Goodbye Christmas see ya next year...

Can't I just leave these decorations out til next year? The neighbors won't mind, right?

Unfortunately they WILL mind and the HOA will slap me with a fine come the end of the month if they catch any twinkling going on at my house...ba-hum-bug.

Whatever, I think I am actually ready to have my house back to normal. So this weekend I started with the lights, and in an attempt to "get organized in 2012" ... I tried to kill 2 birds with 1 stone. I came up with this little trick last year and it made things so much easier this year when it came to unpacking.

First you find a box that is shallow and will allow you to store all your x-mas lights inside it.

Second cut off the box's lid...then create the letter "I" out of them like this: 

Then neatly wrap your lights. I got two 100 light strands around this one. Try and plug the strand's ends into itself, (if that makes sense) to keep the the ends from dangling.

Now, because your "I" is the exact width of your box, you can store it back inside for a perfect fit! All your "I"s can be lined up like a file cabinet of lights, ready to go for next year.

OK one decoration down...1000 to go ....

Display your holiday cheer

Show off all your friends and family this year by displaying your Christmas cards in a new way. This year I hung all my cards and photos that I have received in my kitchen over the wood blinds in the shape of a Christmas tree.

holy.cow.that's.good.

If you are looking for that last minute small gift for a neighbor, teacher, co-worker....yourself :) look no further.

TRADER JOE'S DARK CHOCOLATE SEA SALT CARAMELS ARE FANTASTIC!

They are $4.99 and like heaven in your mouth. I am not getting paided by TJ's to say this, however if they want to pay me in a lifetime supply of these treats....bring it on!

Salt + dark chocolate + caramel = happy girl

(husbands/boyfriends may want to stock up...just sayin')

p.s. thanks to my friend Dara for introducing me to these aaahhhhmaaaaaaazzzing morsels.

Man oh man(tle)

This year my downstairs got a woodsy Christmas make-over. Everything I did was in attempt to achieve that "au naturel" look....and I love it. Take a look at what me and my talented momma came up with on the fireplace. 

The garland is a mix of white pine (costco), dried hydrangeas (friend's yard), and jute bows (leftovers from the days of making "hemp" necklaces, I promise at least 10+ years old). The wreath in the middle came from Target and is made out of a thousand pieces of star anise (smells a bit like licorice) and was a steal at $8...originally $40!


Next year (and by next year I mean this year when xmas stuff is 80% off) I think I will get new stockings and holders that are bit more rustic and natural to add to this woodsy theme.

Christmas cocktails

Bottoms up! Celebrate with friends and Santa this year with some of these holly jolly hot (or cold) toddies :)

Gingerbread Martini

Pecan "Milk" Punch

Orange-Cranberry Gin and Tonic

Apple-Ale Wassail

Hot Buttered Rye

Wrap it up!

I think I will still be decorating for Christmas right on up to the 24th. This weekend I continued on my with my quest to make my home holiday ready. Check out this SUPER EASY project. Anyone can do this and make a big impact. I like it so much I am thinking of doing it all year long.

BEFORE: Regular old books from the shelf.

AFTER: Glorious Golden Holiday Hardbacks!

I used craft/wrapping paper. I had silver, gold, and a red/gold print.

I left some books as they were. Especially if they were gold or red.

A far cry from the days when I had to cover my algebra book in the 9th grade. And to think I thought I would never use any of that information in the real world...  :)

Copy Cat

Lately while on Pinterest I have found a ton of cute ideas for Christmas party invites and cards. I took a stab at trying to recreate some of them in Photoshop and here is what I came up with...

Yes, I know there is a common theme of drinking in the last two...but hay it's the holidays!

I can make that!

Time to deck the halls, decorate the tree and hang the stockings with care...and if I can...save a buck or two.

Every shop, grocery store, gas station and mall is stocked with Christmas decorations right now, and over this past Thanksgiving weekend  I saw a million different options. One trend that I continued to see while I was out and about -  were graphic holiday signs like this one:

They are fun,  modern and totally perfect for my next DIY project!

First I tried to mimic the design I had seen using Photoshop (this was the most tedious part for sure). Since I didn't have anything stronger than computer paper at the time, I just glued each version onto a folder using spray glue.

Next I painted on 3 coats of white glue mixed with brown acrylic paint with a foam brush. When they were dry, I sprayed them with a light coat of gold glitter spray paint. Once all dry, I cut them out and popped them into a frame. TA-DA!

The green one didn't make the cut. But the red version looks great in this matted frame. This project was really easy and the supplies needed were simple.

TOTAL COST = $0!!!

I already had: paper, glue, glitter spray, paint, and a frame....easy peasy! If anyone wants to try and make this too, just leave me a comment below and I will send you the design file or the PDF of this image :)

Ain't it the truth...

These napkins from HomeGoods know what's up :)