Category: Decorating

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When Do You Put Away Your Holiday Decorations?

Christmas is over but I like to leave the decorations up until at least Three Kings Day in January. Some times I’ll leave them up a little bit longer. I remember one time I left them up longer than I really should have because I truly enjoy sitting by the Christmas tree and gazing at the warm lights.

I did  take the decorations from outside down I just left the tree up past Valentine’s Day that year. I loved every bit of it though. Then, I realized that I should put it away in order to keep it special. Because if I left it up all year long, it would loose it’s special value of being a Christmas tree and turn into an every day house hold item in our home and that was not something I wanted.

I have already begun to put away some of the things I got while out shopping yesterday.  That’s one of my rules; if I buy new decorations on sale I can’t set them out until the next year. I did get a bunch of  cute things to set out for next year and I can’t wait for Christmas to be here all over again. I look forward to decorating the house every year, it’s just the putting everything away afterward that I don’t’ really like.

When do you put away all of your holiday decorations?

 

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Countdown to Christmas Begins

Countdown to Christmas
image credit: Jamie in Bytown

The countdown to Christmas has already begun in our house.  The kids ask daily how many more days are left until Christmas is here.  I haven’t quite figured out a fun and creative way to count down the days with the kids.  Right now we are just marking off the days on our wall calendar.  It’s not that exciting and definitely not pretty.

Occasionally, I’ll feel crafty so I’ve decided to take a look around Pinterest to see what might be fun and not that hard to make.  The standard paper chain is my back up and I know I can manage to glue or staple a few strips of construction paper together.  No matter what idea we decide to go with, I just want it to be something that is fun for everyone.

What kinds of things do you do in your family to count down the days until Christmas? I’m open to suggestion and would love to hear from all of those crafty people out there that have ingenious ideas that I could never come up with on my own.  I promise I’ll share your ideas with other families that are clueless about what to do too, honest.

27 days before Christmas, let the countdown begin.

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What Happened to All of the Trick-or-Treaters?

This year was a bit disappointing with the trick-or-treaters for Halloween. Our family went all out decorating our house for the big day. We had lots of inviting decor both on the inside of our house and out.  We had friendly decorations, nothing spooky.  I didn’t want to scare any of the little kinds, not to mention our own kids.

In preparation for the big night I bought countless bags of candy.  Last year because I had an injury I stayed home to pass out the candy and had lots of fun and was really looking forward to doing it again this year.  Over a 5 hour period we might have had 20-30 kids visit out home.  I was utterly devastated.  I was really excited to see all of the kids in their costumes and have them tell me what they were if I wasn’t quite sure.  I did get to see a few creative costumes.  One little girl came as a Lipton Tea bag, and her sister was a bubble gum machine.  They really had truly original costumes.

I have way too much candy left over.  I don’t want to keep in my home because I know the kids will want to devour it all, or maybe I might.  We already limit the candy intake the kids have and it will just be an added temptation for them.  I’m going to do some searching to find something to do with all of this left over sugar I have laying around.  Oh I just remembered, the program about sending the candy to our troops.  That will be a great way to get rid of it and do something nice.

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Crafty Storage Idea

Storage for magazines and remote controls can be made easily with a few pieces of fabric.  Get yourself a table runner and then sew an extra piece of fabric at the end to create a pocket.  If you want to be really lazy you can skip the sewing altogether and just use fabric tape that you iron or even fabric glue.  Then you can add any embellishments you like.

This simple and crafty solution diminishes the clutter you have on your bedside table and add extra storage to a table that might not have had any to begin with. It would be a great way to store the book or kindle you read before going to bed.  I’m going to make a few of these and give them away as gifts.  I know everyone will love them

 

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Decorating With Candles

The perfect lighting makes a big difference in everything.  I’m working on redoing our home decor and want to add just the right touches of light with candles throughout our home.  We have two children so decorating with real candles can be very tricky.  We have to make sure the candles are not lit when the children are around for fear of burning.  If they are lit when the children are present, they need to be in tough to reach places.

In order to circumvent the dangers and hassles associated with traditional flame candles, I’ve decided to decorate our home with battery operated lights. I don’t just mean spot lights and such and dimmers, I mean flameless candles.  Flameless candles mean we don’t have to worry about one of the kids reaching up and grabbing a flame and getting burned.  They are much safer.  We don’t have to worry about remembering to blow the candles out before going to bed or leaving the house.  They really make me feel a lot safer than using traditional candles.

LED tea lights will make a nice addition to our living room and dining room.  I like how we can set them in any votive holder and they will flicker just like a normal candle would.  The soft candle light glow is what I’m after, not the danger of the flame. I also like the idea that I won’t have to have bags of tea lights on hand to replace all of the time once they burn out.  The only thing I’ll have to replace will be the occasional battery.  I’ve even seen the kind of tea lights that are rechargeable.  That sounds like my kind of candle.  I won’t have to store extra candles or extra batteries.

I enjoy the glow of candles when I want to relax, so may I’ll pick up some extra candles to use in my bathroom for when I want to take long,hot baths.  It wouldn’t hurt to add a few lighting touches to our master bedroom either.  For the bedroom though I think I will go with the kind of candles that look like real melting candles but are still battery operated.  I’ll get the look I still want and the peace of mind that flameless candles provide.

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Homemade Wind Chimes

The kids and I went for a walk this afternoon. We heard some of the most beautiful wind chimes. Hearing the lovely sounds and then seeing the creations behind them inspired me to want to make some of our own wind chimes at home.

I gathered fishing line, beads, seashells, a few nuts from my husband’s tool box, a bit of paint, paper plates and some plastic cups. I had the girls paint designs on the plates and cups. Then we punched holes in them and laced the fishing line in long strings through the holes. Finally we attached the beads, seashells, and nuts to the lines. Once everything was attached we spray painted the lines and decorations all the same color.

We hung them up on the patio and wiggled them around to listen to the items clank together. They didn’t sound nearly as beautiful as they looked but we all enjoyed making them.

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Choosing New Bathroom Sinks

So, my husband did some more looking into the kind of things we would like to add to our bathroom when we remodel it.  We are trying to narrow down our options for each area we want to freshen up.  My husband really would like to get his and her sinks.  He wants to be able to brush our teeth together and things like that without bumping elbows.  To be honest I’m excited about having my own sink and area in the bathroom.

I checked out some really gorgeous vessel sinks.  I saw such a variety that I think it’s going to making choosing my favorite pretty difficult.  The stone sinks look soo organic and natural. Some of the glass sinks looked like lava and were just stunning.  I like the straight forward, and clean cut looking sinks.  The sharp lines of the square and rectangle sinks look very modern and might be perfect.

However, if I want to relax in the bathroom I might choose the oval shaped stone sinks. The curved lines of those sinks make me think of flowing water and put my mind at ease. Renovating our bathroom and making all of these choices can be a little overwhelming at times, the least I could do is have a nice relaxing bathroom in the end when it’s all done.

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Crystal Vase Rest In Peace

One of my very favorite vases broke today.  It wasn’t anything fancy really.  It was just special to me.  It had a lot of sentimental value.  It was a large crystal vases with flowers all along the base.  I got it a a yard sale when I was living in my very first apartment.  I think it only cost me two dollars.

I know it won’t be the same but I really want to try and find another vase just like it.  It seemed to be just the right size to hold most any bouquet of flowers.  I think I’ll try finding a match online and maybe also check out my local thrift stores.

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Easter Bunnies in the Garden

With Easter just around the corner I’ve pulled out the cute little wooden bunnies that I got at the discount store a few weeks ago.  They look great nestled among the flowers our garden.  I also added some giant sized carrots and baby chicks.  It always brings a smile to my face when I decorate for the holidays.

The little Easter Bunnies I found are a soft pink with a bright pink nose. They have pale blue eyes and a cute pink ribbon tied in a  bow around their necks. In each hand is an Easter basket filled with grass and eggs decorated in many colors. They really look fabulous in the garden.  I wish I would have gotten a few more to place in the front yard as well.  Who knows, maybe I’ll snag a few for the front yard too.

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Pulling Out the Spring Bedding

With the official start of Spring just a few days away, I decided to pull out our Spring bedding for our bedroom and do a little redecorating.  My husband isn’t huge on any floral prints so it’s mostly made up of light and vibrant colors and patterns.  It’s not really cool anymore either, so I put up all of the extra heavier blankets.  I think we’ll be fine with just a top sheet, thin quilt, and a comforter.  Most of the nights we’ll probably only use the top sheet and quilt, but I like to keep a light comforter on hand to use to snuggle up with in the mornings we get to sleep in.