to you and you

Slightly obsessed with everything about this Christmas livingroom from Southern Living (I think??)

Added to my dream home files! Courtesy of Southern Living.

Only two more days...please take the time to drink in the special moments with your loved ones and let us not forget to celebrate the precious baby that was born on Christmas morn!

a holiday house tour

I spent the day Sunday at my mom and dad's house, baking, decorating cookies, and relaxing. (Oh, and I got my bangs cut!)  I thought I would share some of their holiday decor since this is where Jake and I will be spending Christmas.

The basement is country cozy; a throwback to our cabin Christmases.

Deck the Halls

I posted this home before. It's one of my all time faves. Jill Brinson Sharp's home, in my opinion, is the perfect mix of rustic and chic. I would be delighted to live in it! So, here she is all decked out in her natural holiday attire!

Featured on atlantahomesmag.com

Project: Christmas Wreath

I finally found a use for that chinsy "garland" Jake bought last year. Since it is not worthy of mantle or staircase drapery (I apologize if you like it), I used it to cover a $3.99 straw wreath form from the craft store. I tried using just the red but ran out 3/4 of the way, so I trimmed it and added the silver half way.

To make things interesting, I hung it from a 99 cent sparkly wreath hook using red ribbon. And let us not forget the JOY ornament placed in the center.

I hung it from an interior door- one in the diningroom to be exact- as I don't think it would weather the elements too well.

The other side of the diningroom houses our table and chairs, which we don't use very often, but they still needed a little Christmas flair.

Fun placemats huh? Thanks, Mom.

And now, the REAL reason for the season:

Christmas at our house

sorry, my camera stinks

It's definitely Christmas around our house. We've pulled out the little village and put our tree up. Originally we were going to go with a real tree and enjoy the scent of pine wafting through our little abode, but we decided to go the  lazy  easy route and just move my small white fakey into the livingroom. As long as I "got rid of all the pink ornaments I normally put on it." :)

So, there she is, all propped up and on display.

First wrapped present of the season. I'm a sucker for pretty wrappings.

The farmhouse dreams continue...

Let's take a quick break from all of the Christmas hoopla for a minute. Now, I'm probably teetering on obsessed with farms, white farmhouses, animals, etc. Well, I found another beautiful white home I would love to move into! Let's pretend there aren't any other houses nearby and its sits far off the road, surrounded by rolling green hills- k?!

The epitome of modern-chic-farmhouse. Ahhh...someday....

Christmas is not an emergency!

It is so important to me to be totally debt free someday. I want it so bad I can almost taste it. I was flipping through Dave Ramsey's "Total Money Makeover" the other day and one of the bold captions read:
"Christmas is not an emergency."

I love that.
Don't give in to all the hoopla that you have to spend thousands or even hundreds of dollars on gifts this Christmas--especially if you can't afford it. And like Dave says, do not dip into your emergency/savings funds just to afford Christmas. I know we are certainly cutting back this year in our family.
Be smart and follow some of the tips below:

 

HERE