First Christmas Project Underway

I have a bucket full of these and ....

a cute pin cushion my Mom made me with a needle and some thread ...

and I plan to recreate this for my daughter's Christmas tree.

Super simple and cute project!

Christmas Table Place Settings

I was lucky enough to host Christmas this year. There were just 4 adults, so it was simple and wonderful! I love to entertain- to set a beautiful table, make my husband pull out the fancy dishes, and prepare a yummy meal. This year was no different!

At the last minute, I made these place settings to hang on the dining room chairs. I saw them on another blog. I used small wreaths sold as candle "skirts", chipboard letters left over from this project, a red marker and ribbon. They were a fun addition.Our Christmas tree is in the entryway of our dining room which opens into the living room. I loved having the tree in the room where we dined. It felt even more festive. I have 2 sets of mismatched Christmas dishes. The bottom plates are red with gold stars and the bowls (I also have small plates) say "Jingle Bells" in gold script. I added Christmas wreath napkin rings this year and reused the olive green place mats I also use at Thanksgiving.

We had a wonderful Christmas Eve dinner with all new recipes including a Bacon and Herb Crusted Beef Tenderloin that was by far the best and most expensive meat I've ever had, Dijon roasted potatoes and this cake...

Pound Cake with peppermint extract instead of the traditional almond and a candy cane glaze. I will make my pound cake with peppermint extract from now on. It was subtle, but really refreshing.

50% Off Sales

This afternoon my mother, daughter and I drove to a nearby small town and shopped their antique stores around the town square looking for post- Christmas deals. We ventured into my favorite antique shop and found some great items for next year.

Look at these cute characters. They are about 12" tall and have such neat details. I bought both of them for $11 each. I have seen them before on this blog and never seen them in person. I may have a new holiday collection! The blogger also collects there floral frogs. They are great for holding up a card, recipe, to do list, etc. This is my daughter's first birthday invite sitting in my new $5 green frog.
I loved the lime in these green felted jingle bells. They were less than $2 each. I bought 4 of them for my tree or my Christmas ragamuffin garland.

Finally, I bought this painted planter box with a holiday postcard embellishment. It'll look great with little Christmas trees inside or even a collection of vintage ornaments in a windowsill. It was less than $10.

I hope you found some great post-Christmas deals. Today truly is my favorite shopping day of the year!

Christmas Ragamuffin Garland

While on vacation I brought along a bag full of Christmas fabrics, ribbon, ric rac and tulle that I had been collecting for my Christmas ragamuffin. It was a perfect travel project. I tied knots each night after my daughter went to bed while watching TV with my husband. It would be easy to do in the car or on an airplane also!

Here is it as a garland for my headboard. A close up of my fabrics. This one cost me much less than the fall garland since I bought cheap seasonal fabric when it was 1/2 price at Hobby Lobby.
It was super easy to hang on the headboard- I just wrapped it around the slats in the middle and sat it on the outer columns. No tape needed- I pray it doesn't land on my husband in the middle of the night. He is liable to rip it to shreds and wake up the neighborhood!

When I put it up, he commented it was very "shabby chic". I don't know that I agree or where he learned that term, but I adore him for commenting!

The blue pillowcases you see peeking behind the white are my very favorite super soft Santa flannel sheets. I love pulling them out each year!

Canton Finds

My trip to Canton this week was wonderful, but really cold! Those metal barns with concrete floors don't handle 30 degrees well. My child was miserable and husband was as patient as could be, so I speed shopped while they waited in the car. Not what we had in mind, but I did find a few things I love. Many of my purchases were Christmas presents, so I can't share them just yet!

Here is a small plate I just love. This is my first Christmas with a child and I am trying to learn how to make it about Jesus more than Santa. I think a birthday cupcake on this plate will be fun!

Since my child doesn't read the blog, here are two of her presents. These shoes are soft and furry and were only $11.95! I have seen similar shoes for over $30 elsewhere. The toddler pillow will be great as she gets a little older.

I bought these necklace and the pendants at separate booths, but loved them all together! These pendants are huge and great quality. I won't tell you what I paid since I bought many of them as gifts, but there were a steal! These two are for me!

I love love this chandelier, but it didn't make it home with me. It is made of forks and would look great in a breakfast nook. I hope it found a lovely home!

On our way to Canton, we stopped at Cracker Barrel and I fell in love with some of their holiday decor. Seriously, a Christmas pinwheel quilt for less than $40 and chicken and dumplin's! If you haven't been to Canton, I highly recommend it. Just don't go in December!

Add A Little Sparkle

When I bought my glass apothecary jars at Ballard Designs earlier this year, I had this holiday decor in mind. They work great on the kitchen counter since the backside is still festive.

I looked at numerous stores and felt like the balls were boring or too big to really fill the jars. I came across these ornaments at Target and they were perfect- plastic to last me more than one year in storage, small and sparkly, and $12 for both the silver set and the turquoise.

I already had the jingle bell tree from past years. It helped me determine my color scheme. So, my only other purchase was the 3 blue snowflakes and the Peace ornament to hang on the outside of each item. In all, under $15 for my new sparkle!

Christmas Sneak Peek

Like many of you, I am spending the next few days making sure my home is merry and bright! Here is a sneak peek of the two trees in my home-

our main tree in the living/dining room

and our newest tree in my daughter's room

Gifting Christmas Bibs

My daughter has 7 other babies in her classroom at daycare. I wanted to give them a little present from her and found a cute and inexpensive idea here. These Christmas bibs are easy to make and I spent about $7 on her entire class! Let me show you how! Buy a Christmas (or other print for another season) tablecloth. A 60" x 84" will net you 17 bibs. The tablecloth is a wipeable vinyl on one side and fuzzy fabric on the back. I typically associate these tablecloths with a cafeteria type establishment or my grandmother's house!
Take a bib you currently own and trace the shape onto the back side of the tablecloth. I started out using a Sharpie, but the fuzzy part built up on the ink tip and then I had blue all over me. A ballpoint pen worked much better.

This is the front of the bib that has been cut out with pinking shears for fun! I bought this one at Target for $5. Just make sure the print is right-side-up. I also saw cute snowmen and snowflakes at the grocery store this weekend.
Since my handy seamstress (my Mom) was visiting me, she sewed on small white Velcro squares on the bibs. You could make this no sew by using safety pins, iron on or sticky backed Velcro or even attach snaps.
To present these to her classmates, I gathered extra ric-rac, tulle, Christmas printed paper, a craft punch, hole punch and marker.
I tied a big bow on each rolled up bib and punched out a tag with the giver's name.
These would make great teacher to baby gifts, toddler place mats or even an easy to clean table runner. I guess these cheap tablecloths are not just for Granny!

A Christmas Affair 2009 and a Winner!

Saturday morning I met my girlfriends Tabriah and Brandi and Brandi's Mom and Memaw to shop Austin's Junior League Christmas Affair. It is always an exercise in patience (lots of people), restraint (lots of things I want but don't need and lots of food samples), and fun fun fun!It was SUPER packed this year and made me question how bad the economy really is!?!

This year's theme was "A Wild Holiday" and it used zebra stripes, giraffe prints, peacock feathers, moss balls, butterflies and more! I loved the decor this year.

I left with a few items that I really love and checked a couple of things off my list- a personalized plate for Santa's cookies, a hammered silver punch bowl, a cute over-the-top felt flower pen, a great necklace with a vintage timepiece pendant, and more Thanksgiving decor.

We also saw a beautiful, but totally unaffordable picture frame with the following water your eyes quote:

Before you were conceived, I wanted you.

Before you were born, I loved you.

Before you were here an hour, I would die for you.

This is the miracle of love.

My husband selected #7 as the fun flower magnet winner- Congratulations Nancy! Please email me at annajenk@yahoo.com with your address.

Unique Christmas Card Holder

Two years ago at Christmas time I saw a special on HGTV using an old shutter as a Christmas card holder. We are blessed to have a large extended family and lots of friends that send us Christmas cards. I've always placed them in a decorated metal bucket, but you can't really see them. The idea of a shutter appealed to me.

When I saw this 6' tall one at a junk sale for $10 I bought it knowing just what I would do. It wasn't in very good shape. My husband and I spent a good hour peeling layers of old paint. The green paint was thick and the white paint was dry, cracked and peeling.

After all those layers were removed, we sanded the shutter and were left with a sturdy wood shutter ready for some fun!

Since I will be using this for Christmas cards, I opted for a leafy green color with a little glitter. I fell in love with the glitter spray paint. I could glitter everything!
It took three coats and all of 10 minutes to fully cover the shutter.

Then, I decided to honor the age of the shutter and sanded the paint off the corners and some of the edges. It suits my style to have a little worn look.

While it dried, I got to work on the clothespins. Folded cards can slide into the shutter slots easily, but we also receive flat cards, so those needed a way to play.

I used my noggin and attached the clothespins to a small box so that I could spray paint them from all angles quickly.

For contrast, I made them red.

And then my friends it was time to add glitter in the most spectacular way! I sprayed it all over. My garage will sparkle for years to come!

I don't have any 2009 cards yet, so here is an example using my stationary. I plan to stand this up in my entry way and fill it with cards as they come in.

I am also considering what embellishments to add. I fear adding too much when there will be 100 cards on here in no time. But, I do think some ribbon or modge podge of Christmas images would look great. What do you think?

Wrapping Paper 2009

My husband thinks I am nuts that I theme our Christmas wrapping paper each year! Help me out here, tell me others do this too?

Our theme this year is whimsy red and apple green. I bought three of the rolls on clearance last year and added 2 more rolls last week. I have found a few gift bags and tissue that coordinate, but am still searching for ribbons and tags to match.

Advent Calendar Ideas

This year will be my first Christmas with a baby in our family! There are a million traditions I have to start this year (or so I have convinced myself!) and one of them is the Advent Calendar. I think counting down to Christmas each day will be so much fun! My daughter's birthday is just after Christmas, so I'm not sure how much will register with her, but we'll have fun all the while.

I shopped all over the Internet to find an Advent Calendar for us to use for years to come. I had no idea what variety could be found.

This one is on etsy and made from round metal tins. She put so much detail into the layers of Christmas papers.This one is precious- I love mittens, sweaters and little scarves in my Christmas decor. I live in Texas, so it isn't in my wardrobe! I just didn't think I had the space for it. Plus, it isn't very interactive in the countdown. The focus seemed to be the gift inside the mitten.
That bring me to the elf that I came really close to buying. I love this sweet elf lady and her big dress with pockets. I just love her style. She also would match my country plaid Christmas decor and could be hung or sit on a big unused chair.

In the end, I decided on the felt house from Land of Nod. It was half the price of the elf, took up less space, and I think the countdown is the focus and not the gifts inside.

However, I do want to put something in a couple of pockets to surprise her! I need your help- what fits in these little 2.5" pockets? Remember, she is almost 12 months old when this is in use.

Also, if you have an advent calendar, tell me how you make it special? I can't wait for the holidays to begin and with my felt house, they will begin in just 26 days!