Happy New Year!

Wow...has it really been a few weeks since I posted? Yikes. I really need to be more punctual in 2011. Ah, there is a resolution for the new year. So what have you been up to? I am currently lying in bed like a blob due to what appears to be the Flu. And yes, I did get a flu shot this year. So much for that $25.

Anyhoo, while sitting here, I was reviewing my photos from the last couple of months and thought I would share some with you. Here they are in no particular order...

Our pup, Gus. Did you notice he is laying on a pillow, TUCKED IN? Spoiled....um, yes indeed.

My girlie-q's. I cannot believe how much they look like their dad. I am starting to wonder if I had anything to do with their birth....nope, I remember the physical pain. And did I mention that my blondie was almost 10 lbs?? Gaah.

This is my daughter's dog holiday vignette. She set it up and she took the pix. Great, huh?



My lovely kidlings. My oldest is 23!
How is that possible if I am only 29? Heh.

So there you have it. A slice of my December. I hope you and your families had a wonderful New Year's celebration. I will be back at the craftiness once I feel better. Hopefully soon!



Barbie Home Remodel...

I know what you are thinking...Barbie remodel? What?

Exactly as it sounds. I remodeled our girlies' Barbie house in order to 'upcycle' it for our niece, Avery. It turned out sooooooo cute!! You are definitely going to say "Holy cats, Christine -- you are amazing!" Ah, yes. I will indeed pat myself on the back for this project.

Here is where it started (and no, that is not my daughter):

Bland, standard doll house with the room graphics plastered on the walls. Yawn...
Please excuse my blech photos - I will now give you a remodeled room-by-room overview:

KITCHEN

The new kitchen ...I kept the background the same, just added crystals to the knobs and of course, a kitchen towel. Additionally, I covered up the 'tile' floor with a brand -spanking-new hardwood floor. Popsicle stick hardwood floor to be precise. Am I clever or what??

Finally, here is the cutie patootie kitchen table. You know you want one just like it!

BEDROOM

ALOHA! Beach themed nirvana!! I think Barbie will thank me when she realizes that I have given her a Queen-sized bed. Now Ken won't have to sleep on the couch... Heh.

Detail of the bedroom wallpaper...

Ooh...comfy. And what is that? A tufted headboard? Why, yes it is indeed. I figured if I can tuft a real headboard, then a tiny Barbie headboard was no prob.

Gorgeous!

LIVING ROOM

We went with a black,white & hot pink theme. Mod, kind of New York loft style. The couch and chair were created and upholstered from remnants I had in my craft stash. I edged the rug from another remnant as well. I think it evokes a flokati rug vibe...plus it is really soft and fur-tastic.

And did you notice the chandelier?? It is an ornament -- in Barbie pink, no less. Kismet, I tell ya.

The couch is long enough for Barbie to lay down after a long day of shopping. Or drinking.

And, hello -- a skirt with box pleats. Yes please!

I want this chair in real-people size. Never enough pink in Barbie land.

STAIRS

Mirrored stairs. Love em...but not so practical in the real world. Since I trudge around here like a bull elephant,  1) they would most likely be cracked from my toe-stubbing antics and  2) do I really need to be reminded with each step that I am in dire need of a pedicure?? I think not.

BATHROOM

Shouldn't all toilets have a kicky lid and crystal flush handle? YES. I would definitely want to clean this purty little throne. Well, okay maybe not. But it would look prettier....

Sage green, so soothing and zen...Ahhh....

So there you have it. My labor of love for the last week or so. I know my niece is going to LOVE it! Shhh, don't tell her it was not Santa's Elves who worked all this magic.

Have a fabulous day!



Holiday decor pictures...

Good morning to all. It is freeeeeeezing here in Chicago. Brrr! I have never been a big fan of the arctic cold; snow - yes...cold that bites - NO-ho-ho indeed!



Picture of the Christmas decorations are here! Now, I have not completed the entire house, but I will share with you what is going on so far. I am in LOVE with my dining room this year in particular. Enjoy!



Center of our DR table -- I just love the mercury glass & crackled ornaments!


 Bottle brush trees are one of my go-to favorites...





The vignette on our antique dresser. Ooh -- Silver & Gold...

We use the dresser for linen storage because our house has the teensy, tiniest linen closet you have ever seen. Seriously -- what was the builder thinking?

In addition to the dining room, I have gotten a wee bit of the kitchen and living room decorated. You know you want to see that too...here you go:

My LR mantle -- simple and perfect.

This is our kitchen chandelier. I just twisted in a few fresh evergreen swags, added some ornaments and a cutesy clip on bird. Adorable -- and it smells good too!

My gilded birdie friend....from Target!

So there you are -- my decorations for now. I know what you are thinking...Hello??? Please include a full pix of the DR so we can see it all together?!? I will definitely post that -- but I need to remove all the holiday storage boxes from view first.  : )

Have a beautiful day -- and bundle up!

Holly Jolly weekend

How was your weekend? Ours was holiday-tastic! We started Saturday with SNOW! (fyi, I am not exclamation-point-level excited, but my kids and dogs were). I actually do love that first 'real' snow of the season. You know, the one that actually sticks and accumulates (preferably below the 2-inch accumulation point)? It looks all Currier-and-Ives and no one is complaining -- yet. Sigh...it actually was the best timing.

I say the best timing because later that morning, we attended the Elves Shelves shopping event at our school. Elves Shelves definitely needs snow -- according to my kids. Gracie was performing with her chorus club, so it was a doubly exciting day. Well, triple-y exciting if you count the snow! We adults were able to spend the morning chatting it up with our neighbors, friends, and all the wonderful teachers we have gotten to know over the years. A great start to the weekend.

After that, the hubs and I decided it was time to buckle down and buy a Christmas tree. We always try to put it off for a couple of weeks after Thanksgiving -- it seems that if we don't, we are crabbing about a dry tree right after the New Year. Really, never a good way to start off a year. So, anyhoo, we got a lovely 8-footer that is probably the bushiest tree we've ever purchased. I am serious -- when I was putting the lights on today, I was almost shoulder-deep trying to get those buggers in by the trunk! And in the end, I was also coated in sap. Which is a good thing. Not having that would mean it was already a dry tree -- and we would not want that at all! Trust me...an 8 or 9 foot piece of kindling sitting in your living room is really not festive. My only hope is that my dogs do not see it as indoor plumbing yet again. That's right. I said AGAIN. Don't ask.

Now, I will admit I tend to become a little obsessive at the holidays in regard to decorating. I literally put something in EVERY room of the house. Well, okay, not the utility room or laundry room but otherwise -- every room. Oh, and I also have 6 artificial trees that have their various set locations throughout our home. Yep -- obsessive. So far, I have only gotten the dining room completed. The whole house will be fabulous once done, but that may not be until the end of this week. My son said today -- "don't you ever get sick of holiday decorating?" Um, no. Never. Love it. Love. It.

And it is now 11:30 on Sunday night and I can't fall asleep. Visions of the festive possibilities are swilling in my head. Like sugarplums if you will. I'll post pix in the a.m. I tried to take some tonight and they are not good. Apparently lighting at 11:00 p.m. is hideous -- who knew -- I am never up this late. Lesson learned - pix during daylight only until I totally figure out my camera. So, yeah, that would mean pix only during the daylight from now on. Heh.

Hope you had a great, festive weekend!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Well, at least in our front yard.

I know I promised more pix of the curio and frames (and just wait until you see the nightstand I found -- squee!), but I gave in to Chicago's oddly warm November days this week...it was almost 70 degrees yesterday! I decided it was a sign that it was time to put up the Christmas lights. I honestly can say this is the first time that I have ever broken out in a sweat while schlepping reindeer around the front yard. It was great.

Of course, Mother Nature is finicky in Chicago and thus she blasted us with icy coldness today. I don't think it got past 40 degrees. Or maybe it did - I really should use this computer to check in on the weather before I make such sweeping statements. Anyhoo, today was a wool-sweater-and-socks kind of day. And my first official day of whining my way out of walking the dog. Heh. Hubs, if you are reading this -- it will happen again.

So, the house...want to see how it looks? Standard issue decorations but I think they look lovely. Oh, and just so you can imagine -- the bushes are all covered in white lights. I will try to take a 'night' pix to show you. Ta-da...

Our buck; Grace says it looks like he is eating the tree.

Our doe, apparently the dog left some pee-mail there. Heh...get it...pee-mail? E-mail? Well, my kids think it is funny. Of course, they are still in elementary school...

Front porch planter -- the red twigs were *FREE*  -- made possible by me slogging through the scrub-weedy field behind our house and clipping them free from their tangled mess. Festive, indeed!

My recent thrift-store find...an old Flexible Flyer. It is not in any usable condition whatsoever (so...why were they selling it with the children's toys???), but I like the effect it has in my garden vignette. And more weed-twig bundles. Oh, and those two little black buggers on my brick -- the water meters. Seriously, they could not have put them 2 feet to the right behind the bushes??

What do you think? I am nowhere near being finished decorating outside, but it is a start. And I don't have to freeze off my little fingertips this weekend. Hooray!

I hope you and your families have a lovely Thanksgiving -- just in case I don't get the chance to write until Friday. Enjoy!