Elf on the Shelf Fun

Our Elf on the Shelf, Sparkle Belle, has been up to way too much fun this Christmas season already.  I thought I'd share some of her best mischief with you - enjoy!

 Sparkle Belle loves to play Candyland, but she swears that the Lalaloopsy girls cheat!

What's a Southern Elf to do when she misses the snow? 

Why, make grit angels of course!

 Making Cookies, but we were out of chocolate chips  :(

Reading AnnaLauren's books

(The ink that he likes to drink is pink.)

Rolling the Christmas Tree in toilet paper

Trying on Barbie dresses (she's partial to the Holiday ones)

Eating leftover birthday cake, yes please!

And one of my favorites, playing veterinarian to all the Littlest Pet Shop animals!

Merry Christmas!   Hope you are having fun with your elves too!

Bananas in Wonderland

This year for Halloween, AnnaLauren was a precious Alice in Wonderland. My wonderful grandmother made her costume again and it was fantastic!

And Noah, well Noah marched to his own drummer again. His picture says it all!

Happy Late Halloween!

Favorite Presents

Our family is so very blessed - 365 days of the year!  But, as always, we gifted too much to each other yet again.  However, we did get some fun (and relatively inexpensive) things that I thought I would share with you.  You can click to look at the actual sites.

Two of my favorites...

Plain Silver Cross Necklace (wanted one forever!)

My guiltiest of pleasures - True Blood!

A couple of Noah's Favorites...

Washburn Acoustic/Electric Guitar

A New Book Series by Rick Riordan - Read the Percy Jackson series first!

A couple of things from AnnaLauren...

KidKraft Annabelle Dollhouse - we were thrilled with the quality for the price!

Maison Chic Fairy Princess Doll

And you guessed it, a couple from Tommy...

1/2 Zip Ralph Lauren Pullover

Donut House Coffee for the Keurig



Hope you are as blessed as us - and I definitely don't mean with gifts!

Christmas Tour of Our Home

I'm joining up with a couple of Christmas parties.  First off is The Nester's Christmas Tour of Homes.  The link is at the bottom of the post if you want to join in.

This year we continued to expand on our red and lime green theme.  I still love it.

First of all, welcome...
We went with lime green mesh with red and black and white polka dot bows.  I love the polka dot cross made from galvinzed tin as well!

The tree is done with the same lime mesh and all the ornaments are in the same red and lime colow scheme.  We added the large glitter balls this year and I think they add a lot.

We added a little garland and extra large ornaments to the staircase railing.

The dining room that we decorate with lots of fun colors.  I am constantly changing this room up! 

Lastly, this is my fantel (the dresser in my living room that's my fake mantel).  Since my real mantel is dominated by a huge tv, this is where I do the big decorating.  Tommy bought me the Santa picture at Kirkland's a few weeks ago and I am CRAZY about it!

The End!

Hope you have a holly, jolly Christmas!!!

Click Here to Join In!

Christmas Blessings

Merry Christmas!

I hope that your blessings are great!

Halloween "Fantel" Decor

The Nester recently hosted a Fall Mantel or "Fantel" Party.  Of course I didn't get my post ready in time to link up - typical! - but I still wanted to share it with you. 

So, first of all, my real mantel is dominated by the hubby's tv (and usually something like the Backyardigans is on).  Not the most fashionable thing, and it doesn't inspire me to decorate it at all.  So here is my real mantle with it's sad little pumpkins.  I should really get a little more ambitious. 

And here is my "fantel".  It's actually a dresser that is in my living room (Thanks Big Tom & Cheryl!). 

The black candle holders I picked up at a consignment shop probably 10 years ago for about $5 total.  I love them and move them around all the time.  The glitter pumpkins came from Hobby Lobby.  They were 12 for $6.  Love that!  They are the same pumpkins that are on my real mantel.  The small Boo sign ($3) and the long Happy Halloween sign ($6) came from Hobby Lobby as well.  The crows are from the Design Mecca of Dollar Tree.  However, they have been complimented on over and over!  The black glitter skull came from DT as well.  The orange finial was a yard sale purchase earlier in the summer for $2.  The owl pillow is from Kirkland's - $6!  I just had to have him and although he doesn't match 100% - who cares!  The framed Boo and Spooky are just little things I made on Microsoft Word and printed.  They are put in frames I already had.  Whew!  That was a lot!  But I think it makes a fantastic impact for around $25.

But, my cute little helper is the best decoration of all!

I am going to try and change out my "fantel" for each season.  I think it is a great surface that will be fun to decorate.  And, it is going to serve as a candy bar for AnnaLauren's birthday party at the end of this month.  Can't wait for that one!

Do you have any cute Halloween decorations?  If so, comment with a link to the post.  I'd love to come see them!

I'm linking up to:

Blogland Halloween / Fall Decor Part 1

I have been seeing some of the absolute cutest Halloween and fall decor/crafts all over blogland.  So, I thought it was only fair for me to share soem of it with you.  This will definitely be a multiple post over the next few days.  Happy Haunting!

This is so fabulous that I can hardly stand it!  What simple and beautiful decor from Madigan Made.  I think anyone could do this!

I'm loving this Halloween Themed Lazy Girl's Subway Art from Organize and Decorate Everything.  It's made using Wordle and yep, I've already made my own, plus one for AnnaLauren's birthday.

I haven't attempted this one yet, but I truly covet this Halloween Silhouette Artwork from She Wears Flowers.  You have to see how she did it!

So cute Candy Corn Cupcakes from I Heart Naptime.  Although I am not a fan of the candy corn, these are darling and within my meager baking skills.

These cute Halloween Ribbon Ornaments from Just Sew Sassy would be precious hanging off of a cabinet pull or anywhere you would put a tassel.  The tutorial is very clear and easy too!

With all the cute frames full of butterflies and other pretties, I love this pumpkin version from Embellishing Life.  This is one of those things that will be great to change up from season to season.  I can just imagine snowflakes for winter!

There will definitely be more to come!  There are SO many talented people out there making things that I would have never dreamed of.  That's one of the things I love most about blogging!

Yabba Dabba Do

Ok, so it's not October yet, but I am already in a Halloween state of mind.  I have seen some pretty darn cute stuff out there in blogland that I plan on showcasing tomorrow. 

But, in the mean time, here are Tommy and I as Fred and Wilma Flintstone last Halloween. I am a fool for costumes and my sweet grandmother and I made these together.

Have a great Tuesday!

The one about our 6th anniversary

Six years ago, I was here

Atlantis on Paradise Island, Bahamas

 

Getting hitched to the man of my dreams

And six years later, I love him even more!

Happy Anniversary Sweetie!