{ christmas spirit }

It is finally looking like Christmas around here!

Nice and snowy outside (personally, I prefer the snow to stay in the mountains, where I don't have to drive in it, but it does make it look much more festive and it helps it feel like Christmas!), warm and cozy inside!

We usually break out the Christmas decor on Black Friday (after shopping all morning!), but this year we didn't get around to it until tonight.  (and apparently in the blog world, you are supposed to decorate like a month early...whoops! Newbie here :)

Since it was pretty late when we finished, there was no chance of getting pics in nice, natural light, so I just snapped a couple real quick to give you a little sneak peek.

That little lamp project took waaaaay longer than it should have and cost me a couple burnt fingers.  Luckily, I finally outsmarted it and love how it turned out!  We don't have a mantle, so I decorate the top of our entertainment center.  This little lamp really warms it up and brighten up the room.

I absolutely LOVE nativity scenes.  I think it's because my mom has always loved them and collected them, so growing up, they were always a staple in decorating our house for the holidays. 

Sadly, this is the only one I own (I totally wish I had this WillowTree set...one day, right? :), so I display it proudly on our dining room table.  It's just a little one piece nativity, but I love it's simplicity.

I'll take pictures of everything else we put out tomorrow when my light is back.  This is the most I've ever done for Christmas, and I'm loving it!  I've always wanted to decorate more, but it's taken us some time to build up the Christmas decorating stash!  Stay tuned for more pics!

Show me your holiday decorations!  Any easy, festive ideas I can steal replicate from you?  I am always on the lookout for a new project!

{ patriotic love }

We have quite a bit of American pride 'round our house. 

My hubbs was thisclose to signing up for the Marines.  He tore his hamstring practically in half the day before he was going in to sign up, and by the time it healed, he had other responsibilities to attend to.  His favorite song is "God Bless the USA" by Lee Greenwood, and he tears up at the sight of soldiers or memorabilia about our great country. 

Even with all of this, we haven't been able to celebrate the 4th of July properly - because pretty much since we've been married, my husband's job takes us out of state all summer long.  We leave our home and family and travel to somewhere else in the country.  Don't get me wrong, we LOVE these adventures, but I wish I could decorate our house during this time to show our American pride. 

We do have a little something up...it stays up all year to remind us how lucky we are to live here:

(don't mind the messy messy entertainment center...I swear that thing will be the death of me one day.)

I'll zoom in to give you a closer look:

Now, I know that I don't have to decorate to show pride, but, let's be honest, it's a fun way to do so!

Especially after seeing some of the awesome ideas around blogland.

Take this for example:

How stinking adorable is that?  Those girls over at How Does She? never fail to amaze me.  I might stalk their site for new ideas....maybe....I'll never tell!

As soon as I saw that, I about died.  "I MUST have that!" I thought to myself.  And I will be making one as soon as I get back home.  I'll show you the finished product soon, I promise!

And then I saw Thrifty Decor Chick's post about this same decoration PLUS her own twist on it to make it into a door hanging:

Ack!  Could you just die?  I just love it.  So simple.  So sweet.

Sarah never ceases to amaze me with what she comes up with.

So then I decided I had to make one of those too.  Darn it all.  Why do you all have to be so talented?

If you could give me about a lifetime minute to catch up, that would be great!

And then, if all that weren't enough (sheesh! Seriously.), I blogstalked stumbled upon Living with Lindsay's Teach Me Tuesday post.  Her guest blogger this Tuesday was Sarah from A Little of This, A Little of That.  Sarah made the most adorable little girl's American flag shirt.  Seriously. To. Die. For.

Don't take my word for it though, see for yourself:

I am pretty sure I have to make this for my little Taelie-girl now.

In fact, as soon as she wakes up from her nap, I just might have to run to the store.

Yup.  I'm gonna have to.

The best part is, all of these girls gave us tutorials so we can be as crafty as them!  Score!  Just click on the links with their names and you'll be taken right to their sites.  (Nope, no one paid me to advertise these girls -- no one knows I'm here, I'm a newbie!  I just love these ideas that much!)

What are you waiting for?  Get busy crafting!  Have you seen any other to-die-for 4th ideas that I've missed? If so, let me know, and I'd LOVE to check them them out!