Christmas Re-Cap...

I realize that we are well on our way into 2010, but since I was so far behind on my blogging and missed out on all the Christmas fun, I thought I would do a bit of a Christmas Re-Cap.  Atleast this way when next Christmas rolls around I'll be able to remember what I did this past Christmas.  Right now I can barely remember yesterday.  My memory is like swiss cheese, full of holes!  Anyway, here are some of my favorite things from this Christmas.

I scaled back this year in all areas.  We bought less.  We did more hand made.  I even decorated less.  I had a hard time getting into the decorating and it felt a little forced, so I spent less time decking the halls and a lot more time enjoying the season with my boys.  Looking back, those changes were all for the best.  With that said, I didn't put up all of my trees.  We did the boys' tree in the family room:

This tree has all of the ornaments they have made or picked out in their short little lives. They are all about the colored lights, so I just go with it.
This is the mantle in the family room.  Walker helped me put it up and he was so proud.  It is in the same room as the boys' tree so it also has colored lights.

Walker got a new tree for his room this year.  It was a tacky little tree, but he LOVED it, and that is what matters.

Connor's tree is white and he enjoys having one in his room so much.

I put the 30 year old tree from Lon's childhood in my kitchen window. It holds ornaments the boys have made in church and school.  Those are the most special ornaments to me.

I hung this wreath that I "beefed up" on the front door.

I put this tall wooden snowman on the front porch.

I put all of our Christmas cards on a simple ribbon.

We made a lot of people birdhouses:

We made the boys teachers ornaments and some baked goods.  This is one of Walker's ornaments.

And here is Connor's ornament for his teacher.

But more than anything else, we spent time together.  We crafted, baked, watched Christmas movies, and drank more hot calorie laden drinks than it should be legal to consume in a month's time.  Guess that explains why I will be starting Weight Watchers Wednesday back up on Wednesday!  I hope your Christmas was a great one, full of special times with family and friends too!

Coat Rack Re-do...

Hey friends! I am finally getting back into a daily routine and that means back into blogging! I have several projects I finished in the past month or so, and I will start posting about them this week.

I don't know about you, but we have a "Catch All" coat rack/shoe bin that is right inside the backdoor from the garage. It has bugged me since we moved into the house over a year ago. I was uninspired to do too much to it though, with all of the other projects that I had going on. Now that most of the bigger projects are done, I am moving on to smaller things. This coat rack was on that list.

Here is how it looked for the past year:
And here it is now:

The shelf is 48 inches wide and is stained in a dark finish. I was originally gonna put a piece of beadboard on the wall and stain it the same color, then try to find a bench to sit at the bottom so it looked more like a built-in. But when my mother in law came across this trunk, and it was already the right size and color, I abandoned the original plan and went the easier route. I got a great deal on the trunk and just made a cushion for the top.

As for the rest of the decor, I shopped my house so I didn't have to spend any moola. I mixed a bunch of paints together and created a blue that I liked. I painted the Welcome sign and "HOME" letters in that. I made the floral arrangements for my mantle a long time ago, and didn't like them there, so I moved them and they work much better in this space.

What do you think of the new space? I love it! It is so much more functional and it just makes me happy when I come in the back door, and isn't having a home that makes you feel good what all the decorating is about anyway?

I am linking up to Kimba's DIY Day: