Winter Decorations

I have more plans, but this is what I have so far…things have changed a little…I have been taking pictures as I change them up…the snow ball bunting has been taken down again thanks to my littlest man…

I got the table :)

So, I went and got the table and hubby liked it on the stair landing…I really like it there too…and the color matches our railing really well, so thankfully I am not in as much of a rush to paint it black since it was FREEZING Sat and not much warmer today and tomorrow the high will be around 41 at 9am and then just keep going down to 15 on Tues!!  But I did manage to already decorate it and change up the decorations 😉  Here are a few pictures…

Yes, I still have the adorable Muppet Baby trip from McDonalds and Kermit does still have his vest floating around somewhere…the Garland I had in the closet…had bought it a few weeks ago, but just never got it up, so threw it on the table 🙂  The teddy bear was also from my childhood and if I remember right it came with a matching night gown for me…which I thought was the coolest thing 🙂

a view from the top of the stairs…please ignore the fact that there are empty spots in the frame…I have been adding them as I come across them and organize the photos…but I am just happy I have more than just my oldest in frames now!!

From the bottom of the stairs…I was trying to show off how I displayed our Christmas cards when my 4 year old decided he needed to go upstairs…oh well, he sure is adorable, so will keep the photo 🙂

Then I decided to change it up…I had the two Pampered Chef trifle bowls on our dinning room table (earlier one was FULL of balls, but a certain cutie pie (don’t call him adorable, you will upset the 4 year old, only he is adorable) 1 year old decided throwing them would be fun…he killed 6 of them…anyway, I split them up and the pinecones (that I got free 🙂 ) and put them on here…with a family of six, table space is premium, so this freed up food space on the dining room table…Said 1 year old did break one of the 6 after they were over here, but he is learning…

slightly more close up view…I do have to say, I love the trifle bowl more for cooking than serving food, and love that you don’t have to use the pedastool stand…which would work just as a pedastool too…Check out my friend’s Pampered Chef page if you want to order one or two for yourself…I have also added a Nativity that we forgot about and was still in the crawl space (we have a few and this one was new from last year) and will be adding the Three Wise Men when I am done posting them 🙂

And the final view from the bottom of the stairs…

I am loving this table…I have known we have needed something on the landing and the timing of it’s listing was just perfect…I haven’t been this excited about a used piece of furniture since the rocking chair I got last year…I think it helps when you have an idea for something and see it come true and for cheap!!

I love this mantle that I found on pinterest (and have since been catching up on her blog, I tend to do that)…I think this will be my inspiration for the table…and come to find out she lives in CO…which just makes her even better in my opinion…she has two board I love, the one in this photo and this one…

Really not sure which one I want more!!

So obviously, the table did not end up in the entry…so for now I am thinking when it gets warm enough (which weather out this way is known to do) I plan to paint the orange boxes black to make at least the coloring more cohesive…and I think I am going to put the coat hook board up in the coat closet so not clutter up the eyes in the entry way…we shall see 😉  will also pick a mantel scape to hopefully put on the top shelf…

Happy New Year!!

So it has been a while…I have been thinking about blogging, but then just figure I don’t have time…but still really have been wanting to, so I decided the new year and a new project was as good a time as any…

My new project for the New Year is to try and declutter, organize and decorate the home better…we have managed to really clean most of it, so now we can focus on these things…I have pinned a bunch of ideas over on pinterest (all idea photo sources can be found on my pinterest board)…and will be starting with the entry since that is the first thing you see when you enter the home…

This is what you first see when you enter the home…the book shelf I was given in college by a friend’s mom…I painted it this maroon color 10 years ago…I have to say it has held up well it is 15 years old!!  the orange boxes are from IKEA and though I am not fond of the color (they were bought for my oldest, but got used for this space) I love them…I put one pair of the boys shoes on top of each and their socks are stored inside (a lot of their clothing is stored in unconventional, but convenient ways)…to the right is a corner round basket thing that I bought at a yard sale last year…it was holding the youngest’s diapers, but I wanted something better to hold our hats, gloves, and scarves…

For this area I am toying with sticking with this or going something more like this…

    

The dilemma I am having is I really like the boxes and with 4 boys I need 4 boxes…I am actually getting a side table tomorrow that I plan to paint black for $15…so either it is going in place of the book shelf and the shelf on the stair landing, or vice versa…may have to play around with it and figure out which I like better…I think the book shelf will stay, just need to pain the boxes…and the side table will be more of a decorative piece…or it may just go in the craft room and be a work table…who knows…need to get it in the house and play with it, and plus with moving it’s “job” will prob change anyway…

The wall on the right side of the entry way is a long wall…right now it has photos of the 4 boys…aren’t they good looking?  A part of me wants to use the whole wall, but the front door, when open covers a part of it, and I hate the idea of hiding a part of the wall when we leave the door open…but there are such great ideas on pinterest that I love and are very useful for the boys to make it easier for them to reach their jackets to get them and put them away…

I am definitely liking the long hooks on a piece of wood idea and we have a collection of wood from Jacob’s old swing set that sadly never got put together, so at least it will be put to good use here…and with it being on a board we can put it up where ever we move…

  

I recently worked on organizing the closet…the white milk crates had been on the floor and our vacuums had been stored in here too…now I have moved the crates up…one holds bags, another baseball hats and a third baby carriers…now the floor just has our steam cleaner, my oldest’s gym bag, the brooms, umbrellas, mop (which is missing because I mopped up snow…jackets are missing too because the boys were enjoying the snow…) and sometimes the vacuum cleaner, which we use so much it hardly gets to make it in the closet for a rest…because we are in base housing, there really isn’t much that can be done to change this space though one can dream…

The last two photos just finish out the space…I am pretty happy with the old phone stand that holds my Molly doll and usually a seasonal/holiday item (like hubby’s new Charlie Brown tree 🙂 )…and our “Home is where the Air Force sends Us” plaque…Not much else would really fit there with the closet doors anyway…maybe a chair for putting on shoes…

And then, looking back is our door…I do have an idea I like, but we don’t have as much wall space above the door, so not sure if it will work…but hey, who knows…

A few other ideas I like for the space…some are also unrealistic because we are in housing and honestly, the placement of the light switch above the book shelf is off, which doesn’t help either…

So that is where I am right now with the entry…I am trying to work with mainly what we have or what I can get cheap…Just thought of a rug that we have that may fit…though I would love a brown sisal rug instead 🙂 and a bench that may work as a seat, though I do like where the phone stand is…sometimes I hate decorating because there is the making up your mind part, and plus we will eventually move and it will seem sooner than later, but I can’t help by want to and really do enjoy the process 🙂  So, hopefully I will have another update on the space soon…I haven’t decided if I will just focus on this or post other fun going on’s of our home 🙂  Either way, hope to post again soon…