Christmas Time 2021

 This is becoming a blog for my Christmas decorations. I really mean to post more often, if only to make my father happy.  We had a productive year reflooring the upstairs and adding hardwood stairs. We moved some things around in the playroom and living room, so here's a peek at all that plus Christmas decorations!!

I have been waiting 13 years to have white risers and hardwood treads so I could take this photo at Christmas!  I'm finally getting my wish!! If you haven't seen the flooring already, here you go:

And a sparkly garland on the railing. :)

The living room has beautiful new vinyl plank flooring and a lovely dusty blue rug.  The Christmas decor is red, navy and plaid. My favorite!

We moved the bookcase to the living room mostly because I wanted to decorate it! :)  It was formerly covered in toy storage bins. It looks much better in here.

I added these gold reindeer statues because I think they look like bookends!

We got our tree from the mountains again this year and I love it. It's perfect.

My mom bought me this snowy garland last year and I found the perfect spot for it! It's so fun.

It's really hard to keep the table cleared what with homework, meals, crafts and art projects going on 24/7!  But I cleared it off today and arranged a quick candle centerpiece!

I got this tiered stand for Christmas last year and it has become a favorite spot for seasonal decor.  Eventually I plan to use it for a party buffet!  But for now it looks cute filled with snowmen and bottle brush trees!

The kitchen got a few Christmas items as well. The snowflakes on the cutting board are new. Georgia picked them out. :)

Georgia decorated her little tree in her room and made a new paper angel for the top!

The playroom is decked for the holiday too!  Of course it doesn't last long with hurricane Georgia, but here's what it looked like one day!

The den is also full of Christmas cheer. We have a second smaller tree down here again this year.

My brother cut this metal sign for me this year. It's a nice addition to my den decor.

This is Georgia's other tree. :) She decorated it mostly by herself and insisted that it have a topper just like Mommy's. We found this one at Target and it is a perfect miniature of my big one!

And at night, everything sparkles!

The big tree is very special at night, too.

Merry Almost Christmas everyone. I just love this time of year and so does Georgia. 

We have many Christmas plans yet to check off... looking at lights, gingerbread house, making cookies for our neighbors, peanut butter balls, and decorating cookies with the cousins! I am soaking up every minute of decorating, cocoa, christmas songs, wrapping gifts and baking. :) Happy happy holidays!

New year, new bedding

 I don't know why, but when January (okay February!) rolls around I always feel like switching things up.  Probably because everything Christmas gets put away and I'm left with a blank slate.  I've been considering updating our master bedroom for the last little bit.  I debated repainting in a darker blue shade, but I just couldn't decide.  Typically paint should be the last thing you update because it needs to coordinate with your bedding and art, etc.  Well I've updated the art, but not the bedding.  We have a lovely west elm comforter in slate blue for winter and an ivory pottery barn quilt for summer.  My dog Riley sleeps on our bed all day, and she sheds. A lot!  So, I keep the pretty comforter covered with an assortment of old sheets.  Not very appealing.  My collection of old sheets just keeps getting older and shabbier, thanks to the many washings and Riley-abuse.  I've been on the hunt for a more attractive flat sheet to use instead of white, like a printed sheet of some kind.  Unfortunately it's hard to buy just a flat sheet, much less with a large print.  I finally hit on an idea!  Why not take apart a reversible duvet cover into two flat pieces and use those?  After a search on Amazon, I came across this blue floral duvet cover (they also sell matching sheets) which reverses to the same print on the opposite side.  Perfect!

Amazon shipped it to me in one day (Thanks Amazon!) and after washing it, I set to work taking it apart.  I just cut the seams off the edges and removed the zipper at the bottom.  I bought a king size so I would be sure to have enough fabric after taking it apart.  Then I simply hemmed all the edges on the sewing machine and pressed it out.  It came with matching shams which I resized (they were king) and put on the bed to match. Then I added some throw pillows that had been languishing in the closet. I am loving the new look. And now when the top sheet gets dirty or too fuzzy, I can throw it in the washer and put the second sheet on the bed.  :)  Georgia has never seen my bed made up with fancy pillows, since I kind of gave up on all that years ago. She thought this was great and immediately jumped into the pile of pillows. :)  Riley also thinks it's swell.  And of course, now that I have acquired new "bedding" I can turn my attention to paint colors! :)

Happy February!