Christmas Home Tour 2016

Merry Christmas everyone! 

I have gotten quite a bit of new Christmas decor this year...

Recycled Christmas at the Catholic Church is the best!

It is so wonderful having a house to decorate... especially at Christmas.

I changed a lot up from last year - and got a 2nd tree!

Anyways, here we go...

The entryway display

Lots of faux white pine in an old tool box.

Notice I dry brushed the frame white since the fall display? 

It was cool with the gold but just too dark for me of course ;)

A crate and little milk stool underneath that's also painted ASCP French Linen to match the console table.

Aaand then there is THIS beauty. A favorite homemade gift from last Christmas.
My sister painted this reindeer for me because I LOVE reindeer and she loves me.

I got a new frosted wreath for this mirror - from recycled Christmas for $2. One of many scores.

A touch of plaid is always festive!

My gorgeous tree! Right from the woods - just the way I like em.

And let me brag up my wonderful mother... She made me this tree skirt last year for Christmas - another one of my absolute favorite gifts. She knows me well.

I also made it to Hobby Lobby before the Christmas season and got some more pom-pom garland, so I had enough to go up the entire tree this year.

Another favorite score from recycled Christmas was a bag of hand made, crocheted, snowflake ornaments for 50 cents. They are my "filler" ornaments.

Ladies...let your husband help decorate!

I had plans to hang all these snowflakes in my bow window and ended up having him do it since he's 6'3". Well...I ended up LOVING his placement. I'm glad it was all random. 

Sometimes I tend to be a little too symmetrical with things and it just doesn't turn out the way I actually wanted. He gets me. :)

This vintage glass pinecone ornament is a new favorite this year. $1 recycled Christmas ;)

I made a very simple, little village this year with these buildings I got for 50 cents a piece at Salvation Army. Mostly because I would like a life size version of that house!

I don't know that Santa will fit in the front door or down the chimney in the back... 

It's not about proportion anyways right? hehe

*JOY*JOY*JOY*

Calla trying her best to pose pretty...but mostly wanting to come smell the camera.

A few little trinkets on the side table.

And on the other side table...

My hutch filled with Christmas goodies

A very simple little nativity...and Uncle Dan in the left corner, who is spending his first Christmas up in Heaven literally that close to Jesus. <3 

Not sure if he's actually vintage, but I think he's cute!

And these little ladies actually are vintage! 50 cents a piece at... you guessed it.. recycled Christmas!

A vintage caroler I found at Salvation for 50 cents

The tree looking a little more Christmas-sy with some presents.

A touch of Christmas in the bathroom... 

Taking advantage of the ledge on our weird 70's mirror/medicine cabinet thingy

I got these cute towels last year as a hostess gift from Aunt Pat and Uncle Dan.
The little church light was $1 at Recycled Christmas.

A reminder hanging in the kitchen window.

Okay...I am so stinking excited about this garland my mom grabbed at Recycled Christmas for $2.

I wish I had a better picture of it that showed the quality. When we got it home I thought wow, this looks really nice, like the kind we used to sell at a nice home decor shop I worked at. I then spotted a hand written tag..like the kind you see at home boutiques...$50! I left the tag on for now just cause it makes me happy! :D But seriously...who donates that!? Apparently that's not a lot of $$ to someone.

A little kitchen display...kinda thrown together with things I didn't know where to put ;)

And now on to the dining area...and my new tree!

The red is living in the dining room again this year.

A homemade ornament on the chandelier that my great grandma Sophie made.

I love this vintage table runner that I got at a garage sale for $1. I forgot to take a picture more close up but it has the cutest little reindeer and Santa in his sleigh.

And now...my new tree!

I got this last year after Christmas for 75% off... $10.

And I REALLY had to convince my husband that we would "need" two trees.

But I'm glad he let me get it...and I think he is too because everyone has said they think it is really pretty. :)  

It's my more "glamorous" tree.

I kept all the ornaments silver and gold...and added my pink pearl garland.

That's how you class up a $10 tree ;) 

The lights really glow off of the white.

And at this point there is absolutely no more room for another Christmas card! I love feeling the love...and getting fun mail this time of year.

Almost time for the house to be packed full of family and to start opening the presents!

I do my best to make the home feel cozy...with very little money. 

Good thing I love thrifting!

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas celebrating our savior... His birthday is the reason we go all out decorating! It's a special time of year...a time to make our homes feel extra special and cozy and filled with love.

Peace, Joy, Hope, Love, & Blessings to you this Christmas,

Olivia

Fall at our House

So, I didn't really think I could call this a "Fall Home Tour" like all y'all other real bloggers,

Because...lets be honest, I basically just decorated the entry way and had enough fall decor to do one little vignette inside. ;) 

But fall is beautiful all on it's own, and we certainly have enough colorful leaves around us to look out at from every room in our home.

In the outside entry area (still under construction) I put my huge mum in a bushel basket that I got from a garage sale for $1. We used it all summer to haul veggies from the garden up to the kitchen, and now it has a new purpose. I put the two smaller mums in old, rusty galvanized buckets that I got for free from an old barn that was going to be tore down.

And, since taking this picture I put the pumpkin behind the mum up on a little milk stool so that it can be seen better.

 This mum really is sooo huge! They were selling them at our little Mennonite grocery store in town 2 for $18! What a steal...so mom got each of us one.

You can see how big the mum is next to our puppy - yes, that's right...we got a puppy! 

She has been the excitement in our lives since the beginning of September.

Meet Calla (as in Calla Lily) our Catahoula leopard dog.

She was one of 6 brought to our humane society from Texas.

We LOVE her. She is seriously the sweetest.

This thing almost takes over the little porch area.

Here is the "fixer upper" update picture - we're making a "mini porch". 

The roof had to get re-done this summer, so we added this off the front for some more curb appeal. 

It probably won't get fully finished until spring when Matt will build new, wider steps over the concrete ones, and I will have more room to decorate! We will also have another white beam going horizontally across the top and a more decorative look there.

Calla is all dressed up in her fall scarf my mom brought her.

And now inside to my entryway fall vignette...

All of my fall decor has been either gifted or is from the dollar store ;)

I have plans to paint a sign on barn wood for inside of this frame...just not quite sure when I'll actually get to it. It works either way though I suppose.

I seem to keep finding plenty of ways to decorate with this old crate (that we kinda stole from my mother-in-law). If you remember my Christmas tour I had it sitting horizontally with a little nativity scene in it.

 

These are my favorite pieces of fall decor. 

My sister-in-law got me the leaf bowl last year for my birthday, and the ceramic pumpkins are from dollar tree! The one in the back is the prettiest, but it was a little lonely, so I had to go back and get the other uglier two to keep it company. ;) 

As far as the rest of the house goes...

I have this miniature garden area from moving my plants inside for the winter.

A couple of these were ones I had gotten just for annuals outdoors, but I figured I could see how they do inside this winter...maybe re-use them outside next summer!?? haha

In the dining area we hung up some sheers, mostly because we never got around to switching out this window for the sliding glass door that we have (which will become the main entry out to the deck and the side door in the kitchen will become a window/pantry area). I figured I can close them in the dead of winter when I am sick of the snow (Jan. Feb. Mar.) and they will still let light in.

In the living room we gained another chair.

An awesome, white, ikea one! And it was a free hand-me-down from a friend that was moving.
I really like it, and so does Calla because now she can sit up there and watch the deer and squirrels. 

Okay, so there is nothing fall in the bedroom, except for the fact that when you look out the window there is a brilliantly red tree! However, my photography skills are not there yet, so you will just have to look at the tree below and imagine I was able to capture it through the window...

Yes, this one! The view out our bedroom window. 

And the woods behind it are all golden yellow.

Calla playing in all the leaves.

All the leaves we get to rake and blow... and this is only about half!

I am really thankful for beautiful mature trees though, so I think it's worth it. 

The garden...ready for it's last harvest (mostly just cherry tomatoes still going) and then it will get ripped out and moved to the compost!

(I have tons of pictures of us (Matt) building the garden that I will hopefully one day turn into a post.)

Calla says, "thanks for stopping by to view our fall pictures!"

Hope everyone is enjoying the smells and flavors and colors of fall.

Have a blessed week...

~Olivia