Canvas and Guest room before pics

This canvas was a Christmas gift from my sister. I (heart) it. Like alot!

My sweet friend, Tracey showed me the perfect place to hang it!

It fits so perfectly on my gallery wall!

It is first thing you see when coming into my house.

That totally makes me smile :)

Our sweet Nicole moved into to her own place. So we now have a guest room again.

My dad requested a comfy bed when he comes to stay.

I think this looks pretty comfy! I might make it my "nap" room!!

I'm still looking for the perfect drapes and a headboard to be made is hopefully coming soon!

First let me explain about this picture.

My Nikon is on the fritz and this is my back-up camera.

Gotta deal with what I've got!

This dresser was Todd's from growing up. No it wasn't black with cute little knobs on it!!

It was oak...blah! Then I painted it black for my craft room and added the cute knobs :)

A black dresser does not go in this room.

Today it's getting a coat of Kilz and a topcoat of Cottage White!

Tomorrow it will get a touch of Tracey :)

After pictures to come soon!

Homemade ornament EXTRAVAGANZA!

This is something I look forward to every year! Like I'm already thinking about next year! And you know what...every year, I wonder if ornaments can really get better or more creative...and the answer is a YES! Y'all...I have some friends with talent okay! :) And not only are they creative, but they ALL love the Lord with all their hearts and have blessed me by being able to call them friends.

We ate and ate lots of yummy appetizers and continued to eat scrumptious desserts, drink coffee and have great conversations and laughs. Then we each passed out our ornament we made...some with great anticipation and some with "disclaimers" they TRIED to say before handing it out! (One rule: you can't say anything negative about your ornament before handing it out! Some tried to break that rule...you know who you are! wink, wink)

It was like Christmas morning for my crafty friends! Lots of empty gift bags, tissue paper strewn everywhere and happy, happy girls!

This year I had four new friends join in...Jenni, Karen, Tracey from 7294 Cottage Way and Tara L from Between You and Me. You have to check out their blogs...you will love it and in turn LOVE them!

My tree speaks...

Do your trees speak? If so, what do they say? I decorate three trees in my house.

A homemade ornament tree, a kids tree and our family tree.

The one pictured is our family tree and this is what it says...

One ornament tells us...Jesus Christ was born to a virgin in a lowly manger...but is the KING of kings and our SAVIOR!

and the nail we hang on the tree says...Jesus was nailed to a cross, beaten and scorned for our SIN

The gold pinecone came from Thomasville, GA where I spent many summers and holidays with my amazing Grandparents

The little gold apple is from our very first Christmas tree in a little apartment in Casselberry where we could see "Rachel's gentlemen club" from our balcony...oh, yes...it's true! But it's where we came from...where we started...

The glittery "A" ornament says I am very blessed to have wonderful friends in my life who know me and love me unconditionally.

The ski lift, money wreath, lighthouse, Mickey ball, shells, painted Caribbean ball, starfish, Statue of Liberty, Baby's first Christmas, Ice cube snowman, personalized coffee mugs...they all say...what a incredibly blessed life we have! Sure, it reminds us of the places we have visited and the fun we have had on those trips or the reminder we have had two beautiful kids who had their First Christmas's with us! It's not an "all-put-together-matchy-matchy" tree. But to me...it makes me feel grateful and full of joy when I look at our tree. It's about the memories we have created and the life God has paved out for us so far.

Monday night I am having a homemade ornament party and I can't wait to blog about it, show pictures and tell you what is says!

Handmade ornaments are the best!

For about six years now, I have either gone to or hosted a homemade ornament party every year. My friend, Kendra invited me and when her family moved to Texas I knew that I had to keep the tradition going. It is something I so look forward to!! So, the obvious catch is that you have to hand make six ornaments for this party, so loving to craft is a huge must for this! Every year I am amazed by the creativity of the ornaments they come up with.
Above are just a few that are hanging on my "homemade ornament" tree in my dining room and of course I labeled who made which ornament for your viewing pleasure!