Tis the Season!

How 'bout a totally random Christmas post? Just various samplings of Christmas cheer around the Parsonage...

The outside looks exactly like it did last year. As a matter of fact, it was the easiest part of my decorating! I left the trees and wreath all decorated and set those babies up in the attic as is. Alls I had to do was carry them down the stairs and plug 'em up. The best part is, most of lights still *worked* - that's a Christmas miracle for ya right there. 

A few scenes from the kitchen...

 My very crooked little kitchen tree...

And then here's a few shots from around the dining room.

(I still love these old skates!)

I'm enjoying the battery operated candle lights scattered around - they make things look so festive!

Ok, so hydrangeas aren't exactly a Christmasy flower...but I needed some filler. It works for me.

 There's a certain lil reindeer around here that is very curious about the Christmas tree...

What's not to love about a pouty little guy sporting a milk-dribbled chin, wearing reindeer antlers and monkey jammies?!? 

Carson asked if I would please make a Birthday cake for Jesus, since it was His Birthday. I couldn't turn that down, so we had red velvet cake to celebrate Jesus' Birthday. 

 We've been enjoying the Season...the glow of the tree, hot cocoa, fresh baked cookies, Christmas music...it's the most wonderful time of the year!

Merry Christmas to all of you!

It's Beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

We'll be doing a little Christmas tour over the next several days, as I try to play catch up! So for today...

Welcome to our Living Room.

 (And please forgive me for the ridiculous amount of photos in this post.)

I stuck with neutrals this year, and used lots of natural things - twigs, pinecones, birds, burlap...

Our poor Christmas tree...it was so beautiful when we first brought it home. But since then it's survived a toddler, a nose dive, a rewiring of the lights, and a number of redecorating sessions... it's starting to look a bit worn out!

 I got a new rug (on clearance!!) for this room a few weeks ago, and I'm LOVING how much brighter it is! 

I had fun with the mantel - gotta love those free chalkboard printables! 

 The fresh greens came from a pretty little tree in our backyard. It smells so good!

 (The little guys do have stockings, too  -they're in a different room.)

So that's the living room... till next time, Be Merry!

Merry Christmas...

from our house to yours!

I hope you're all having a wonderful Christmas Season! I was really hoping to have more pics for you and some better posts...but we're having some "technical difficulties"... 

Then the Christmas tree crashed to the floor... *BEFORE* I'd taken any pics of it, naturally. The little guys were quite pleased, as it soaked all the gifts and they were able to read through the wet wrapping paper and found out what they're getting! ;) 

But the tree has been replanted in the stand, the gifts dried out, and the mess all cleaned up.  Again. And now I think we can relax and enjoy the Season! 

I've totally missed out on the Days of Christmas posts this year, but I will catch up with a few rather lengthy posts in the next few days...providing nothing else crashes in the night...

New Goodies in the Shop!!

I've put some fun new things in the shop! 

I'm loving this charcoal tote with the mustard colored flower. Great for winter - I had to make one of those to keep for myself! 

 After some requests, I listed some Alabama ones with houndstooth, but they're already sold. I'll try to get some more made and restock. 

I also made some of these smaller ones, they're actually more of a purse size. I was thinking they would be great for little girls!

I like making the pockets out of fun prints. 

 I also had requests for Christmas bags, and that sounded like fun to me! So I have 2 different designs listed right now. This one's  my favorite. I love the jolly prints!

I've been putting pockets in all my bags now - it just makes them so much more convenient.

The most popular style so far is the shabby chic one...

I've made and sold 19 of those in the last 6 weeks. I think I could make it in my sleep!

I can't believe how well the shop has done! And seriously, if I could keep up with it better, I'm sure I'd sell even more. It seems like as soon as I restock something, it sells again. I've been open 6 weeks and I've sold 32 bags - that's a lot of sewing, people! At least, it's a lot when you've got a 16 month old running on the loose ;)  I've got to work on finding a good balance - how much time to spend on the shop, the blog, all my little guys, and my big guy, too. But, really I'm having fun with the shop, and am so thankful for each and every customer that has helped to make it a success!

Love Me Some YELLOW!

The sweetest hubby in all the world took me on a shopping trip for my Birthday. Really, it's a win win - he doesn't have to stress about what to get for me, and I get to SHOP! I was so excited to find exactly what I wanted - fun yellow lamp shades from Target. And I got the little yellow pillow there too, just to kinda balance things out.

 Such a small change made a huge difference in our bedroom. Hubby even commented on how adding 2 lamp shades made it look like a different room.  There are a few other things I'd like to do in here, too. Not so sure the banner works with the yellow, so I may change that. 

But that's not all...

I was SOOO excited to *finally* get my very own Jo Totes camera bag for my Birthday! Squeal!! This thing is seriously awesome. I can actually fit all my lenses and camera paraphernalia all in this one bag.
 And it's CUTE, too =)  

This here is one happy Birthday girl. It kinda eased the pain of turning 34.... ;)

And the winners are....

Dawnita from Lilla Rose just emailed me the names of the winners of the hair clips giveaway!

Sarah from Wisdom Begins in Wonder

"Dreamin'" from Living out the Dream

and Cindy from Oakview Cottage

Congrats to the 3 of you! And thanks to everybody for entering! 

It's Giveaway Time Again!

I was asked to do a review for Lilla Rose Flexi Clips. I had never heard of them before, but after I looked around on the website, I was SO excited to try them! The problem was deciding on which one I wanted :) There are TONS of designs to pick from. I finally chose the hummingbird design, because it is solid silver colored and will match anything. 

I also loved some of the ones that had pretty colors!

 And I just HAD to share this one! Who could resist flip flops?!

The website has some videos that will help you decide what size you need. I have SUPER baby fine and thin hair so I chose the extra small. It's still just a teeny bit loose for a pony tail, so I think a mini would work better for me. I do ponytails a lot when I need a quick do, for running errands, picking up kids, etc. 

But the extra small is perfect for a french twist, or any kind of updo! Seriously, I love this thing. For the style pictured below, I only used the clip and 2 bobby pins to hold some of the curls up, and it held very well, and felt very secure.

My sweet hubby wanted to be mentioned in the credits as the photographer ;) After all, it is very hard to get a pic of the back of one's head! Thanks for helping, dear - and I must say,  you're getting pretty good!

I was told to do an honest review of the flexi clip, but seriously, I can't find any cons to mention! I love it - it's light weight, it hasn't snagged or pulled my hair, it's way cuter than any barrette or elastic band, I can use it for a ton of different hairstyles, and it is super easy to use. Their website is great, too - there are videos there with tutorials for several different hairstyles. I've tried some of them myself, and they're SO easy! I know that a lot of my readers have long hair, and some of you have little girls, and it's hard to find quick and easy ways to do your hair. I have to recommend these to you - you'll love them! 

The best part is, Dawnita is giving away 3 of these to you peeps!! How cool is that?! She even sent me this pic with the instructions all written out for you.

 You can hover your mouse over the pic, or click on it, to make it bigger so you can read it better. 

 Sounds easy! All you do is leave a comment under this post, then visit her website and sign in so that she will have your contact info to send your gift certificate. No purchase is necessary. She will be drawing 3 winners in 10 days from this post. I will let you all know who the lucky winners are =) 

*Edited to add...
Some of you have commented about having thicker hair and you were wondering if these would work for you, so I'm adding a few pics of the bigger sizes to give you an idea of the different size options and how they work with thicker hair.

Most of you would probably need these bigger sizes, my hair is exceptionally thin which is why I had to have the extra small.