Outdoor Decor

Last Sunday I finally got motivated to put up my outdoor Christmas decorations.  The lights are actually pretty simple since I snap them all into clips from the comfort of my living room couch.

After that is done it only takes about 30 minutes to throw them up on the house, and most of that time is spend moving the ladder.  I love how it perfect spaces the lights and makes them all level.

Next I grab my large ornaments that I picked up on clearance at Target last year.

I envisioned hanging them from my live oak but once I started executing that plan, the result was pretty underwhelming.

Dwarfed Ornaments on a huge tre

Plan B was to hang them on my front porch.  I already had a few cup hooks installed from the previous owner so I just added four more.

I love my festive porch now!  Later that night I lit it all up.  Aside from some spacing issues that were in my light strand it looked pretty good.  The only bad thing is the color.  They are bright white and everyone else on the block has the yellow-white lights.  Somehow I did not get the memo.  It makes my house look a little more neon than Christmas should be.  I think I'll try to score new lights at this year's after Christmas sales.

I may also add more lights this weekend.  It's looking a little dull now that I'm looking at the photo.  On a more exciting note, I'm able to control my lights via my iPhone!  My alarm company gave me an outlet that you can plug lights into and remotely control from the phone app.  I just plugged my lights into it and voila! The lights are plugged into my garage socket so I don't have to worry about the outdoor elements.  My favorite trick is turning them on from my driveway when I get home from work each day.  It's the little things in life that entertain me.

Unboxing Christmas

My Thanksgiving leftovers were barely cold and I was already up in the attic pulling down Christmas decorations.

I was excited to see all the stuff I bought after Christmas last year at the bargain sales.  I had forgotten about everything.  First order of business was to relocate poor Biscuit's house.  I had to stick her in the corner so I could put the tree up.

She didn't seem to mind, in fact I think she likes being tucked back in the corner even better.  She also did really well as I decorated the tree and didn't seem to interested in it.  Hopefully that means no doggie destruction.  I phased out most of my red ornaments and now my tree is a softer pink, blue and green.

Last year I bought blue and silver garland for the mantle for some sort of steal after Christmas.  It was a little short for my mantle but I spiced it up by hanging my felt trees off it.  I think I snagged those on sale 3 for a quarter.  Not bad.

 

I am going to keep my dining room table centerpiece pretty simple.  I really like the new runner I got for Thanksgiving so I'm keeping that on and just adding a little tree.

My other little trees are still a work in progress.  I have a few on my makeshift entry console and then one in my front window.

The decorations have definitely gotten me in a festive mood!  I've even scored a few Christmas presents already.  No, nothing is wrapped yet.  That would be pushing it.

Stitched Placecards

Something about the cooler weather always makes me want to do needle crafts.  So strange, I know.  Every winter I pick up the crochet needle or start knitting.  I'm currently working on a needlepoint but when I ran across these patterns on Martha Stewart's website, I picked up my cross stitching supplies.

I didn't really have a plan when I started.  I just started mixing and matching the heads and bodies to create my family, or at least the ones I would be hosting for Thanksgiving.  My winter needle craft habit is evident by the fact that I had all these supplies in my possession. 

At first I thought I might put these in frames but then I wanted to add a take home treat element to the placecard.  Mason Jars!  Aren't they always the answer? 

I filled then with colorful M&M's...a family favorite, added a little stuffing behind each cross stitch and then created my lid.

A little corny, they added a fun little element to the table.  Hopefully I offended no family members with my rudimentary renderings. 

Not a bad little project and it only set me back about $10 for jars and M&M's....both of which I got to keep the leftovers.  Score!

Turkey Day Success!

This year's Thanksgiving was even better than last!  The turkey turned out just as good, we had more family to share the day with and my desserts were edible!  What more could you ask for? 

 

I grilled a turkey breast using the same recipe that I used last year.  It is so easy and comes out perfect!  I like that it pretty muchs cooks itself and doesn't require any basting.



We had quite the spread and plenty of leftovers!  I might be eating turkey for the next month.

 After last year's pie issues, I was hesitant about making my desserts this year.  I decided on a pumpkin cheesecake and a crumble top apple pie.  They both turned out excellent!  And I'm so glad I was warned that my beautiful cheesecake would probably crack a little after being removed from the oven.  I think I would have freaked out if I didn't have that warning.

 Luckily my pumpkin cheesecake came with a topping recipe and I was able to hide the creavice.

 The apple pie turned out perfect as well.  Last year I tried a recipe that rehydrated dry apples with cider and it did not turn out so well.  This year I peeled real apples.  The crispy top made the pie almost like a cobbler and pulled double duty in hiding my not so perfect lattice work.

It was a great day will family, football and fabulous food!  I'm so glad I finally mastered the dessert portion of the meal.  I can't wait to get back in the kitchen next year!

Temporary Seating

I have a plan to eventually add at least two more chairs to my dining room setup.  I only have four now and that means even with all three leaves in the table only four people may sit at a time.  My problem is that I haven't found the perfect chairs for the perfect price.  Story of my life.

Table with only 1 leaf in it

Normally this is not an issue.  Most of the meal hosting I do takes place in the living room around the sectional and the table is just used as our buffet.  This week I am hosting my family for Thanksgiving and there will be 5 of us.  Since I was a chair down, I picked up a folding chair for about $15.  I figure this was a useful purchase that will come in handy during many occasions.

It's a hair lower that the other seats at my dining table but it's going to work just fine.

I decided to fancy it up a bit after seeing a similar project online.  I had plenty of leftover fabris from when I reupholstered the dining chairs.

Once I convinced Biscuit to find another place to hang out, I cut a small piece to cover my vinyl seat.

Piece of cake!  It's still obviously a cheap folding chair but the matching fabric makes it much more chic.

Ok, off to continue my baking and meal prep for the big day!  I'll be back after the holiday with more on how my feast went and if I managed to poison anyone.  Happy Thanksgiving!!

Biscuit Update

We have survived our first week together and so far, no casualties.  Biscuit has spent the week getting to know her surroundings thanks in part to her super long legs.

Pablo gets a little annoyed with her always trying to get him to play.  He's not really one for doing much other than sleeping. 

Pablo does enjoy having someone back in the house that is big enough to knock over the Kong Wobbler and make food spill out.  He could never quite master that on his own.

Biscuit is having fun in the backyard.  She chases an occasional squirrel but luckily hasn't caught one yet. 

And when she's not running around playing with every single toy she owns (sometimes all at the same time), she's learned to appreciate the art of napping.

She loves the sock monkey she stole from Pablo.  She seems pretty content with her new life other than the fact that the chihuahua won't play with her.  Maybe she can meet some friends after the holidays.

Idol Worship

This weekend I met my absolute favorite home bloggers John and Sherry from Young House Love.  I love their style and check their blog daily to check out the renovations they are doing around their house.  This month they released a book and I was so excited their book tour would come through Dallas. 

http://www.younghouselove.com/

I showed up at the West Elm down the street from my house an hour before the 11:00am signing started and was already at least 100 people back in line.  My friend Kristi joined me and by about 11:20 we had made it into the actual store.  While waiting we were served hot drinks and cookies galore!

Line behind us after about 2 hours of waiting

Line wrapped around the building outside

I was so excited about getting my book signed yet had no clue what I was going to say to these people!  I didn't know if I was going to geek out and come at them chatting a mile a minute or clam up.  I pretty much clammed up.  Luckily Kristi and I walked up together and the conversation turned to Kristi's 8 month pregnant belly.  They signed our books, we had a laugh, Sherry correctly guessed Kristi was having a boy and then we got to pose for a photo.

I was so excited to get home and pour through the book.  It's packed with great home improvement and home decor projects.

They love me!  Ha!  And the other 600+ people that ended up showing up Saturday morning.  It was such a fun experience and great to meet people that I totally idolize when it comes to home renovations.