Christmas Tour

A number of my favorite bloggers are hosting Christmas tours this week! I hope you get to check them all out! This year I found myself simplifying my decorations and putting less accessories out. Someday this might change, but for now the simplicity works for our family.

This first picture is a close up of our front porch. I got some birch logs from my parents property! Just a galvanized bucket with some natural decorations!

I still use a lot of red in my decorating. It could be, because red is my favorite color! I've seen so many beautiful homes that have an all white theme, with just a touch of greenery, but I still keep my traditional red going. Will see what happens in the future!

Here is our mantel. These are the same blue shutters that I picked up at a garage sale, and spray painted. I just add some seasonal decorations.  I like to be able to use decorations year round, and make simple changes for each season or holiday.



Some of our built-ins.



Here is the vase that I got from my Grandmother. Just switched up with some Christmas greens!

I switched this vase to the table in our dining area. Typically it is on the mantel, but I wanted to simplify the corner stand. I'm using some leftover fabric from a craft project. It has red in it, but it isn't a Christmas fabric. It should get me through the winter months, since it doesn't "scream" Christmas.

Here is some of my everyday  glassware with a Christmas touch added to it!

My changeable sign with JESUS - the reason we celebrate!

Lastly, here is our tree! This is the first year that we put the tree in the front window. We have a nine foot tree and we typically put it in the entry area of our home. We just decided to try something different this year!

Thanks so much for stopping by and enjoy all the other tours!

Linking up with the following:

Jennifer Rizzohttp://www.jenniferrizzo.com/

Framed

When I was single, I "invested" in some nice pieces of artwork. That was a while ago and I have found that my tastes have changed. Because my priorities and spending habits are at a different place right now, I have found some inexpensive ways to decorate my walls!

Thanks to Michaels & Hobby Lobby I have gotten some great frames. Lately, I've had a white theme going. I've purchased a few different frames on sale for $4.95!!! My other great find is all the free downloads available on-line!

My first print came from the Handmade Home. Love the vintage prints! I actually printed three different designs. One other "hint" - I used heavy card stock paper from the scrap booking section of Hobby Lobby. It cost a lot less than purchasing heavy paper from the office supply store.

This Christmas print was also FREE! In addition to cute prints, I'm also finding free tags to print for Christmas! We have so many resources available to us!

My last frame is my new chalkboard! Yes, I have gotten the chalk board paint bug! I found a 50% off frame, got out my paint and went to town.



These are just a few  ideas of how you can decorate your walls and keep your cost down. What are you putting on your walls?

What I learned From the Cleaning Lady

Last spring my husband bought me a Groupon for three hours of cleaning! I have never had anyone clean my home before. How exciting!!! I was waiting for the perfect time to take advantage of this gift. Well, the past few weeks have been extremely busy (part of my absence from blogging), my parents were visiting for five days, parent teacher conferences (my husband and I both teach), countless meetings for committees and volunteer responsibilities that we are apart of, etc. I know many of you can understand!!!! So, I figured this would be a great time to use up this Groupon. I had no idea what to expect.

When I first called to set up the appointment, I was asked, "What are your priorities for things to get cleaned?" I was thinking - my entire home! Well, I knew that wasn't going to happen, so I blurted out "the bathrooms and the hardwood floors".  Now, keep in mind, I do a fairly good job at keeping the clutter organized, but deep cleaning is another story!

Here is what I learned from the experience:
1. Walking into the home that smells clean can do wonders for you!
2. Polishing the chrome surfaces so they shine will brighten your day!
3. Enjoy the moment or hours of a clean home, it will not last!
4. Given the chance, I would do it again!

By the way, I'm not posting any pictures, because the house has reached the point of "it will not last"!

Would you or do you use a cleaning service? What would be your cleaning priorities?

Words Into Action

Last week I shared with you this post about a great quote from Mother Teresa. Well, this past weekend I was able to put it into practice! First of all, I don't want you to get the wrong idea. I'm not tooting my own horn, just showing you a practical way to put love into action. Trust me, I fail at this all the time!

My husband ran his second marathon yesterday! It was an incredible accomplishment, and in many ways I feel like our entire family ran the marathon. Okay, well maybe not quite ran the marathon, but we did participate. For anyone who has ever trained, you know that athletes don't just show up on the day of the event, but they put many months into the preparation. For our family this meant looking at weekly schedules for "running time", setting the alarm for 5:00 AM, missing certain events, planning courses, running Gatorade to different locations, doing lots of laundry, etc.

So, my girls and I decided that we would make t-shirts for the race. Last year we made signs and we were afraid that it might rain, so we thought the shirt idea might be a big hit. My husband loved it!!!! Thanks to Hobby Lobby you can get some colorful t-shirts at a very reasonable cost. Here is a pic of me with my girls after the race.

Many times the little things we do, mean so much. One doesn't have to spend a lot of money to show love. What are some of the things you have done lately, to show love to others?

The girls finishing the race with Daddy!

Quote

I recently came across LeAnn Rice's blog She Cooks. It is amazing and LeAnn has an incredible testimony! As I was snooping around her blog I came across this quote from Mother Teresa,

“To show great love for God and our neighbor, we need not to do great things. It is how much love we put in the doing that makes our offering something beautiful for God.”


This quote challenged my thinking and effort that I put into things, especially the little gifts, you know the ones we just "throw together".  It puts meaning into the little things we do around the home: folding the laundry, stacking the pantry, setting the table, organizing our home.

What quote has inspired or challenged you lately?

I Chose White

It has been almost 12 years since my husband, then fiance, and I registered for our wedding. At the time a number of my friends and family were registering for both every day dishes and fine china. I decided that I wanted one set of dishes that could be used for all occasions! I chose Mikasa's Italian Countryside and I couldn't be happier!

There are times when I see "pretty" dishes in vibrant colors, but I love the flexibility of the white. Besides, I can always pick up a couple of accessory pieces in other colors to blend in with my white dishes. Here are some white inspirations!

What color dishes do you have?

Dressing For Work

I realize that this title could go in lots of different directions! However, I was thinking of the work that takes place in our kitchen! I work part-time outside of the home, but I spend a lot of time at home, in my kitchen. The kitchen truly is my favorite room in the house. It is the hub of our family activity and generally where my guests spend a lot of time.

So, this brings up the topic - do you wear an apron when you are in the kitchen? I've had a few aprons in my cooking career, and generally when I'm cooking, I'm wearing one! I think the apron has a couple of different benefits:

1. The obvious - it keeps us clean! I'm very messy. Need I say anything more?
2. It makes me feel better about what I am doing in the kitchen.

Last year I made a new apron out of some darling fabric. There is just something about that apron that makes me want to cook! The apron is cute and fun! If you haven't worn an apron recently, try one on! Or better yet, go get a new apron!! There are so many darling aprons out there, it might just put a little bounce of spice into your cooking!