SPRING TREASURES FROM TARGET

I really needed a day out today so I took a drive to Target, my favorite place to browse! 

I headed for that cute little section in the front of the store that displays everything that is currently in season. It's all well priced and it makes me feel like I'm getting a "great deal" since the prices are quite reasonable. 

I was primarily looking for something Easter/Springish (if that's a phrase) for the center of our kitchen table. Well I hit the jackpot, come take a look.......

EASE THOSE HOLIDAY MOMENTS

Holiday Blessings to all!

'Tis the season for everything Merry and Bright! This special time of year can be stressful in many ways. I'm here today to share some ideas on how to ease some of those moments!

So how do you decorate a small home without interrupting the precious living area, by keeping the decorating to a minimum. With all of our worldly goods in storage I had to be creative this year. I wanted to keep the cost down, because we have alot of Christmas decor that will be out of storage by next Christmas so why duplicate.

I have always loved mixing high and low end decor together, I find it quite rewarding. I decided to keep things to a minimum, but wanted it to be a cozy and warm Christmas 
without the expense.

I went shopping at BIG LOTS, a store near us. I was focusing on Christmas decor, so when I walked into the store I headed directly to the Christmas area. It was delightful!! I browsed the aisles up and down finding some of the cutest and most beautiful items. I spent a good deal of time and left with some sweet treasures! Check out the ornaments below.

I had the deer in a Christmas box I had leftover from a Christmas party we held here in Florida one year. The tablerunner is from Target this year, as well as the gold vessel holding the greens.

I picked up a Smith and Hawken white Amaryllis bulb from Target and it has become this beautiful display of white. The vintage ceramic tree is very special to me. Many years ago when I was taking a ceramics class I created a tree much like this, and it was broken during one of our moves. Our daughters' and son-in-law surprised my husband and I last year during Christmas break taking us to a ceramics studio where we all recreated the "same" tree! We had such fun and made some wonderful family memories. Now we "ALL" have the same tree in our homes at holiday time.

The Christkindlmarket 2015 hot chocolate cups were from our trip to Chicago when we visited our youngest daughter. We all enjoyed our cocoa and now these little cuties are part of my Christmas decor every year! The gold brush trees are from Target in the $1.00-$3.00 area in the front of their store where seasonal things are displayed.

The last little vignette is in the foyer of our home.

I didn't spend alot of time on my wreath this year. I hot glued some ornaments to an old wreath and added a new plaid bow. Easy!

This year my daughter and son-in-law gave us the ornament below. Inside this ornament are actual pieces of music that the Charleston Symphony has performed. This symbolic gesture means alot to us, because they were married in Charleston one year ago. The Swarowski ornament for "2018" is something we buy for each of our children and ourselves each year. 

The photo below gives you an idea of how beautiful ornaments of every price range can look on your Christmas tree. So if you enjoy shopping for beautiful things, don't forget to stop by those affordable stores that can make your Christmas tree as pretty as this!

Last but not least....our sweet sweet granddaughter Catherine, is nearly 10 months old. She "loved" Santa and he loved her! These photos were taken in Avalon Park, Alpharetta, GA. If you ever get a chance to visit there at Christmas time it is quite a sight. Their Santa was the most realistic and kind man.....his beard and hair were actually real!

Remember the holiday decor is not about how much money you spend, but

how beautifully it is displayed!

From my family to yours we wish you a very special holiday season!

Lots of changes are ahead for hubby and me.

See you in 2019 with all of the scoop!

Kathleen

DIY-BUFFALO PLAID RUDOLPH

Welcome to DIY day at TLB!!!

First if all I want to wish my middle daughter a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY today! I hope you have a wonderful day!! xxoo

I'm jumping ahead to Christmas today, because I couldn't wait any longer. I don't know about you, but I have been inundated with holiday catalogs! I love Christmas and the holidays in general, so it is so hard to contain myself from not doing at least one project a little early.

In one of the catalogs I received, I spotted the cutest Buffalo Plaid Deer. They looked as if they were made of paper mache' covered with Buffalo Plaid. So I've improvised a bit, and made my own version.....that I call DIY-- BUFFALO PLAID RUDOLPH. Stop over to see how to make them........

My Style---Our Master Bedroom

We loved the floor plan of our Houston home. With just two of us it was such an easy house to live in. Downstairs included a 2-story family room, an over-sized kitchen, laundry room, butlers pantry, formal dining room, study, powder room, and of course our Master suite. This included an attached Master bath also. Upstairs were 3 bedrooms, 2 baths and a media room. It was great when the kids came home, because they had their own personal space, and when they weren't there, cleaning the downstairs was a breeze!

After living in that house for 3 years we transferred to the Northeast. Because we loved the convenience of the first floor Master, we set out our sights on finding just that once again. Our poor realtor, Ginger, had her work cut-out for her. After narrowing down our search to a specific area, much to our delight, Ginger found us just the right house with of course, our first floor Master.

Since every stitch of our house was renovated in some way, the master was no exception. But good bones and architecture prevailed. I honestly have spent most of my decorating dollars on the rooms that are most visible, family room, kitchen, etc. When it comes to the bedrooms I stayed pretty simple.

The Master is no exception. I first started using our bedroom wall color--Benjamin Moore, AC-2-Berkshire Beige, when we built our Central Valley, NY house in 2002. Since then the same color has graced the walls of our Longwood, FL home, our Houston, TX home, and now our Princeton, NJ home. I guess you could say I LOVE this color. It is one of those colors that are unique to lighting. In our Northern homes it appears a bit more green-gray, and in our Southern homes more gray. Heaven forbid if they ever discontinue it!  I know when I say gray you are thinking a cool color, but it is exactly the opposite.......the room is calming, warm and very inviting, just as we like our "Master Retreat" to be.
 
This is a photo of the bedroom BEFORE we purchased the house.

Here are a few photos of a portion of our Master Bedroom AFTER.

We had new windows installed, contracted the painting of the ceiling, trim and walls to be done. And found a local company to restore the wood floors back to their original state. Lastly the ceiling light was replaced with a Minka Aire, oh so quiet fan......something Ron and I can't live without anymore!  Must be a Southern thing!!

I just found this pillow in Target and LOVE it on the chair!

I am not a person that likes clutter.....but especially in the bedroom. I believe our bedroom should be our sanctuary. A place to relax and escape our hectic lifestyle..........one thing we do miss in this bedroom, is the fireplace that we had in the Houston house. Now that was amazing! Great job finding that house for us Phoebe!!

I hope you have enjoyed taking a peek into our tranquil Master Bedroom.

                                                                 Sweet Dreams!

                                                                     Kathleen

House Tour 2013-Table Vignettes

I love making festive vignettes throughout the house. Little surprises here and there of more holiday cheer. Here are a few of my tabletop creations this year.

Last year I found this covered house. I just fell in love with it. I added leftover greens from other projects, ribbons, lights and glittery poinsettias and this is the final creation on our coffee table.

This is the very first year I have ever displayed our nativity on a sofa table. I normally placed it underneath our Christmas tree. I rather like its location this year, as it is much more visible to everyone as they enter the family room.  I actually painted this in ceramics class in "1981."  Our nativity has been displayed in all of our houses, and traveled well throughout all of our moves. It is one of most precious Christmas displays we have.

This year I added another Villeroy Boch piece. I loved this scalloped dish and the gorgeous detail.

1. The first photo is of our tree skirt. This was embroidered in Perrysburg, OH years ago. Santas and our family last name complete the beautiful skirt.
2. Santa and his bag of toys, mercury glass candlesticks and DIY Christmas trees made from styrofoam and ornaments glued on,  are on top of our TV unit.
3. A new addition this year in the next photo is the green ceramic Christmas tree from Pottery Barn, and the hurricane lantern next to it. The Pottery Barn tree may be lit from within with strings of lights for a really pretty affect.
4. The next photo features the  NOEL DIY pillow project that I made earlier this season, and a beautiful Tartan plaid Santa--a result of a Home Goods shopping trip!

 Last but not least, I transformed my previous DIY chalkboard giving it a more festive look. I added the framed "B" and of course the 3 tiered glass pedestal dishes were filled with snow, glittery pine cones, silver ornaments and my little white owl, a new gift this year! I added the lights as a nice touch for an evening glow.

Isn't he cute?

This completes the vignettes throughout the house, but wait there is more  holiday decor coming up!

ENJOY!
K