Thursday, December 23, 2010

gumballs and glitter.

 I have a slight obsession with these things that y'all call gumballs around here. You know, those prickly looking pods that sprinkle the front lawn in the spring and fall.  Treacherous to step on barefoot, but treasures to look at...they are the hundred point stars that dangle in the daytime. I just think they are so beautiful, and intricate...and I've been trying to find a way to craft them into our Christmas for awhile. We decided to use them to dazzle our tree this year...take a look at our tiny, dark, little disco balls.










Atreyu's reindeer

Anduin's reindeer

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

gingerbread homestead.

We have a tradition in our home, and my kids won't let me forget it...every year at their request we make gingerbread houses out of graham crackers...this is much simpler and cheaper than gingerbread. I also take a shortcut by buying a jar of cream cheese frosting, and also some fudge frosting from the store. I divide them up, stir some food coloring into the cream cheese frosting, and scoop the different frostings into Ziploc bags. Then I cut a small corner of the bottom of the bag to create an easy and cheap way to pipe the frosting onto the sugary structures. Then I let the kids at 'em.


Here for your viewing pleasure are our 2010 creations:


My Ode to Tiffany's



Chad's Star War's X-Wing

Allie's Whimsical Cuckoo Clock


Anduin's Monkey House

...complete with monkey...that you could only see once she ate the door off.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

elfing.

So this Christmas season has been fantastic.I have been soaking up every second of it...and so has my house. Here is a special photo blog featuring every little pine sprig I stuck up in my house this year. Enjoy the snug.





Lovin' the pine bough chandelier in my kitchen

The hall to the living room

Living room

Can you tell i'm slightly obsessed with the pine hovering over my pendants?
Our bedroom...the christmas lights were on the house when we bought it, and they're sun bleached...and look vintage as a result.
A shelf in our room.

Yes, it is Christmas in the bathroom too.




...and, of course we can't leave out the children's room.


A window detail  in the kid's room.
Night lights.




                                                                                                                 
Merry Christmas to all.





























Saturday, November 20, 2010

sweet little things

Recently my sister-in-law came back from a trip to Egypt where she will be starting a whole new life soon. On the return trip, during her layover in Paris she saw some macarons (or bon-bons, as I like to call them) in a shop window, and brought them home to me. This was such an dear treat to me considering I've always wanted to try the decadent morsels that are featured in my blog banner, but never have. Almost the moment she walked in the door of our home she whipped out this gorgeous little gift bag and began to tell me how detailed the ritual of packaging these pretty little cookies were. Sure enough, as I opened the stately wrapping, there they were- sitting in their perfectly folded parchment, the tiny scroll of paper that tells about "l' histoire" of the patisserie Laduree perched on top, all royally housed in a small, exquisite box with a kingly seal on the cover. I was stricken. I was smitten....infatuated even, and  I felt like a queen.




So I did a photo shoot- I couldn't resist:















I don't know what was sweeter to me- the bon-bons brought straight from Paris to my hands, or the thought that in the spin of mental, emotional, and physical activity that comes with uprooting and rearranging her entire life my darling friend and sister had me, of all things, on her mind.


Actually I do.