Christmas Vignettes

UGH. Do you ever find something so inspiring, so unique and so awe inspiring, you just want to give up everything and move to Canada??

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I'm slowly coming out of my dreams of Canadian Christmases on the water, and even more slowly coming back to the reality of my Oklahoma Christmas on base.

Don't get me wrong. I love my house. I do. I get amazing natural light. Its the perfect size. And it is filled with the ones I love most.

I especially love my house all decked out in Christmas decor. For those of you who know how I roll, you know I'm not a crazy seasonal decorator. Now, that being said, I want you to know it is Christmastime when you enter my house. So I've hung the stockings on the back of the dining room chairs with care, dressed the tree with love and red, covered up the nautical pillows, and added a few little touches here and there. Today we will focus on one of the "little touches."

You may remember the (unexpected) splash of navy and white I had hanging above the couch before the holiday season. It did not fit in. While I love navy and white, when it comes to Christmas, I subscribe to the green, gold, red, and white color scheme. So with a spare bit of fabric (a hint for tomorrows post) and a vintage 'Twas the Night Before Christmas book (I scored from the thrift store for 78 cents!) I used frames I already had and created a little visual vignette for your viewing pleasure.

And I know what you're thinking.

           That looks awesome Mallory! You rock! I love your house and your style! Come to my house and decorate! What are in those frames?

Why thank you for wondering! I cut up the old St. Nick book and framed them in dollar store frames (which, in spite of the following pictures, are all the same color).

So, if you consider that the fabric would have just been thrown into the scrap drawer (as it was meant for a different project), plus I had all 7 frames on hand, I spent 78 cents on this arrangement. Not bad, eh? What cheap and luxe holiday decor have you been working on lately? Impressed with the 78 cent price tag? Or maybe you have me beat, 52 cents, anyone?

Oh Christmas Tree

As you may remember, somebody recently had a mini melt down over her fake Christmas tree. Because she has the most wonderful husband in the world, she now has a short, fat, delicious smelling, green, shedding, REAL Christmas tree in her corner.

J and I went two weekends ago (I know, I know, I've been holding out) to cut down our tree. We drove down to Edmond, OK to the Sorghum Mill Christmas Tree Farm to pick our our tree. We walked around for about an hour, seeing all different kinds of trees. We saw tall, skinny trees, short, fat trees, twirly Dr. Seuss-esque trees, and little baby trees (that weren't ready for chopping just yet). We found our tree pretty early on, but continued to look around to make sure it was indeed the best tree available. And boy was it.

This little baby stands about 6 and a half feet tall, is as big around as he is tall (almost), and he is a little front heavy. Sort of reminds me of Jo's description of Professor Slughorn...

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We brought our little tree home and got to dressing him. White lights, red, gold, and green balls, and a select few special ornaments. The burlap sack at the base makes Calvin's favorite hunting spot all that much more comfortable.

(I know that picture of Calvin is under our fake tree. But believe me, he does it under this one too).

My favorite thing about the tree is how is sparkles through the window at night. Since we are the Grinch and Scrouge, and haven't put up ANY lights outside, it's nice to show that we are at least a little festive.

And Duke is working very hard not to knock into it while he chases his tail.

So there you have it! What does your Christmas tree look like? Are you a themed Christmas person? All one color, one theme? Or do you like the modge podge of homemade ornaments with crazy colored lights? Maybe you prefer a fake silver tree? Anyway you look at it, a Christmas tree all decked out in the window is the best way to start the festive feelings, at least in my opinion.

Help! An Office Organization.

I am normal. I do have messes. I do struggle sometimes getting projects done.

Cleaning/organizing the office is not fun. This picture makes it look much easier and vastly less work than it is. Thank you Jim Dale for getting me through this.

Flying Solo

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so I will leave you with this:

And in case you didn't quite get it... I'll add a few of my own [words]:

Jon solo-ed in the T-6 yesterday! I was so nervous I could barf. But don't tell him that. [I wasn't nervous he was going to mess up, I was nervous someone else would. There are a lot of planes out there in one small area.] I'm so proud of my boy for working so hard. Sometimes it takes days like yesterday to remind me just how cool my husband is.

PS If you click on any of the photos above, you can view them much larger.

Cat in a Burlap Sack

Calvin has a new favorite napping location. But let us start from the beginning.

Somebody had a mini breakdown this year when we brought out our old, fake, little Christmas tree (Duke). (S)he thought it looked bare, stupid and fake. And (s)he was quick to point out that every year we have said we were going to get a real tree next year. Well my wonderful husband agreed. And was all about getting a real tree. But somebody (Duke) was having an internal argument with (her)himself. (S)he is a cheap-o. As in, "We have to buy a tree stand, a new tree skirt, and a new tree, no way. We'll wait until after Christmas to get the tree stand and get a real tree next year."

It sure is a good thing that my wonderful husband totally understands somebody (Duke) and convinced (her)him that getting a real tree was not going to be that expensive, and then filled the car with tree branches from other Christmas trees to prove how wonderful the smell would be. And overindulgence is the reason for the season, after all... right? Maybe not, but either way, we're getting a real tree. Stay tuned.

Anyway, back to the matter at hand... burlap. You read that right, we wanted a burlap tree skirt. Why not? It's a pretty brown color, cool texture, and since we were getting it from my new favorite store in the world, Atwoods, it was cheap. $3 for more than we could ever need for a tree skirt. And it sure is a good thing we got more than we could ever need for a tree skirt because...

Yes, moments after bringing the burlap into the door, Calvin was on top of it. Inside of it. Playing with it. Laying with it. He loved it. He claimed it as his own. So we used one bag as a tree skirt, and another as a makeshift bed for Calvin. He couldn't be happier.

His favorite thing to do is lay completely inside of it, and play with whoever is on the outside. Or lay completely inside of it, and fall asleep, all afternoon. It's pretty cute. You have to admit.

So when you come to our house, and you see a burlap sack on the ground, don't think we just finished off our rice and haven't had a chance to get to the garbage. Especially if you see a little lump, the tip of a black tail sticking out the end, or perhaps a little white paw. Beware of crazy cats sleeping (and/or awaiting unsuspecting passersby). Just a tip.

Later this week, we will be tree chopping. So stay tuned next week to see what comes of that. Anyone else have any crazy cat stories? Or crazy dog stories? Duke's still chasing his tail. Like crazy. Is that normal?

Clutching my Clutch.

Walking home from work the other day, I was very frustrated trying to find my keys. Too many pockets, too big of a purse. And it was heavy. My purse becomes J's storage container often times. I was very frustrated.

This frustration lead to an epiphany. Why not make a clutch? One pocket. Small. Compact and light. And so I forgot about anything else I had planned for the afternoon (and I had a lot planned. Fun stuff, like thrifting and stopping by Hobby Lobby.) and ran to my scrap fabric bag.

I cut, ironed and sewed, and talked to my sister on the phone. And after thirty minutes, I had succeed.

The flowers were a previous project, that I ended up hot gluing to the clutch to complete it. It was, quite possibly, one of the easiest projects I've ever done. In hindsight, there are always things that I would do differently. And maybe I'll make another one day. But It works. And it only has one pocket. And it's small enough, that it can't be too heavy. It can't be used as a storage compartment by husbands. It holds a wallet, a phone, gum, chapstick, and a Hobby Lobby coupon. I love it.

Are you in on this downsize? Or are you a large bag kinda person? I love it, and for now, this small clutch is all I need. What do you think about the flowers? Also, does anyone recognize this fabric?? Yes, My name is Mallory, and I am a navy and white stripe-aholic.

Come, Sit.

Thanksgiving is a time for eating, laughing, and deep discussion with friends and family. It is a time of gratitude. It is a time for celebration of life and happiness. It is a warm holiday filled with love.

It is also a time to practice your Pottery Barn staging skills.

For those of you who are serious R. Simple Life readers, you know my obsession with Pottery Barn. I love me some Pottery Barn. Can't afford it though. So I fake it. And this time I took inspiration from my head. I didn't have a picture in the catalog. I didn't have a tutorial on the website. I just used what I had (and 4 place mats I purchased for $3.00 total) and thought Pottery Barn while I worked.

And at least according to my dear friend Wendi, it worked. She came in, took one look at the table and said "Looks like Pottery Barn in here." (I love her.)

And in true Mallory fashion, I took a million pictures of the table, and even a few of our end table (complete with branches I cut out of the tree right outside my house)...

But none of the delicious turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, corn casserole, green bean casserole, rolls, cranberry sauce, or pumpkin pie. I guess I'll just have to show you one more of our table setting, and you're just going to have to imagine those plates filled with wonderful Thanksgiving food.

(That one has some food in it...) Did you have a good Thanksgiving? Were you more concerned about the table settings than the food too? Or am I the only one? J is the chef, I am the decorator. That is just the way things are around here. I don't think I should have to apologize for that. The food was awesome, by the way.