wallpaper download

 
the large star was a clearance purchase last year at pier 1. i love the hugeness of it!


another look at the nativity backdrop.





 i made this crystal + nut garland a few years ago, and i LOVE pulling it out every year and figuring where to put it. you can see how i made it here.










i put some garland and glass balls on the chandelier to free it up a bit.

 my entry table, with my antlers, a fresh wreath and some leftover crystal garland.
this vignette makes me happy. :)




 i "took back" the tree this year!
for the last 10 years, our tree has been a collection of family ornaments, and mismatched decorations.  while i have loved it, i was ready for a more grown up tree this year.
AND, we broke down and bought a fake tree this year. at first, i wasn't sure i was going to like it, but after having it up for a week, and having zero needles on the floor, i am IN LOVE.


 
i actually made these little striped ornaments from some 47 cent paper mache ones that i found at michaels.




 (these are some more paper mache ornaments that i painted.) i like the touch of black that they add to the tree!

materials for this project:
*1 2 x 6 board, cut to fit your nativity. mine is 16" long
*nativity set. i bought mine at walmart
*long holiday picks. i used 11 for my board
*ivory/white spray paint
*stain for board
*pencil
*drill/drill bit
*measuring tape
*sandpaper
*wire cutters
(optional star--mine was bought last year on clearance from pier 1)


the first thing i did was figure out where to place the holes for my picks.

 

i penciled in an X or O where i needed to drill.
after i drilled the holes, i lightly sanded them to remove any sharp edges.


the figures were all sprayed with white paint. i used fusion paint (good for plastic) since my figures are made of resin.





i bought some spray "stain/polyurethane in one", but it was a bust. the color was much lighter than promised, and it went on streaky. i had some stain leftover from when we tested colors for our hardwood floors, and so i used "dark walnut" from minwax.


the picks were cut down in order to fit into the drilled holes. sorry i didn't get a picture of me ACTUALLY cutting them. i kinda like my fingers and want them to stay attached to my body!
here's the aftermath:


and, the finished product!






you can see a little peek of my holiday decor in these pictures! i will be posting a holiday tour of my house later this week!

i am finally getting around to posting about my front door....(FINALLY!)and despite all of the very enthusiastic votes for "stuart gold", i opted for "leap of faith."



i know, i know!
don't get mad at me! i absolutely love it when you all take time to give me your opinions, and i value them very much! i actually loved the way stuart gold looked, but i liked the depth or leap of faith just a bit more. it was a bit darker and moodier, and i am THRILLED with the way it looks.



the door was actually painted before we left on our trip, and i have been dying to show you, but i was waiting until we had the door hardware on. things kept coming up to delay the installation, (snow, we didn't have the right tools on hand, a piece of the door knob was missing in action, and (of course) football. i mean, who wants to install a door knob when there is an exciting football game to watch? answer? not my husband.)




after 6 months of having a temporary knob on the front door, i am so happy to finally have the "real" front door handle set installed.


thanks again for your patience! i can't wait to show y'all some highlights of our trip, and i have a fun and easy christmas project to share as well. my posting has been a little sparse, i know--the whole computer situation is now partially resolved with my new laptop, but of course then we ran into another issue when we got home--our internet was ssss----l---oooo--w. like, REALLY slow!  because of the location of our house, our options for internet are limited. we decided to go with a company that requires a dish on the side of the house, which is great, UNTIL you have a snow storm...or snow gets in the dish---and then the speed of the  connection slows tremendously. UGH. i wanted to write a post the day we got home (last thursday), but it was taking a full minute or two to open a page. i think things are finally back to normal! lets just hope that we don't get another snow storm!

sorry for the break in blogging for the last little while.
i have had a few "good" excuses--all of which just so happen to start with "T".

the first is Technology.
you see, for the last year or so, my laptop has had a "full start-up disc". translation? the hard drive is full, which makes downloading pictures or running certain programs a little "tricky". and by tricky, i mean that in order to make room, i have been deleting apps, photos, and anything else that will let me squeeze out any extra space. i have been using our desk top to download pictures, and then i load them onto my blog and do most of my blogging and design work from my laptop. it's not ideal, but this system has worked for me for the last year. well, until about 2 weeks ago, when i walked into my office  and saw this:

long story short?
a fried hard drive. NOT good.
i will spare you the details, but in order to get our pictures off this hard drive (because we don't have a back up of most of them), it will cost about a thousand dollars, and may not even be possible. i am sick even thinking about it. for real. lets change the subject before i start to cry.

anyway, there is SOME good news. i bought a new laptop.

so, i should be able to resume blogging on a somewhat normal schedule.

my next excuses?
why, Travel and Thanksgiving, of course!
we decided this year to come "back home" to the southeast to visit family at thanksgiving. we left a few days before thanksgiving, and will be back in utah on wednesday. we flew into nashville and spent the night there, before heading to alabama to see family and spend thanksgiving.
here are a few pictures from our adventure so far:

this may be the largest and most confusing hotel in the world to get into.
we drove around for like 10 minutes to find the lobby.
but, it is pretty spectacular once you are inside!




did you know that there is a full size replica of the parthenon in nashville? it was built for an exposition in the 1890's and is open to the public.


since our family in alabama live near huntsville, we decided to stop by the us space and rocket center.



even though we have driven past it about 284 times, we finally made time to check it out!
(isn't that the way life is? you never seem to get to those "touristy" things in your own back yard until you move away!)

they had an amazing exhibit on da vinci, which the entire family loved.



after lots of smiles and visits with family and a great meal on thanksgiving day, we drove to seabrook island, south carolina and met up with my parents.

we will be here until tuesday, when we will drive back to nashville and make a very brief stop in knoxville (our old stomping grounds) to see some more family.
until then, i am going to soak up the view, relax, and get ready to do some sight seeing today in charleston.

i will be posting some more pictures of trip highlights later in the week, and i hope to finally share my front door with you. if you follow me on instagram, then you know what paint color i picked. we installed the door hardware at 9pm the night before we went out of town, so one of my first priorities when i get back is to take some pictures and show y'all!