Our Christmas Home

Ahhh, Christmas is here! The 31 days between Thanksgiving and Christmas are some of my favorite days of the year. I absolutely love how the house looks when it's decked out for the holidays. It's so nice to sit in the living room and look around at all of the lights! I love it so much that I have accumulated a plethora of goodies to decorate with and I add to it every year. I continually add ornaments, good ribbon, nice picks, and vase filler. With these basics, I can switch things up easily!

Here is our 2008 decor, 2009 decor and 2010, if you're in the mood to re-live Christmas past! So, this year, I decided to take a slightly different route. For two years in a row, I did pretty much the same thing. I wanted a change, but didn't want to spend much money, so I brought out the best in items I already had and added only a few new items. I took a little bit of a rustic approach, and didn't pull out anything overly glittery or too sparkly. I do love those things, too, and they will get their time to shine again! I'm REALLY happy with the results and feel like this is very 'us.'

Without further adiue, here is our 2011 Christmas Home!

Welcome!

This is the buffet in the foyer, and I really kept it simple here. I had everything already, except the amaryllis that my mom loaned me and some of the ribbon I used for accents, which I bought 50% off at Michael's - score!

I used the cream-colored ceramic pieces all year long and fill them with various things. They came from Garden Ridge and were a great purchase. I added a few ribbon accents to the topiaries to spruce them up.

I also have lots of cream candles on hand and use them year-round, too. For the holidays, I lined my wooden tray with moss and wrapped each candle in various holiday ribbon and secured with a stick pin. No need to buy anything new!

Right off the entry way is the dining room. One of my favorite rooms in the house, and also one of the most under-utilized.

The walls are a warm brown, and our china in the hutch is Spode Delamere, with accents from the Woodland collection, so I like to keep things natural and rustic in here to compliment. The furniture is hand-me-down from his family, too.

I can't decide if this is my favorite new spot or not as I have several! The Merry Christmas banner came from Target last year, and I thread it onto nicer ribbon. Practically everything on the top of the hutch are things I already had.

My mother. She is a wreath wizard. I believe I have said that on this blog at least a dozen times! She helped me make this wreath out of an old basic wreath I had. We added pinecone and spruce branch picks, bells that I bought from Hobby Lobby, ribbon from Michael's and skates and burlap from a floral shop in Little Rock. I LOVE it.

I was hesitant to put so much stuff on the hutch near the wreath, but I liked how it turned out. I add to the containers with fake snow, pine cones and potpourri pieces.

On the dining room table, I layered a burlap Pottery Barn runner (a new gift from mom), with a plaid runner from Target I picked up last year. The antler candlesticks were wedding gifts, and Keith loves them :)

I filled a large bowl with decorative feather balls

In the corner, near the front door, is our woodland tree.

We decorated with burlap strips, feathers and a cute goose.

I love the outdoorsy ornaments we have on this little tree! I also made some yarn balls to add to the rustic feel.

Snow trek Santa!

Next up, the living room, with the Christmas tree!

Besides the ornaments, this was totally different! I didn't use any of my red and green deco-mesh (I'm a little tired of it) or any of my very sparkly picks and candy canes. Instead, we used rustic burlap and plaid ribbon.

I also bought some of these cotton bolls and berry pics from a craft show earlier this year. We live right beside cotton fields, so I love the tie-in inside the house.

For the topper, we wrapped berry pics and garland around the top for a natural look. I also wrapped lots of styrofoam balls with various colors of yarn. That was an extremely easy craft that added a lot to the tree!

On top of our entertainment center, I kept it the same. I love our nativity scene!

Now, this may be my favorite spot. Still not sure! The snowflake pillow was a new addition from Pier 1 that I had-to-have-and-could-not-stop-myself-from-buying.

The Santa canvas scroll is something I've had since our first Christmas, and I am so glad I bought him when I did. A good Santa is hard to come by! I changed the mantle this year and used ALL things I had around the house already. Woohoo!

I filled the glass vase with mixed nuts from the grocery store. The blue artichoke vase came from a local antique shop earlier this year and I always keep corks in it in the kitchen. The other glass vase has goodies from a Target vase filler package I bought in September and have been using this fall. The button garland was a surprise addition from my mother-in-law! She bought it at an after-Christmas sale at a local shop because she remembered I said I liked it. What a sweet treat!

I used potpourri to fill the glass vase. The red ceramic piece came from a Trees N Trends store and the aqua and red vase is from Anthropologie - a birthday gift from my mom!

Near the couch, I added a simple burlap tree.

On the coffee table, I added some ornaments to a red bowl, and brought out my favorite crate 'o candles ;)

I found this at a TJ Maxx last year and it is one of my favorite items!

The kitchen is still a work in progress as I'm not quite happy with the kitchen table. More to come on that!

On top of the hutch, I moved a few things around and added a wreath and berry sprigs.

My Southern Living Christmas Cookbook is now front and center!

I obviously have a thing for wine bottle stoppers!

PS - that is an awesome book about wine!!

On the bar, I added my other burlap tree with a ribbon accent and a new picture frame. I can't wait to replace the generic family with a picture from our new photos from Lindsey Lissau! We took them yesterday and I can't wait to see them!!

And, behind the kitchen sink, I've put out a few holiday items to get me in the baking spirit.

Now, let's head back outside... during the daytime...

On the front porch, we used an old-fashioned red and black plaid pattern. It's one of my favorite changes to my decor of Christmas past :)

This old-fashioned wheelbarrow is a new item my mother-in-law found for me at Rachel's floral shop in Memphis. I've been on the lookout for a big wooden wheelbarrow that I can decorate year-round, and I'd still love to find one. But, the unique craftsmanship of this little handmade guy stole my heart. We had real poinsettias in it for about a week, but the cold killed them. Keith was sweet enough to replace with some fake ones for me - he did a pretty good job, I'd say!

The frosted berry branches came from Michael's and really round out the outdoor garland. I imagine we'll be using this garland for years to come!

Thanks for stopping by and checking out our decorations! I'm heading back to the window to check out the snow fall. Yep, that's right. It's snowing on November 28th in Memphis. Just 5 days ago it was at least 72 degrees. How is that even possible? Maybe this means we'll have a winter with lots of snow days!? One can only hope...

Merry Christmas!

I'm participating in the Nester Tour of Homes - stop by and check out lots of fabulous Christmas homes!

Maple-Bourbon Glazed Salmon

Hey there! I hope everyone's Thanksgiving was just wonderful. Thank you so much for all of the sweet comments on my last post. I treasured each of them!

This is a delicious salmon recipe I made a few weeks ago. It was very easy and tasted SO amazing! It comes from a Pampered Chef cookbook I've been using more of lately. I've been pleased with the results of everything I've made.

Maple-Bourbon Glazed Salmon

(click here for printer-friendy version)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup pure maple syrup

1/4 cup cider vinegar

2 Tbsp whole-grain Dijon mustard

2 garlic cloves, pressed

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 Tbsp bourbon

4 skinless salmon fillets

1 Tbsp Crushed Peppercorn and Garlic Seasoning (this is a Pampered Chef product, any garlic-pepper blend will work)

Combine syrup, vinegar, mustard, pressed garlic, salt and black pepper in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high 6-8 minutes or until reduced by half. Cool slightly; add bourbon and set aside.

Heat a grill pan over medium heat 5 minutes. Season salmon with rub. Lightly spray pan with nonstick cooking spray; add salmon top side down. Cook 10-12 minutes or until salmon flakes easily with a fork, turning once. Brush salmon with glaze during last minute of cooking using basting brush. Pour any remaining glaze over salmon before removing from pan.

I served this with the Pecan-Crusted Mozzarella Salad - it was heaven! We only did 2 salmon fillets, but made the same amount of sauce so we would have plenty of extra to top them with.

I have so many things to post over the next few days! I have recipes backed up and pictures of our house decorated for Christmas coming soon....stay tuned!

Thankful Heart

I struggle with starting this post every year. I'm filled with emotions, memories, thoughts and things I want to say. I want to say them right, say something beautiful, or profound. I want to do this person I love justice. How do you put into words the weight of a heavy heart?

Today marks the 8th year that my little brother Kyle has not been on this Earth. Eight years ago today was the worst day of our lives, and yet the most bittersweet of his. Pain and sadness don't even begin to capture the way it feels to hear news like that.

Your heart is ripped from your chest and you're gasping for air. I have fleeting memories of those moments on that Sunday in 2003. I think my body physically rejected the thought that this was possible....that a car wreck would take his life at the young age of 16.

Kyle's 16th Birthday in 2002 - his last

This is a photo my dad took of my a few days later. He was taking pictures of all of the flowers that had been sent. I remember being so angry. Angry about everything. Angry about this photo.

The hours and days that followed are a blur, with the months to come being the hardest. We were and still are so blessed to be loved by so many. The outpouring of support and prayers blew us away. Without others to lean on, we would have been lost. Without our faith, we would have no hope.

A day or two later, we woke up to find orange balloons lining our sidewalk. Orange was Kyle's favorite color.

 

Kyle was loved by so many people.

Especially by me.

We were 15 months apart. As kids, we did everything together and were often dressed alike. We had a wonderful childhood with loving parents. There were many vacations, weekends on the lake and birthday parties, made extra special by mom.

We fought like crazy, too. I thought he was extremely obnoxious and he did everything he could to set me off. Typical sibling stuff. I would say that I regret every fight, but I don't. I look back now and laugh at our ridiculousness.

Our last photo together

In our teenage years, we became really close as friends. My heart breaks, selfishly, for all of the memories we didn't get to make together. I could make a long, long list of the things I would have loved to have seen him do, or do together. I have to remember that he isn't missing anything though. He is here in our hearts and I can only imagine what he is experiencing now.

The best caption for this photo is: HAIR!

This is one of those life things that happens to other people, and you're so sad for them, but you don't expect it for yourself. We all often say 'I don't know what I would do if that happened to me,' whether it be a death, cancer, injury, etc.

Well, it happened. I didn't know what I would do. I don't know what I did. But, here I am, breathing and living. I knew immediately that I had a choice, and a fork in the road. I could spend the rest of my life angry, bitter, resentful, depressed, and sad. Or, I could try to make the rest of my life count. Kyle wouldn't want me to be sad all of the time. So, I soldiered on and I try to honor his memory.

I miss him all the time. I think of him every day. I'm thankful that time has brought peace to my heart. But, I'm sad with each passing year as those vivid memories become fuzzy around the corners. I'm thankful for my parents and their strength, and that I can say with confidence that we are all okay. And, we are blessed richly.

 
Dad tied all of Kyle's ties for parties

Kyle and I were in a wedding when we were little. I love the fruit punch rim on his upper lip!

Kyle with my sister, Jennifer on her wedding day in August, 2002

On this day, we have a bigger lump in our throats than normal. It's painful, of course.

Flowers my Dad sent Mom today.

We smile at our memories of Kyle. We cry because it's still sometimes unbelievable. We pray for the day we'll see him again and hug his neck.

In the meantime, I love you, little brother. I know you're here and messing with the lights. Thanks for the sign :) Save a place for me, and I'll see you soon. 

-Big sister



PS - Thank you to my friends who give me love and support every day, including the readers of this blog. I know I don't typically go this personal here, so thanks for reading and commenting, whether it be on a recipe or a personal reflection. Thank you.