It's a Christmas Party

It's official! I have completely lost my mind!

After having been gone for NINE DAYS and TWO HOURS on our "spontaneous" football National Championship "vacation" - HA, HA - I walked into my home during the wee hours of the morn and sat down to my computer(S) because I didn't want to miss a party.
A party people...with you!!
No, the van isn't unpacked, but the cooler is empty.
Is that good enough?
Ladies, this is not just any party, but a gazillion of the best parties in town.
Could you not have spread them out ladies - Boo Mama, Thrifty Decor Chick, and Julia?
Kimba, Rhoda?
I have no social calendar for months, and now they all fall at the same time?
When I have no time for quality blogging?
Talk about balancing beauty and bedlam!
Here I am wanting to impress you with small moments of beauty, so I decide to go techie on you and load pics from my laptop while typing on my main computer...guess what...blogspot doesn't like that very much.
I lost all of my verbage!! AHHH!!!!
Therefore, I really don't have time to be the hostess with the mostess at 3:00am...come back later for the Homemade Gourmet treats. Right now, all I have to offer are these.....
Don't worry, they've only been sitting here for two weeks, but my heat was turned down very low, so apple pies - here we come.
Last week, The Nester got us all imagining we could be her with our garlands.
It was lots of fun sprucing up our mantles.

Since my conscious is guiding my time right now, as well as the fact, I have numerous toothpicks holding open my eye lids, I will just give you a sneak peak into my many tree with some of the pictures I already had loaded.
One of my traditions is to give each of our five children an ornament every year, as well as making some together.
When we "launch" them into adulthood, they will leave with a set of handmade Jesse Tree ornaments (post coming this week), as well as the ornaments that we have collected each year. It became a bit of a challenge to figure out how to decorate with a variety of styles, so now we have "compromised" and have SIX trees.
Yes, it's the only thing I do up big.
(more trees at We are that Family...I'm really late to that party :)

I have One large 9 foot tree that the kids call the "fancy tree."

Diamonds are a girl's best friend, aren't they?

This is the tree where I can indulge my white light fetish,
as well as pretend that I am dripping in gems.
I am not really a diamond kind of gal, but during December, it sure is fun.

Only fancy ornaments are allowed...gold, diamonds, ivory/burgundy ribbons, oh, and I can't forget the pearls.

Then, in our foyer, we have the kids' tree. (pretend picture here)
They can have as much fun as they want...colored lights, colored ornaments, and it always looks spectacular. They really want to feature it in the great room, but I haven't been able to give up gazing and gawking at the fancy tree yet. Maybe next year.

I then have four small trees.
1. The most meaningful is our Jesse Tree, and I will go into detail on it Wed.
2. My music tree, which began when my very first bridal shower invitation asked every one to bring a musical type ornament (I was in full time ministry leading worship at the time).

3. My angel tree, which began at age 16, when my mom and dad presented me with my hope chest that had many special angel things in it.

4. And, of course...a sports tree.
Three boys....need I say more? (and yes, the girls love it too)

Definitely... GO PACK...we have quite a few more of these. :)

And as I was taking the picture...

I am not kidding...look at the book it fell on. hee hee

This is Carl - our Elf on the Shelf...click the side bar - follow me and you'll hear all about this fantastically fun tradition, as well as many more ideas to come.
Yea - I am finally home!!

And now for some of our outdoor family decor and lighting, taken just for you a few days ago.

I hope you are enjoying time to pause and ponder the real meaning of the season....it's all about HIM!

Garland Glory...well almost

My sweet friend, the Nester, has inspired us to share our glorious garlands in all of their gorgeousness.
Why has it taken me 15 years to figure out that I could take my fake, wimpy, little garland, mix it with another cheap ($2), pathetic looking Goodwill garland, shop my home for embellishments, and have the final product be one that stands alone in all of its blazing garland glory? Well, maybe not quite, if you go look at the others, but I'll take what I can get.
I LOVE THIS LADIES! It's so easy!
And you can do it too...right now...ready, get set....GO!!
Do not worry if you have to open your laptop to make sure you copy everything correctly? There are no rules!!
I had to put my son in his place when he inquired,
"Why do you always copy her?"
"That's what she's there for...it's not copying," I retorted.
Since I was leaving for Florida within two days of of getting my Christmas decorations down from the attic (yes, some boxes are waiting for me when I return...that's depressing), my one goal was that I desired to create this without ANY purchases. I needed to be able to shop my home, and yard for all necessities.
I started with this.

(picture of pathetic skinny fake garland)

OK, LADIES....I am confessing....
I worked my tail off to get this darn garland done ( I mean.....glorious garland) before I left for my sons' football championship. I even had it fall once and recreated it when I should have been packing, cleaning or any numerous other things. I have been writing the post while here at Disney, and just waiting for my hubby to give me the card out of the camera.
WHAT....YOU TOOK THE OLD CARD OUT AND REPLACED IT WITH A NEW ONE right before we left?
ALL OF MY PICTURES THAT I TOOK JUST SO I COULD DO GREAT CHRISTMAS POSTS ALL WEEK LONG, including my garland pictures and EVERY SINGLE ONE of my 24 Jesse Tree ornament pictures (yes, 24 handmade ornaments and I photographed them all) ARE NOT HERE?
IT'S MINUTES BEFORE MR. LINKY COMES UP AND I find out what?
I feel like I am all dressed up for the prom and my date has stood me up!

Are you feeling for me? I want to cry.
Well, I guess I shouldn't over a blog post, but seriously.
Nester is calling this a SHOW AND TELL, but we all know it's a total Party.
I am not one to miss a party, especially with my favorite gals, and I am not about to now just because my hubby left the camera card at home.

Anyhow, just how many garlands do you really want to look at....hundreds that link up? This is different....just imagine!
I did the work, it's glorious, and I do have a sneak peek.
I am at Disney, for goodness sake.....the place where DREAMS COME TRUE!!
I have been dreaming of showing you all my garland. I even posted the teaser last week.
SO dream with me, ladies...dream......pretend you're visualizing the final result...pics are ahead.

I went hunting on foot through my woods and found a bunch of fresh pine branches and pine cones pictured below. Remember, I couldn't spend any $.
(Dashing through the snow....)
If you live in a subdivision, just pull over on the side of the road somewhere...you'll find plenty.
(In a one horse open sleigh...well, maybe it's horsepower and it's a mini van, but we're dreaming...)
(Ore the hills we go...well, it was many hills and a neighborhood yard sale)
(Laughing all the way..oh yea, giggling...I hit the jackpot).
I grabbed the bunch of berries that I bought for $1 and started cutting away, and then sticking them in the wimpy garland.
The berries left over I stuck in the $1 glass jar pictured here.

(Bells on bobtails ring...
well, they are little gold bells and ivory ribbon woven into the garland)
(Making spirits bright...yes, it's amazing what a little Christmas decor does for ones emotional stability)
Then I started adding the fresh pine and holly leaves that I cut off of my own personal bush into the wimpy garland, winding gold things that I found scattered around the house, and adding, adding and adding.
(What fun it is to laugh and sing a sleighing song tonight....
yes, I must say, I am doing much better now, thank you...this has been very therapeutic)
My sneak peak....
Since I knew I was leaving to go out of town I didn't want to come home to a fallen glorious garland (her feelings would have been so hurt if no one was there to pick her up), so I left out a few of my additional embellishments until I returned.
The gold reindeer was made by my sis in law who passed away from breast cancer....it's always such a wonderful reminder during the holidays.

OH, and I AM SO EXCITED...my husband found the missing card.
I can do the big reveal after all!!

Well, I can dream, can't I?
Thanks for playing along...does my heart good to know you girls love me anyhow....garlandless and all.
Sing with me...Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells...Jingle all the way!!
Disney does Christmas decor right....wow, had I known the card was gone, I would have shown you some REAL GARLAND...every where at Magic Kingdom.

Reindeer Reigns - Show and Tell Friday

Does Show and Tell bring back fun, fond memories of childhood days gone by?
Well, I am joining in this Friday's Show and Tell, during the midst of procrastinating, I mean packing, to honor my sister in law who passed away from breast cancer.
I have shared a bit of her story, but there is no other time like Christmas when the memories of her presence ring more clearly in my mind.
She would have been a "famous" blogger. I am certain of it.
Not only was she wired that way, but she lived the 'Feathering her Nest' lifestyle before the term was ever coined.
Every year we received hand made gifts from her, and I thought I would take a minute to showcase a few of them.

As I was in Michael's last night, the kids started declaring, "Mom, there's a reindeer just like Auntie Dawn made."
Sure enough, these golden reindeer line many of your homes.
The difference with mine?
My sis in law made this over 15 years old. Yes, she did....decoupaged it and everything.
Now the question remains? Did they copy her or did she copy them?

It's such a blessing to bring her memory to life during the holidays. Every time we unpack a new box, we share all the ornaments that she cross stitched, painted and sewed.
And ladies, nearly two decades ago, she was already painting her brick fireplace white.

If I am truly showing and telling all, then I must share my deal on that awesome "bird" house (is it a bird house?).
I bought it for $4 dollars at Hobby Lobby. I have only gone to HL twice (gasp), even though we have one in our city, and this was marked to $8...80% off.
Well, my yard saling mentality kicked in when I noticed that it did have quite a few chipped paint areas on the top.
So, I OH SO SWEETLY asked (that's the key here...no entitlement attitude or it won't work) to see the manager at the check out line. I told him, I knew this was already a wonderful discount and I completely understood if he couldn't mark it down more, but would he consider bringing it down a bit more since I was buying an ENTIRE buggy full of merchandise. I pointed out three items that I thought were still marked a bit high and he took ANOTHER 50% off the mark down.
"OH. MY. That is SO generous, Mr. Manager...thank you so very much."
Yep, that's what I said..except for the Mr. Manager part, and I meant it with all of my heart.
Ladies, it's always worth asking...
but that was a complete tangent just for my Balancing the Budget readers.

It was a reindeer year.....here is another sweet one that she crafted - don't ask me how.

And here is a sneak peek at my Nesterized garland that I made. Yipee!!
We'll show it off Dec. 10th for her Garland Round up.

Pray for us as we leave tonight at 9pm and drive through the night to Orlando.
Any one want to vicariously live through me?
All 24 football players, families that are going and our little 'ole mini van squished to the gills with all 7 of us, will be caravaning TOGETHER through the night? Can I just ask....what is the coach thinking in his insanity? A 12 hour ride will quickly become a 18 hour ride, but I know bonding will be had by all, and I am the QUEEN of Forced Bonding.
This is the same coach who had us caravan to our regional game with our hazzards blinking the whole way. You gotta love him!
Weigh in is Saturday morning and the first game at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Arena is Sunday at 3:00.
Blogging at it's BEST next week straight from Cinderella's castle...well, maybe from the football stands, but...you'll never know. :)

Multi tasking Mama... after

For those of you who commented on my Multi Tasking Mama post, you requested a before/after shot of both the hair and the spray paint reveal.
Well, this will be a completely superficial post since I just got back from my music rehearsal (I am leading carols at our womens' tea tomorrow evening), am crazily packing for my whirlwind trip to Disney (or should be) and should have no time to type, download pics (already had these loaded), be witty or even pretend to think that I possibly could be.....(breathe, Jen, breathe), so with that "little bit" being said,
I give you my before and after -
Which doesn't look much different because I just couldn't pull the big "make over" trigger in my head.
Yes, I am a chicken, but think of the thousands $$$ I save because of it.
You know what one of my best friends said about my cut?
"Healthier"....wow...thanks a lot! :)

Before (just pulled out from my pony tail)

After...

4 inches later...yep - healthier.
But in my defense, the before typically didn't look that bad.

I am trying to get a picture since I knew you wanted to see one.
Everyone had left the building and I forgot to get one.

Laughing at myself for what a dork I am. I couldn't figure out where to look in the mirror.

My amazing niece who did my hair.
She didn't want me to post this since we didn't have all our morning makeup on yet...hee hee.
Can anyone tutor me on how to photo shop eye shadow into a picture?

This newlywed is now kicking off her business in a fancy, smancy salon in New Hampshire. She is wonderful, so if any of you live in that great state... she will give you 50% off any hair service. YIPEE!
Or when she visits NC again, I told her that I would "book" her up all day long at my place..
Can you imagine how much fun we'd all have? Cheap hair services for you, mixed with meeting blogging friends IRL...all day. :)

My five year old daughter took my After picture since everyone ditched me.
I am boring...there's not much you can do when I insist that I MUST be able to keep it in a pony tail. It's my trademark.

I know you wanted to see the After of the chandelier...that is a whole other animal story...oh, the bedlam!! Below is my niece's hubby. He is the biggest servant in the whole entire universe and he's taking down my multi tasking spray paint chandelier.
Picture it white now ...with Christmas gold balls hanging from it...and cracked globes.
Have I ever mentioned that I am an impatient crafter?

But just wait til you see my Martha Stewardized...or should I say "Nesterized" garland. Fabulous, if I do say so myself. And it will get posted...from Disney, along with my handmade Jesse Tree ornaments, and ideas for organizing your own ornament exchange next year.
Just think of all the time I will have to blog when I am on vacation!!

Oh - I decided to download the poor pitiful thing anyhow.
But what potential it has!!
For all you ladies who don't like your light fixtures...seriously, you can change the color of them in five minutes (or ten....if you take off the globes first :)
I can't wait to start looking for lighting fixtures at yard sales. I have always been too afraid to tackle them, but not any more. Lesson learned, and I won't do it again.
See anything missing?No, not those. Those are my wonderful thrift store berries that I found this week for my gorgeous garland. $1, and that bag full is what I have LEFT OVER!
Behind them....hmmm......is that where they should be?
In a corner, under a table, next to my guitar which is by my bountiful berries?
Here's my life lesson for the day.
Next time your servant oriented nephew offers to help take off the globes before you paint them - take him up on it.
The "don't worry, Jared, I'll just spray paint around them and wash them off when I am done" theory doesn't work so well when you have a 140 lb yellow lab puppy who just wants to hug, kiss and cuddle with you and doesn't care about a silly ole' chandelier.

Good grief....can I ever do this in 100 words or less.?
I should have never ever taken that speed typing course in high school.
Bad for blogging....
but I feel much more relaxed now thank you, and am ready for bed.

It's a Frugal Fringe Fest

Many of you who follow my blog know that one of the things I passionately pursue is "debt free living where the 'card' is king" (credit card that is).
But what you might not know is that I yard sale.... for a living.
Honestly, my budget as a family manager revolves around what I find during my Saturday excursions, and through that experience, I now have no less than five people who approach me each month during yard sale season asking me to be their "personal shopper." Don't worry, I don't really make money off of them, but it adds to the thrill of the hunt.
I adore that morning time (and only that morning time). I never know the treasures that await my arrival, and I eagerly anticipate hitting the jackpot.
For years, when the children were all preschoolers, that was my sacred time. My husband knew that when he awoke on Saturday morning, the spot next to him would already be cold. Now I trade off my alone time vs. date day with the kids, since they all want to go yard saling.
Start them young, people...it makes all the difference!
For those of you who are avid yard salers,
you understand that if you snooze, you loose.
Well, that motto was obliterated this last Saturday.
Scheduled to sing and do a drama monologue at a local women's retreat, I knew that I could hit some early stops on the way. I had fun conversations at a few houses, since I was definitely not dressed for yard saling, and did find a few treasures, but the jackpot came well after typical yard sale hours had ended. For those of you crafty ladies, you may want to sit down for this.
I am only showing 1/10 of my haul!

Can you tell what was hidden down deep in a dusty old box?
Never judge a box by it's cover...everyone who had come before me, missed all of this.

The boxes and bags of treasures went on...and on....
I spent an hour digging through mountains of crafts to which a mother had never gotten around to finishing.

This .50 wooden bowl is screaming for a little black spray paint, but right now I think I'll show her off as a fabulous fringe holder.

So here comes my fun.
Will you play "I Spy" with me and see how many places we can feather our fringed nest?
Fringe is not just for hot gluing to curtains, pillow and lamps, you know.
How about on a .25 glass hurricane lamp turned up side down?

Or maybe around a candle, mason jar, and tall glass vase?

I believe that did the trick down below (although just imagine it now sitting on top of a beautiful fall runner...)

Oh bummer, I down loaded the picture with the bad lightening, but yes, the fringe still looks go fabulous on both layers of my tiered fruit stand.

Note my book. I am SO counting my blessings.
I keep this journal here at all times. It allows us to grab it frequently and record the beauty in the every day blessings, like FIFTY yards of fringe and material (yes, I am really wishing I sewed). I know you're all wanting to know how much I paid, but I just don't think I can do that. It would be too painful for you, and might cause you to covet.
So let's continue the tour, and see what my little fingers did with what I had on hand.

Yep, it was me....I made it....all by myself.

You thought this creative crafty bone would never emerge , didn't you?
And now that my craftiness has been revealed, I DO know that my little tassel would look much better with some other fun things on top - starting with different ribbon, but it doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful. :)

And now that you've revealed in the beauty of my frugal fringe fest, what would this experience be if I left it at that...I just wouldn't be true to my balance of beauty and bedlam.
So, these are the deleted scenes. The scenes that none of your favorite beautiful blogs show you, but I bet they have their bedlam as well...it's just pushed to the side for no one to see.

Look at what I did to take this picture. hee hee
I hadn't even cut the fringe to fit the mason jar, vase or hurricane lamp.
Isn't that funny? You can't even tell.

You caught me. I do let those bedlam blessings sit on the counter (sometimes :). See those cute little toes sticking out?

Down below was one of my Good will finds. I had been looking for one for months (ever since I started reading blogs), and hadn't had any luck. Then I found this, but it was priced at $6.99. Too high for my blood, so I just pointed out to the pricer that "someone must have missed the chip in the top, and didn't realize it when they priced it so high."
Make sure you smile real big and use your very best manners.
Bottom line....got it for $1.99...much better, and you don't even notice the top.

Ok, Ok...fabric, bolts and bolts of fringe, 8 brand new baskets with tags still on them that I will spray paint, hot glue fringe around the top, and fill with my Homemade Gourmet Goodies for my upcoming holiday market, three vases, and a few other bowls that I will also fill with my mixes......put it this way. My husband's entire car filled with treasures for....

$15
Friday's Show and Tell fun is found at Kelli's.