Come On In: Christmas Home Tour

I decorated early this year in hopes that I would blog our decorations and share them over on Instagram. and here we are on December 14th, and I'm just now making the time to share. I swear in 2023, I'm going to be a better blogger. 

But, come on in, here's a glimpse of most of our Christmas decorations. 

In our entry way, we have our collection of hand and foot print art the girls have made throughout the years. This year, I'm thinking about letting the girls make a guided painting from You Tube, because their feet and hands are getting too big to fit on canvas, and we've just about made all the characters we can. 

Our hall table, has my antique wooden Santa's, our advent, some whimsical snowmen, and a little tree. 

Over in the dining room, we have greenery, wooden trees, and pearl sprays. 

I added a piece of greenery and bells to my dining room mirror, and used the buffet table to display some of my Spode collection. 

Our coffee table has a small nativity, a tree, another antique Santa, a wooden tree. 

And our little baby Jesus for our kindness manger. 

Our TV stand is my faux- mantle. I used greenery, lights, red sparkle ornamnets, and wooden reindeer.

We also have a basket of our favorite Christmas books, and Christmas cards from over the years. 

Our stockings our over and out of the way by the back door.

I added little ski's rather than wreaths to my kitchen cabinets, added a bow to my wreath above the microwave, and a wreath on the pantry door. 

I ended up keeping our tree simple this year. We decorated it the first weekend of December, and since we aren't going to be home for Christmas, I decided that we could just keep the tree simple this year. 

We also opted to not put out our Christmas village upstairs; it was just so much to do! 

But, I love how everything turned outl I love sitting by the twinkly lights and enjoying a family holiday movie! 

 

Come On In: Fall Home Tour

As always when life gets busy, blogging falls to the back burner and doesn't get done. Which is why I'm sharing our Fall decor in the middle of October, when it's been up for a month already, and in a month I'll be itching to decorate for Christmas. I love decorating for Christmas, but decorating for Fall is a very close second. 

So, grab a cup of coffee, cozy on up, and come on in. 

I added a few Fall touches to our entry way. A little wooden pumpkin sign from Target's dollar spot (last year), a ceramic owl, refreshened potpourri, and a metal sign, along with the cutest fabric pumpkin. 

The ceramic owl came from Wal-Mart a few years ago. I used a clear vase, to add in Fall potpourri that I've literally had for years and years. It has the prettiest Fall colors and I couldn't bear to throw it out, so I've saved it, and I re-use it every Fall. This year, I added in orange, cinnamon bark, and nutmeg essential oils to freshen it up a bit. 

Four years later and I'm still sad we don't have a fire place in this house, but I also love decorating this space as if it were one. I purchased the orange and cream felt pom banner from Hobby Lobby, add wicker pumpkins, decorated the tiered tray, and added a few more pumpkins inside the little nooks to complete the look. 

Last year, I decorated this tray with lots and lots of pumpkins. This year, I added a few on top along with a little wooden pumpkin "welcome' sign that I picked up at Target, and kept the decor fairly neutral. 

I added a dough bowl, and a few little pumpkins inside one of the nooks, but needed something to fill the space in the back and added in some faux leaves. 

Agh, this spot I'm so proud of! I've been looking for months for something to hang in our dining room that wasn't a bunch of family pictures. It needed to be large.... I have plans to add some beadboard, shiplap, or something to the bottom half of this wall... and with that in mind, I looked for a while to find the perfect piece. I love a neutral wood, and this mirror was exactly what I was looking for! Gretchen and I hung it all by ourselves, and I love it. I still walk by it and know that it was just waiting for our house. 

DJ's parents gave us the dry sink furniture piece, and I use it somewhat as a buffet. I added my grandmother's dough bowl, some pumpkins, and table runner for some color and texture. 

Our dining table was kept neutral with differen layers and textures. 

I'm not big on Halloween decor, but my children are. So, they have this little space in our entry hall just for them. I added bats on the wall, a big wooden spider, wooden ghosts, their treat buckets, a witches hat, and a little ghost feet painting. 

It's definitely a whimsical space just for them. 

Over the weekend, I rearranged our living room furniture- again. but I'm loving the arrangement right now. 

And we can't forget about this cutie pumpkin and floral picks that I picked up from Hobby Lobby. This side table needed just a little touch of Fall and these were perfect. 

Adalyn's New Room

Last Fall, Adalyn asked for a bedroom makeover. Although, I loved her bedding, because I had picked it out when she was 2, this 8 year old thought she needed a change! I took her to look at bedding, and then we surprised her with it on Christmas morning. 

And, then it sat in her room for a few weeks, before we finally had a "free" weekend, and when I was finally able to convince DJ to help me paint. 

We headed to the paint store and Adalyn immediately found a bright pink paint color that she wanted, and threw a lovely fit when I told her that it didn't match the bedding she picked out. We finally compromised on a lighter shade of pink, and DJ was not impressed! Back in our Tulsa house, Gretchen had bubble gum pink walls and I was obsessed with them. DJ did not want anything pink again, but when you have 3 daughters, your chances on no pink walls are pretty slim.  

We went to work painting the ceiling, and then painting the walls. Adalyn was a great little helper! We let it dry overnight, and the next day, we were able to load everything back in to the room. 

I was nervous that the pink paint was actually too light, and I wasn't sure it would go with the curtains or some of the decor we already have, but it couldn't have match any more perfectly than it does! 

We rearranged the way her bed was facing in the room which gives her a little more floor space. 

Above her bed, we added her 1st birthday canvas, a ceramic flower (we have plans on adding another) and a woven rainbow. 

She had these painted frames in her last room, and they just so happen to match her new bedding, so we moved them above her desk, and she can use them as little "art" frames. She also had the "Land of Make Believe" banner in her last room, but it had rainbows at the end that were at the end that didn't quiet, match, so we slid those off and hung above her desk. 

Above her nightstand is an octagon shelf from Target's Dollar Spot. It holds a few trinket gifts and a few oils that she can use at night to help or sleep or throughout the day. 

We kept the wreath from the hospital door when she was born, the metal "A" and hung a picture of her and Bailey. 

We love how her room turned out. The little pom pom pillows, and the mustard throw adds some fun colors other than pink :) And while I had thought I'd repaint her night stand, I'm thinking it's actually still perfect for her. 

Comforter

Shams

Pom Pillows

Mustard Pillow

Ceramic Wall Flower 

Rainbow

 

Come on In: DJs Office

I'm fairly certain that when we moved to Texas, I never actually completed a full home tour. We've been here 3 years, and I still have a ton of painting and touches that I want to do, but gosh, time sure does get in the way of that! 

Last week, I was home and I deep cleaned DJ's office, and figured that I should probably share this space, because I'm certain I never shared it after moving in. Whew, that was long winded. 

His office is the 5th bedroom in our home, so I love that it has closet space to hold some of his crap stuff. 

Here's a peek at his office from the door. 

This room is filled with memorabilia from all of the schools we've been at. We are slowly adding some Texas memorabilia to the mix. I have some bowl things that I need to have framed, but we are waiting until we have more of a collection. 

This bookcase holds footballs, photos, trinkets, books, helmets, game day passes, and more from all of our old schools. 

DJ is a huge Cubs fan. His dad made him the "baseball cabinet" which holds his entire collection of baaseball cards from when he was growing up. Above are a few photos we've purchased form the Cubs, their world series baseball and replica ring along with DJ's old glove. 

More photos, bowl watches, and a paper bevo, that I have no idea how we have. 

Behind his desk are more footballs from bowl games, we use these mounts for the balls. 

DJ's mom purchased these wooden signs for us to display all of the school's he has worked at. 

So, there's a little peak at his office. It's a manly space just for him, because Lord knows he needs it in a house full of girls! 

3 Things.

We are counting down the days to Spring Break over here. I almost didn't publish a blog post today, because I am just ready for a vacation, but then I thought I'd share a quick 3 things today. I'll also share my regular Friday Favorite round up and then I'm taking a week off from this blog space while we are on vacation. 

1. Warmer Weather

We have been getting a tease of warm weather days and it is wonderful. Last week, the girls rode bikes to the park one afternoon, and last Wednesday, Adalyn spent an hour outside riding her bike and I walked and it was wonderful. Spring days make me super lazy inside the house though and I just want to be outside enjoying the sunshine. 

2. Kite fun

We had some wind and the girls decided it would be fun to fly kites. The sun was shining, the wind was blowing, and they flew their kites all over the backyard. It was so much fun watching them run around. I'm telling you, the warm weather ruins me. 

3. Clean Rooms

This weekend, I sent the kids outside and I overhauled their bedrooms. They needed to desperately be cleaned and re-organized. I pulled out piles of clothes that are too small, switched closets around..... Gretchen's too small clothes went to Megan, Megan's went to Adalyn, and Adalyn's clothes went to our neighbors. I dusted, threw away trash, cleaned out toys It felt so good to get their spaces back to a functional space. 

Since COVID hit last year, we've been home so much more and while we have been trying to balance work, homeschooling, activities- I have become really lax in the cleaning department. Especially upstairs. It got so bad that I didn't even want to go upstairs because I knew I would get mad at what a disaster it was. Like, I stopped tucking the girls in at night, because the mess would enrage me. I'm also a perfectionist, so even though they would clean and pick up, it wouldn't be to "my standards" and it was just a big mess. So, it was easier for me to ignore it and pretend it wasn't there. 

Every once in a while I would try, but it just got to be to much. Anyway, I just needed them out and for me to do it and have it done, and now we can move forward with them making beds every day, dusting weekly, and a more regular cleaning schedule. It feels god to have it done and much more manageable right now. 

 

Organize It: Linen Closet & Master Closet

Last week, I shared our pantry re-organization with y'all, and I thought while I'm re-organizing/purging/cleaning, that it would be a fun little min-series for y'all!

So today, I'm sharing how I've organized our linen closet in the master bathroom and some ways I organize our bedroom closet. 

Here's a clean view of our closet. Each shelf has it's purpose. 

The top shelf holds extra linens and blankets.

Below it is "DJ's area" where he stores extras: toiletry bags, shaving supplies, etc. 

Then, I have a shelf with extras: nail polish, lotion, makeup, oils, etc. 

Then we have towels

And below it, hand towels, wash clothes, kids nail polish, toiletry bags. 

I have a small basket that I keep my most used nail polishes in. 

I have plastic tote buckets to hold things too. Hairsprays, lotions, hair products, bath bombs, etc. 

I like using clear containers because I can see exactly what is in each one. Also, I have had these totes since college when they were drawers, but the actual tote pieces have broken. 

When we moved to Texas, and found our selves short of a linen closet for sheets, etc. (because I'm using the linen closet for my oils) I bought these bags from Amazon to keep spare sheets in. 

Alright, I also wanted to share under my bathroom sink....

I use a silverware organizer to organize my makeup. 

I have a tiered shelf for extra bottles. 

And I just put up command hooks to hold my ponytail holders, which I think is a genius because we were constantly loosing them! I told DJ that he could get my ponytail holders for Christmas and he found some that came on a ring, so the rings hook nicely on to command hooks, and now we always know where they are! 

On our bathroom, I have all of the oils that I'm constantly reaching for close at hand. We ordered it from Tucker Design Co, and it's one of my favorite pieces to have. 

Alright, let's head in to the closet. 

We don't have a dream closet by any means, but I've been able to utilize the space efficiently by using lots of hooks. 

We have a ton of wall space in our closet, so again, I hung command hooks to hold my purses. 

I've also considered buying these for DJ's hats. 

Another thing I try to do to have our closet aesthetically pleasing, is using all of the same color hangers. 

I also organize my clothes by season and color, which helps me find just what I need. 

I use an over the door hanger to hold bags, ropes, and hats. 

And a jewelry holder on the wall for earrings, necklaces, and bracelets. 

I find that if things are just given a space, and hung up that there seems to be less overwhelming clutter. 

Alright, so here are a few tips:

1. Purge. You do not need 5 different foundations and 20 different eye shadow palettes. I literally only have what I need on  hand and buy more right as I'm starting to run out. 

2. Use containers to hold the clutter. Plastic bins, storage totes, etc. Give everything a place. 

3. Hang it up. Utilize the wall and door space.

4. Make it Match. Keep your hangers the same color, and organize your clothes by color. 

Alright, your turn! Share some of the ways you've organized your linen closet or master bedroom in the comments!