Christmas Re-capping

As promised, here's a little look at how the rest of December panned out here on Kingston Road.

I kicked the season off by designing a card and getting it printed on Zazzle. (I have a new store in the works which is a bit more anonymous than my first...feel free to check it out sometime) I had hoped that my design would set the tone for my holiday, and I think it did.

Then of course, I had to bake my famous sugar cookies.

They are a lot of work, and every year I think I won't make so many next year, but I love hearing all the reactions to them, so I can't seem to stop myself! It actually turns into a two day event (sometimes spread over two Saturdays). I cut and bake all the cookies one day, and because I'm usually so tired when that's finished, I save the frosting for the next day. 

 

I watched some of my favorite Christmas movies...any guesess?

We wrapped a ton of gifts with all of the too-perfect-for-my-living-room-color-scheme-wrapping papers I found this year at Target. 

 I mean, seriously, these papers were meant for this coffee table, don't you agree?

We did a little Boxing Day shopping and added to our holiday lights collection with these cool color changing LED snowflake lights at 50% off. 6-pointed, and 5 unique patterns of course. I was also able to pick up some of my coveted snowflakes on clearance in time to use them for our party! I guess it pays to show restraint sometimes. 

And, we enjoyed the glow of our beautiful tree for an entire month! You might also notice that the bow is gone from the top. We picked up a snowflake candle holder from Pottery Barn that we turned into a tree topped. In case you haven't realized, snowflakes are kind of our thing.

I will miss this beautiful tree and the soft glow it provides, but I am looking forward to all the new projects we plan to take on in the coming months.

The Halls are Decked

Over Thanksgiving, I purchased a new pre-lit tree, which we of course had to set up immediately upon getting home on that Sunday. But, since I had to head back to Buffalo during the week, the real decorating had to wait until this past weekend. Bright and early Saturday morning, Greg headed into the attic to pull out my our many boxes of Christmas decor. I am so excited with the way the house came together this year. Take a look...


Here's the living room.

I bought this purple frame awhile ago thinking it was perfect for this room. But, I haven't yet found the time time fill it with an actual photo. So, as a place holder, I cut a piece of this wrapping paper I found, which is so perfect for our house, I can hardly stand it!

I also used the wrapping paper in the glass door to our cabinet. I've been experimenting with a way to make the glass translucent so we can have some hidden storage, but I haven't found something that I'm happy with yet. This is a great place holder which picks up the green from the coffee table and the teal from the walls. Last year, I bought the green picture frame below, and a can of green spray paint which I used on the mitten frame above, and the tree on the shelf below. I thought, why not try to repurpose some of our more traditionally colored accessories to match my color scheme. I happen to love when a Christmas color scheme complements the colors that are already happening in a room.

Here's the dining room.

I went a little snowflake crazy in here. All 6 pointed of course!

Every year, I love to fill a vase with bulbs. This year, I added some other items like the crystals and ribbons to bring in my green accent. 

One of the last things I did was to take more of my favorite wrapping paper (I need to get back to Target and buy another roll!) and create some place mats by laminating the paper between two layers of contact paper (on hand from the glass door experiment)

Don't they look look so fun with my new bowl and tray? (also from Target, they have a whole set of plates which I am restraining myself against...)

Just a little behind the scenes, here's how it all looked when it came out of the attic. I wonder how long it will take us to get it back into this state come January??

Deck the Halls

It’s been a busy few weeks around here since we arrived back from Thanksgiving with our hand-me-down couches. We’ve put most of our energy into preparing and decorating the house for our holiday housewarming party, which we hosted last night. More to come on the party, and a few other things we’ve been up to, but for now, here’s a few fun shots of our holiday decor. 

I like to buy ornaments as souvenirs when we travel. I got this one a year ago on the vineyard because it reminded me of the table marker we assigned to our head table at our wedding. Greg placed in a a featured spot, front and center on the tree. 

In addition to a real tree, we bought a very large wreath to hang on the wall above the fire place...where the TV will live some day, but for now, without the wreath, it was a very large, blank space to fill. 

And of course, my Christmas decor would not be complete without lots, and lots of sugar cookies. 

Comments transferred from previous Blog:

CHRISTINE

I love it all! It looks great! And the cookies?! YUM!!!

Monday, December 13, 2010 - 09:18 AM

VP

Once again, thanks for sharing the photos of your decor. Looks very festive and the cookies do not disappoint.

Monday, December 13, 2010 - 06:35 PM

ANONYMOUS

Jen, your tree looks awesome!  What a beauty!  It is such a good shape too. - April

Sunday, December 19, 2010 - 10:25 PM