my favorite Christmas pictures...

**Source:  These came from some of my favorite blogs:   http://greigedesign.blogspot.com/,
http://dressdesigndecor.blogspot.com/, http://citified.blogspot.com/, http://www.lisalubyryan.com/

Thank you:)  I enjoyed them so much!

A very *Urban* Holiday...

Urban Outfitters has the COOLEST gifts!!!

All these vintage...old school trinkets...I am in love with these...

***WISH LIST***

Crosley AV Room Portable USB Turntable

{I am *hoping* that this is under my tree this year...}

hint hint Craig...

Lomography Diana F+ Mini Camera With Flash

{This camera takes those old skool *dreamy* pictures...}

Tufted Storage Bench Velvet

{at the foot of a bed...a bench for my piano...or even as seating in the dining room}

Pendleton Women's Bike

{Except I want it in turquoise!!!}

This, my friend Tracey would enjoy as well... ;)

Lego Walkie Talkies

{Ethan would LOVE these}!

Sci-Fi Sound Machine

{for me...but, Ethan can borrow it too...}

Antoinette Fainting Sofa - Blue Linen Damask

{how beautiful is this...}

Fisher Price Record Player

{I had one of these growing up...brings back memories...}!!!

Source: www.urbanoutfitters.com



A Real Christmas Tree...

Every year we put up our old (really really old) artificial Christmas tree that was given to us by my parents a million years ago...

&

don't get me wrong, I love it for many reasons...

it is the same one I grew up with...it is a perfect height...& perfect skinny little shape for our family room...

but, the limbs are starting to fall off...it leans a little...and it smells...

you know that smell of old stuff...(not a good smell mind you)

So, this year we decided to go pick up a real one...

{I LOVE Christmas trees in every room}...

it reminds me of my Aunt Barbara's home in Brighton...she had trees in every room...

I LOVED going over there...

Craig took Ethan to Farmer Johns and Uncle Brandon helped them pick out

the most beautiful tree...

OH.MY.LORD...

Does it smell FABULOUS...

I could smell it when I walked in the door...

It was beautiful..perfect shape...perfect height...just stunning...

I asked Craig to please put the lights on this year (I do it every year..) 

he grudgingly agreed (hee hee) & I stepped out to take a phone call...

came back in the room and boy oh boy do men (not all...) not know how to put lights on a tree or what!

I laughed and told him that he had to *tuck* the lights in...not just put them around the tree...;)

so I continued with my phone call in the other room...came back in and laughed again!

Now, all he was doing was tucking them in...they were just all in the middle!

No!  You have to "tuck and bring forward"..."tuck and bring forward"...!

Needless to say...he handed me the bunch of lights and said it is *my job*...

hahaha!

Well...the guy is good at everything else...I guess I will cut him a break with the lights!  ;)

I bought these letter ornaments from Pottery Barn the other day...

I just got E's, C's, T's, and H's...(all of our initials)

& I am soooo pleased with the results...

I need about 3 more and it will be complete!

Still working on putting together my dining room...

I don't like the rug...I need to pop out the flowered doors on the buffet and put in some sort of beveled glass...waiting on my wing back chairs to be reupholstered in the white denim...and I am waiting to save $500 for my vintage silver mirror from Pottery Barn for over my buffet...

It's a work in progress...

but, damn does my tree look good...

I added 3 different kinds of peppermint candies in various glass jars...

peppermint bark, candy canes, & candy cane herseys kisses...

and the gingerbread house that Ethan and I do every year.

I think it turned out beautiful...(so far;)

Join me in a *December Daily*...

A friend recently asked me to join her this year in creating a December Daily scrapbook.

At first, I thought...no way, I don't have time for something like that...my son is 4 1/2 and I still have yet to complete even 1 YEAR of his life in a scrapbook...

But, it intrigued me...so I decided to dig further...
& I am sooo glad I did!...

I can sooooooooooooooo do this!
How fabulous to take a little bit of my day to put together a scrapbook counting down the days of the month I LOVE more than any other...

& how fabulous for my son to have one day when I am looong gone...
(hopefully, that is a really long time from now...) 

So, *deep breath*...I am diving in and getting set up...
I figure, I have 2 weeks to get my book started...dig out all my scrapbook stuff sitting in my hall closet...and GET CREATIVE!!!

I'll let you know how it goes!...

Check out some pictures below.  This is a basic layout of what is on her site...(listed above)

& here..
http://www.aliedwards.com/2009/12/december-daily-compilation.html

It is basically a scrapbook you put together in the days leading up to Christmas...beginning December 1st and continuing til' December 25th.

 

It can consist of pictures of decorations around your house...your children making cookies...pieces of anything in your daily travels while Christmas shopping...lists of gifts...family receipes...journal entries...

anything really...

just a way to creatively record your 2010 memories of the month

(that seem to fly by faster and faster each year...)

She has included step-by-step directions and photos on her blog...

(& there are a TON!!!)...

which is both inspiring and full of information!

There are links on each page if you desire to purchase any of the materials she has used...

So, come on friends...you have 2 weeks to prepare...

get your creative hats on and join me!

Source:  http://aliedwards.com/2009/12/december-daily-compilation.html