Christmas Decor - Part 3

After going thru our Christmas decorations, I discovered we didnt have a wreath for our front door!  I went searching on Pintrest for ideas.  I found a couple that I really liked, so I decided to combine a few ideas onto one wreath.  Who says it has to be one style?  A little over the top is alright...

I went collecting thru my Christmas decor that was left over, and pulled some supplies, sprigs of red berries, evergreen sprigs with pinecones and green glitter ball ornaments.

Grapevine wreath from Walmart - $3.47
Santa Hat from Walmart - $.97
Ribbons - $2.97 a yard
Snowflakes (foam) in a pkg of 20 - $4.97 (I used the remaining snowflakes to make ornaments for my random acts of Christmas Kindness project)

My trusted miscellaneous ribbons for decorating this year.  This helps keep a cohesive look thru-out our home.

 Pictures of the supplies.  I tried to mix traditional with contemporary and have the wreath showcase alot of textures, nature and alot of  pops of color!

I stuffed the Santa Hat with paper towels to create depth and I added zebra print ribbon as a band.

Then I started layering away! 
I tied the ribbons in a random pattern, trying to alternate stripes, polka dots, animal prints, and glittered ribbons.
 I then inserted the greenery and the berries
Using hot glue I fastened the snowflakes, santa hat, and the ornaments to the wreath. 

Smothers Christmas Decor Part 2

Part 2 of our easy breezy Christmas Decorating! 


An easy dress up for your entryway chandelier!  Wrap a garland around the lights, jazz the greenery up with berry inserts (sprigs) and some ribbon.  I purchased the lime green ribbon from Walmart for $2.97 a roll.  You will see this ribbon many times over in our house. 

An easy fix for your celing fans in your bedroom.... Hang ornaments off of miscellaneous ribbons in coordinating colors. 

Lets not forget your bathrooms folks!!!!  You can tie the same ornaments used in the bedroom in the bathroom for a coordinating theme.  I tied these ribbons to the the shower curtain hooks. 

Here's a close up pic of the entry way light decor....

We have a bay window in our dinning room, a nice easy way to carry on the ornament theme, I tied ornaments on the miscellaneous ribbon, I did use bigger ornaments in this opening as the bay area is larger and the ornaments will fill this easier without seeming "over the top".  I strung 2 strands of star lights over the curtain rod to add additional variation and to fill the gaps between the ribbons. 

I decided to showcase our lantern collection this year in our bay.  The red lantern was carried by our ring bearer in our wedding, this features an battery powered candle as well as the various ribbons found around our house.
The candle in the largest lantern is a candle that is in memory of my father who passed away several years ago.  This candle was also lit at our wedding.  I filled the latern base with remaining bulbs to tie in the ornaments hanging above. 
I placed 4 sprigs of berries around the base of all the lanterns to tie collection together and to create a "base".

Simple Kitchen arrangement.  Nice and easy, and out of the way of cooking and baking.  This can be kept up all winter if desired as it sports a nice Winter theme instead of strictly Christmas decor.

Christmas Decor

It's Christmas time at the Smothers' household! 

Several of my girlfriends have asked me for tips on decorating for Christmas.  Everyone has their own style and color combonations that they like for their homes.  I believe the theories behind each style is the same though.  My main goal when decorating a home for Christmas is: Keep it simple, classic, and cohesive (one theme thru the whole house.)

1.) Layer your tree, lights, garland, ornaments, sprigs for filler, tree topper

2.) Add texture to your tree.  Either with 3-D elements that "POP!" out at you, thick ribbons and garlands, Feather Boas, perhaps curly willow for a more natural woodsy look.  Make your tree more texturized, especially if its a fake tree. 

3.) Balance your ornaments - if you use colored balls on your tree, use the theroy of "power of 3" when placing them on the branches.  Choose 3 coordinating colors of decorations (mine is Lime Green, Red, and White)  Try to place the 3 colors around each other in a grouping.  Never the same color besides each other though.    Place your special ornaments such as items your children have made in between the 3 ball grouping to break up the pattern. 
4.) Tree Topper - So many options for your topper, we have a snowmans hat that is whimsical and fun for Children.  If you are into floral options, fun choices include feathers making a "crowned" affect at the top of the tree and then adding floral sprigs in front of the feathers to complete the look. This is like a womans hair... its her crowning glory - or the tree's crowning glory in this case.  Pick or create a topper that glues your decor together while really making a WOW statement at the same time. 
5.) Depth - Adding depth to a tree is super simple, if you place some ornaments farther back on your branches this creates the illusion of a HUGE tree, one with deep branches.  Be sure to place the ornaments so you and your family can still admire them. 

Finished Product....

Our entry way in our house has a little nook that needed a touch of Christmas Cheer, one that welcomed guests when they came into our home.  This is the nook decor.... easy peezy... just empty boxes wrapped in gift wrap that coordinat with our tree decor.  This is also the same wrapping paper that we are using this year for under our tree for our gifts. 

Enjoy these decorating tips!  Please feel free to share your ideas for decorating!

Re-purposed Coffee Table Project

I have been wanting a bench for the foot of our bed for quite some time now.  I had certain things I was looking for with this bench.  I wanted it to be a place to sit when putting on shoes and socks, and I wanted it to also provide some sort of storage/organizational function.  I had found a picture online on Pintrest that sparked my interest.  They had covered an old coffee table.  I wasnt too jazzed about the completed look of their project, but I was jazzed by the inspiration that their idea provided!  I went on a witch hunt for a coffee table that would be propotioned correctly with the size of our bed, and would also fit in the needs listed above. 

I found an old coffee table at our local Goodwill for $9.99, it was heavy enough that it could withhold the weight of a person and it also came with a shelf underneath for baskets!  Not only can it have storage, it can be super cute storage to boot! 

This is the table with one faint coat of Rusteolum brown spray paint. 
Available at my local Walmart for around $3.00 a can - I used 1 can, and a little out of a 2nd can

View of the coffee table with the shelf for baskets....



In between coats of spraypaint, I was inside making my foam seat.



Materials Used and Prices:

I had 3 3" thick foam square pads from Hobby Lobby that were $6.99 each, for a total of $20.97

Scotch brand spray adhesive - heavy duty

Upholstery Material, Hobby Lobby - $17.99 a yard.   - I used 1 yard
(I picked a coordinating fabric that I thought went with our duvet, and added a little masculenity to the room, to balance out the floral in the duvet.)

I adhered the foam squares to each other, and then wrapped the fabric around the foam.  I wrapped it like you would wrap a present.  (This girl doesnt sew!) Each fold I sprayed with glue and held it until it dried and was good and stuck. 

Once the foam was covered I went back out to the garage and attached the newly covered seat to the coffee table.  Finished results....

I had the baskets already, so this saved me some money as well!!!

Cost Breakdown of project:
Coffee Table - $9.99
Spray Paint - $3.00 (I had on hand, but need to include price)
Spray Adhesive - $4.00 (I had on hand again)
Fabric - $17.99
Foam - $20.97, $6.99 a square

Total spent - $48.95 (I excluded the paint and the adhesive since I had on hand)

This is a whopping savings!!!!  The benches I have looked at started at $80.00 and went up in pricing, depending on how crazy you wanted to get.  I at least saved $30.00+ if not more, as the $80.00 bench wasnt a good fit for our bedroom, but I needed a starting point for pricing. 

This re-purposing project met all my needs and I am really pleased with the savings results and the decor results! 

This bench looks fantastic in our bedroom!!!!

The Never-Ending Laundry Land.....

Once upon a time... there was a lady.... and she ran her washing machine every day of the week... thus running the dryer every day of the week.... therefore going thru massive amounts of laundry detergent.... dryer sheets....water and electricity (much to the delight of the city of Pella, who Jerry Sandusky's you at every chance they can on city utilities, you know what I mean...).  She would collect clothes from all corners of her house, haul countless loads of dirty clothes to the laundry room, sort, wash, dry, fold, and place all the families clothes into baskets to be put away.... but not until the dreaded ironing was completed.  Now the lady of the house hating ironing so much that on certain occasions she rewarded herself for completing the ironing task with a nice glass of soda and something extra.  All items that required ironing recieved the attention that they need, on a very inconsistant basis.  After the muttering and the under the breath comments about the so-and -so clothing was ironed then clothes were put away in their proper places.  Now it needs to be mentioned that the lady of the house had a mild case of OCD and therefore all steps in completing the never ending laundry had to be completed in the process that her fantastical mind had made up....so clothing cannot be put away in their proper places before all laundry was washed, dried, folded and then ironed.  THEREFORE.... there is ALWAYS laundry everywhere and thus is the vicious cycle of the never-ending laundry.... 

(I cannot say the end.... as there never is an end....)

Once upon a time... there was a lady.... and she ran her washing machine every day of the week...

The moral of the story - I am thankful for piles of dirty laundry, it means I have family surrounding me!

Here's to the first of many...

Well here it is... my first post!   In the grand scheme of things I suppose to some this first posting is in comparison to mouse poop.  We all have to start somewhere.  So heres my pile of mouse poop!  LOL!

I am hoping this blog is a way to keep my family and friends in contact with our household, a way to share cute and special family moments with those who do not live as close as we would like.  Perhaps this is the easy way of not sending letters and pictures to those who deserve them.  I do hope that this is an opportunity for us to share a laugh at the everyday manusha that happens at the Smothers house. 

So I raise my glass to you all in a great "Salute" and say heres to many as the bottle hits the front of this "ship" and we go off into the world of blogging.  Cheers to you my friends and family!  May your day be full of sunshine and unicorns today!