dr. seuss-ish....

and i thought her lashes were long.....

i never thought that eyebrows could curl..

then tessa came along and taught me differently....

i love bath time!!!

christmas vacation......

there has been a lot of this going on this week...

austen is so excited about all of the video games he got for christmas this year.  and he loves his gaming chair....

having him home from school for the week gives him the opportunity to play with the dog

which he does when i force him off of the video game and out of his gamer chair.

which lasts for about 5 minutes.....

this one loves his new bone from santa, but he really hates to have his picture taken....

and runs as fast as he can when he sees me stick the camera in his face....

anyway...

like i was saying....i get the opportunity to hang out with my boy...

so i forced him to pose for some pictures in front of the christmas tree before i take it down if a few days....

i like what i got.

my handsome austen, I love you so!!!!

after christmas shopping...

every year i try to hit up the after christmas sales at stores like target, hobby lobby, michaels, etc.  

if you wait a couple of weeks, you can usually get the merchandise 75-90% off.  

last year i quickly ran into hobby lobby a couple of weeks after christmas (i don't remember the exact date because i threw away the receipt to hide my shopping from don....he was still unemployed at that time and i wasn't supposed to be spending any money, heh!)

but i think it was somewhere around the 7th or 8th of january.  

everything i bought that day was 90% off.   90% off!!!!

10 cents on the dollar.  i really felt like i was stealing (it was a little thrilling, i must say).

anyway...

these are a few of the things i bought

a paper cone, beaded garland and a mini christmas tree topper.  i had the ribbon in my stash.

 do you see these prices?  at 90% off that equals out to $1.11 for the cone and garland.  the star tree topper was $1.19 so that comes in at a whopping $0.12.  since i had the ribbon and the paint that i used to spray the cone with, this project totaled out at $1.23.  i did buy double of everything so i could make two of them so $2.46.  wow!!!

 the first thing i did was paint the cone off-white.  i knew that you would be able to see the base through the beads and i wanted it to be a little more cohesive.  if you use red, green or silver beads, i would recommend that you paint the cone the same color.  

so...

i attached the beaded garland to the cone with a hot glue gun.  you can see the little gluey strands stuck to the beads...no problem. these pull off very easily when you are done. 

 when i made the first cone, i glued the beads on in concentric rows. 

you can see that the rows are kind of on top of each other.

 when i did the second one, i snuggled the beads closer to each other so it covered the base a little better.  this is very easy to do while the hot glue is still hot.

add the topper and continue all the way up over the bottom of the topper covering the springy looking bottom of the star.  i added the ribbon trim to the very bottom of the cone.

here they both are when they are done.

either way, a very cute, super cheap christmas decoration.  these would make great hostess gifts to take to a christmas party too!!  i'd love to see what you do with your bargains.....

linking up here at boogieboard cottage

christmas past....

even though it is from 4 years ago,
this

is still my favorite christmas picture of our family.

this one

is just the icing on the cake.....

Have yourself a merry little christmas......

my friends, may your celebration of the season bring joy to your heart

now and throughout the new year.

xoxoxo

christmas bling on the tree......

one of my favorite things about christmas is the tree.  we get a real tree.  i have been 

waffling about getting a artificial tree for the past few years but i just can't do it.

christmas is not christmas in our house without the pungent smell of the fraser fir we get every year.

and we love to dress the tree in it's jewelry.  we have been collecting ornaments

every year since we have been married.  i've been collecting ornaments since i was a teenager.  

i love the german glass ornaments and have several dozen in my collection.

i really need two trees to display all of them that we have but i don't have room in my house for a second tree.  

here are some of my favorites...

who doesn't want a little froggy in their tree?? 

 this one just screams christmas to me.

this bird in a cage is one that i have had for about 30 years.  (i know, i know, i'm old but like i said, i've been collecting since i was 2.  hee-hee)

 so, so colorful, isn't it?

 i am all about the vintage, even if it is a reproduction.

 my knight in shining armor...

 this bird ornament reminds me of the sugar eggs that people make at easter time. maybe i'll add a couple of small pine branches to the inside of it.  

 more of the vintage....this reminds me of the old bottle brush trees.

 i love her......

 this ornament is a tribute to both of our kids.  shannon was a basketball player in high school.  at 6'1 it was inevitable...her jersey number every year was 25.  austen has followed suit in every sport he has played.  he always requests # 25 so he could be like his sissy!!  he always calls her sissy.  come to think of it, i don't think i have ever heard him call her shannon.  ever.   

 glitter, ahhh...

i love these red birds....

 we have lots of glass pinecones...

 and a coo-coo clock

and santa, of course!!!

 this pretty shoe is the ode to my love of all things turquoise...

 i remember making ornaments similar to this one with my mom.  we loaded beads and sequins onto large straight pins and stuck them into styrofoam balls.  i wish i still had them.  

i love these christmas lights. they are very vintage looking. 

 this one reminded me of fao schwartz...

 and this sweet little angel was made by shannon when she was about 7 years old.  it goes on the tree every year....

who new hobby lobby had such pretty ornaments?  me!!!! i got this one last year after christmas at 90% off and i think i paid about .49 cents for it.  make sure to check out the hob lob a couple of weeks after christmas this year.  i hit the motherlode last year.  more about that in an upcoming post...

i leave you with some christmas love...

linking up over here...check them out for more christmas bling.

french country cottage
debra at common ground

early christmas presents.....

don's parents came over this past weekend to bring christmas presents for us.  

we are hosting christmas eve this year and they are doing the same

at their house.  so they came over on saturday to give austen (and us) christmas presents...

austen is in pig heaven.   new chuck taylor converse and call of duty black ops.....seriously, i thought he was going to hyperventilate when he opened that game....

(i really need to learn how to use the video feature on my camera.....)

anyway,

he was excited about his shoes too. his grandma got him the same shoes last year

but he outgrew them....

little does he know that we wear the same size now.

we wear the same size.......

which means...

 mama's got a new pair of shoes!!!

 sorry bubba....

thanks grandma!!!!