Better late than never Christmas tour.

I'm incapable of getting my Christmas act together until all the holiday house tours

in Blogland have come and gone.  I don't make big changes in the way

I decorate for Christmas from year to year, but I felt the need to publish a post

 to pull my blog out of the toilet, so to speak.(I'm referring to my last post.)

Sunshine and days off rarely coincide, so here's our dining room
on a gray winter day.  I had to take dozens of photos just to get a few shots
 with all the chandelier lights shining. I got my workout going up and down
the chair to screw in one temperamental light bulb and then hightail it
back to my camera to quickly snap a shot before it flickered out.
   So there you have it.  All 250 watts burning bright.

Total calories burned during my chair stepper routine = 250 (I wish!)

The chandelier crystals take on a new persona at night
when they catch the rays of the 24/7 light show next door.
Red and green and flashing all over.  :o)

An old quilt is my table dressing for the season.

I added some glittery wood snowflakes to my autumn acorn garland.

Green trees in teacups and an angel in a birdcage?
There is no logic involved in Christmas decorating.

I retired my sheet music wreath and resurrected "swamp thing"

with a piece of pine garland and red berries. The Swedish candle holder

was a thrift store find.  Score!

Red white & blue brighten up this corner of the room.

I keep the buffet top simple so I can easily move everything
 to make way for Christmas goodies.  We need lots of room for goodies.

I made little gingerbread houses to decorate the kitchen shelves,
and as of today there have been no uninvited guests
nibbling on the walls.  Whew!

The red and white mugs were a World Market find this year.
I also found a cookie cutter at WM for mini gingerbread houses
that will make assembling the houses so much easier next year!

Since I still haven't replaced our living room furniture (no big surprise),

I spruced up the sofa with a fun new throw from TJMaxx.

A round red placemat from Target brightens the basket on the wall.

On my to do list for several years was to make a big chalkboard (3 ft. x 4 ft.)
 to hang over the sofa.  It only took a few hours and cost around $10 to make.

I wonder how long my chalk art will last when our grands arrive?

The only thing I've yet to do is assemble candles and votive cups
for the luminaries we line our sidewalk with on Christmas Eve.

Our son-in-law Jeremy has taken on the duty of lighting
 the luminaries each year, which is not an easy task when it's
cold and windy.  I'll be watching from the nice warm house.

It was a difficult year for us at 911, but as 2017 draws to an end,
I realize how truly blessed we are.

We love you Santa.
  It wouldn't be Christmas without you.

Thanks so much for visiting and Merry Christmas

from our house to yours!

Vickie

Who stole the cookie from the cookie jar?

Welcome!

Let me turn the music down so we can visit.  I've got speakers wired into
our kitchen so I can play all my favorite Christmas tunes while I bake.
I think it's my favorite place to be at Christmastime.

You've seen the wall above numerous times, but this winter it feels warmer
in the room with the stenciled wallpaper.  Our big window faces north
 which tends to give true whites a chilly bluish cast during the winter months.

 

Since our kitchen wears red and green all year long, decorating for Christmas

takes just a few minutes.  I keep the few things I put out in a small basket
 on a little used upper cabinet shelf, so I don't even have to leave the room to decorate!

 

I moved this set of coasters way up high and out of reach of little fingers.

There are only 2 smiling faces left and I want to preserve them.

Do you hear that Maggie, our little climber?
Future firefighter perhaps?

Note to self:  Hide my ladder.

It's nice to be able to add small pops of color on my open shelving.
The ( Holt Howard?) salt & pepper shakers I've had forever
are a favorite of mine and that's why they're on the high altitude shelf. 

I finished painting the remaining kitchen walls a slightly warmer white

as you can see under the bakery sign.  Leftover kitchen "greens" and a pine cone wreath
decorate the space above the coat rack in the back entryway.

I've now got enough Santa nut cups to fill my sterilizer cabinet.

The reclining elf-on-the-sewing-machine-drawer-shelf is joined by
 vintage mushroom candle holders that I found on clearance after Christmas last year.

This is the room where we coffee drinkers like to hang out,
the kiddos eat breakfast and lunch, and the cooking happens,
so a few holiday accents bring a festive feel without taking up valuable space.

FYI, the chalk painted table and chairs finished with MMS clear furniture wax

are holding up nicely, and clean up easily with a mild vinegar and warm water solution.
Kid tested, grandma approved.

One tiny change here is the red & white crocheted romper pot holder

on the wall above the green scale.

Once again, the boss man keeps an eye on what's happening below.

View from the dining room before the baking starts.

Now it's time to crank up my Christmas tunes and bake some cookies!

This year's Christmas selfie (gift bought for one's self) is the set of 3 bowls
for only $5.99 at Walgreens, of all places!  I could not resist.

For years, I've marveled over the pretty gingerbread houses
and beautifully decorated cookies displayed in Scandinavian kitchens,
so today I made time to bake and decorate my own.

OMG.

They are way more labor intensive than one would think,
so of the 5 dozen cookies my recipe made, this is as many as my
stiff slightly arthritic hands could decorate at one time!

Unfortunately they will not be hanging in the windows and strung across shelves.
  They will be locked up tight in covered containers.

Have you read KariAnne's story about her disappearing gingerbread men?
(If not, click on her name for the lowdown.  Let me tell you, it's all
 fun & games when you're reading about somebody else's house.)


 Much to my horror and dismay, we discovered a pair uninvited guests
  stirring in our house this holiday season.  Eeek!!!!
  Let's add a few more !!!!!!! to let you know how I really feel about them!!!!!


 They've now been "escorted off the property", so to speak, and I don't think I'll be
 inviting them back in any time soon for biscuits and tea.

To all creatures, great and small, Merry Christmas!

Vickie

Do you remember the rhyme from your childhood that goes like this....

Group:  Who stole the cookie from the cookie jar?

   Mousie stole the cookie from the cookie jar!

Mousie:  Who me?
 Group:  Yes you!

 Mousie:  Couldn't be. 

Group:  Then who?

 Mousie:  (insert name here) stole the cookie from the cookie jar!

Repeat until everybody in the bus has a turn.

I'm joining:
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Winter Blunderland.

This time of year, everybody's in a great big hurry,
so if you're here for a quick dining room tour, welcome!
  For those of you who want the inside scoop,
 you'll find it at the end of the post.

The biggest change this year is my all white (I know) mantel
featuring an old doll dresser that's been repaired and painted
just in time for Christmas.  Enjoy!

 

  

I'm running out of daylight, so that concludes this year's

911 Christmas dining room tour.

Thanks for visiting!

Vickie 

*I'm joining:

Debra at Common Ground and Brenda at Cozy Little House

Home for Christmas 

The Essence of Home Share Your Style

** Behind the scenes;  take two deux.

 I thought I'd impress you with what I learned during my deux months

 of high school French class.  My instructor was surely a twin sister to the 

Wicked Witch of the West, so I dropped the class despite her dire warning

 that I'd live to regret my decision.

Oh, I don't think so Prunella Prunepuss.

Well.

   As you can see above, I misspelled Joyeux and had to take 

all my photos over again!!!!!

Guess who's laughing cackling now, my pretty?

Do you see the unsightly black box under our buffet?
1990 sound system gone bad.

Two years ago the drawer to this CD player snapped off when I was trying to

pry it open with a screwdriver.  This year, thank you very much, the power button

fell inside the player, so in order to play my Christmas tunes,

I have to reach in with my pinky finger and push the teeny tiny

offset switch inside.  Are you listening Santa?

Au revoir,
Vickie

Ready for a long winter's nap.

Bedroom no. 3 is by no means done, but here's where it's at this holiday season.

The chore board and shelf were hand-me-downs from our youngest daughter.

I added a few hooks to hang vintage baby gowns.

I had planned to paint the dresser gray, but the yellow adds a bit of sunshine

to this room during our long gray days of winter.  We replaced the ceiling fan

with the same fandelier we hung in the other bedroom.  It still needs

 bobeches and crystals, but that will come later.

25 cent lampshade tops a pretty lamp from my Baba.

This darling deer was left in a dresser that I'll show you in an upcoming post.

Fish bowl view of this side of the room.  That's a closet door on the right

We made this shelf from lumber we unearthed in our garage.

The "hooks" (or hookers as our youngest grandson calls them)

are a mish mash of porcelain knobs I've collected over time.

The petite size of this smoking stand works well as a bedside table.

It's topped with one of my many doll dressers.

To the left of the door is the alcove that houses my yarn cubby.

I procrastinated so long that I had to resort to painting the bed indoors

with chalk paint.  I gave it 2 coats followed by clear wax and it seems

to be pretty durable.  The alternative was to spray paint in the snow.  :o)

After 5 years of kicking this buffet topper around, I've finally found a use for it.

I filled in the mirror opening with plywood cut to size and painted with
 homemade chalkboard paint.  Then I sketched in the art with plain old white chalk.
  I bought chalkboard markers, but they only work on a flat surface and
 I was not about to take this very heavy piece off the wall!

For those of you who will be sleeping under it, don't worry because

 it's attached with 6 long screws directly into wall studs.

  It's not going anywhere.

The deer I made decades ago have been spiffed up with new glittery wreaths.

I do believe this window has found its final resting spot.

Last year's ho hum candle ring has become this year's window wreath.

Well, that's it for now.

Thanks for visiting and sweet dreams!

Vickie

*I'm joining:

Let's Add Sprinkles Monday Social

Making it in the Mountains Creative Gallery
Debra at Common Ground and Brenda at Cozy Little House-
Home for Christmas
The Essence of Home Share Your Style