Friday 11 December 2009

Holiday Home Tour continued ...

Thanks for joining me for Part 2 of my holiday home tour (For those who have asked, Part 1 is hiding under this post ... just scroll down after the last picture (the reindeer sitting out front) and you'll see the first part of the tour).  Please make yourselves at home !!  (You can click on any picture to enlarge them.)  Off we go ....

So, here's where all the action takes place (lol ... kidding!). The "12 days of Christmas" tree lights up our master bedroom.  I thoroughly enjoyed almost breaking my neck trying to hang the garland above the bed.





Love the cascading red, sequined "doohickeys" hanging down (they remind me of curled ribbons):





This humble tree is made out of prelit branches, along with live branches, berry stems, gold snowflakes and words of Joy, Love and Peace.





And, this is where I cry over my wrinkles, apply gobs just a dash of makeup and destroy my mane with lots of teasing and loads of hairspray each day. LOL. I love the feather trees (from Michaels).



And, what bath is complete without rose petals floating by? (Okay, I promise I only did that the day our home was on the local Christmas Tour of Homes.)



Let's go visit Jax's little "suite" now ...

Here's his cozy, little playroom, where he spends a lot of time reading, creating and destroying.  His tree was so easy and fun to do (since Jax helped me decorate it) ... handmade ornaments, snowflakes, snowmen and ornaments of his favorite TV characters are scattered throughout.  Jax loves the snowflakes surrounding his tree as they fall from the *sky*. 




 




And a little peek into his room where I decorated his tree all things sports, to keep with the theme of his room.  I love the big wreath above his bed where Santa is nestled, keeping watch over my little man.





I decorated the wall tree in his bathroom in purples, reds, golds and greens to match the shower curtain. The topper is done in palm branches in greens and reds spraying out (matching the palms in the shower curtain as well).





Next, let's peek into my husband's office:



The Santa elf is says "hello":



I think that this is most FAVORITE tree. I decided to make this our FAMILY tree ... to remind me and my family of what the holidays are truly about. I added black and white pictures of days gone by, along with familial sayings and chocolate *gold* coins (a/k/a treasure ... as in *treasure* your family). I find myself going in there to stare at the pictures of family who are no longer with us ... this tree makes me feel as though they are truly a part of our holiday.



There sits a picture of Jax, John and me front and center (can you spot us?)



And, the guest bath in greens and browns:



We're beebopping out to our little porch ... done in all things rustic.  The slimline tree features all simple, natural ornaments and the large rustic Santa warms up by the fire.  Please have a seat in one of the rockers and visit awhile.





And, before our last stop in my husband's favorite room, we'll pass through the mudroom, decorated with all things Santa.





I love the picture from last year where Jax took a quiet walk with Santa:







Finally, let's visit my husband's "man cave" (a/k/a, the garage).  He's a HUGE NY Yankees fan, so, only fitting that it be in a NY theme.  His tree has his Yankee ornaments scattered about.  We love having the multiple TVs in there ... Jax can watch cartoons; John can watch sports: and I can watch HGTV, Lifetime or Real Housewives of *any* county (lol); although, John prefers it if there are sports on all three !!  Since we don't get out much (having a 3 year old), we love entertaining our friends here ... stop by if you're ever in our neck of the woods !!





Thanks again for spending some time with me ... hope you enjoyed !!  Ronny the Reindeer will be sitting here on the bench for awhile if you'd like to stop back by (oops, the tops of my presents blew off).



Best wishes,





Welcome to my Holiday Home Tour !!

"Sleigh bells ring, are you listening ...?"  The countdown to Christmas is on (not ready!).  Have you finished your shopping?  Have you planned your scrumptious holiday menu?  And, are your stockings hung by the chimney with care?  If you have a moment or two to spare, please join me for our home holiday tour.  We went a bit overboard this year with our decorations because our home was featured on the local Christmas Tour of Homes.  (Feel free to click on the pictures to enlarge them.)

My wonderful Mom was kind enough to let us "borrow" the two whimsical trees flanking the front door.

Do you have an empty fountain shut down for the winter?  How about toss some inexpensive ornaments in there for a colorful touch?


Fresh snow is still dripping off of the sled (lol ... okay, faux snow ... the real thing is, unfortunately, not likely here in Myrtle Beach) !!  Come on in ...

A large, chunky garland greets you as you enter ... with one of my favorite sayings ("Home ... the place your story begins") peeking through.





And, thanks to my parents (again!), this beautiful Santa greets you when you enter.

Our humble dining room features all things traditional ...



I love Radko ornaments, gold/glittery snowflakes and the birds ... especially the Cardinals (we're originally from Virginia).


I wish I could keep my chandelier dressed like this all year round !!


The sitting room is done in a musical theme and the tree is filled with copper, green, red and gold ornaments with pheasant feathers, gold/glittery sprays and branches popping out everywhere.




The vintage carolers gently sing along with our guests, as the music notes cascade from the chandelier.





Let's skip on into the great room ... the tree is all things whimsical and splashed with Christmas card photos ...




I bought the jumbo box of ornaments from WalMart and used my chalk paint to write inspirational words (Joy, Hope, etc.) on a few of them.  A fun, inexpensive way to personalize your ornaments!


The Santa elves are eager to help decorate, finding just the *perfect* spot to place their garland and ornaments.


For me, it's not the holidays without a nutracker or two making their appearance.



As we leave the great room, we're in the kitchen. I decided to go whimsical in there, as well, with the tree on the island dripping with candy ornaments, elves, gingerbread and all things fun (and fattening) !!  It's been oh-so-hard to bypass the yummy treats just waiting to be devoured !!







I stole borrowed the chalkboard art from Aunt Ruthie at her wonderful blog SugarPie Farmhouse ... it adds a fun touch, but clearly I need art lessons !!


And, another chalkboard ... I was tired of my "blah" white pantry door.  Sooo, I had the wood cut at Lowe's ... painted it with chalkboard paint and then my husband and our friend cut the molding and nailed it on ... voila, a brand new look !!


Off of the kitchen is the breakfast area ... the table is dressed with beautiful red chargers and our traditional Spode plates, with smaller village homes (tying in with the village on our dry bar) surrounding the candle centerpiece.  The chandelier is decked out with garland (filled with pinecones, ribbon and red beds) and you can spot glittery snowflakes hanging down, along with hanging globes which have fresh cranberries and votives in them.



My son loves the village ... I love how the soft lights illuminate the precious homes and businesses.  Oh how I'd enjoy spending a day there ... shopping in the novelty stores ... taking in a movie ... stopping by the bakery for a Christmas goodie (or two!) and finally enjoying a horse drawn carriage ride home through the snow with my family !!  Oh, the simple life !!



Well, that concludes the first part of the tour. 

Happy Holidays and thanks for stopping by,

Becca

Thursday 10 December 2009

Good morning,


Well, here I am at my second blog post (yay)! I still have SOOO much to learn, but am really enjoying this new adventure. One of the blogs that I've silently followed forever is Between Naps on the Porch (I'd add a link right *here* but I'm not sure how to do that yet!) ... talk about talent(!). She hosts Tablescape Thursday, and everyone is invited. I've never seen such beautiful tables all dressed up ... the time and creativity that goes into creating such warm and inviting spaces is enviable. I thought I'd join the party and link my humble dining room table dressed for the holidays ... please excuse my photography skills ... need to work on that, too !!









Chargers, dinner plates and tablecloth: Home Goods
Salad plates: Belk (Winter Greetings)
Wine glasses and goblets: Pier One
Stemware: Marshalls


Thanks for stopping by ... I'll be posting more holiday pics from around our house later on !!
Becca







Tuesday 8 December 2009

Greetings and Happy Holidays from South Carolina !! I'm excited to finally be dipping my toe into the world of blogging and sharing my addiction to decorating !!  I've enjoyed visiting so many creative blogs (Kristen's, Nesting Place, Between Naps on the Porch, Melissa's... the list goes on and on) filled with wonderful decorating ideas, recipes and witty (and often poignant) thoughts on life. I decided it was time to lose my blogger *virginity* and join the party, despite the fact that I have no.idea.what.I'm.doing. when it comes to creating a festive and fun blog. So, please bear with me, and forgive me that I don't know how to add a pretty Christmas background, Christmas music or a lovely, cursive signature ... I'm still learning (lol). (And, a special thank you to my friend, Beth (at momx2) for answering my many blogging setup questions!)

With this being my most favorite time of the year, I thought my first post should, of course, be about the wonderful holiday season. My husband and I were thrilled to have been asked to put our home on the local Christmas Tour of Homes, which was this past weekend. I jumped at the invitation because, not only do the proceeds benefit various worthy organizations, but give me an excuse to put my decorating obsession on overload and I'm ALLL over it !! Below are a few pics around the house ... I'd love to share more later on. Hope you enjoy, and I look forward to getting to know you all !!

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I decided to make our kitchen fun and whimsical for our three year old son ... I love how childlike it makes me feel (however, I *don't* like having to avoid the temptation to attack the sweets that are scattered around). The tree is dripping in elves, candy and other whimsical ornaments.\




The great room mantle is carefully being guarded by our nutcrackers; however, I don't know how protective they'll be when the 50 lb. garland comes crashing down (fingers and toes crossed that doesn't happen) !!



The sitting room towards the front of the house I decided to decorate in a musical theme. Please come sit in a wing chair with your brandy, hot cocoa, tequila (or whatever it takes) to make you want to pick up an instrument and start singing "Joy to the World" ... the carolers are carefully perched in the bookcase under the street lamp, ready to sing along with you.



I chose to dress the dining room in traditional pieces ... the tree is full of Christopher Radko ornaments, birds and gold, glittery (which equals messy!) ornaments. I love the Lenox Winter Greetings bird plates. As we're from Virginia, I wanted to have the cardinals surrounding us this time of year.




I hope you enjoyed the pics ... I'd love to post more later on.

Best wishes,

Becca

Monday 7 December 2009

My Guest Post at 'Once Upon A Tea Time...Design Stories'.

Hello Everyone. My first guest post ever is up at 'Once Upon A Tea Time...Design Stories'.
I am sharing some simple ideas with all the readers, so do drop by and lets also congratulate Priya on the 1st blog anniversary of Once Upon A Tea Time...Design stories.