2012 Christmas House Tour

We were supposed to be hosting a Christmas Brunch for my Bible study today, but instead the kids have a stomach bug. I thought I'd take the opportunity to take a few photos while everything was clean and set for company. 

Fun picture frame wreath thingy I found on Pinterest:

Entry:

Most of our Christmas ornaments are yarn or cloth and super kid friendly. They also tend to disappear from the bottom of the tree quite frequently and we have to hunt them down throughout the house.

Great Room:

Cinnamon Potpourri:

 

Dining Area:

I think this is my favorite element this year. I have always loved antique silverware on wreaths. My grandmother, who passed away earlier this year, left me some and I thought this was a great way to remember her in my Christmas decorating. 

Our wonderful snowman countdown calendar from T.J. Maxx with two 9's.

The kids' tree in baby boy's room:

A little cheer in their bathroom:

Christmas Card Photo Shoot

Yesterday we did a little photo shoot downtown for our Christmas cards. I was so excited that we actually got a few where both kids were posed well.

Fall 2012

I thought I would do a post on our Fall decorations this year with every intention of featuring the adorable house number pumpkin topiary on our front porch. Unfortunately, I procrastinated on taking the photo and it rotted before I got the chance. 

The entryway and mantle looked pretty similar to last year:

Our little buffet/storage thing changed from last year...

to this year...

...and with the addition of our shelving after last Thanksgiving our table area got much busier.

It mainly comes across as busy in the photos but it's actually quite pretty in person. 

My grandmother passed away earlier this year and I inherited her silver tea set and candlesticks. I thought I would use them on the shelf to remember her by as we celebrate the holidays this year.

Now we get to decorate for Christmas! Happy Thanksgiving!

Kitchen Idea - Oil Rubbed Bronze

I made this for my mother-in-law as she is contemplates different kitchen decor ideas. Maybe it can be helpful to someone else. 

Fruit of the Spirit Art

I was searching online for church nursery and toddler room art inspiration and wasn't finding much so I thought I would post this in case it helped anyone else doing the same. I got the inspiration for these on this blog.

I used standard 16" x 20" canvasses from Hobby Lobby that were about $8 for a pack of two. My other materials were: brown acrylic paint, white acrylic paint, crackle medium (I ran out halfway through and had to get a different kind), scrapbook paper, and Mod Podge matt finish. I used a larger (2.5") paint brush to apply everything except the Mod Podge and used a 1" brush for that.

• Step 1: Paint the canvasses brown and let them dry. You don't have to be too careful or thorough since not much of this layer will show.
• Step 2: Paint on a layer of crackle medium and let it dry.
• Step 3: Paint on a layer of white and let it dry (After this step the brown cracks made the pieces too busy so I added step 4).
• Step 4: Lightly paint a thin white layer using very little paint on the brush over the brown cracks to make them contrast less with the white. Let dry.
• Step 5: Cut out the shapes you want for the fruit and letters and apply them with Mod Podge (Google this process for helpful videos if you have never done this before). Some types of paper will bubble more than others but most of that will go away after several days of drying.

Play Kitchen!

This year we wanted to get our daughter a play kitchen for Christmas. We loved the PB ones but definitely couldn't part with that much money (we could have gotten her real appliances and opened a bakery out of her room!). 

We looked around a bit and started to get DIY fever once again. The thought of being able to customize the pieces was too much so Dave offered to make them.

 

We got the inspiration for the farmhouse sink here. I still need to make a cute skirt like the one under their sink. The faucet is a bar sink faucet from Lowe's.

The fridge and stove came from these Lowe's plans.

 

We made the burners out of coasters from Bed, Bath, and Beyond. The stove knobs are from Lowe's.

We've still got some work to do but we love it so far!