Happy Wednesday! Here at the Castle it’s still Christmas in July! Today I’m sharing DIY Pour Paint Ornaments.

Pour Paint has been a hot craft this past year.

I’ve seen everything from canvas art to drink tumbles done in this medium.

So I’m pretty excited to give it a try today.

DIY POUR PAINT ORNAMENTS

SUPPLIES:

Pour Paint – In your choice of colors. I found mine here.

Ornaments – clear glass or plastic

Small disposable cups

Styrofoam blocks

BBQ Skewers or Popsicle sticks

Tin Foil Trays – I used lids to disposable baking pans

Step 1:

Place styrofoam on tin tray and make a stand for the ornament

I cut 2 BBQ skewers in half to form 4 pieces.

Place the skewers in the center of the styrofoam block.

Make sure that they are evenly spaced and the same height.

This will form a stand for your ornament that will keep it from touching the styrofoam while pouring and drying.

Take the silver cap off of the ornament.

Flip the ornament upside down and place on skewers.

Step 2:

Pour the paint into your cup

Pour your paint into a small plastic clear cup.

I didn’t have any, so I used a solo cup.

The smaller cups are highly recommended as they limit the amount of paint used and they are easier to handle.

Pour about 1/2 half ounce of red paint into the bottom of the cup.

Then pour in the same amount of white paint.

Repeat.

DO NOT MIX THE PAINT UP!

By alternating the paint colors you will get fun layers.

Mixing it up will create a single color.

Step 3:

Pour Paint over the ornament.

Slowly pour paint over the ornament, working from one side of the ornament to the the other, moving the cup toward your body and then away from it. Back and forth.

Depending on how fast or slow you go you will find that you can create thin stripes, fat stripes, swirls etc.

Be creative and have fun.

Step 4:

Set aside to dry

This process could take hours or days depending on how much paint you’ve applied and how humid your area is.

Once the ornament is completely dry, lift them from the stand and replace the silver top.

Step 5:

Decorate the ornament.

This part is optional as the ornaments are pretty just as they are.

However, here at The Castle we always lean toward being “extra”.

So decorate we did!

As you can see these DIY pour paint ornaments are super easy!

I think it would also be a great kids craft with a little supervision.

One quick note, if you don’t want or can’t find pre-made pour paint you can make your own.

Simply use regular acrylic paint and Floetrol.

You can find Floetrol here.

FIY: The Craft With Us team made videos showing how we made our Christmas in July projects. You can find those here.

Be sure to head on over to Terrie’s site, Decorate And More With Tip, Corine’s , Junk to Gems  and Jemma’s At Home With Jemma to see what they have created.

Until next time….

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When I last shared my kitchen remodel plans with you, this is what my kitchen looked like. A little sad. Very dark. A little outdated. A lot has changed since then. It’s been a few weeks, so I thought I’d share my kitchen remodel update with you!

Here’s a day by day update.

The day before the counter top crew arrived, I emptied out all the cabinets and removed everything from the walls and countertops.

Day 1 :

The countertop crew arrived and started demolition on day 1.

They took out the bar wall and made it counter height.

Moved an outlet that was on the bar wall, tore out the backsplash and put up new sheetrock,  and rebuilt the sink cabinet to hold the new farmhouse sink.

Day 1 was hoppin’!

Day 2:

Not much was going on here at the castle, except cleaning up massive amounts of dust.

Everywhere.

The crew were busy in their workshop making the countertops.

Day 3 :

To say that I was excited for day 3 to get started was an understatement!

The countertops were installed, as well as the sink and faucet.

I am in love with the new sink!!!

She’s so shiny and pretty.

Day 4 and 5:

The original plan was to do the backsplash, then the cabinets.

At the end of day 3 we saw that the weather was going to to change drastically by weeks end.

Since part of the painting would be done in a spray tent outside, we needed to get the painting done before the weather turned cold.

We spent 2 days removing doors, hinges, drawer guides, drawers, undercounted lighting, light switch covers and covering all surfaces with ram board, paper, tape and plastic.

Once all of that was done, we sanded, scraped and cleaned all cabinets, doors and drawers inside and out.

By far the hardest 2 days so far.

Day 6:

We sprayed the base cabinets white.

I will say this was time consuming, but so much better than painting and rolling the cabinets.

We purchased a new stationary HVLP sprayer.

Not only was it affordable, but it was so well worth the investment!

This was the half way mark and I was like a kid on Christmas morning.

Day 7:

The Hubs and I had a lot of work to catch up on, so not much was done other than remove all of the tape, paper, plastic etc and give the room a good cleaning.

We still have to paint the drawers and doors.

Fingers crossed we get them done before it gets too cold.

Already it is so light and bright.

No more dark hole!

We still have a lot of work to be done.

Repair the walls where they took out the bar wall.

Paint the doors and drawers.

A few places need paint touch up.

All trim and crown molding needs to be painted to match the cabinets.

The white plug in on the island will be replaced with a black one.

The black towel rack on the island will also be painted gold.

New hardware will be installed onto the cabinets.

And a few places either need caulk or trim moulding.

Of course, everything needs to be put back into the cabinets!

Yep, a lot still needs to be marked off of our punch list, but I’m already loving what we have done so far!

Also, happy mail or should I say happy packages have started arriving.

These are my new counter height bar stools.

That’s it for the kitchen remodel update.

I’ll be sure to share more with you next week!

Until next time….

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My friend Cindy from Cloches and Lavender and I got together and decided to share out Christmas Dining rooms with you. Only one problem. I don’t have a formal dining room any more. So I decided to share my breakfast room with you. Normally, this room would be a lot more formal, but with the Christmas celebration being scaled back quite  a bit this year, I’m decorating more for casual Christmas dining.

But don’t worry, just because it’s casual doesn’t mean it has to be plain!

On one end of the breakfast room is our coffee bar/ hot chocolate bar.

If you missed how I set up my hot chocolate  bar, you can see it here.

Also, I shared my Christmas hutch with you early this month.

If you want to see a step by step how to video you can see it here.

Casual Christmas Dining

As always, I  start with a clean table.

In fact, I give everything that’s going on my table the once over to make sure it’s clean, no smudges, or fingerprints.

Once that’s done, I add a tablecloth.

However, this year I am using this furry white runner that reminds me of snow.

Start in the Center of the table.

I like to start from the center of the table and work my way out.

See this cute felt holly ribbon?

I think it’s my favorite this year.

It mimics the felt garland and flower pics on my hutch.

I simply laid it on the center of my runner for a little color.

This years centerpiece is a bowl from the kitchen that I filled with small pots of Poinsettias.

I added in a few glass ornaments and my centerpiece is complete.

I’m mad about plaid this year.

Not sure why, but years ago I used plaid just about everywhere.

Over time I was a little burnt out.

I started with a black charger plate and for some fun and color laid a plaid napkin across it.

If you follow me at all, you know that 9 times out of 10 I’m going to use my white hob nail plates.

Love them.

They go with everything!

Next, I added my Christmas salad plate.

I purchased the whole set years ago from Better Home and Gardens.

Best Christmas purchase ever.

My Silverware has a tiny gold bead on it that picks up that light and gives the table a little understated bling.

You know I love some bling!

Now for the fun part!

I took another plaid napkin and folded to look like a Christmas tree.

Normally I  stay away from folded napkins because when I fold them they never seem to look quite like they do on Pinterest.

However, these were super easy to fold and surprisingly they look exactly like the inspiration photo.

I love to put a piece of candy, a treat, or a take home on my plates.

So this year I added in one of my hot chocolate bombs to go with dessert!

Trust me, these bombs are so rich they are almost a dessert in themselves.

And last, but not least, I added my hand painted water/ wine/ tea glasses.

In a former life I painted wine glasses.

I love this size glass because it’s so versatile.

And these glasses are just a few of the ones I made for myself.

Since they are all the same and my family tends to use the same glass most of the day, I added cute wine glass markers.

If you look closely you can see a cute little Santa.

My place setting is complete.

Simple, casual, but I think super fun and colorful.

Oh, one last thing!

My place cards this year were wreaths with Christmas ornaments tied to the center that were hung from the back of the chairs.

I love a fun and unusual place cards and try each year to come up with something unusual.

This may be one of my favorites ever.

See? Casual Christmas dining doesn’t have to be boring!

Now, that I’m done please head on over to Cindy’s and check out her formal dining room. I’m sure that it’s going to be beautiful because everything she does is spectacular!

Merry Christmas!

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O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree How lovely are thy branches!…I haven’t been happy with my Christmas tree this year. In our new home it feels too big, too tall. The lights quit working so I ordered fairy lights that switch between white and colored.  They are not quite what I had envisioned, the cords are almost impossible to hide. The ribbon I chose just didn’t do it for me either. And to top it all off the only place that it would fit was smushed between the TV console and the sofa.  I need a new one but that’s a whole different story. So I decorated it and went on.

And then I saw this.

The perfect tree.

No idea who’s tree it is, I tried to figure it out but couldn’t.

So if you know, let me know so I can give this person, who is clearly the King or Queen of tree decorating, the true credit they so richly deserve.

Comparison is an ugly thing.

Now my tree really didn’t make me happy.

At all.

A week or so ago I saw a Reels that Brittany Young the Certified Celebrator posted.

She reminded me of our Christmas Tree tradition that we started when our sons were small.

Every year the boys got to choose an ornament for the tree.

The plan was that when they got married they would get to take their ornaments with them to start their new tree.

This plan started off beautifully.

When they were young I chose the ornaments.

Cute, sweet and color co-ordinated perfectly with my carefully chosen bulbs and Our First Christmas Together ornament.

You can see the flaws in this plan, however I and Brittany certainly did not.

This is the ornament that Brittany’s son chose.

#boymomlife

I had to laugh because it reminded me of all of the years of strange ornaments that my sons chose.

Don’t believe me?

Let me share.

Super Heros

We have quite a few of them.

Batman, Spiderman and Ninja Turtles just to name a few.

Is this Leonardo? Or Michelangelo?

And in most cases there are more than one.

 Video games.

Who knew?

This one lights up and makes strange noises.

For obvious reasons it’s batteries need replaced.

Strange things.

I don’t even know what some of them are and frankly stopped asking.

 Movies, camping, etc.

And this year? My youngest asked why I hadn’t asked him what ornament he wanted.

The conversation went like this:

Son: ” Mom, why haven’t you asked me what ornament I want this year. Did we even do one last year?”

Me: “Well, I had planned on them being a wedding gift, but as I see no wedding in sight and the tree is getting a bit full, I thought maybe we should just stop getting new ornaments.”

Him: ” WOW, mom! I mean, I plan on getting married. Some day. Hey, no pressure…”

Me: ” Just get the ornament…” eye roll…

This is what I got.

All 6 of them.

Now, it’s not totally filled with all things a boy mom would cringe at.

It also has beautiful Shiny Brite ornaments, ornaments fit for a queen, Santas and hand blown glass ornaments from Germany.

Ornaments that both my husband and I love.

The funny thing was, as I started photographing the ornaments to share with you it brought back all of the memories.

When the boys played sports, were in the Church Christmas play, school events, when they were into video games. ( the youngest would jump, roll and dive when Mario did. Quite the work out and made untangling the cord an event. Drove the eldest CRAZY!) All of the years that we hid the pickle and they went hunting….

All the memories.

From opening gifts to setting up the train under the tree.

Suddenly, my Christmas tree wasn’t the Charlie Brown tree I had pictured it to be.

My tree may not be filled with all things shiny and new.

It may not be the perfect size, in the perfect place, with the perfect lights and ribbon.

But it is filled with beautiful memories that I wouldn’t trade for any other tree!

O Christmas tree, O Christmas Tree how lovely are thy branches….

Until next time…

My good friends, Cindy from Cloches and Lavender and Terrie from Decorate And More With Tip rounded up a few fun ladies for a Christmas home tour. Each of us are sharing a room, or rooms, in our home decorated with all things Christmas.

When it came time to decide which room I wanted to share, my thoughts went to my living room.

I mean, it is where most of the pretty is.

But then I looked out of the living room window and saw this.

It’s where we spend a lot of our time.

We ARE outside people and it IS Texas.

Todays high is expected to be 77.

Perfect patio sitting weather!

I knew that I wanted to share the room that we love to be in as much as possible.

Our patio.

The Patio

When you walk outside the back door off of our living room, this is the “room” that you see.

We have set up a mini living room with swivel chairs to watch TV, relax, read books or just watch the kids in the pool.

For the Christmas season I’ve added red and white throw pillows and navy and white buffalo plaid throws to keep us warm and toasty.

Greenery, berries, and pinecones adorned with red ribbon are hung from each of the back windows.

As you step out of the backdoor, a cute red truck Christmas doormat is flanked by two large red poinsettias.

Don’t you just love all of the cute doormats that are available now?

This corner is the home for a few trees, poinsettias and a Merry sign that the Queens made a few years ago at their annual party.

This is such a pretty corner in the daylight, but it really shines at night!

Across from the trees, at the end of the sitting area we have a drink center that sits directly under the TV.

We don’t use it for drinks in the winter, but we do serve off of it in the fall and winter when we watch football.

Today I’ve got a few poinsettias and a snowflake lantern decorating it, as well as a fun pink flamingo!

Here’s a picture of the seating area looking in from the pool area.

We just put up a pergola over the dining table.

I cannot tell you how happy I am with it.

Already I can tell that in the brutal Texas summer we will have much needed shade.

And in the winter it will give us protection from the elements.

I couldn’t wait to start decorating this area.

I’m nowhere near done, but hanging the sleigh and giving my table a centerpiece really gave this area a festive feel.

Not the best picture, but I couldn’t not share the area at the end of the table.

Just a fun vignette full of Christmas cheer.

At the other end of the table I’ve placed a light up snowman trio.

As you could tell from earlier pictures, our house backs up to the neighborhood park.

So we like to decorate for the daytime as well as the night time.

Speaking of the the patio at night…

At night it’s magical!

With everything lighted there is just enough light to see the entire space and still give your that Christmas magic feel!

While it’s not the prettiest room in our house, it’s definitely one of our favorites!

Thank you for stopping by, it was so good to have you here.

Now it’s time to visit the rest of the Christmas Home Tour participants!

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Hello! Today I’ve got a little something different to share with you. It’s a two-for! Not only are you getting a blog post about How To Decorate a Christmas Hutch, but I’m also sharing a video on how to do it also! You can see the video here.

In fact, you might even say that it’s a two-for x2 as my good friend Terrie at Decorate And More With Tip is doing the same thing!

So once you get done visiting my blog post and video, you can go to her site and check out her Christmas Hutch too!

Decorating my hutch is one of the first things to do whenever I decorate for any holiday.

It’s also my favorite thing to do!

So many options.

The first thing that I always do is clear the hutch of all previous decor and give it a good cleaning.

I like to think of my hutch in zones.

Zone 1 is the top of the hutch and everything above it.

Next, zone 2 is the first shelf.

Zone 3 is the middle section.

And zone 4 is the top of the cabinet.

By breaking it up in zones, it’s easier for me to decorate.

Zone 1

I like to start at the top and work my way to the bottom.

I love hanging artwork above the hutch.

This year I painted a  Merry Christmas sign to fill in the empty space above the hutch.

Once that was done, I added a large white house to the center of the hutch and surrounded it with two smaller white houses and silver bottle brush trees.

A few red ornaments and a felted garland and the top of my hutch is finished.

TIP: Always work in odd numbers.

Decorating with odd numbers is more effective in capturing the eye. It forces your eyes to move around, thus it creates more visual interest.

Zone 2

Zone 2 has built in grooves for a plate display, so I always have dishes here.

I purchased these dishes several years ago from Better Homes and Gardens.

They don’t have the exact dishes anymore, however I found a set that’s really close.

You can see those here.

I placed another medium white house in front of the middle set of dishes.

Adding in more silver bottle brush trees, as well as a few felted greenery picks that match the garland.

Tip:  Repeat items.

Again, decorating with repetition creates visual interest and detail without overloading your sense.

Remember the red Christmas ornaments on the top?

I’m adding some large, sparkly red ornaments to the bowls for a little texture and color.

And it doesn’t hurt that it adds a little bling either!

This girl loves a little EXTRA!

On each zone I like to add the same items, but colors also.

We are finished with Zone 2!

Zone 3

Zone 3 is a little cut up with the center display section flanked by two small enclosed areas with doors.

Again, the center section has built in grooves for displaying dishes just like in Zone 2.

Except the space is much smaller.

I used the salad plates from my Christmas dishes to cover the back wall.

In front of each plate I placed a beautiful red glass.

With this space being short and not all that large, I like to keep it pretty simple.

In each of the end cubbies, I placed a stack of my Christmas bowls.

I could put an ornament in each of these, but chose to leave it as is.

We actually use these dishes on the hutch daily during the holiday season.

Super easy to grab them, set the table and then when I’m done cleaning them, it’s just as easy to  put them back.

Hence, I chose to leave these empty.

Now, Zone 3 is complete!

Zone 4

Zone 4 may be my favorite spot to decorate.

It’s usually where I put my biggest focal point and it’s the workhorse of all of the zones.

I put the most used dishes here, as well as fun decor.

I started in the center with a slab of wood.

Layered more felted greenery picks on top of the wood, followed by an antique truck.

I found the truck at our local Antique Mall years ago and it’s still one of my favorites.

I keep cloth napkins folded up in the bed of the truck for daily use.

Functional, yet pretty!

To the left of the truck I place the dishes that we use daily.

On top of the dishes I placed the sweetest little red bird salt and pepper shakers that came with the dishes.

TIP: Place often used items where they are easily accessible.

To the right of my truck I’ve places more stemware.

I hand painted these glasses many years ago when I had a hand painted glassware business.

They are still some of my favorites and have held up really well.

In front of the glasses I placed a stack another stack of napkins.

The tiny Santa that sits on the napkins was one of the decorations we bought!

Every year I find a fun place for him to hang out!

Zone 4 is complete.

I hope that you enjoyed how to decorate a Christmas hutch!

If you would like to see the video, please go here.

Also, don’t for get to head on over to Terrie’s and see what she’s done to her hutch.

Trust me, she never disappoints!

Want to see the video?

You can see mine here.

And be sure to check out Terrie’s Video here.

Until next time….

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Every year about this time I start sharing great Christmas finds with you and where to get them.  I’m here to tell you that the Christmas decor at Big Lots is the bomb this year!

So grab you pumpkin spice latte – or whatever you drink – and curl up in a cozy chair and enjoy all of the wonderful items I’ve got to share with you today!

Random Decor

Let’s start with this Believe sign.

For $8.00  this would be great on a table, on the wall, or even on a wreath!

And this pillow?

Can you even???

If you love this truck as much as I do, you better run down to your local store and grab it.

I promise you it won’t be there long.

I have FOMO about this sign.

Loved it, but didn’t buy it.

I have a blank wooden sign that I’ve been hunting for something to put on it.

This would be perfect!

So cute…

Lanterns.

They had two that really wanted to go home with me.

This reindeer scene lantern, complete with greenery, is just beautiful!

The second lantern, and my favorite of the two, was this red one.

It comes complete with greenery, bow, candle and trees.

lIt’s the complete package.

I have a large red lantern that I put on my front porch at Christmas that would look awsome with this smaller lantern next to it!

Snowmen

Apparently snowmen are one of my favorites this year because I fell in love with a couple of them.

I can think of several places that this snowman would look awesome in my house.

And that Christmas present?

Totally adorable.

So in love with this sweet little snowman.

He’s cute from the bottom of his furry little body to his red and black buffalo check hat.

The co-ordinating tree is just perfect, too.

Tabletop

This insulated cup had me at “merry”.

It’s a nice size and I’m thinking it would be great for not only hot beverages but cold ones too!

We all know that black Labs are my favorite, so are cookies.

Add those together and you get the best cookie jar ever!

Isn’t this Jingle table runner just the happiest?

And the bells have the sweetest sound.

Ornaments

These wooden bead ornaments are very on trend right now.

Not only would they be pretty  on a tree, but I’m thinking that these would make great napkin rings..

Maybe even added to the top of a present?

This cut little red truck is super cute.

I’m thinking of taking the “Merry Christmas” sign off the bottom and using the truck as a decoration piece on a sign.

This is my favorite thing in the entire Christmas isle!

It’s made of metal and has the cutest tree magnet that you move to countdown the days til Santa visits.

I can just see one of the Littles moving it in anticipation every day.

That’s all of the wonderful Christmas decor at Big Lots, but I’m not finished yet…

Our local Wal Mart has just started putting out thier Christmas decor.

Both of these are just the prettiest little decorations.

And did you see the prices?

If the rest of the decor lives up to these pieces, then Christmas Decor at Wal Mart is going to be awesome.

Last share, I promise…

Gliz & Glamour Boutique is an on-line shop based out of Texas that has the cutest little girl boutique clothes at great prices.

These pajamas are just the cutest!!!

They come in green and red.

For an additional fee, they will even put your child’s name on them.

That’s it for today.

Stay tuned for more fabulous finds as we get closer to Christmas.

Until next time…

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Welcome to Christmas in July Part 2! Last week I shared how to make a fun Christmas decoration with you and today I’m sharing another one. Why?Mainly because I couldn’t decide which one to share last week! So, I made two.

Do you know who Brooke from Re-fabbed is? If not, you need to head on over there. She’s adorable! A few weeks ago I caught her live video with Stacey from Wilshire collections.

They made the cutest Christmas present craft.

I could not resist making one of my own!

As I watched the live, I knew while I didn’t have the supplies to make one like they did, I did have a few other things on hand that I felt would make a cute one.

I started with an 8″ x 13″ piece of unfinished lumber.

Step 1:

Paint the wooden plaque black.

Step 2:

I took a 12″ x 12″ piece of scrapbook paper and cut it to fit the painted board.

Making sure that the paper would wrap around both ends of the board.

Everyone knows that a perfectly wrapped present is covered on all sides!

Step 3:

Next, I gave the board a generous coat of Mod Podge, placing the scrapbook paper on top of the glue, gently rubbing it to adhere and get rid of all of the air bubbles.

Once that was done, I added an even coat of Mod Podge to the paper covered board.

Step 4:

Now that we have the base of the present finished it’s time to add the lid to the top of the present.

After trying out several papers, I chose a red with white polk-a-dot paper.

I cut a 2″ x 10″ strip and Mod Podged it to a paint stir stick.

( not sure if “podged” is a word, but I’m running with it!)

Step 5:

Once the glue was dry, I hot glued the stir stick to the top of the black and white board.

Now, it is time to embellish the my Christmas present!

Step 6:

Brooke and Stacey added tiny wreaths, jingle bells, ribbon and a tag to their gifts.

I didn’t have a tiny wreath but I did have this large roll of small garland.

Which made a perfect small wreath!

I simply wrapped the garland around a can of spray paint a couple of times to form the wreath.

Then, for a little glam, I added a strand of tiny red berries my wreath.

Next, I tied two of jingle bells to each end of a piece of twine.

Once I had both the wreath and the bells put together, I glued them to the top of the present.

Step 7:

Every present needs a pretty bow!

Using scrap pieces of ribbon, I added this bow, gluing it right on top of the twine holding the wreath and jingle bells.

Now it was actually starting to look like a present!

The last thing I always put on my gifts is a tag.

I had a few small wooden tags lying around.

After painting one white, I addressed it with a black sharpie pen.

My Christmas present is complete!

I love this project simply because it is so versatile and can be adapted to any decor or theme.

That’s my kind of Christmas decoration!

Now that Christmas in July Part 2 is in the books, I think I’m ready to get back to a few summer projects.

Although I have to say that a little bit of Christmas in July sure is fun!

Until next time….

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Happy New Year my friends! I hope that you enjoyed your holidays as much as I did. As I get ready for the new year, I can’t help but look back at what I did over the holidays. The past few weeks have been super busy, a lot of fun and left me recharged and ready to rock 2020.

Besides shopping, going to parties, and watching football we did fit in an evening to go look at the Christmas lights in our neighborhood. So many beautiful and creative displays. One was even synced to music! So much fun.

Son #2 was sick over Christmas, so we didn’t get our usual photo by the tree. However, we did get this one taken at the Lagaly family Christmas. Even though it’s not the greatest picture of The Hubs, I’ll take it! With all of us living in different cities, going in different directions all of the time it is hard to get photos of all of us together.

Once the Christmas tree and decorations were put away, it was time to do a little decorating. We had only been in our new house a little over a month when it was time to put up the Christmas decor so I didn’t do a whole lot of decorating before. I’m having so much fun getting my decor out and playing with it!

Right before Christmas I hit up Hobby Lobby for a few last minute Christmas items and came home with a lot more than I went for. Who could resist at 50% – 60% off? I finally got around to hanging this shelf and pictures.

After Christmas I realized that our temporary dining table just wasn’t working. So I started shopping. And failed to find anything that I liked in my price range. So I found the cutest fixer upper table and chairs on Amazon Market. We picked these up the Saturday before New Year’s Day. We tied them down well, or so we thought. On the way home a huge gust of wind moved not one, but two chairs right into the table legs. Sigh. Oh, well. I wanted to learn how to cane a chair anyway. NOT. I also cut my hand on the chair pad, but decided to spare you that photo!

I started a loop yarn project that I will share with you next week on the DIY Challenge. Let’s just say that like Scarlet O’Hara says “as God as my witness I will NEVER do this one again.” The tutorial said it was a beginner project that took a couple of hours. 5 days later….We will leave it there until next week.

Last on my list of things I did over the holidays – I rearranged the living room. And I love it. Finally! It’s a long story involving a floor outlet, but could never get this room arranged to my liking. See where that little white chest is behind the sofa? Well, it took care of the floor outlet and the rest of the room fell into place. I’ll be on the look out for a small, skinny sofa table to replace it, but for now I am loving the look and feel of this room!
So what comes after the holidays?

Christmas is 4 days away and I’m happy to say that I’m done shopping and decorating.  It’s time to sit back and enjoy the fun. However, I realize that not all of you may be finished with your shopping. For those of you with a little more shopping to do I have a few last minute deals and steals to share with you. And I found them all at Hobby Lobby.

I ran into Hobby Lobby to grab one more roll of wrapping paper and found a ton of things. All on sale.It all started with this pom pom garland.So cute!

If you’ve been following along the past few months you might remember that I these pom pom and bottle brush trees were some of my first new Christmas purchases.When I saw the pom pom garland I knew it was a match made in heaven.The garland was definitely going home with me.Oh, did I mention that all Christmas decor is 66% off?

I had no more put the garland in my basket, turned to the next isle and found these!The bottle brush tree napkin rings and these cute tree napkins.Well of course, at 50% off, they were meant to be!

When I found the napkin rings they were a little plain.These mini ornaments were the perfect tree topper.Also 66% off.

They also had these matching place card holders.

If you ever doubted that plaid is IN this year, doubt no more.These are just two of the plaid patterns available.Not pictured was a navy, green, white and black plaid.So stinking cute!

The next few items I wanted to take home, but sadly didn’t.I’m still trying to find room for a ton of things in our down size move.

Like these towels.

And these gold utensils! Which were surprisingly of pretty good quality.

I feel in love with these black and white tassel napkins.I mean, honestly, you could use these year round.However, I have some very similar black and white ones already….So at the store they stayed!All tableware and linens were 50% off!

Did you know that Hobby Lobby also has some of it’s home decor on sale for 66% off?I’ve been looking for a small shelf like this one for awhile now.This one definitely came home with me!

I also picked up these ….

And these!In fact, I picked up too many things to show all of them to you now. That will have to wait for another time.All at 66% off!Most were under or right at 10.00.These last minute deals and steals would make the perfect last minute gifts!

So how did my pom pom/ bottle brush table turn out?Let’s just say that all things are merry and bright!
I’m taking a break next week to just enjoy the family, so I want to  wish you a very, Merry  Christmas!
See you next year….

I was recently on Pinterest and there was a blogger featuring how to  make her version of Rae Dunn ornaments. Say what? I was so intrigued and after reading her instructions,  I thought that I could make a few as gifts for family and friends.  Here’s how to make a Rae Dunn style ornament!

Here are the supplies that you will need to make your own ornaments.

Black vinyl

Cricut or Silhouette style vinyl cutting machine

White ornaments

Transfer tape or if you don’t have transfer tape you can use Glad press and seal !

First things first.

The font.

You recognize Rae Dunn merchandise right off the bat because of her font.

Because I love you, I’m going to share where to get that font FREE!

The name of the font is The Skinny and you can find it here.

While The Skinny isn’t a perfect match, it’s pretty darn close!

Once you have it downloaded onto your computer, you can use your vinyl cutting machine to design your ornament decal.

I chose to use the names of the people I would be gifting instead of generic Christmas words.

Now, what if you don’t have a vinyl cutting machine? 

Well, there are places that you can buy precut vinyl decals for your ornaments. 

You can see those here.

Now that you have made your designs, simply cut out your decals.

Next, “weed” your vinyl cut outs. 

This simply means take away all of the extra vinyl that you wont use.

Once the weeding is done,  put transfer tape on top of the decal and give it a good burnishing.

I use an old card to make sure that the transfer tape is firmly affixed to the vinyl.

Here’s a quick tip:

I use a coffee cup with a small opening, lay a wash cloth over the opening to hold my ornament in place.

The wash cloth also gives the ornament a nice soft place to lay so that it wont break.

Next step, remove the decal backing.

This should leave your vinyl attached to the transfer tape.

 Center the decal on the ornament, then attached the vinyl.

I like to start in the center and work my way out when doing this.

Be sure to gently rub over the vinyl to make sure that the vinyl is firmly attached to the ornament.

Honestly, I could have stopped there and my ornaments would be perfect just as they are.

However, I  decided to add ribbon to match my gift recipients trees.

How did they turn out?

I think that they are pretty cute.

Hopefully, my friends and family will too!

Until next time… 

Have you ever had a party right after you moved? And if you had that party and realized that you couldn’t find half of you Christmas dining decor what would you do? Normally I would have an over the top, drop dead gorgeous centerpiece before a party. But that was not to be. So, I did what any resourceful woman would do, I threw together a five minute centerpiece. And you know what? I loved it!

I started with a clean, shiny table and added my favorite furry white table runner.

Once that was done, I did some digging in the leftover Christmas boxes. I found these 4 evergreen picks, pinecones, an old truck with a felt Santa driving it, and a few red candle holders.Game on! I took the greenery picks and laid them out on the table like this.

Once my greenery was placed, I rounded up a small string of fairy lights.I wrapped them carefully in the greenery picks, being care to keep the stings as hidden as possible.

I took the old truck that I found and placed it in the middle of the greenery.

There were a few “holes” on the sides of the truck .To hide those I added a couple of pinecone picks on each side of the truck.

To complete my centerpiece, I added two red mercury glass candle holders on either side of the truck. My centerpiece was done. Time? 4 minutes 57 seconds.

Once my centerpiece was done, I set my table. And you know what? I didn’t miss the big, elaborate, time consuming centerpiece that I normally do! Not being able to find my Christmas decor and dishes turned out to to be one happy accident that taught me a valuable lesson!

Until next time….

Another Queen’s Christmas party is in the books. I just love these women! Even though we don’t see each other as often as we’d like, when we get together it’s like we were never apart. I know that I could give any, or all, a call, and they would show up with shovels, tarps, a cocktail and alibis! That’s true friendship in my book. Every year, on the first Saturday in December, we get together to celebrate. We eat. We talk – all at the same time, over each other and at loud decibels. And for the past 4 years we make a “make and take” craft. This year I shared how to make a loop yarn wreath.

I saw a video on Youtube earlier in the year on how to make one and knew instantly that this would be The Queen’s craft this year.

In case you want to make one this is what you will need:

Step 1: Take the end of your loop yarn and attach it to the wreath using a straight pin. Don’t worry about the color of the pin head. You won’t be able to  see it.

Once you have your yarn attached to the wreath, start wrapping the yarn around the wreath form. You want to make sure that you are wrapping the yarn firmly around the wreath. Not too tight though! At first I was wrapping it so tightly that it broke the wreath in half! Every two or three wraps, push the yarn together so that it bunches up tightly.

When you are all done, this is what your wreath will look like.

Next step, decorate your wreath! I used these mini bottle brush trees that were featured in the video; however, The Queens all had great ideas to add to or replace the trees. Trees with a little red bird, mini snowmen, mini angels – the possibilities are endless!

I found these trees on Amazon. You can see the ones I bought here. They came in a box and there were 4 different sizes.

I just tucked the trees into the loops of yarn where I wanted them and they stayed perfectly. However, since The Queens were traveling with them, they hot glued them into place.

The final embellishment was a 6 or 7 inch bow. In the video I watched they didn’t add a bow to theirs. But we are in Tammyland and this Queen liked a little more bling than the one in the video!

Before I share with you the finished wreath, I wanted to show you the Queens wreaths. I think that this was a fun, fairly simple craft project. So much so that a few of The Queens are planning to make a few more!

I hung my finished wreath in my entry and I love it! So simple, yet elegant at the same time.

One last tip.
Hanging the wreath was super easy to do using this Command strip hanger. For two reasons. The Command strip hook sticks to almost anything. And the loops on the yarn make for a natural hanger for the wreath! Ya gotta love how simple that is. Happy wreath making!
Until next time…..

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Happy Holidays, y’all! I am so excited to share with you this months DIY Challenge. Terrie from Decorate With Tip and More is our fearless leader and each month she chooses some of the BEST challenges for us. 

The DIY challenge: Make something using a Dollar Tree mini tree.

The Rules: Be creative!

If you are coming here from Dani’s, welcome. I’m so glad that you are here! I just loved her mini tree DIY and I know you did too.

Here’s what we started with. This little tree came out looking a little like a “Charlie Brown” tree, however once she was fluffed and shaped, she wasn’t so shabby after all. After looking at my tree for a few days, I decided that it was the perfect size for an Advent tree!

My advent tree would be made up of small triangular boxes that were numbered and filled with goodies! I chose 5 different complimentary pieces of card stock to make my boxes.

I found a pattern for my boxes on my Silhouette that I knew would be perfect. Only one BIG problem. My Silhouette decided to take a holiday vacation. Since my morning tea box was my inspiration, I decided to use it for a pattern and cut them out myself.

I simply traced my tea box 5 times on each of my 5 papers.

I’m not gonna lie, this was my least favorite part. However, since it was only 25 boxes, it wasn’t too bad….

To make folding my boxes a little easier, I used a ruler to crease the fold lines.A boning tool would be ideal for this step, however I didn’t have one so the ruler worked just fine.

Looking at my original tea box, I knew that I needed to cut an inch long slit in the bottom edge of the box.This allows the upper tab on the box to be inserted and keep it closed.

 Next step: attaching something to the box to allow me to hang it on my tree. I used 1/8 inch wide ribbon to make a loop to form a hanger for my boxes.Cut 3 inches of ribbon for each box.
Loop the ribbon, then glue to the box using a tiny drop of hot glue. Now put goodies into your box, fold it together and your boxes are done!

I wanted to number my boxes, one for each day of Advent. These small tags and number stickers from Hobby Lobby were the perfect solution.

Thanks to my sister who went shopping with me. Both of these were her idea! Not only were these cute, but they were supper easy to make. Simply put the sticker on the tag.

I applied the tags to my ornament boxes using foam adhesive dots. This gave them a little dimension and since they are sticky on two sides, made it super easy to attach the tags to the boxes. For some crazy reason, I didn’t get a picture of this, but I decided to fill the tag hole with tiny jingle bells that I had in my stash. Even an Advent tree can use a little bling!

Once my boxes were finished it was time to decorate my mini tree. I honestly couldn’t be happier with how it turned out.

Now I hope you join me and hop over to Carol’s at Blue Sky at Home and check out her DIY Challenge.

I’ve also listed the other talented bloggers below because you know you don’t want to miss a thing!

Terrie – Decorate and More with Tip

Kelli – K’s Olympic Nest

Shae – Sweet Southern Grace

Rebecca – Rebecca Anne Home

Dayna – Just Another Farmhouse

Christine – CD’s Country Living

Dani – Welcome to the Taborhood

Carol – Bluesky at Home 

Mary – Shady Oak and Sassafras

Jessica – Jessica Welling Interiors

Teresa – Through a Vintage Door

Michelle – Blessings by Me

Jessica – Jessica Simmon

Lately I’ve been finding some really great deals! Not only are they great deals, but they are also a few of my favorite things for this Christmas season.  A few of them I’m kicking myself over because I wish that I had purchased a few more of them! So without further a do, let me share a few of them with you.

A few weeks ago I was in Home Goods. Believe it or not, I wasn’t even looking for Christmas items, but I did do a quick head turn when I walked past this garland. It’s so pretty, super well made, and, at $14.99, it’s a steal!

I know that it seems as if I am at Walmart all of the time, but honestly I’ve only been there 4 times in the last 3 months! Okay… maybe 5. Don’t you just love these multi-colored felt stems? And how great is it that they match the garland I bought from Home Goods? I love the colors, the textures and how versatile they are! In case you couldn’t tell, I’m in love with them!

When styling my kitchen hutch I couldn’t resist using a few stems! I bought all of the stems that my Walmart had, but I plan on checking out a few more stores for a few more of them. I have plans. These were only $3.00 each! If you love these as much as I do, you might also love the matching wreath and the table top tree.

These sweet Christmas trees were a Michaels flash sale find. See? It really does pay to spend hours looking at Instagram! They were only $8.00 each, regularly $20.00. I love that they look so real and that they are lightly dusted with snow. Also, they were available for in store pick-up, which I love!

While on Instagram recently, I saw the prettiest Christmas mantle. Lots of greenery, lights, bows and on the corners of the mantle were the most wonderful large jingle bells. I immediately started shopping for a few. Unfortunately, they weren’t all that easy to find, and if I did find a few, they were a little cost prohibitive. Imagine my surprise when I entered Walmart on one of my 5 trips and saw large 5″ jingle bells.

This is what they looked like when I bought them. They look very pretty in the photo, however in real life they are a little too brassy for my taste. So, of course, I painted them. Did you notice the price tags? $3.98 each!

The last of my great finds were from Hobby Lobby. If you love lots of bright colors for Christmas, then this Pom tree is for you! Right now, all Christmas is half off.
At first, I thought that I would just make my own, but if I remember correctly this size tree was $17.99. With the 50% off, this tree came in at $9.00. Sometimes it just doesn’t pay to make your own! As I was heading to check out, I passed these brightly colored bottle brush trees. It was love at first sight. None were over $6.00 and all were 50% off. They are perfect Christmas decor for my new studio.
That’s all of my favorite things, however I promise that if I find more fun finds at great prices I’ll be sure to share them with you!
Until next time…..

Now that we are getting a little more settled in our new house, I’m ready to get my Christmas decorating done! Like all things when moving, not all of my Christmas decor worked any more. So I was looking for some inspiration when I ran across the cutest white Christmas houses at Le Cultivateur. I figured not only could I make a few, but I could share how to make white Christmas houses with you! Honestly, they were so easy to make I could have given these to the nieces and nephews to do for me!

Here’s what you will need:

Paper Mache houses

paint – white spray paint or craft paint

Paint brush

Glitter

Mod Podge

I found this set of 3 paper mâché houses at Hobby Lobby. Normally $14.99, they are on sale for 40% off, making them. $8.99.

I purchased 2 sets of houses. On my first set, the weather was super cold so I decided to hand paint the houses. Using white craft paint, I painted 2 good coats of white to each house. This took a while! So when it was time to do the second set, I decided to spray paint them.

TIP: I filled the insides of the houses with a plastic grocery bag while spray painting to protect the insides from over spray.

Here’s what they looked like when they were finished. I could have stopped here because they were so pretty; however, I wanted to give them a little something extra.

I wanted my houses to look like they were covered in new sparkling snow. This is accomplished by painting on Mod Podge and then sprinkling white glitter on top of the glue.

TIP: At first I was using both white and silver glitter. But it quickly became obvious that it didn’t work so well. It looked like dirty snow. When adding glitter, it’s best to pick one color and stick with it!

Also, I added liberal amounts of the glue to add dimension to the snow areas.

Here’s my finished house. So cute, so easy and definitely something extra.

Until next time….

It’s Ten on the 10th! Usually there are ten or more fabulous bloggers sharing their ideas for under $10.00. This month however there less than 10 of us. #life. Our theme this month is Holidays. Which is perfect because it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas here at the castle!

Anyone who knows me well or has been reading my blog for awhile, knows that I love colored glass. I’ve been collecting it since I was knee high to a grasshopper! So it will be no surprise to you that snow globes fall into the colored glass/collectible area.

On a recent shopping trip with friends to the Fort Worth Junior League Craft show one item stood out from all of the others. Snow globe lanterns. Some were old time lanterns, some were in the newer stream lined black lantern style. Almost all lit up and blew snow around winter characters in the “globe”. Unfortunately, at $50.00 and up, they were out of my price range.  So I sadly moved on to other purchases.

Remember my recent trip to Walmart for some fun Christmas items? Well, Imagine my surprise when I found some very similar lantern snow globes!

I was in a big hurry, story of my life… so I didn’t pick one up.You guessed it, by the time I got back all of the sleeker lantern styles were gone!

However, they did have this cute red lantern.It lights up, and as the box advertises, it spins the water making the pretty glitter go crazy!

Not only is it pretty, but it’s costs only $9.98!See the pretty plaid tress?Another Walmart find. And guess what? The larger one is a mere $4.78 and the smaller was $3.48! Making both under $10! It really is beginning to look a lot like Christmas here at the castle!Now, I hope that you will join me in checking out my fellow bloggers wonderful ideas!

Pandoras Box

The Apple Street Cottage

Blue Sky At Home

Decorate And More With Tip

Have you seen Christmas at Walmart? It’s soooo good. I was blown away at some of the great Christmas decor they have this year. I KNOW that most of us don’t even want to think about Christmas anytime soon, but these deals are so good that if you don’t go now, they won’t be there.

Also, let me just say that sadly Walmart is not paying me to share this with you.

Just me, being the sweet friend that I am, sharing with you. I’m good that way!

Anybody out there love retro decor?

I have to admit that I’m addicted to Shiny Brite ornaments.

Walmart has a small selection that look a whole lot like my Shiny Brites.

And you can’t beat the price!

I fell in love with this sweet reindeer!

He reminds me of the cartoon Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer when I was growing up.

These floral picks!

I’m not sure what to do with them, but I guarantee that there is a craft calling my name using them.

Don’t you love the silver tinsel?

It reminds me of those retro trees that were silver with the changing light wheel.

These trees are perfect for all of you farmhouse/traditional Christmas lovers.

Not only is the price great, but they are a decent size too!

I think these would look awesome in a kitchen or bathroom.

I’m not sure why, but I love these wooden trees!

Wouldn’t these look great on a winter themed mantle?

I’m in love with these sweet deer, too.

So stinking cute!

Last, but not least, they have a great selection of ribbon.

Not only are they great patterns, but how could you not love the texture of this ribbon?

My favorites?

The checks and the herringbone!

Christmas at Walmart has never been better.

If you liked it, be sure to PIN it!

We put the Castle on the market a few weeks ago. Which has put quite a few of my projects on hold for awhile. Since I can’t work on projects, I have been shopping! Have you been shopping lately? All of the Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas decor is everywhere. I’ve only got one thing to say – it’s too early!!!!

While I feel that it is way too early to be shopping for the fall holidays, as a blogger, I acknowledge the need to work ahead.

So, what does that mean? It means that I couldn’t help myself from taking a little stroll through the isles!

This Jack-O-Lantern ribbon was one of the first things I spied.

The pumpkins remind me of the Halloween art that was around when I was growing up!

This trick or treat sign is one of my favorites.

However, I found few more like it that I’m also in love with at Hob Lob.

I may have to make a few of my own!

This trick or treat pillow caught my eye….

We all know that I have a throw pillow addiction, so this would be a fun addition to the thousands that I already have!

This super cute glitter skull door mat is so cute!

I love it.

It’s the perfect combo of cute and spooky.

My second favorite door mat was this sweet Boo! mat.

Nothing spooky here, just a ton of cute!

Not only did they have a ton of Halloween decorations, but they had some very cute Thanksgiving items as well.

I loved the smell these Vanilla/Pumpkin scented wax squares.

For me the house needs to smell like fall as well as look like fall.

And, if you know anything about North Texas, you know that we really don’t have much of a fall season.

So we create our own!

Aren’t these cute fall camper and truck decorations cute?

I honestly would have taken that camper home, except I hope to be moving soon.

Okay, remember I said throw pillows may or may not be an issue for me?

My name is Tammy and I’m a pillowaholic…

I saw this sign and couldn’t help laughing.

This one is so true, whether we like it or not, Christmas is coming.

No matter how much fun it is to stroll through the isles, day dreaming of the fall to come, I have to admit that I’m still in summer mode.

I’m still enjoying sipping sweet tea, watching the fireflies and floating in the pool!

It’s too early, and too hot, to even think about the upcoming holidays yet!

Until next time…

Now that Valentine’s Day is over it’s time to celebrate one of my favorite holidays, St. Patrick’s Day. It’s one of my favorite because it’s such a happy holiday. With all of the green, it reminds me that spring is just around the corner. At this time of year I am soooooo ready for some Spring weather! So, as my chalkboard sign says, let the shenanigans begin!

In years past I have used a green “pot of gold” and put an Oxalis plant in it for my table centerpiece.

Unfortunately, when I went to my local nursery there were no Oxalis plants to be had.

I thought that maybe it was time to find a new centerpiece, so I headed to Michaels to see what they had in the way of St. Patrick’s day decor.

As it turns out they didn’t have all that much.

I was just about to give up when I spotted this basket.

It was green and twiggy.

Straight out of the forrest!

In my mind, if I were a Leprechaun this is exactly the type of container that I would put my valuables in!

So I took it home and filled it with all sorts of riches and treasures.

Then I added a sweet bow to the side of the basket for some fun.

The perfect centerpiece to be sure!

Once I had my centerpiece complete it was time to add my place settings.

I started with delicate green placemats, from Ross, that remind me of spring grass.

Next, I added white Atelier plates, followed by green lettuce Bordallo Pimmeiro salad plates.

The silverware and glasses are from Southern Living at home.

The white linen napkins are new to me from Hobby Lobby’s last years Spring line.

Yellow flower napkin rings give the place setting a little pop of color.

I honestly couldn’t be happier with the results.

Simple, sweet, timeless and classic.

My kind of tablescape.

I have to admit, closer to St. Patrick’s day I may add some Rollo candy to the Leprachaun’s treasure to hand out to my guests.

I can’t believe that Spring is just around the corner!

So, let’s all let the shenanigans begin!

Until next time…..

Here at the castle, the stockings are hung. The tree is up and the elves have finished sprinkling Christmas decor through out the castle. So, what’s a girl to do? Why break out the Christmas crafts at the castle, of course!

For the first time in many years, I have almost all of my Christmas stuff done! I’d love to pat myself on the back, however it’s mostly due to my car being in the shop off and on for the last month! Certainly not because this girl is rocking it! When you are forced to stay home it’s amazing how much you get done. Who knew?

I’ll have a blue Christmas with a big splash of hot pink, please!  My dining room colors are blue and hot pink, which just happen to be my favorite colors. So naturally, when it came time to decorate the dining room I couldn’t help but think that they would also be perfect Christmas colors.

And boy, did I find some hot pink! It’s so hot that it was truly hard to get pictures that didn’t hurt my eyes. But, I love it!

The elves have been busy decorating here at the castle. Of course, they always start in the heart of the home, the kitchen. This years theme is simple, less fuss and not as over the top as in years past. It’s a black, white and red Christmas kitchen!

I don’t buy all new stuff from year to year, instead I like to mix and match a few new things with old things from years past. Don’t get me wrong. It’s tempting, however every time I consider it I hear my sweet Granny’s sarcastic voice saying “Well, aren’t we Miss Aster!” For those of you that are younger than dirt, that was her way of saying that we aren’t made of money. And even if we were, money doesn’t grow on trees! Thrifty was her middle name.

I know that we haven’t even celebrated Halloween, but the big holidays are just around the corner. Yikes! If you are like me, I like to plan ahead of time so that my holidays are a little less stressful. Today I’m sharing a few things to do  for the holidays now.

You know, things that will leave you feeling a little more like wonder woman and a little less stressed out!