Christmas House Tour 2013 - Part 2

Christmas is a week away! I am ready but my how time flies.The older two mini-pearls have finals this week. Is that supposed to make them appreciate the break that much more or make them so tired they don't care? Either way, they are working hard and Sweet Pea has two basketball games and we won't talk about trying to have some semblance of a social life.

Yesterday, I made good on a promise. We only have big blow-out birthday parties for the mini-pearls every other year now that they are all a bit older. Don't worry, a big deal is made of their days and they are properly feted and loved on, but not the all out beating, I mean, party with all of their peers. Mr. Pearl and I took ten, ten year old boys to play laser tag and brought them back to the house for pizza and cake. I promised Sport that we would celebrate his October birthday before the end of the year. I barely got that one in! For those of you not feeling like "mother of the year" that should make you feel better. Two months late is better than never, right? Hallelujah! Pass the Tylenol!

My pictures from this year's holiday decor aren't that great, but you can get the point and maybe imagine yourself with a cup of tea and some conversation with yours truly and then they seem much better! The house is festive though, but I keep fighting the urge to head to the store for more ribbons and garland. The mantle isn't just right and the tree is missing something. At least, that is what the voice in my head is saying. I am going to keep fighting that urge. The reason for the season isn't ribbons and garlands, it is the birth of our Savior and I am so blessed to be able to freely celebrate it! My wish for each of you is that you too remember why we have Christmas and that you are surrounded by those you hold dear and full of love!

I wanted to add a shot of Sweet Pea. Don't tell her you saw this, but since she won't let me take any pics of her, I am sneaking this one in! Her school did their annual presentation of A Dicken's of a Christmas. Sweet Pea played the part of the Ghost of Christmas Past. She was quite good and (pardon my momma moment) quite lovely on the stage. The shot below is of her and Scrooge. 

Bravo Sweet Pea!

Now for the tour, I used my good camera for these pictures, but my small lens is broken, so everything is a little up close and personal. This is our big tree in the family room; full of the kiddos homemade ornaments, my childhood ornaments, the children's annual ornaments that I will gift to them one day and lots of love.

The living room is a little more formal with a smaller tree and a few pieces of our Christmas village nestled beneath it, a feather tree and our Nativities.

This festive bowl is really saving ornaments from the ornament graveyard. These are broken but still spreading Christmas cheer!

The kitchen really shines at Christmas. The citrus green is so festive! Here is our hot cocoa station.

Love came down at Christmas

Love all lovely, love divine

Love was born at Christmas

Stars and angels gave the sign

Worship we the Godhead

Love incarnate, love divine

Worship we our Jesus

But wherewith for sacred sign?

Love shall be our token

Love shall be yours and love be mine

Love to God and to all men

Love for plea and gift and sign

-Traditional

Merry!

Krissy

Christmas House Tour 2013 - part 1

Merry,Merry All! We are thawing out from Icemageddon 2013 and I am finally going to post pictures of our home dressed in her holiday finery. Looking at all of the blogs out there, I feel a little inadequate at times, as I don't change my decor each year and don't tell my children, but I don't even pull out all of my decorations anymore. I like to call it "mixing it up", that way things seem new after a break of a year or two! I hope that I can be an encouragement to someone. It is okay to scale down on the decor and do less and concentrate on the true meaning of the season. You and your family will all be better for it! I would also like to add that my decorations would not have been possible without the help of my amazing elf - Mr. Pearl! He never complains about bringing down countless boxes from the attic, even if I only use one item in the box!

I can't make a post and not put in a few ICE pics! Growing-up in Texas, these are few and far between!

Don't ask me why Sport had his fake gun out. It was too precious not to show!

Ok, where is Sweet Pea you ask? Apparently it isn't cool to be photographed by your mom in the ice when you are in 7th grade, so, no pics of the princess. And that's all I have to say about that!

Stay warm my friends!

Krissy

Our Holiday Home - Family Room and Kitchen

Hello all! I hope your week is going well. The Christmas countdown is in full-swing! Are you ready for the holidays? Today, I thought I would share our kitchen and family room. Lots of color and Christmas fun. 

I love this window seat that we put in the breakfast room. We can seat a crowd around the table and it makes it cozy in the kitchen. The kitchen is not that big, so I wanted everyone to be comfortable because everyone always gathers here!

This is my little hot chocolate station. The chimney in the background is our Santa countdown. A gift from a dear friend, we remove a brick everyday until Christmas Eve and Santa moves a little lower down the chimney.

This is our family room and where we have our big tree. The tree skirt was made by Mr. P's grandmother and is the twelve days of Christmas. I absolutely adore this!

This is Kawliga. I had him made for Mr. P as a college graduation present. He has been with is for our entire marriage and keeps watch over our home.

xoxo,

Krissy

Our Holiday Home - Den

 I would definitely say that I am a traditionalist when it comes to holiday decor. I love the look of themed trees or an all white look, but I just can't seem to get there in my own home. I love color and I love my Christmas ornaments! I am fortunate to have quite a collection of Radko ornament. For years, my mom owned a store that sold them and I was the excited recipient of many beautiful, gifted Radko goodies. The result? My trees are every color of the rainbow and well, I love them. 

This year, I put a small tree in our den. The "big" tree is in the family room where we spend the majority of our time, but both trees are full of beautiful glass ornaments and the ones that I treasure most, the handmade projects from my children and a few from my childhood that my mom has passed on to me. I have another feather tree in this room, as well. I guess that I if one is good, two are better. Right? The wooden creche is one that Mr. Pearl and I purchased on a trip to Germany. 

This Welsh dresser serves as an ever-evolving backdrop to various collections and family photos. I sort of use it as a giant scrapbook of sorts. The dresser itself was a gift from my mom and dad, and all of the tiny trinkets and mementos on the shelves have a story to tell about our family. It is fun to change it out and add to it.

The pictures with Santa are of the mini-pearls and Mr. P as toddlers. Yes, your eyes do not deceive you, they are all bawling. Yup, I framed pictures of my terrified children with Santa. Ok, worse, I made them stay on his lap for the shot! Please don't call CPS on me, they are priceless! And, they do not appear to be permanently scarred by the event. All of them went on to take happy Santa pics. I have posted on this here if you would like to see them up-close.

The little girl with her doll in this picture is my grandmother. How cute is she? The Santa ornament is one that broke at some point, but it still had some jolly left in it. The pocket knife on the ribbon belonged to my father as a child and says,"Deputy Sheriff" on it. The tortoise box is one that my grandfather brought back from Korea and the horse is an antique toy I purchased at an auction. The cotton comb belonged to my great-grandmother.

The mantel is a work-in-progress. Eventually, it will be a shrine to the television. Mr. P has plans for one where the estate sale mirror now hangs. Also a work-in-progress, our stockings. I lovingly needlepointed my firstborn child a beautiful one. My second born has one that is halfway complete in my closet somewhere. So, I made her a lovely "interim" stocking that she has been using for eleven years. My third child? A purchased one from Pottery Barn. Where is the love? I did, however, add some extra fluff to the train, but it's one of those "third" child things that I swore would not happen at my house. Never say never people!

One of my favorite things about Christmas is the traditions that each family has around the decorations and celebrations. What is your favorite? Don't have one? Start one. It's not too late!

Happy Monday!

Krissy

A Pink Christmas - My Favorite Room

The front of our home is where our formal sitting room and dining room are. The space is really mine. I love to cozy-up and read in here or play the piano. The lighting is always so soft and soothing. This room also contains our formal dining space. I keep the dining table at it's smallest size, without any leaves, but when we have a large group for dinner, we can expand the table to fill the room and it makes for a wonderful meal. The walls in the room are painted Sherwin Williams Copen Blue and it is a wonderful, soft blue with a hint of turquoise. I have pops of pink in the upholstered pieces and pick up on that pink for my Christmas decor.

This is the room where I display my collection of vintage ornaments. They are faded and wonderful and have every shade of pink you can imagine! The entry table is our old game table that I recently painted with Annie Sloan's French Linen chalk paint with a dark wax finish. 

The feather tree is a Christopher Radko tree from a while back. The corbels are found pieces from a local antique store and the little house is a new vintage piece that I love!

The fence is a Victorian feather tree fence and is so delicate. Each little fence post can be removed and it still has pieces of flocking on it after years of use.

For the chandelier, I tied on some ribbon with tiny, little silver balls and mirabeau feathers.

This is my favorite little nook in the house. The nesting tables belonged to my grandmother and are a treasured gift. On the top table is a turquoise music box that belonged to my great grandmother and a collection of sterling baby rattles from the mini-pearls.

Hope you enjoyed the tour of my favorite room!
Merry HO-HO!!!

Krissy