A Peek at our Christmas Story

I've been meaning to show you a few of my favorite decorated areas for the holidays.....I guess today is the day!  For Christmas Eve dinner we set the tables with our favorite little sparkly houses, daisies, green mums and of course place cards made by sweet Mailey!

 

In the den we always put out our growing collection of Byer's Choice Carolers.  I love these little joyful characters!  This year we received a baseball player!

Of course the tree is a focal point of the room.  The flocked multi colored light tree is so pretty at night.  I wish my camera could capture it better lit up.....you'll just have to imagine the large colored bulbs illuminating the room. 

 And then in the kitchen hanging from the fixture are those amazing Shiney Bright teal ornaments and a pretty sparkly bird.  I've had the burlap ribbon for years and love using it in the kitchen and sunroom. 

By the way....do you see the new kitchen wall color?  Once the counter tops and stove arrive I'll show the before and after pictures.  It's amazing the transformation already though!  Well,  this is just a glimpse of how we make our home special for the holidays.   Not too much, but what we do have is very special to the family.  I love that Mailey and William get so exited when we pull out the carolers and place them all over the den.   The ornaments on our tree are like dangling charms, each have a story.  And every year we add to the story.....creating our own Christmas story for years to come and years to share.

I'm Dreaming...Scratch that I'm Living the WHITE CHRISTMAS!!

HOLY TAMOLY!  Seriously folks.  Living above the Mason Dixon line you get snow.  I know.  But those of us living below it, like moi, snow is like magic.  It shuts down schools, major and minor roads, and even churches!  And look what came today!!!!  On Christmas Day!!!!   A white Christmas!!!!!  I am freakin' 38 years old and have NEVER HAD A WHITE CHRISTMAS!  I am like freakin' out, can you tell????

Ok, so it's not like snowboarding level, yet.  We've got some cool ripsticks and skateboards that can easily have their wheels removed though and don't think I'm not already scheming.....for tomorrow that is.  Tonight I think we'll keep the fire roaring (real wood one that is....yes not all Southerners have remote control fireplaces) and continue to roast marshmallows till our bellies explode!  Man, can this holiday get any more brimming with joy?  geeeeeeshhhhhh.  We are like a  bowl full of strawberry jello topped with a heavy layer of real whipped cream in the Horne house this holiday!!  Eeeekkkkkkkkkk!  It's snowing!   Ok.  I think I may need to get back outside now.  See ya later!! I simply can not stand it.  Bye ya'll!!

"raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens"

Maybe it's because Mailey has been watching The Sound of Music a lot lately, or just that my happy juices are in over drive this holiday season....but I have a few favorite things to share today!  We are just bubbling over this holiday, ALL of us.  My husband is being super secret about something he's doing and the kids are getting HUGE fun gifts that are secretly stashed at our neighbor's house, which is making her giddy.  This year the kids are getting less, but they are over the top!!  And the best part for me about the entire holiday, everyone is coming to OUR house for dinner.  I can't tell you how exciting this is for me.   Seriously it means more than any gift I'll be receiving.  So, on to my whiskers..... 

I can not get enough of this painting.  I don't know how I got all those colors into the composition without it looking messy.  This is a inspiration piece for the future painting series I'll be starting after Christmas.

The direction of my creative business is a huge "bright colored package tied up with string".  From the new logo to branching out and advertising .  I am really looking forward to 2011 and the ideas going forward!

And of course, a favorite spot.  I look forward to showing you the "new" look after the holidays.  It's amazing how having a place for spreading your creative joy comes into play.  I simply can not think straight when this room is out of order.  And right now, it is in impeccable order and my lists have been started so I can hit the ground running when school gets back in session.

So, a few other favorite things right now:

-my camera bag app for PC.  It's how I get the super cool pictures of my pictures.  :)

-this adorable book for sewing....i am a closet sewer, you'll probably never see me sell anything but birdies, but I sew a lot of stuff.  lots....

-everything in this etsy shop....hint, hint, I am creating a softer jewelry line for 2011 and many pieces came from this shop!!

I hope you are having a wonderful holiday week!   And I'd love to hear what a few of your favorite things are.....when that bee stings what do you simply remember?

Christmas Happy

I wanted to show off a little Christmas "Happy" I received this weekend from my little sister Molly:

The potter who made this adorable cream and sugar had a tent at the Country Living Fair we attended together in the fall.  I fell in LOVE with her work, ALL of it.....wonder why?  Molly loved her jewelry.  Wanna know something funny?  Well, this past weekend I gave Molly a piece of her pottery jewelry for Christmas, and she gave me this.  Oh boy was I tickled.  And it looks amazing in my almost remodeled  kitchen.  :)  By the way, the potter is Tasha McKelvey.  Head on over to her lovely little site and see why I may become a new "collector" of her work. (this is a puffy heart moment)

It's Party Time!

I am in awe that 2010 is nearing an end.  A crazy word to use....but seriously where did it go...amazing.  We say that every year I suppose around the holidays.  I found pictures of William's first Christmas recently where he was a mere 11 months old.  So innocent, had no idea what the fuss was all about, and certainly didn't ask for a thing.  Since that first year we've tried to create traditions with our family, ones that hopefully they will carry on with their own families.  William is 10 now and I am holding on to every last morsel of hope that he still "believes."   

Today our family is heading to LA....That's Lower Alabama folks.  Where the weather is warmer and southern comfort food is always a staple.  It's my Nephew Fielding's 1st Birthday!  And if Christmas wasn't enough to celebrate this month, this little man brings even more joy to the table of celebration Saturday.  We'll be tearing into fabulous presents with my Mother, Grandmother, Aunt and Uncle, Sister, Brother-in-Law, Fielding and us!   My kids are beside themselves.   Love this part.  Like BIG PUFFY heart this part.

Oh, and I just HAVE to show off how super duper cute he is.  Man.  Didn't know I could love something so much outside my 3 little sets of legs.  Well, make that two little sets and one big set.  And perhaps 20 furry ones.  But you get the idea, right?  Love has this way of creeping into your body, not just your heart because man you can feel it in your bones sometimes.  During this time of year overwhelming joy, happiness and LOVE abounds in our family.  I hope it does yours too. 

PS.......just in case, I'm sending puffy hearts your way to use any way you like.

"No, Not anything Out of the Ordinary Doc"

For exactly 10 days now I've been experiencing the worst case of sciatic nerve angst since Mailey was in my belly (she thought it was super fun to play on it like a trampoline).  Oh man, it's ridiculous pain.  What triggered it?  Well,  I am determined to get my mile run under 10 minutes.  So last Monday I pushed the button on the treadmill until I was able to maintain that consistent 8.5 min. mile.  Yep.  Nearly died, but loved every minute anyways.  You know the feeling?  On Tuesday while working out with Kathleen I was complaining that my lower back was tingly feeling.  Maybe I needed new tennis shoes?  By Thursday I was laid up on the couch with a heating pad, and shaking it hurt so bad.  But life must go on.  This Monday, one week after my intial flare up as I lovingly call them, I decided to do this:

Today I gave up and called Dr. Warren.  Dang it.  He asked what was up with my back.  Had I done anything lately to possibly cause the flare up...any falling....anything out of the ordinary?  Yeah.  Nope nothing out of the ordinary at all comes to mind.  But it did start after I ran on the treadmill last week.   I am sure that's it.  Sure. 

Just wanted you guys to see how far up I was.  Above is a picture from far back, and a few years back.  I should have had Mike take the picture of me painting a little further back.  He did all the rolling I did all the edging.  There was no way I could roll, but brushing was fine.  To get to the top moulding I had to climb the ladder and then onto the very sturdy yellow bookcase.   This is a little...I mean BIG project we are working on in the house.  Painting is just a tiny part of the transformation.  I can't show the color yet, thus why you are getting black and whites....but it's going to be super great when it's all done. 

Well, off to try and start putting stuff back where it belongs.   Take care guys!

What A Find!

Just wanted to show off a thrift store score!  When I saw this box amongst all the Christmas gone bad on the shelf I nearly fell over trying to get to it.  I mean look....original cardboard box with amazing graphics and  it's written twice that they are American made.  I bet there are very few ornaments made in America now except the ones we make, with foreign parts though!  Then to open the lid and find ALL 12 ornaments in perfect condition and the most amazing Tiffany blue color....it was a yipppppeee moment for sure.  And the little yellow sticker on the box said, $3.  Yep.  Wallet breaking day I tell ya!

I'll show you how I'm using them later in the week or so.  Right now the area they are in is under construction.  So what's been your favorite find for the season?