I don't know what it is, but it seems like this year there's a lot of pressure around us (especially in the blogging community) to have the picture-perfect Christmas-y decorated house. I mean, it's kinda ridiculous if ya ask me. Hey, I'm all for deckin' out for the holidays, but it just seems a little over-the-top, for whatever reason, this year. Shoot, I even saw a Christmas treeSTAND Christmas tree. Yeah, someone decorated a little tree stand and displayed it as one of their 17 (I may be exaggerating) Christmas trees in their house. (If you did that, no offense...just I don't have that kind of time on my hands these days!) That being said, I'm going to show you my Christmas decorations...it's not over the top and we're probably not even done, but I better show ya now 'cause who knows if I'll ever get to finishing stuff around here...at least before Christmas morning:) So come on in to our newly finished living room:) BTW, this is the only room that's decorated for Christmas. Not gonna be hangin' wreaths in the bathrooms this year like the other bloggers. (jk...kinda) Here's a wreath I made from fresh greens around our (and my in-law's) yard. I hosted a girls' craft night at my house last week and we all made either wreaths or an arrangement...fun times. The berries are fake (picked them up at a thrift store) but everything else is real and it smells so festive. The tree is very under-decorated. We may end up adding more as time goes by. I did get some burlap to make garland out of, but we'll see if that ever gets done:/ I'm diggin' the natural-looking decor with more neutral colors. We even have our very own babe wrapped in swaddling clothes this year. So take that, Christmas tree stand decorator lady! Isn't he precious? Seriously. Best present ever. My sister-in-law made Mitch and I these S'mores ornaments several years ago. As in, shaped and baked the clay, painted and glazed them. She has such talent. She's made one for each of our family members in our entire family all with a personalized touch. Mitch's is the little Flyers player since he loves all things hockey and mine is a little decorating S'mores girl:) The boys and I tried our hands at salt dough ornaments. That was a frustrating fun project! (I'm not a very crafty person, so it takes a lot of patience for me to do something like this. Mission: somewhat accomplished.) One side of our living room And the other side The only red things I used this year are this tool box (as seen in Ry's room) and these electric candles on an inverted Coke box. I wanted more of a natural vibe this year with little jarring colors. I need less "loudness" in my life these days:) So where are you at with your decorating? Have you made your tree stand tree yet? :) ~Kat Linking to: At the Picket Fence A Thoughtful Place

‘It’s Populism’ For several years, I was one of the local stars (God help the locals) of PBS pledge drives at a network affiliate in the southerly states of America. That was wher…

Sliding Barn Door, the frieze extended here to accomodate the slide. Trimmed out in WindsorONE S4SSE Boards. credit: Mark Austin Building and Construction Read more about this project and see more images here.