, and various characters, including the Peanuts group, which I love.

Why do I go to so much trouble? Well, it all started for my kids and now I continue because of the neighborhood kids. As soon as I break out the decorations, the kids seem to just know it and come over to "help" me. It's cute! We also have people who come to our home on Halloween every year and most stop to take pictures in our yard. It's a lot of fun. Everyone's favorite photography stop seems to be the large inflatable black cat that moves its head from side to side every minute or so. That's the favorite stop in our yard for the kids- some are scared but all seem to love it!

We had a young lady stop by this year to tell us how much my son scared her like 10 yrs ago-when he was dressed like a scary monster and hid behind our column and jumped out to "greet" her.  He scared a lot of the older trick or treaters that year. Good times.

We sat outside and handed out candy for hours. I always buy a ton of candy and rarely have much left over. There were lots of super heros this year but my favorite was the blonde headed little lion. He so reminded me of my son at that age. Precious!

So, if you are one of those people who don't hand out candy in your neighborhood, please reconsider. It is a lot of fun and you are making memories for kids that they will remember forever. And, so will you!