My Holiday Home

First of all, five points to Jennifer for alerting me to my copy/paste error on the last post! When I read her comment and realized what I had done I laughed and laughed! Bet you all didn't expect THAT when you clicked on the link! (Incidentally, that is a link to something I sold on eBay recently--I bought the stockings at an estate sale and sold them for pretty good $$!) Hope no one was too scandalized! ;) I did fix the link so you can check out the cookie recipe now. And do check it out--those Lemon Meltaways were delicious!

I haven't blogged in a week. I just haven't felt like it; I spent all of last week feeling overwhelmed and cranky. I'm afraid not much about my mood has changed this week, although I really am trying to snap out of it. I let go of a few more things on my To Do list; they got moved to the January list and that's just going to have to be the way it is. I had this cute window treatment all planned out involving red ribbons, vintage cookie cutters and the Martha Stewart vintage-style utensil ornaments I schlepped all the way to Kmart for. I've come to terms with the fact that it isn't going to happen either, so rather than the January list, it's getting put on the December 2008 list. I'm disappointed, but trying to be realistic.

I still have two family members on my gift list that I have NO ideas for, and that is stressing me out big time. I really do love buying gifts and trying hard to think of something that the recipient will love. I try so hard to be really thoughtful about it, but sometimes that backfires on me and I end up stressed out and slightly frantic, like I am now. DH is out of the country and so I have been responsible for all the gift buying for both sides of the family, which is especially hard for me as they are mostly men. The men in our families are so hard to shop for (DH included). Women, I can do--I just buy them things that I would like! The men are a real challenge.

I did finally get the house decorated last Friday, and I took a few photos to share. You can also hop over to Karla's Cottage to see who participated in her "What I Love About My Holiday Home" party. Lots of gorgeous inspiration there!

This year I decorated my tree with all of my vintage ornaments. They look just like jewels nestled in all the sparkly aluminum goodness. So far both the dog and the toddler have left the tree alone and everything is safe. Let's hope it stays that way! Under my tree is the vintage felt & sequined tree skirt that Vintage Hunter kindly sent to me. In the left corner you can see my vintage wood sled with its new aqua & red Martha Stewart bow. In the right corner is a chair covered with a thrifted Christmas quilt and the darling little elf my mom gave me for Christmas last year.This is the top of my china cupboard. I ended up with a red & silver theme this year, though it wasn't my original intent. It just happened but I really do love it! The wreath on the mirror is glittery and sparkly and was purchased 75% off at Michael's last year, and there's a sweet red cardinal on the top (he's from a garage sale this summer). The Santa is from an estate sale this summer. The glittery church is from clearance at Target last year, and the bottle brush trees are from Kohl's this year. I filled my (thrifted) silver champagne bucket with silk poinsettias, berries, and greens from an old centerpiece that I took apart.

Here is a closer view of the apothecary jar. It is filled with (thrifted) glittery silver ball ornaments. The glittery red key is from Wal-Mart this year, tied on with silver satin ribbon from my stash (which was probably saved from a gift). The sweet feathered bird perched on the top came from the same sale as the cardinal.

This is the centerpiece for my game table, which sits in front of the china cabinet. The glittery Santa is from Target clearance last year. I love him! He's sitting on one of my glass cake stands and surrounded by some of my favorite vintage red and silver ornaments and the other white feathered bird. When the afternoon sun comes in the window the glitter catches the light and he just sparkles like crazy! It's just beautiful. It's sitting atop a place mat I thrifted on Friday night. My mom has a set and I've always liked them. I went thrifting that night with place mats like this one in mind, so it was serendipity that I found one! Actually two--the one that is green with a red border is sitting on my kitchen island.Please excuse the poor photograph on this one--it's impossible to get a good shot because you're shooting right into the sliding glass door beyond so it screws up the lighting. This is the entrance to my kitchen from my front room. I bought the green garland on super clearance at Target a few years ago. I don't know that I've ever used it, I just thought it would be a good thing to have on hand. I was right! If you click to enlarge you can see the lights. A few years ago I bought two sets of lights that look like vintage indent ornaments, also on clearance at Target. I've never used those either, as I just don't really have anywhere to put them. This year I figured out I could put the two together! Duh. :) I have no idea why but the string on the left has quit working. I may try replacing the fuse but other than that, I'm stumped. The silver star/snowflake things that are hanging down are really neat! I bought them in the same bag as the glittery balls in the apothecary jar. I had no idea what they were when I purchased the bag, but when I opened it up and discovered what they were I was thrilled. They are made of clear plastic and mylar and they unfold like those tissue paper honeycomb decorations. I absolutely love them!


I've had this set of Santa paper dolls for a few years--I think they were in my Christmas stocking one year. I always thought they'd be so cute to frame but have never gone through with it because of the ridiculous cost of custom framing. Somewhere in blogland this year I saw a garland strung across a window, hung with pieces of Santa's clothing. When I pulled out my paper dolls, inspiration struck! I have this mirrored faux-window in my entryway and I knew it needed something draped across it. I attached a few little Command hooks (LOVE those things) to the top and made a clothesline with bakers' twine and mini clothespins from my craft stash.

One last photo--this is what my Christmas tree looks like reflected in the window mirror. I wish I could better capture how colorful, sparkly and delightful it really is!