New Lamps in the Dining Room

Hello everyone!

I know

I know

I know

Here is my dining room...............again!  

And it still has Christmas decor in it.

I've decided I will take my decor down on New Years Day.  That's what I used to do and it just feels right doing it that way this year.  It's sort of a great day to start anew.  So, that means you'll just have to look past the Christmas decorations in this room for now.

I had some Christmas money to spend, so I decided to buy a pair of matching lamps for the sideboard in my dining room.  Ever since I hung the narrow trumeau mirror in here, I felt it needed some tall lamps to anchor each side.  

I wanted a chunky wooden lamp with a muted color shade.  I think these fit the bill.

These lamps came from Home Goods.  However, they originally came with very plain white shades.  I wasn't fond of them, so I replaced  them with these burlap shades from Target. 

Here is a close up of the distressed wood base.

These were just what I was looking for!

Here is how they look when turned on.

When I remove the greenery from Christmas, I will probably set my distressed pedestal in between the lamps and add some candles.  

It will be fun to set up the house again with a new arrangement.

Hope you all have a great New Years Eve tomorrow night!

See you in 2015!

~ Kelly ~

What's New!

Hello everyone!

We are still in holiday mode over here.  With there being no school and rainy weather, it is easy to become a bit lazy.  I wanted to share a few pics of my newest treasures received for Christmas.  My favorite gift was this beautiful wooden horse.

When I saw it for sale from Antique Farmhouse, I told my husband I REALLY wanted it! So, he obliged.  I have a smaller horse statue, but this one is much bigger and makes a statement all by itself.  For now, it is in front of the fireplace, but when I take the tree down, it might move behind my sofa.  I will decide later.

For the holiday, he is dressed in some greenery too.  

Horses are a big part of Swedish decor, so I'm thrilled to have this one! And since I didn't have any books on the subject, I received this book too.

I have really enjoyed it so far.

My love for blue and white grainsacks has not subsided either.  So, I received this vintage one and made it into a pillow for my sofa.

My collection of these is really growing.

I will probably take down my Christmas decor in the next day or so since we are almost into January now.  Since I didn't do so much this year, it hasn't beckoned me to take it down so soon.  Hopefully, it won't be such a dreaded task either. 

Do you have plans for New Year's Eve?  The countdown is on!

Thanks for stopping by.

~ Kelly ~

Christmas Morning

Hello everyone!

Whew!  Can you believe Christmas is over?  It seemed to come and go in a flash this year.  This year was nice since my oldest son was home for Christmas.  It finally felt "normal" again to have all of us together Christmas morning.  I didn't want to bore you with too many pics of opening presents, but here are just a few.

The sun was shining in very strong so, unfortunately, my pics aren't the best.

Our dog, Max, had a blast helping to shred the paper all over the floor.

Santa brought him some toys too.

After opening presents, I cooked a big breakfast, but forgot to take pictures.  I was head high in waffle batter!

I can't wait to share some things I got.  Come back later and I'll show you my favorite gift!

I hope all of you had a great Christmas too and are still enjoying some R&R with your family.

Thanks for stopping by.

~ Kelly ~

Pom Pom Garland

Hello everyone!

Well, we are down to the final week of Christmas.  This is when the holidays really start feeling official to me.  I wanted to share something new that I ordered from Anthropologie.  I thought it would go nicely on my mantel to coordinate with my "white" Christmas decor.

I just love how large and fluffy these pom poms are.  They are made of wool which makes them fuller than standard yarn.

 I grabbed this while it was marked down. I figured that after I bought the yarn and tried to make these myself, I don't think I would've made them much cheaper.

I thought the green garland that was on here was too busy with the pom pom garland, so I moved it to the dining room.  

That way, it filled this area up nicely and still allowed me to use the pom pom garland where I wanted it.

I hope all of you have a VERY merry Christmas!  I will probably not be posting again until after Christmas.  I will be busy wrapping gifts and baking during these few days left.  I'm sure all of you are quite busy too.

Thank you for stopping by this little blog of mine and leaving all of your sweet comments.  They really do mean the world to me.  See you after Christmas!

~ Kelly ~

A Few Snippets Around the House

Hello everyone!

TGIF!  Today is the last day of school for my youngest son until next year.  To say that he is excited is an understatement.  Next year, (sounds like that is so far away, doesn't it?) BOTH of my sons will be back in school.  My oldest son will start college for the first time.  He's already registered and has a class schedule.  He's very excited.  He will be a full time student so he doesn't plan on working for a while.  

This week, we finished up our Christmas shopping but are now waiting on a lot of deliveries.  We are down to the wire!  Since our tree is behind the sofa this year, that left me with a dilemma.  Where to put the presents?  For now, they are sitting in a basket.  But, as more are wrapped, they will be spilling out around the basket, I am sure.  

I'm wrapping everything in blue, silver and white this year.  

Recently, I decided to place glass candle holders in my coffee table centerpiece so I could light them and enjoy them at night. Before, they were just plain pillar candles.

I wrapped them in sheet music and tied them with twine for a vintage glow at night.

I love how they look at night!

And lastly, I decided that my new dining room slipcovers needed a little extra pizazz during the holidays, so I hung this soft cream stocking on the back of one of my chairs.  

It's amazing how something so small can have a big impact.  

Hope you  are getting all of your last minute shopping done and preparing to finally relax with your family.  Seems like the week before Christmas is always the busiest!  

Have a great weekend.

~ Kelly ~

Paper Whites & Mug Cozy

Hello everyone!

Do you have a favorite place to sit and relax at the end of the day?  Mine is a chair and ottoman in the family room.  I keep my phone, glasses, laptop, and throw there.  I've dubbed it "my apartment".  LOL! 

 Recently, I added some other pretties to the area.  I found these faux paper whites at World Market on sale and placed them on a plate beside my chair.  Now, I have a little Christmas cheer there.  

And, I found this adorable sweater cozy on Etsy for my coffee mug.  It helps keep your beverage warm and looks so cute.

So, when I'm not running around the house taking care of things or out running errands, this is where you'll usually find me.  

I told my husband that I felt like we were like Archie and Edith Bunker, from All in the Family, with us having our own favorite places to sit.  Do you remember that show from the 70's?  Where is your favorite place to relax at the end of the day?  

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Kelly ~ 

New Dining Room Slipcovers

Hello everyone!

Remember when I tried to get new dining room chairs, and they didn't work out?  Well, my alternative solution was to buy custom slipcovers for my existing chairs.  And, it just so turns out, that it was a good decision.  I saved a lot of money that way and love the look!  So, here they are.........

I bought them from Slipcover Shop.  They are an online business that sells ready made and custom slipcovers for sofas, chairs and even futons.  

You enter the measurements of your chair and select your fabric.  Then send pics of your chair as well.  They are ready in about a week!  

Right now, they are offering free shipping on orders over $99 too.  Wish they were offering that when I ordered these.  I was not paid for this endorsement or supplied these to review.  These are all my own opinions and I found this business myself.  They did not promote this to me.  

Now, if you want to know why I wanted these, here is a before shot of the ready made slipcovers I was using.  Look at the very bottom of these chairs.

(Sorry for the grainy pic, I enlarged it so you could see the legs.)  Do you see how short the old covers were?  Also the seams of the seat area were too short for the seat of the chair.  

Now, my covers fit perfectly!  I am so glad that I purchased these and will definitely consider using this company again for more slipcovers in the future.

Just thought I would share this company with you.  I know many of you ask me where I get my slipcovers and this is a great source!

Hope you're having a great Monday.

Thanks for stopping by.

~ Kelly ~

Hamburger Vegetable Soup

Hello everyone!

Thank you so much for all the kind words on my Christmas Home Tour post.  I enjoyed putting it together and participating in the blog hop too.  

It's a wait and see game at my house these days.  My husband was just diagnosed with the flu yesterday.  He has been sick off and on all week, so he wasn't really sure he had the flu.  He got the flu shot late (about 2 weeks ago) and was exposed to the flu at work before he was completely protected.  So, that may explain why he has a mild case.  The flu shot isn't protecting against all strains that are out this year either.  So, for me, it's a waiting game to see if I'm going to get it or if my flu shot will fully protect me.  I got mine in early November.  Hoping my kids won't catch it either.  Arrgh!  That is why I rely so heavily on a good flu shot.  I HATE THE FLU WORST THAN ANYTHING!!!!

But, I didn't post today to nag about all of that.  I wanted to share this wonderful homemade soup recipe with you.  I will provide the link at the end of this post for the recipe.

First, you gather these ingredients, plus ground beef (not pictured).

Then, you chop up some onion, celery and garlic.

In a large stock pot, brown the ground beef along with the items above.

Drain the mixture above.

Then, chop up some potatoes, carrots and bell peppers.

Then add all of those items to the pot.

Then, add the rest of the ingredients; whole tomatoes, beef broth, tomato paste, salt, pepper, dried parsley flakes, oregano, and cayenne pepper.

Let it simmer for a while until cooked through.

And voila!

It is good and makes a LOT!  We will be eating on this for days.  It's a great meal to eat when you're sick with the flu too.  LOL!

If you would like the recipe, click HERE.

Hope you have a great weekend.

~ Kelly ~

Christmas Home Tour

Hello everyone!

I am so happy to be able to share my home decorated for Christmas as part of a Christmas open house blog hop!  Sherry, from No Minimalist Here, invited me to participate this year, and I'm thrilled to be a part of it.  Hope you enjoy the tour.  Welcome to our home!

First up, some night time pictures of my outdoor decorations. I love to drive around and look at Christmas decorations at night.

I recently received this cute distressed metal deer from Decor Steals.  I added it to my sideboard in the dining room.

I've always loved sheet music wrapped around candles, so I did that with these.

Some simple burlap stockings were dressed up with white ball ornaments and greenery.

I went with a muted palette on my tree and mantel this yer.  

I bought these cute stockings from Farmhouse Wares.  They coordinate well with my blue and white grain sacks in the room.

There's nothing better in the winter, and during the holidays, than a fire in the fireplace!

A night time shot of the tree.

In the kitchen, I  hung this wreath with a paper mache deer head I found at Michaels.

I used simple little trees throughout the kitchen.

I found this adorable little lamb at Target!  Loved his little red and white striped scarf and "wooly" body.

This  stocking is for our dog, Max!

Part of a verse from Oh Holy Night is written on the chalkboard beside my refrigerator.

I added a few Christmas touches to our master bedroom too.

I want to thank Sherry for hosting this fun blog hop.  Be sure to check out the others participating in this tour too!

Wednesday 12/10
No Minimalist Here
Uptown Acorn
The Vintage Nest
Dixie Delights

Thursday 12/11
Common Ground
Housepitality Designs
The Essence Of Home
Northern Nesting


Friday 12/12
Miss Kopy Kat
21 Rosemary Lane
A Stroll Thru Life

All About Vignettes

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Kelly ~