pups present.

i made a doggie bed for my sweet Kody and Heidi for Christmas

with some remnant pieces of upholstery fabric.

I made a huge pillow that I stuffed with left over batting

from some of this year's upholstery jobs.

Then I made a big pillow case with a ginormo

36" zipper on one end.

It was a very simple project...but it was greatly

 appreciated this Christmas by....my dogs,

 myself, and... the rest of my family...

we all had a great time snugglin with the pups on their new bed!

Kody and Heidi also enjoyed the extra

cushion on the four hour drive to San Antonio...

maybe one day our puppies will become grown ups...that aren't as messy

and they can have one of these beauties. Ahhh....i just love all
of the patterns and colors they offer. too cute!

Hope you have a lovely Thursday!
xoxo

dressing the naked windows.

the Dining Room has been in need of some window clothing...

for quite a while.

My husband who is only concerned with FUNCTION...

never BEAUTY keeps reminding me. ;)

So this project is a - keep the glaring light outta my eyes/give

me a lil privacy at night time - project.

ok...maybe it's also a - add a lil sumpthin soft and pretty - project.

either way....I am making drapes for the dining room!

I wanted something neutral, but that still had a lil personality...

and I believe this ROBERT ALLEN print is gonna do a fantastic job:

and yes...I did unroll all 12 yards and have them hanging like sheets

in my windows right now. but not for long...hopefully.

If all goes according to plan...I should have them finished by Sunday night.

 (haha...we will see about that)

2010.

i got this idea from a sweet high school friend...

2010 was a full year and i really enjoyed looking back at each month...

i am so thankful for all of the wonderful people in my life and for all of God's blessings...

 January: We got to spend time in Brazil, visiting the Christ

 statue was amazing, the beach was gorgeous, and the

 time spent with the hubbies fam was priceless.

 February: was cold. i think i only left the house for work and

one time for ACU's sing song...most of the time was spent on the sofa with Lu and pups. 

March: one of my besties was wed and i got to spend time
with lots of lovely girls!
and my baby brother turned 15!!!

April: was sad and glad. my uncle "bud" passed away in a vehicle accident.

Our family all gathered in Monroe for his funeral. It was a time

 of mourning as well as a good time of fellowship. April was also Easter

in Tulsa with the family and the annual Back Porch Formal

(which is a fun get together that Lucas and the guys have put

together for the last four or five years) this year it was at Possum Kingdom Lake!

May: my little sister, Sara graduated from high school.

my brother in law, Chris graduated from med-school.

Bryan and Becky (the in-laws) came for a visit!!

and Lu and I got to spend Memorial weekend in

New Braunfels with some of our very dearest friends.
 (and it was my birthday month! ;)

June: my family had their family reunion.

It was in Branson, Missouri and we had a blast with

all of our extended family!

July: this was a month of projects around the house, and of going

 to San Antonio and helping out the sister with projects at her new house!

She always had her front door decorated with a welcome sign

 when I got there (notice the change in front door paint color

...i love the new blue!) We had a girls weekend in San Antonio

 as well and the mommies got to come!

August: my Ahhhmazing little sister, Sara, graduated from MARINE boot camp!
We all went out to South Carolina for her graduation
and we couldn't be more proud of her!!!
I got to go to Canton with 6 of my most favorite girls in the world
and Went to Matt and Emily's lovely wedding (the reception was AHHhhhdorable)

September: I finally got that porch done! (woo hoo!)

Precious perfect baby Peyton was born to the Sheets,

and we got to watch brother Ben #86 play for the ACU Wildcats!

October: Bryan and Becky were here again and it was so good

to spend time with them! We MISSS them SOO much!!! (they live in Brazil)

My sister and her hubby ran a half marathon and

I went down for moral support!! They did great!

November: My friend, Pam visited Abilene and we went to ACU

homecoming events together...she is coming to ACU in January! Can't wait!

Thanksgiving was spent with the family in Dallas!

I I got to see my sweet Simran friend, who is getting married in 2011!!!

December: wood floors, christmas decor, gift wrapping,

time spent with friends and family, and a lovely
San Antonio Christmas!

I hope you are having a lovely week! 

 take a lil time to look back over this past year and

reminisce on all the memories and blessings from 2010!

merry & bright.

The felt Christmas gift embellishments turned out pretty fun and swell if i do say so myself... ;)

I used lots of different colors on some packages

and stayed with traditional red and green on others...

Our Hobby Lobby didn't have muted colors or pastels

 which would be good for shower gifts or birthday gifts

 year round...maybe Michaels will?

Hope you all had a lovely
Christmas!!!

xo

christmas cards.

i wasn't planning on sending out Christmas cards this year,

but when I saw that the talented Michelle Herrick was having
a fabulous give away, i entered it not really expecting
anything, well I won one of the items!

...which was 25 - 5"x7," front and back Christmas cards
that she would design for us! woo hooo!

 so...this lucky gal got to send out a few super snazzy cards this year!

 and look at just how sweet and adorable she is... she sent
us the cards and envelopes inside of this cute tin
 box that she had put our image on...

we LOVE them! 

 

Thanks so much for the lovely cards, Michelle! you're the bestest!

Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year to all of you
lovely people who read my lil bloggity blog!

silent holy night.

Silent Night, Holy Night, All is calm, All is Bright, Round

yon virgin mother and child. Holy infant so tender and mild,

 Sleep in heavenly peace. Sleep in heavenly peace.

Silent night, holy night, Shepherds quake at the sight,

Glories stream from heaven afar, Heavenly hosts sing alleluia;

Christ the Savior, is born! Christ the Savior, is born!

Silent night, holy night, Son of God, love's pure light

Radiant beams from thy holy face,With the dawn of redeeming grace,

Jesus, Lord, at thy birth. Jesus, Lord, at thy birth.

 soo thankful for God's precious gift! and so thankful

we get to celebrate Him by being together with family!!

I'm so excited for Christmas! ; )

hope you are having an enjoyable Christmas week

and that it is as stress free as possible!

Tour of Homes

Cottage and Vine is having a Christmas 2010 Tour of Homes...

go check out all of the fabulous houses and thank you for visiting ours!

welcome to OUR little Christmas cottage...



simple branches and silver balls add a little sparkle without looking over done.

 handmade ornaments were fun to make and helped save on cost!

 ...using a family quilt as the tree skirt added a personal touch as well

as bringing in the blue that I wanted to incorporate this year

 the front door

 ...a lit garland on the buffet ( i just don't want to ever take any of

it down! it makes our casa feel oh so cozy at night time! )

the dining room wreath was a lot of fun to make while

drinking hot chocolate and listening to christmas tunes!

our funky DIY star tops off our tree with a little pizazz ;)

 ...and here is the tree in all its gold, silver, white and blue glory!

 Kody and Heidi say thanks for stopping by!!!

May you and your family have a wonderfully blessed Christmas!

beauty shots.

Here are some final shots of the dining chairs in all their made over glory! ;)

They've come a long way from where they used to be...

and I've been planning and working on these little dudes for months now...

  ...they got little felt feet last night so they won't scratch the new floors

and are now sittin' pretty and ready to be sat upon!

so come on over and set your tooshie down on one of em!

;) happy happy thursday everyone!!!

great guy gifts.

everyone one has been compiling gift lists for him/her/self...

and this morning my co worker was looking on Amazon

for a gift for her son and asked me to help...

well..whilst looking around i couldn't help but notice all

of the amazing finds that I'm sure any husband, brother,

 boyfriend, dad or son would thouroughly enjoy...so i thought i'd put a

 lil list together and share them with you...(click on the pics)

for starters...check out this cute little number...

...and at $230 dollars off the original price, how can you resist????

...this is a good look for any man who is still trying to find

that special someone to impress...you should definitely consider

 this option as a gift for that great bachelor friend of yours who just can't

seem to snag the right girl's attention.

next up we have these fabulous men's cut offs...

...can't you see your best guy friend runnin around next summer in these?

these are not being sold as girls shorts, i promise. click on

them to follow the link if you don't believe me

...This is probably my favorite...can't you see it...

Christmas morning pics with you and your sweetie

 all decked out in pink footed onesies!!! perfection.

And what guy wouldn't be thrilled to get his

hands on this super sweet man's pilgrim costume??

All in all, I think I've given you a very diverse list of great guys gift options.

You can thank me later.

wreathsies.

i made a lil wreath for the dining room a couple weekends ago...

i used a grapevine wreath and spray painted it metallic silver.

Then I attached silver, blue and gold balls all over it...

i found three sparkly silver floral stems at hobby

 lobby and tucked them in and TA DAA!

it adds just the right amount of sparkle and festivity to our room of dining.

(and p.s...

....the cream platter and the green creamer and sugar bowl in the center
of the shelf above the wreath are no longer with us. They fell to their death as we
were prepping for the wood floor this weekend. sniff sniff.
 not heirlooms or anything, thankfully, but they will be missed)

here are some other cutie pa tootie wreath ideas...

1. check out these TWO ahdorable wreath ideas that crafty julia from
mr. b and me made!...i LOVE them!

2. this absolutely gorgeous boxwood wreath
that Rene at Cottage and Vine made...maybe i'll attempt next year.

3. and Melissa at The Inspired Room made a really pretty white
wreath with faux snow spray and white berries that looks
sooo lovely with all of her other beautiful Christmas decor.

check em out and good luck wreathing!

wood is in! woot woot!

We FINALLY got the hardwood flooring laid in the dining room this
weekend! WOO HOO! Here are some pics from the process...

we pulled up the carpet and found this LOVERLY vinyl tile...mmm niice

 (Kody is entranced by the camera)

...So we ripped it all up, it actually pulled up pretty easily, the

glue was so brittle, i bet it's been there for forty years. 

 (this is Lukie's... "yea this is coming up pretty easily" face)

I was on the clean up crew. : )

...K & H approve of the changes and don't see any need for the wood.

...Then came the plastic moisture barrier and then the plywood subfloor

that was installed with a gun that shot long nails down

 into the concrete and sounded like...pAHssshhhhhh...PAOW!!!!

...a layer of felt was next (this helps the floor to be quiet when

 we are walking on it.) Then the room was measured and the

 starting row was laid out.

...i laid out the wood how it was to be installed and

the hubs put those carpentry skillzz to work.

...This gun was loud to...but it sounded more like...BAAAHM!!!

...and VOILA! we LOVE IT!!! and can't wait to have friends over for dinner!

(still need to reinstall the threshold and put down shoe moulding)

and these little guys can't wait to get felt pads on their

 feet so they can scoot around the new floor!