Foyer dressed for Christmas..

Hi all!  If you are like me you have been busy dressing your home for Christmas - so much fun, so much work...but so worth it!  I have to say I am so blessed to have such a loving husband and son, they have done 95% of the decorations this year. I am still  in recovery from my second surgery a month ago, and these wonderful guys stepped  up to bat, took over and have made our home so festive. Any whoo...I thought I would share the foyer table today since I want to save  most of the rest of our home for all the up coming parties - see how dark it is in the family room?  No peaking!!  I can't wait to see how each of you has decorated your home for this so special season.

When you come in the front door the first thing that draws the eye is this so happy Santa with presents in hand.  I love his white boots,  gold and white jacket and gold pants.  Look at his gorgeous blue eyes - you just know he wants to grant your Christmas Wish!

Behind Santa is the foyer table that holds some festive Christmas decor.  The tree is at least 10 years old and came from Bombay.  It  has  a pineapple topper with crystal star on top, red and green glittery leaves, berries, pine cones all show cased in a  gold pot.

Did you notice the Rusty Angel Girl next to the tree?  She is new this year, and she has a friend in another room.  I love the look on her face, so serious but believes what she is praying for will happen - true faith.

Angel Girl is also next to a very pretty crystal vase filled we yummy smelling pine cones with glittery stars and balls....

and a JOY snow globe with a Frenchy looking clock... 

On the bottom shelf is some faux gifts and a Snowman on a sled... which ties in with another area, that I will show you later...

Next is a sneak peak at my Christmas present...I have been looking for a table to fill a empty corner of the family room....well I finally found one that would work and  told the Mister about it...and now it awaits the  Christmas Tree's corner to take up residence.  Now, for the give away...if you like the Angel Wings candle,  become a follower, or let me know you are and I will randomly pick a winner.  This is for the wings only - they stick in any wax candle. I will draw announce the winner this Friday by 4 est.

Toni

I will be joining these so fun parties:

Potpourri Friday

TTT

WOW

Open House

Sundays with Santa

What's It Wednesday

Feathered Nest Friday

Flaunt it Friday

Happy Thanksgiving

Liebster Award

Happy Tuesday.  I was given the Liebster Award from Peggy at Pear Tree Design.  Until I read her post about this award I was not sure how I felt about all the "awards" that are pasted around blog land.  Peggy wrote that she loves awards since then she knows someone is reading her post/blog.  I never thought about it like that.  I am not one of those big blogs that generates 100's of comments on the smallest think I post, so yes,  these awards to confirm that someone thinks enough of my blog to post a link to mine.  Thanks so much Peggy for thinking of me.

This award is to showcase up and coming blogs with less then 200 followers.

The rules are to post and copy the award to your blog, thank and link back to the person who gave you the award and pick 5 more blogs and leave them a comment.



Here are my picks:

Mtashie at The Place

Robin at Happily Home After

Zuni at Chickadee Home Nest

Shirley at Zelda's Apron

Chrissy at Roses, Rhubard, and Pearls

Hope you wonderful ladies enjoy your awards - I enjoy each of your blogs and always look forward to a new post.

I will be off line till after Thanksgiving.  I truly hope everyone has a blessed day with family and friends - and has that extra piece of pie!

Toni





Last years Sales..

Hello Friends!  I just could not wait any longer!  No not  full blown Christmas Decorating, but it was time to let this new treasure out of the basement.  Last year for four weeks I looked at this so cute, fully, girly decorated tree.  I wanted it. Bad. But, it has pink and purple.  Not good when I am the only girl in the house, but it also had this...

Yes, that shows half price, and this was days before Christmas.  OK, so I was not that in love.  Here is a picture of the whole tree.

So cute and girly. 

See told you it was cute!  Pink and purple...so not the colors I have used for Christmas before, but this year it will be in a corner of the kitchen.  Want to know what I paid?

Yes I saved $225 by waiting till after Christmas!  So what did you buy after Christmas that was a super bargin?


I will be joining:
Linda for NTT
Maureen for Sundays with Santa

Forcing Bulbs for Christmas

Hello everyone!  I am getting so excited to start my Christmas Decorations, but I will wait till after Thanksgiving.  In the mean time I have been "drawing" up my plans for this years decoration.  I have not forced bulbs in a few years, so I have made that part of my plan.  Back in September I bought both Paper Whites and Red Tulips to use this year.  The tulips have been in the fridge as they must chill or they will not bloom.  The Paper Whites do not require "chill" time.  Here is what I used to plant the Paper Whites.

A couple of glass containers, a couple bags of rocks and dyed moss, a open metal vase and of course the bag of Paper Whites.  This little project is also thrifty.  A bag of seven bulbs was $4.88, the rocks and moss where a couple of dollars each, the metal vase, a GW find, was a dollar as was the glass containers. I also used a couple of plastic grocery bags for the open vase. Very inexpensive for the "wow" factor they will deliver. Plus, the  price at the florist for forced bulbs being around $20 a bloom, this is a big bang for the buck!

As you can see my bulbs have already started to sprout.  For the glass containers I just put in about 3-4 inches of rocks the pushed a bulb a couple of inches into the rock then added water to just below this level.  Here is how they looked when I was done.

They already look pretty!  I will most likely add ribbon to dress it up later on. Planting in the open metal vase was a little messy, but still easy and will really be beautiful on the buffet in the dining room.

Here I just spread my red moss around the sides,  added two plastic bags to the middle then placed the bulbs close together.  They do like to be crowded.

Next I just added moss to the top and watered.

So easy!  One thing I learned from an elderly neighbor years ago was to water your bulbs with a mix of 7 parts water to 1 part white (rum, vodaka) alcohol.  This will stunt the growth of the stem, but not the flowers.  You will not have to worry about the Paper Whites falling over.  This does not effect the blooms.

If you have never forced blooms before I hope this makes you want  to give it a try - the will not disappoint!

I will be joining these fun parties:
 Susan for Met Monday
Erin for HomeMade Monday
Kristen for Tuesdays Treasures
Linda for Nifty Thrify Tuesday
Sherry for Open House

Guest Room

Hello all.  I thought I would share one of my guest rooms.  When we moved in I let my Mom design it as I expected her to visit more often.  After six years I am ready for a change.  For the last month or so I have been gathering things to give it an updated look.  I hope to have it completed in the next couple of weeks.  In the mean time, here is how it looks now.

This good is good size, about 15 X 13 with the bathroom in the room,  it has some interesting angles, as you can here.  This is looking in from the hallway.  Full morning sun streaming in.

The hardest part about redoing this room is the bedding.  I love four poster beds, but the mattress sits so high that bed skirts have to be made custom for it.  The skirt on this bed has to have a 22" drop, standard is 15".  This bedding my Mom picked out from JCP, then she altered the skirt.  Once again I  regret not letting her teach me to sew.  She is 75 now, and probably would alter another for me,  but I know it would be a hardship for her.

Next to the bed is this little glass top table.  I love the bling lamp, it is so cute.  I found the fan and kimono at Cost Plus, along with the large fan over the bed.

On the wall across from the bed and next to the bathroom I have the dresser.  On top is a Asia doll/figure that my Mom found. In a old humidor  I arranged some poppy's and artichokes, I thought it had a Asian feel.

The above picture is looking straight into the bathroom.  I really love the shower curtain with all the beading. It also was found at JCP.  On the back of the toilet I have a candle wrapped in bamboo stalks.

On the wall across from the tolet, I have these little plaques with Chinesse symbols for love, happines, harmony and family.  Underneath is the towel rack, love the fringe on these towels.

On the side of the room with the toilet is the vanity.

Here are a couple more shots showing some of the art work.

These two prints I found for a dollar each at Walmart, then picked up the frames for $2 each - very thrify and still fits the theme.

  Since starting this blog I have learned you need to take a picture to see how something really looks.  Looking over this post the room seems kinda empty, which looking at it in real life it does not.

Well I hope you enjoyed the tour of our main guest room. I love all your comments, thanks for taking the time to leave them.

You will find me at these fun parties:

Susan for Met Monday
Kim for Wow us Wednesday