Homefront: Christmas at Home

  Our Christmas decorating has undergone a few changes over the past two weeks.

 Our teeny weeny tree (that looked even crazy smaller last year in front of our huge apartment window)

 got knocked down a few times...

Then, one day I went out for donuts while the boys were working on cars, (thanks Arne!) and came across this beauty at a garage sale for $10... they even delivered it to us for free.

 I started a tradition of the very first and last ornaments to be placed on the tree to be a nativity, to help us focus on the meaning of the season.

 A little handmade ornament I made a few years back.

 I love this ornament, I bought a few to give as gifts, and my mother in law 

got us one as a gift, she knows me well!

My boys love the Santa, along with the white shabby star/snowflake ornaments we

got on antiquing on our honeymoon.

 Their absolute favorite, a retro Christmas car, from pier one last year I think.

So, our mantle all bedecked with garland (shown in detail here) got turned into the one below. 

Garland with little boys hanging down can only last for so long.

 We used what we could for a little yard decorating. we had more candy canes, but they

got broken by some particularity interested little boys.

The door has this wreath on it I made last year, minus the letter "A" and with some 

additional gold snowflakes added. Christmas wreath tutorial here

 

 We made puppy chow (recipe here) for our neighbors and friends and gave them out. 

Our neighbors thought it was a little weird, do people not get to know their neighbors anymore?! 

I wish we had more baggies of treats to give to our new church friends, but I ran out! 

Puppy chow is super easy and yummy, but crazy messy!

Then I made chocolate covered sprinkle pretzels (recipe here)  for my honey's work. So tasty.

Obviously, you can tell I lack in the actual baking and candy and fudge making component here. 

Any recipes would be most welcome!

 I loved this little bag Isaac got at precshool. A cute little ornament made from scrappy foil confetti and glitter.

Thanks Mrs. Candy for being such a good preschool teacher!

Another one of my favorite honey moon ornaments. A white shabby heart... my little

Caleb broke it a day or so after this pic was taken.

Since we are trying to do less and be more this season, I'm trying to maintain sanity and the remember the true gift we have. If you would like a lovely movie about the birth of Christ to play to help invite that in, this Joy to the World is my favorite. For lots of family ideas to incorporate the Spirit of Christ back into your traditions and heart, this site has plenty of ideas and resources, from family activities to music, games, short devotional videos and inspirational talks. I also recommend this book called, "A Special Place for Santa" by Jeanne Pieper to help tie in the spirit of Santa with the spirit of the Christ Child.



Well my dears, may your Christmas be merry and bright. May your gifts be returnable, your goodies low in fat and your gift wrappings recyclable. May you have safety and peace and get along with those pesky stressful holiday get togethers. May the spirit and love of Christ speak to your hearts and let there be much rejoicing in his birth! May your souls be filled with the glow of the season.

 Merry Christmas!

*linked to Cottage and Vine's home tour and 'sort of'' Nester's home tour.

Homefront: Christmas Mantel

 I would love a larger statue of the kneeling Santa and the baby Jesus.

 I love using reds, aquas and whites for Christmas, though it will change one day.

I love love love trees, I think it would be fun to get one each year.

 My childhood gingerbread house debuts, and this vintage reindeer pair I found at a garage sale is a favorite.

 Ornaments and garland that will be going up on the tree.

My oldest son is almost 5 and has been asking about Santa's 'realness'. I found this book and it ties in the Christ child and the Santa legend beautifully, and explores the historial roots of Santa. For any Christian family who loves tradition, but also wants to keep the focus of Christmas on Christ, this book is a must!
It's called A Special Place for Santa by Jeanne Pieper
I got mine at Hobby Lobby for $10 and it would make a great Christmas gift!

 

 We found this authentic Chinese drums at Goodwill for an amazing price. they had about 30 of them, so I think a local monastary must have closed down or remodeled around here or something. We got 3 of them!

To see 2009's mantel in my old home, see here. For 2008's mantel in another home, see here.

Post will be linking up with lots of Christmas Mantle parties!

•  The Lettered Cottage Holiday Home Mantel Linky Party
• December 2nd :: Rhoda’s Christmas Vignette
• December 7th  :: Kate’s Christmas Craft
• December 6th  :: Deck the Halls Party @ Between Naps on the Porch
• December 9th  :: Sarah’s Christmas Tree Link up
• December 9th  :: Coastal Charm Open House
• December 10th :: Cloche Party @ A Stroll Through Life
• December 13th :: The Nester’s Holiday Tour of Homes {here at Nesting Place!} AND Kelly @ Kelly’s Korner; Show Us Your Life Christmas Tour {don’t you love how I bold our day?}
• December 15th :: White Christmas Party @ Cuisine Kathleen
• December 15th :: Share the Decor @ No Minimalist Here

Homefront: The Vignette Staging Area

This dresser is always in a state of disarray. It is where objects go that are being switched out from mantels and such. A staging area, the green room, if you will. A lot of projects end up here. The green candelabra I painted here. The damask lampshade I slipcovered here. The cream dresser painted and newly knobbed here.

I love how my little nest can be stored in the Cinderella carriage I painted. I love pulling it out and filling it with vintage wooden spools, jewels, buttons and such. It's so fun to play with. Shutters are the perfect accessory. they can be found at antique malls for cheap and can be randomly placed anywhere for depth, color and height. Wouldn't an entire shutter wall be pure genius? Ooooh, snap diggity, I feel a project coming on.

The vignettes are ever changing. Not in love with this, but it doesn't matter. A lot of things go missing due to my boys curious hands. They especially love my vintage brass owl family that is usually here.

Our boys dresser has to be in here, since we can't have furniture in their bedroom. Otherwise it would surely be tipped and clothes strewn about every day. Our youngest is fond of climbing in the drawers. Breakage would ensue.

"I Love to see the Temple" print by have joy. I know I need to frame it, just haven't found the right frame yet. This is the Salt lake Temple, but you can custom request almost any one. What is a temple you ask? What is it's purpose? This short lovely video explains what we believe them to be, and why we believe they are so important.

Antiqued Salt Lake Temple portraits found at a flea market. I would love to have one.

Family Time: Easter Traditions

Growing up, my favorite Easter tradition, was leaving goodies out for the Easter Bunny at night, and waking up to find milky paw prints and half eaten carrots and cookies. I loved the goodies and egg hunt as well of course, but there was that wonder, was the Easter bunny real, was it a little cute bunny rabbit or a large rabbit like the mascot costumed ones? I imagined it to be somewhere in between. My husband said he imagined the Easter bunny to be similar to the Velveteen Rabbit. I like that.

My boys were just as excited as I remember being as a child, Isaac exclaiming, "The Easter Bunny ate the carrot!" , when he very first saw the table in the morning.

I hope everyone had an enjoyable, relaxing and spiritual Easter Sabbath. I love these words spoken by Jeffrey R. Holland, an apostle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints about the true meaning of Easter, the short online video entitled, "None Were With Him".

To see more of our family's shenangians, visit the whole post on my family blog. In the meantime, enjoy some of my favorite childhood Easter photos in the early 80's.

My older sis and me, taken when we lived in Hawaii.

Love/hate relationship with this juliette style bonnet. So pretty, so uncomfortable... like jelly shoes.

Intensely studying a candy or decoration of some kind. Not much has changed! Love those chairs and the Little Orphan Annie table.

This is our dance performance, (talent show maybe?) We danced to Peter Cottontale and it was sung to a recording of a woman singing in a 1940's almost Betty Boop chipmunk style voice. Loved it! I'm the little one (again, as usual) and my big sis is on the right of me with her arms out. The best part of the routine was when we turned around and shook our bunny tails!

Family Time: Blessings of Snow (and a snowman)

Living in Texas, means we are used to the idea of not having snow that sticks through the day. So, imagine our surprise and delight, when we had a White Christmas for the first time in Texas for over 40 years, AND we had enough snow to make a snowman yesterday... and it stayed around and even almost doubled today!

 

 

*above trees from yesterday, and I thought THAT was a lot of snow*

 

I'm quite certain we will not be able to attend our little Valentine event this weekend since the roads will be too icy to drop the kids off at the grandparents, but that's okay by me. For more reading about our family snow day, visit my blog post here!