Finally Christmas Pictures

You might notice that I'm a little, okay a lot, late in posting my Christmas decorations.  Oops!  Also, you will spy a new permanent decoration to my house.  The Boy had my favorite picture of Maggie turned into a painting.  It is gorgeous!

Here's the painting... it looks identical to the original!

I heart this picture.  It was the absolute perfect present.

 

Only 10 days until Christmas!

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Can you believe Christmas is only 10 days away?

I can't!  I feel like 2010 has just flown by.  Plus, I don't think I'm ready for 2011 to come, but it is right around the corner.  This week is my last full week of work for the year, with Christmas and New Years within the next two weeks I will be working Monday through Thursday... so nice!

Christmas is one of my top 2 holidays each year (with 4th of July being the other - I know they are polar opposite holidays, but that's just me) and I cannot wait for this year with my family.  I am away ahead of schedule this year, I have finished all of my shopping. (I would like to send a HUGE thank you to online shopping), I did not have to step one foot into a mall.

How is your shopping coming along?  Almost finished?  Haven't started?  By this time last year I had only one gift bought and I was starting to panic.

Christmas Questions

I was browsing one of my friend's blogs, The Crockett Chronicles, and came across this Christmas Questionnaire.  Thought it was a great idea and decided to join in on the fun!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?

Wrapping paper all the way!  I will find boxes just so I can wrap my friends and family's gifts in paper.  My belief is that taking the extra time to wrap a gift, instead of putting it in a bag, will mean more.  I'm not sure if they see it that way, but hey! it is fun to rip open paper!

2. Real tree or Artificial?

Artificial.  I've never had a real tree and they might be more beautiful than a faux one, but the mess they make taking them out of the home after Christmas is enough for me to say no thanks!

3. When do you put up the tree?

November.  Usually right after Thanksgiving, but this year with all the traveling I had planned it was up and decorated well before the middle of the month.  The thought of going through all the work and not being able to enjoy as long made me bust out the boxes early this month.

4. When do you take the tree down?

Right after Christmas, before New Years Eve.  Once Christmas is over it's time to take down most of the decorations.

5. Do you like eggnog?

Not really... I've tried a few times, but it just never seemed that good to me.  I have a feeling that I will be trying it again this year, the Boy loves eggnog and is convinced that I would like it.  I think he is forgetting that I tried it at his parent's house last year and wasn't crazy about it.

6. Favorite gift received as a child?

The four wheeler!  Oh it was awesome and the best part was that my sister and I were totally surprised by it.

7. Hardest person to buy for?

Hands down, it's my Dad!!  Whenever I get a great idea to buy for him, he goes out and buys it for himself.  Every year we have to tell him to stop buying things for himself when November comes, but he never listens.

8. Easiest person to buy for?

My Mom... she gives hints year-round for her presents.  So, when the holiday comes it's super easy to pick something out.

9. Do you have a nativity scene?

I have one that is an ornament, but that's it at my house.  My Mom has this gorgeous Nativity scene that she won from a furniture store years ago. It's a pretty impressive piece.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards?

Mail, it's just more personal.  Last year, my cards contained famous quotes from classic Christmas movies and a picture of Maggie with Santa Claus.  This year, I am trying to get the Boy, the puppy, and myself all in a picture to send out.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?

I was heavily involved in drama club in high school, so each year the teacher would buy a present for the main officers and helpers.  One year I received a sweater... in all honesty, it wasn't a horrible gift at all.  The sweater has come in handy at many a Tacky Sweater parties over the years.  The part that was a little weird was when I opened the present and looked down I realized that it was the same EXACT sweater that the teacher was wearing.  She bought us matching sweaters!!

12. Favorite Christmas Movie?

Miracle on 34th Street.  I have both versions and watch it over and over every year.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?

Well this year I was ahead of my usually schedule and had all of my Christmas shopping finished before November ended.  Usually, I am starting around the beginning of December and finish the week before Christmas.  I was so proud of myself for being done, plus the only time I stepped into the mall was to pick up one of the Boy's presents.  I had ordered it online and it was free shipping to the store, so I just had to go in and pick it up.  SO NICE!

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?

Yes, a few.  No one has ever known and I wait before I do it.  The last one I recycled was last year, I received it about 2 years earlier and had never used it.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?

Sandtart cookies!  My Grandma makes them every year and they are delicious!

16. Lights on the tree (colored or clear)?

Clear, but this year I threw in one strand of red lights to add some color.  I think green lights would look pretty too and have a feeling that I might be trying that next year.

17. Favorite Christmas song?

All I Want for Christmas is You by Mariah Carey.  It is a close tie with Little Saint Nick by The Beach Boys though.

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home?

I travel to home.  Does that make sense?  Since my parents living several hours away, I travel home during the holiday.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's?

That's tough... Let's see...

Prancer, Dancer, Vixen, Donner, Blitzen, Comet, Cupid, Dasher and of course, Rudolph.

20. Angel, star or ribbon on top of tree?

I actually have Santa Claus on top of my tree.  I've always wanted a Santa topper and finally found one at Walgreens of all places.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning?

Our tradition is to go to my Grandma's on Christmas Eve and open presents with the whole family, then we come home and open one present (pajamas), and then just our family opens on Christmas morning.

22. Favorite children's Christmas song?

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is the only song coming to mind right now, so I'm going to have to say that one.

23. Most annoying thing about this time of the year?

The Post Office!  I had to go yesterday for work and it was a madhouse.

24. Favorite ornament theme or color?

Red, Green, and Gold... it's very classic.

25. Turkey or ham on Christmas day?

Ham, turkey is for Thanksgiving and ham is for Christmas Day.

26. What do you want for Christmas this year?

A new camera, one of the fancy ones.  Keeping my fingers crossed that I've been good this year! haha

27. Does anyone in your family dress up as Santa?

Well, one year when I was real little my Dad did.  It was about the time that I was questioning if he was real.  On Christmas morning we woke up to see Santa running out the front door, my mom literally had a hold of my shirt trying to keep me from chasing him.  I didn't even notice that my Dad wasn't there!  We ran and got shoes on and followed the footsteps and as soon as we got to the garage door they disappeared, my Mom said that must of been where his ladder was.  (I was so gullible). 

Apparently, my dad had jumped into the garage, threw the suit into the trunk of his car and ran back through the house to meet us.  It was great!

28. Age you discovered who Santa was?

Probably 10, I can't really remember.  I do know that I didn't discover it with Santa, but with the Easter bunny.

29. Eggnog, hot chocolate, or apple cider?

Hot chocolate.  Nothing is better than curling up to watch a movie with a big blanket and a mug of hot chocolate.

30. Traditional colors (red and green) or other colors?

I'm usually a traditional person, but I think next year I might branch out a little.

31. Do you have any Christmas decorations on your roof?

No, we are not a roof climbing family.  Too much danger involved and way to high off the ground for me.

32. How does Santa get into your house?

Probably through the front door since there isn't a fireplace.

33. Do you prefer gifts or gift cards?

Depends on the person giving the gift.  Some are really great at picking out things I like, others not so much.  However, to me it doesn't matter I just enjoy being with family.

34. Favorite children's Christmas Cartoon?
 
Well I just watched the Where's Waldo Christmas special this past weekend (yes, I might be in my twenties, but I had never seen it before).  It was great!  I wish I had it growing up.

Borrowed from The Crockett Chronicles, who borrowed it from Glamlife Housewife.
 

Inspiration: Christmas

Last week I mention how I left my camera at my parents' house here.  The next time I will be home won't be until Thanksgiving, so all of my projects are sitting here waiting to have pictures taken.

As you can probably tell from my previous posts (the one about my ornament centerpiece or the one about my Christmas tree ribbon, or even the one about Christmas wrapping paper), I absolutely adore the Christmas season.  Some of my favorite things are:

1)outfits full of layers, pair of boots, scarf, and pretty coats so the air starting to get colder is perfect for me.

2)It's hard to beat the smell of fresh baked chocolate chip cookies right out of the oven.

3)Spending time at home with the whole family, our tradition is to play a new board game on Christmas day after we've opened all of the presents and had breakfast.

4)Decorating!  I will spend hours decorating one part of my place until it's perfect.  It will take me even twice as long to put the finishing touches on my tree!

5)Wrapping presents, if you haven't read my post about wrapping paper you should because it explains why all my gifts must be wrapped in paper not in bags.  Something about spending a little more time on each gift means more.

If you can imagine, I have been a decorating fool this past week.  Leaving my camera three hours away hasn't stopped me from getting my place in the Christmas spirit.  However, I have many, many decorating ideas and DIY projects to talk about and display, but that will have to wait until I can show them off. :)

In the meantime, I've been finding inspiration online for new ideas.  Here's what has been inspiring me this past week:

Home Decorating Design

Home Decorating Design

House to Home

Elle Decor

That's a wrap

I'm a firm believer that Christmas presents, birthday presents, and just-because gifts should be wrapped in paper - not in a bag!  For that reason every holiday season I search and search for the perfect wrapping paper.

This was my favorite collection over at Paper Mojo's website. 

I found this paper at Anthropologie and something about gold wrapping paper makes the gift feel more elegant. 

These gift tags are adorable.  Here's the description from Anthropologie's website:

Personalize any present by writing on these thin-as-air notes with any color chalk you'd like. Added bonus - your friends who receive them can use them again!

Chalkboard tags?!? Genius!

Christmas Tree Ribbon

Last year I scored this tree from Garden Ridge for 30 bucks!  It may not be the plushest tree out there, but it was a lot better than my 2 foot tall tree from the year before.  This tree is over 5 feet, a huge improvement from my small one.

Anyway, back to the point of this post - the ribbon.  Last week, in this post, I talked about a small store I went into in Old St. Charles and fount an ornament centerpiece that I wanted to recreate.  Well, I also found some pretty ribbon that I wanted to recreate...

Here's the ribbon on a wreath in the store.  The wreath is beautiful, it was actually breathtaking in person.  Now the price tag also took my breath away. 

I headed to Garden Ridge and Michael's and found some ribbon that I loved.  Then began the work of weaving the ribbons to create the pattern.  At the end of the process I had over 9 feet of ribbon!

Here's a closeup of my recreation on the cheap!

Ornament Centerpiece

Last Christmas season I was walking around Old St. Charles, you should all remember how much I love this town from this post, and I stumbled upon this amazing centerpiece made from Christmas ornaments.  I fell in love with that very moment, but I didn't not fall in love with the price tag.  I was determined to recreate the piece on the cheap.  So, the above picture is my centerpiece.

This was my inspiration (forgive the blurry photo - I wasn't really suppose to be taking pictures, so I was trying to hurry).  My first thought was "this can't be that difficult to recreate" and it wasn't!

I took a piece of plywood and spray painted in a bright cheerful red color.

After the red dried I sprayed with a clear lacquer and let dry (trust me at this point my patience level was at zero).

Next came the fun part - arranging the ornaments!  I used a hot glue gun and arranged my ornaments on the board. 

I love the finished piece.  It fits in perfectly with all of my red, green and gold decorations.

The only problem with this centerpiece is having to store it after Christmas.  Luckily in my new place I have a cabinet with a shelf and it fits like a dream.

I'm linking up to the following party this week:

Friday Favorite: Me, the Boy, and Garden Ridge

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Last weekend, I talked the boy into taking me to Garden Ridge.  I absolutely LOVE, LOVE this store!  I mean seriously, how great is this store? 

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It has everything - tons of Christmas decorations, house decor, bedding, artwork ...the list can keep going and going. 

Anyways, while we were there I 'tricked' him into standing in front of a mirror while I had my phone taking a picture... he totally knew what I was doing.  I've never been that smooth, I can't even keep a Christmas gift a secret!

While we were there I loaded up on some new Christmas decorations.  I even bought Maggie and I new stockings.  Ours from last year had seen better days, actually the day I made them they should have been replaced.  It was a project gone awry to say the least.

Pets and Pumpkins

Today, is the 3rd annual Pets and Pumpkins on Commercial Street.  Maggie is very excited and has been looking forward to this day all year. 

 Here are a few pictures of her costume from the last P&P.  Unfortunately, she no longer fits into the costume so it's been handed down to Grandma.

Decorating with Pumpkins

 Can you believe it's the first day of October?  Wow!  I feel like 2010 is going by super crazy fast.  It feels like just last week when it was 100 degrees outside, oh wait that was last week!  I'm hoping everything slows down a bit, October is my favorite month and I don't want it speeding by.  Don't you just love the cooler air, changing leaves, decorations, and of course pumpkins?  I know I do!

I was browsing online earlier and found some to-die for decorating ideas using pumpkins of all shapes and sizes, even lights! 

I love the idea of putting smaller pumpkins in a vase.

Pumpkin wreath?  I have a feeling that I might be trying this one sometime soon.

Does this picture need words... beautiful.

All pictures from SouthernLiving.com

Happy Friday and first day of October!

Happy First Day of Fall

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It's official today is the first day of fall.  I love fall, everything about fall.  If you've ready my 5 Fall Favorites post then you probably have already realized my love affair with this season.

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This past week in Southwest Missouri I've noticed that the leaves are starting to change.  Which makes me want to jump up and down!  Now, it still might be in the high 80s during the day, the low 60s temperature at night sure feels nice. 



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This weekend I will be hosting with some friends a yard sale in Springfield, Missouri. 

The sale should be filled with home decor items, clothing, books, etc...

If you or know anyone that would like to come out email me at
meredithandmaggieblog (at) gmail (dot) com,
I will be happy to forward the details to you.