Christmas Tour Part 4, Dining Room

Getting ready for Christmas dinner this year with a smaller group than usual. The table is set for six instead of the normal ten and the kids will be at the BIG table this year since they'll fit!

 I'm mixing the fancy with the rustic again using antique china with burlap chargers and a wire mesh angel centerpiece on an antique wooden bowl with glittery ornaments and snow.

The buffet is set up for holiday treats...

surrounding the all white gingerbread house the kids helped to create.

Around the room are little bits of rustic and bling...

Now for the cooking. Cream corn (or is it creamed corn ??? ) and make ahead mashed potatoes are on the list today. Two great and easy recipes that I need to share with you but it'll have to be another day. Apron time.

sharing with ~ http://www.frenchcountrycottage.net/

Christmas Tour Part 3, Living Room

I decided to stay neutral in the living room this year but I'm missing the red a little.

The biggest change in here from last year is the fireplace. I wanted a chunky wood mantle instead of the rock one we had, so we just slid a wood box over the existing one. Now I can not only fit more on the mantle but I can also hammer nails right in to it for the stockings.

For my thrifty tip in the living room, I cut off part of an Anthropologie throw that I have (shown below on the blue chair) and sewed two new stockings. Cheap and original. No one else will have these!

Some little details around the room...candles...

pine cones and antlers...

ornaments and crosses...

greenery and jingle bells...

and cozy throws.

It's finally cold enough for a fire around here. Time to curl up and watch a movie.

sharing with ~  http://www.frenchcountrycottage.net/

Christmas Tour Part 2, The Bar

When we moved in to this house, we had this funky little room off of the kitchen that we didn't really know how to use. I found this cool bar at the Pottery Barn outlet so the decision was easy. It's so fun and convenient to have this especially around the holidays for parties!

I love to put a little fresh greenery or a fresh wreath in every room to make it smell like Christmas. Scent can be a very important element in decorating that often gets overlooked.

I couldn't forget about the antler chandelier. It needed some ornament bling! (ornaments from Hobby Lobby)

I have a major obsession with Anthropologie. If you're looking for fun and unusual stockings, this is the place to go. The brass ice bucket is from Target.

I think this arch is screaming for some greenery. What do you think? Another trip to Home Depot??? No. Maybe tomorrow. I'm ready for a hot toddy. How about you?

~sharing with French Country Cottage Feathered Nest Friday http://www.frenchcountrycottage.net/2016/12/feathered-nest-friday_8.html

Christmas Tour 2016 Part 1 Breakfast Room

It's starting to look a little like Christmas around here. I love having the new piece of furniture in the breakfast room to decorate.

                                                                 stockings...

                                                                                  ornaments...

                                                                           vintage cookie cutters...

                                                                                candles...

                                                                    fresh greenery and pine cones...

These make up the recipe for a Merry Christmas in the breakfast room.

~sharing with French Country Cottage Feathered Nest Friday http://www.frenchcountrycottage.net/2016/12/feathered-nest-friday_8.html      

New Orleans Inspired Halloween Wreath

If you've been on my Pinterest page lately, you'll notice that I have been inspired by the skeleton wreaths that I've been seeing lately.  I had to make one.

They already reminded me of my trips to New Orleans, but I decided to go one step further with mine and add some masks...

some New Orleans inspired ribbon...

gold fleur de lis, musical notes, old lace

and a few spiders and swamp moss, all in Saints colors of course.

A trip to Hobby Lobby was almost all that I needed to put this together. I love to go there when their ribbon is 40% off, and with 7 rolls of ribbon, I needed to wait for that week!!! All of the ribbon, the masks, the grapevine wreath, moss, and small skeletons came from there. The top hat and bones were purchased from The Halloween Spirit Store. I already had the skeleton but I'm sure they had one at the Spirit Store. The glitter spiders are from Pottery Barn and the sign I made out of a piece of plywood with chalkboard paint and sharpie. I intentionally made it a little rough and imperfect because it is Halloween after all. All things Halloween should be on sale this week so it's not too late to make one for yourself. If I can do it, so can you!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

New Study

This is where I work/play. Rarely, Bill uses the other side of the desk but more frequently I'm joined by Spencer under the desk.

 

...or sometimes Madi.

 

Since Bill has an office at work, I've taken over this room pretty much. Some of my favorite "finds" are in here. I'm influenced a lot in this house, and in this room especially, by the fact that I live in San Antonio. It's a blend of  Texas and Mexican influences. Cowhides, horseshoes, local art and Santos fill the room.

 

 

I like a variety of things that inspire me on the walls. Photos representing different Texas architectural styles are hung above the bookcase. Below is a painting of one of our SA missions, painted by local artist "Brother Cletus".

 

 

 





 

 

Some old window frames finish out the long wall. You can't forget the Alamo, right?

 

 





I made this bulletin board out of an old window. Large clips were hot glued onto the chalkboard painted glass. It is usually a lot more messy than this!

You might be thinking, where is all of the junk that you need in an office? I kind of cheat because there is a closet that holds my filing cabinet, mail, craft supplies and all kinds of other stuff. I'll post that too but not today. I'll clean it up just a little!!! I do have a lot hidden throughout the room too though. The box on the desk hides the current things that I'm working on, files, paint and fabric swatches, etc. The bookcase houses my printer and baskets that store paints, glues, and other office supplies. On the desk, a galvanized silverware holder organizes pens, pencils, tape and scissors.

 

Of course I have a collection of decorating books for inspiration as well throughout the room.

I guess this picture sums it up...a longhorn skull with a little bling.

 Simple. Rustic. Uncluttered. Texas.

 

 

Breakfast Room Redo

Breakfast Room After

 



I decided that when I got my notice to renew my domain name that I needed to go ahead and start revealing some rooms on the blog even if they aren't finished yet because I realized that I am NEVER really done with any room anyway. We have done a lot in the house but I can't seem to finish anything because I get too distracted. I go from one room to the next as the mood hits me. Kind of like this blog I guess.  As we would say in my family, "Squirrel."

This picture was taken about one year ago. We decided to close off the bar area a little and create an arch that was centered on the light fixture in the other room. All of the walls were "builder beige" so I decided to do a dark color in the bar to contrast the white in the breakfast room. I like going neutral with the walls so I can change color schemes easily. The dark grey is Sherwin Williams Black Fox.

 

We chose used Chicago brick with for the walls. I love the antiqued look of it and the fact that it has history. Unfortunately, I didn't get a batch with a lot of color like the blue in the sample, but you get what you get. I asked the masons to turn any painted ones to the outside as they were going. This was NOT a project I wanted to take on myself!

 



If you do take on a project like this, even if you are not doing it yourself, be prepared for a mess. My masons were very good and careful but no matter how much you cover, there will be dust for weeks.

 

 

Originally, we had planned on doing a large barn door on this wall but then we decided that we didn't want to cover up all of the pretty brick we had just paid for and we didn't ever feel the need to close off the bar anyway. Luckily, we made this wall in the breakfast room a little larger so we could fit in my newest find. Yes, it does still cover up the brick a bit but when I saw it, especially at $350, I couldn't resist.

 

While shopping with my mom in Boerne, we came across a store on Main Street that had lost their lease and they were selling all of their display pieces. It seemed like a really good deal until we had to get it home. I'm sure Bill gets a shiver up his spine every time I tell him that I have found a piece of furniture. That's what happens when someone has a truck. After carrying this monster out of the store (It's bigger than it looks.),blocking Main Street traffic to get it in the truck, and a white knuckle drive home with it dangling off of the truck, I was very pleased with my find!

 



The new piece of furniture also provided a great space for my pot rack. I have old copper pots that I wanted to display so I found this iron quilt hanger that works perfectly. It is so hard to hang anything on the brick so I used cup hooks screwed into EZ anchors on the ceiling to hold the weight.

Overall, I'm pleased with the way it all came out...FOR NOW. "Squirrel!"