Bringing Christmas Joy Home

Sharing my living room all decorated for Christmas! I have to say this is my favorite look to date! I love using pops of red -as it’s just so happy and cheery! I incorporated several new decor items this year, and reused most of my staple items, such as the tree, fireplace garland, and coffee table decor. Read more for details!

The tree topper start is brand new! I got it from Krumpet’s Home Decor - and it's absolute perfect! The Joy to the World sign is also from Krumpets home decor.

I added so many different types of ribbon! I bought the ribbon from several different stores.

I purchased these stockings and mirrored frames at at Pottery Barn this years on their “free monogram day” in November. Then I added different types of ribbon create a more interesting look. The garland I bought six years ago and it was all green. So I added flocked pieces from Hoby Lobby for more texture and to make it look more snow covered.

The view from the top of the stairs.

Love all these pillows from Target!

My favorite view! I love when the fireplace is on - it makes for wonderful ambiance.

I love addling splashes of red to my kitchen. The wreaths I found at Target a few years ago.

Love all these adorable hot cocoa pieces from Krumpet’s Home Decor.

A Spooktacular Halloween!

Happy Halloween! This was by far my favorite decorated Halloween! It was so fun styling new Halloween decorations and mixing it with some existing decor. The skeleton was a new addition this year too!

Do you see that wood witch by the fireplace? My Mother painted that years ago! She designed, cut out of wood, and hand painted every detail! She made four of them - one to give to each of her daughter as a Christmas present. She’s super talented!

Halloween Decor Sources

Witch - Wendy Peterson (My Mom)

Halloween Banner - Krumpets Home Decor

Haunting Tray - Krumpets Home Decor

Trick or Treat Sign - Krumpets Home Decor

Gray Ginger Jar - Kirklands

Black Feather Tree - Hobby Lobby

Skeleton - Amazon

Jackolanterns - Walmart

Orange Glitter Pumpkin - Pier One

Wood halloween Tags - Krumpets Home decor

Happy Halloween Sign - Krumpets Home Decor

Happy Halloween Pillow - Kneeders Bakery

Spider - Walmart

Santa Clause is Coming to Town!

I'm super excited to share with you what I call my winter white living room! I received so many wonderful compliments about my living room, as well as lots of positive questions about how I decorated this space. But the best compliment of all was having this photo featured on several of Better Homes and Gardens social media sites! Thank you for the love!

I'm to happy to share all the details with y'all!

The darling Santa Clause Decor came from http://www.krumpetshome.com Their Santa Clause collection is so magical!

Design Tip:  It's important to get some classic decor pieces that you love and fit your personal style.  This will save you money because you could refinish or repurpose those pieces in the future for an  to updated look - instead of buying new. My coffee table of 12 years is a great example. It's solid wood with a classic design. I've painted it several times to update it - instead of buying new!

Christmas Tree Detail
This year I had the privilege of receiving a 9 foot Flocked Christmas tree from King of Christmas. It gave me a whole new direction for decorating my living room! Since my flocked tree is such a natural beauty I chose to keep the decor simple and stately. I opted for larger round ornaments rather than many small ones. 

When decorating my tree the first thing I do is put on the ribbon. I cut about 5-6 foot strips, a little longer than the length of the tree. Then I start from the top and tuck about ever 3-6 inches it into the center of the tree - making it "bubble out." I repeat these streps until I reach the bottom of the tree. Then I cut 12 inch strips of another patterned ribbons and place those around the tree to fill in empty spaces.  I add sprigs of frosted sticks and silver was stems throughout. For a tree skirt I just added white fabric and an old white curtain I had in my decorator closet! Crazy huh? 

The Santa Claus boxes under the tree were a new addition this year! They were sent to me by a darling home decor shop called Krumpets Home Decor. The white candle sticks on the hearth I've had forever! I bought them from Hobby Lobby 8 years ago when they were black. I painted them white to give them a fresh new look.

Garland and Wreath

I purchased the garland on my fireplace about five years ago from Hobby Lobby. (I also have the same garland on my stairs.) The garland was originally just green. I added flocked pieces or stems, to brighten it up and give it an updated snowy look. 

Mantle Decor

The mecury glass vases and candles sticks, and cathedral mirror, are part of my everyday decor and are up on my mantle year round. Most times I like to mix holiday decor with my everyday decor. I also change out my Christmas signs as find new ones.

Here are the references to where my decor is from:

Silver trees - Home Goods.

Large Decorative Truck Figurine came from Target.   

Decorative white deer - ZGallerie. 

Believe Sign- Kirklands

Mercury Glass- At Home

Hosting a Christmas Dinner Party

Tonight was a special night! I had the wonderful opportunity to speak and host dinner at my home for forty women from my church. It made me so happy to see so many beautiful faces. Our theme for the night was "We are like Snowflakes, Different in our own Beautiful Way." It's good to remind ourselves how beautiful, special and unique we each are

Woodland Elegance

I am so honored and excited to be on the 2017 Treetopia Design Council! 

I was given the wonderful opportunity to select several products of my choice from Treetopia.com. The products I chose were perfect for the "Woodland Elegance" theme I had in mind for my dining room. I wanted the room to be elegant, cozy, traditional, and stylish - as my dining room takes center stage on Christmas Eve.  My family's greatest Christmas Eve tradition is dressing in our Sunday best, having a delicious formal dinner, followed by attending a candlelight church service. It's a tradition my grandparents started long ago when my mother was young - and now has been passed down to my children. 

For starters, I wanted a traditional Christmas tree to be the focal point of the room and that would capture the woodland theme. The 7.5 Noble Fir Tree  did just that with its perfect color, texture, size and shape! 

This tree represents the magic of Christmas to me with its sparkling glitter, gold ornaments, and whimsical reindeer, coupled with natural pinecones. It is reminiscent of my childhood when we as a family would cut down our tree in the snowy Minnesota forest. We would bring it home and decorate to resemble a tree like in a department store window. I wanted to recreate that feeling for my own children so that they too can have the wonder and awe that accompanies the majesty of the holiday season.

The Gemmed Up Pearl Ornaments I picked out are a dream! They add such sparkle and elegance, and remind me of the vintage handmade ornaments my grandmother used to make by hand for us years ago. In fact, I can still visualize her pushing straight pins delicately as to place each piece of sequence and pearl by hand. 

Keeping with the neutral color scheme, I also added different gold textured balls, because a variety of textures helps create visual interest as well as a customized look. 

I also chose the Harvest Pine 10' Garland and Harvest Pine 24" Wreath to compliment my buffet table. The intricate details of the pine and fur foliage mixed with the green and white berries, make this wreath and garland truly magical! I love how there are lights on both the garland and wreath - adding more magic! I did add a few layers of ribbon and placed a few gold ball ornaments around, but I didn't want to take away from the wreath and garland's natural beauty and unique texture! 

This room, now dressed in the Woodland Elegance theme, is ready to usher in a magical Christmas Eve to be enjoyed by friends and family! 

Make sure to stop by the Treetopia Blog and see all the amazing trees from the rest of the 
2017 Treetopia Design Council!

2017 Christmas Decor Sneak Peak!

Here's a sneak peek!

I can't wait to show you all the pics from my living room! My new gorgeous flocked tree from King of Christmas is up and decorated - and I'm thrilled about decorating with my new Christmas decor from Devanie at Home. I'm so in love with the red and gray wooden boxes they sent me! In fact, these boxes will now become a treasured keepsake in my home as I'm going to have my kids write letters to Santa and put them inside. (Hopefully we can do this for years to come!) This just puts me in the Christmas spirit! 🎄

Fourth of July with a BANG!

Fourth of July is the ultimate summer celebration! And it a great time to celebrate our nations's Independence day with family and friends. I have several family members coming over for a swim party and BBQ- and I couldn't wait to put up my July fourth decor! Plus, I have such fond childhood memories of July 4th- and decorations were always apart of them! My Mom and Grandma always had flags in yard, bunting banners hanging from outside windows, and cut out stars on the kitchen walls- all to make the 4th extra special!

Here's the scoop where I got everything: All the banners came from Target. The lantern and throw pillow are from Home Goods. The colorful fans are from Party City. The star decor I purchased from the Dollar Store! Can you believe it? The July fourth printable I printed out from Pinterest and then put in a white frame I already had. I decided to mix up new and old decor. The red, white and blue paper circles I already had from my son's birthday party a couple years ago (I originally bought them at Party City). The glitter star is from Hobby Lobby. The darling July 4th printable I found on pinterest via the36avenue.com. The blue and red stripe banners I bought it target a few years ago. The "Love" I just picked up at JoAnne's for $9.99. Put it all together and it works! Happy Fourth of July everyone!

I hope y'all have fantastic Fourth!

Scored a Home Run with this Baseball Party!

One of my favorite parties I've thrown! My son Cayden wanted a baseball birthday party- and I was thrilled to start planing it! I bought almost all the snacks at the Dollar Store, and the decor hanging from the ceiling at Party city. Once again, thanks to my husband, Justin, his mad illustrator/photoshop skills- he did an outstanding job designing the custom printables and scoreboard sign.

The eleven children had a swinging good time playing Base Ball Bingo, hitting the Baseball piñata, playing, "pin the ball in the mitt," among other fun games. It was an afternoon enjoyed by all. 

Happy Valentine’s Day Entertaining!

Happy Valentine's Day friends! It's one of my favorite holidays to decorate for-
I just love the bright, happy colors!

Here are some photos of my Valentine's Day decor! I love decorating for my kitchen table for Valentine's and putting special surprises at each place setting for the people I love. For breakfast we have pink pancakes and berry smoothies, and for dinner it's heart shaped pizza!💕💕 

 I also love displaying multiple banners on my fireplace. I
 sewed the fabric one and my husband made me the paper one with words.   

Hope y'all have a fabulous day!