Tuesday, December 30, 2014

A Simple Way To Put Away Christmas

Most years, putting away Christmas decorations makes a huge mess...
We bring up all the plastic containers from the basement, take the lids off and proceed to take down the decorations from all over the house. 


This leads to a lot of running back and forth between rooms to the containers and decorations and pretty soon, there are 10-15 open, unorganized boxes everywhere. Of course, someone ALWAYS seems to drop by right in the middle of all this mess and it takes more than a day to do it, so this year I'm taking down Christmas a little differently. 

I brought everything to the dining room table and organized it by what box it goes into.

I put all the angels together, the stockings and pillow covers together, pinecones, etc. Here I have all the vignette decorations that will be stored in one box. Then, I bring a couple of boxes up at a time when, pack them up in an organized fashion and take them to the storage room.  

Taking down the Christmas decorations (not counting two trees) took me less time than it took for the washing machine to wash a load of laundry. Gotta love that!

lf someone happens to come over in the middle of all this, only the dining room table is cluttered. The rest of the house is de-Christmasfied and neat. I didn't have enough time to put it all away in one day, but we don't use this room on a daily basis anyway. 

I left our little tree decorated and will take that down New Years Day. 
I will leave up our nativity until Epiphany on January 6th. 



After all the decorations are put away, the containers will go on the shelves in the basement storage room. If you missed my "How To Store Your Stuff" post, you can see it HERE.

Are all your Christmas decorations taken down and put away?  If not, how long do you leave them up?

Happy New Year to all!!!

Pam

Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Merry Christmas 2014

So are you ready???
December flew by so fast this year and Christmas Eve is finally here. 
There are just a few things left to do around here; a few presents to wrap and some food to make and that's just about it.

It's time to relax and enjoy. I hope things around your house are calm and without stress.

Monday, December 15, 2014

Yummy and Easy Dessert - Chocolate Caramel Oreo Pie

Had to share this yummy chocolate dessert Mr. DIY made for our Sunday evening group last night. 
It was our turn for dessert and he wanted to make something special. He found the recipe on Pinterest and knew he had to make it. 
You're going to want to  pin this yummy treat so that you can make it too!

To his surprise, the pie only has five ingredients.


Thursday, December 11, 2014

Christmas Mantel 2014


Happy Christmas Season to you!

I decided to simplify things this year and limit the Christmas decorating and was able to get almost all the decorating finished by the weekend after Thanksgiving. A Christmas mantel, however is one space that must be decorated for the holidays.



It would be great to finish right after Thanksgiving since it would let me get everything else finished earlier and not be rushed that last week before Christmas.
You know the saying "the best laid plans"?

Monday, December 1, 2014

Christmas In The Breakfast Room

*this post contains affiliate links...

There is one room in our house that I love to decorate and change up all the time and that room is... 

Our Breakfast Room

Christmas, Breakfast Room, Christmas tablescape, Christmas decorating, Christmas decorating

The neutral paint (Revere Pewter by Benjamin Moore), the three windows and the inexpensive Ikea curtains make for a great backdrop.


Christmas, Breakfast Room, Christmas tablescape, Christmas decorating, Christmas decorating

Christmas, Breakfast Room, Christmas tablescape, Christmas decorating, Christmas decorating


This year for an easy centerpiece, I just put some vintage books with mini cloched Christmas tree ornaments inside a larger cloche and put it all on a clear glass cake stand. 
Christmas, Breakfast Room, Christmas tablescape, Christmas decorating, Christmas decorating


I threw in a vintage doily hand crocheted by my grandmother. 
Christmas, Breakfast Room, Christmas tablescape, Christmas decorating, Christmas decorating


I used some pretty napkins for placemats. The salad plates were my mother in law's. I think we originally gave them to her many years ago.They were from Restoration Hardware. They look great on top of some plain white china. Flatware is by Wallace. 
Christmas, Breakfast Room, Christmas tablescape, Christmas decorating, Christmas decorating


I can't remember where I found those ruby glasses many years ago. 
Christmas, Breakfast Room, Christmas tablescape, Christmas decorating, Christmas decorating

Christmas, Breakfast Room, Christmas tablescape, Christmas decorating, Christmas decorating

Christmas, Breakfast Room, Christmas tablescape, Christmas decorating, Christmas decorating


 I found the red and green garland at Lowe's a couple of weeks ago. The blingy snowflake ornaments were found at HomeGoods a few years back. 
Christmas, Breakfast Room, Christmas tablescape, Christmas decorating, Christmas decorating


The wreaths were a closeout several years ago from Home Decorators.com. I use a Command Strip hook to hang them from the windows. 
Christmas, Breakfast Room, Christmas tablescape, Christmas decorating, Christmas decorating



Christmas, Breakfast Room, Christmas tablescape, Christmas decorating, Christmas decorating







Christmas, Breakfast Room

Now that you've seen my favorite room to decorate for Christmas, what's yours? 
Would love to know!


Pam

*this post contains affiliate links, which means I'll make a small commission should you click on the link and purchase something.