Christmas Countdown Day 21...

It was a long night.... we left the house a little after 5pm last night and headed down to Boston(over a 2 hour drive).  We stopped and ate at Carrabba's in Peabody, MA. Then since we still had about 4 hours before his flight arrived, we decided to head into the downtown. Drove around Boston Commons(see the rink full of skaters down there?)....

 Then to Copley Center, which is a mall that is in two separate office buildings connected by an enclosed foot bridge.  There were A LOT of high end stores and we took the kids into Saks Fifth Avenue for the first time.... they weren't impressed,lol! Though Becca did like the feel of the $13,000 fur coat :)    We walked the whole thing, didn't buy anything, but did spend $28 on parking.  I'm not a fan of cities, too many people, traffic, and stuff.   But the decorations were big and pretty.... giant ornaments hanging everywhere....

 An an absolutely Huge wreath and massive stars....

 Becca and me...

 Then we headed to the airport.... It was about 10:30, the airport was a ghost town.  His flight was supposed to arrive at 11:45.  Well, we get a text that his layover flight was delayed,  by 2 hours!!  It finally arrived at 1:30 am!!!  Then a two hour drive back home.  Ya we were tired.

 But Cameron is home and Mason(along with the rest of us) are very happy!

Merry Christmas,

Tiff
(who's hoping the ice storm that is, coming misses us)

Christmas Countdown Day 20....

My kids don't hold anything back when it comes to dressing for school :)  

My youngest daughter has been wearing Christmas themed ensembles all week to school, from vintage gingerbread girl dresses to to Santa Ts, but today is her grand finale!  The vintage red crinoline was found at a new local antique shop that opened(she fell in love with the second she saw it).  The red converse are her tribute to Doctor Who.

 On her jacket is a mix of vintage and new pins...

 And then we have my 7th grader....  It was ugly sweater day at school. We didn't have and ugly Christmas sweater and they seem to be in short supply around here(goodwill has been wiped out for months, I think they are putting them on ebay).  So what was I to do?  I made him one.  That creepy crocheted santa is mine from when I was very little(I think my mom made it and it is actually a puppet).

 On the back... A stocking that I made for him, loaded with candy for him to hand out :)

He was a good sport about wearing this, but I'm sure it won't stay on the whole day.

We are headed to Boston this evening to pick up Cameron from the airport!!!  He will be home for a week and half and we are all extremely excited to see him.   I will have at least one more Christmas picture with all seven of them in Christmas pjs walking down the stairs.  Oh, and this year, they all have the same pjs, it's going to be quite the picture :)

Have a wonderfully fantastic day,

Tiff

Christmas Countdown Day 19...

While Christmas shopping the other day at Target, I saw a cute felt deer and told hubby that I liked it.  Last night he gave me an early Christmas present....

Meet my new little friend.... isn't she sweet?  I need to find some red crushed velvet ribbon to make a bow for her neck.  Thank you hubby. I love it!!

 My oldest daughter needed a stocking for her boyfriend, so I made one up quick this morning.

 And then while I was at it, I made another sweater pillow for the family room...

Count your blessings,

Tiff

Christmas Countdown Day 18...

Feeling kind of crappy today, but it is what it is and not much I can do about it.  Anyway, I thought I would make a quick present for my youngest daughter. Christmas is her birthday and she loves Doctor Who, so I added one more to her pile of birthday presents... a little 10th Doctor painting.

 And we got more snow last night, kids still had school but they sure were hoping for a snow day.

See you tomorrow,

Tiff

Christmas Countdown Day 17...

Yes, I'm late in the day, but I've been busy.  I got all the apple cozies done and delivered to the school, I finished up my Christmas shopping(yay!), did house chores,  and picked up my photo order from the store.

Now that the cozies are done, my next crochet project is going to be these adorable guinea pigs. Aren't they cute?!  Maybe I can get a few made before Christmas.

 It's snowing again! And when I went to pick up my youngest daughter from her play auditions at the high school, this was my drive home...  dusk with the lights on and the snow starting to come down. At the end of the street coming out of the school is the cutest house... Can you see it?

 I need to get a better picture one day, because it is a very sweet house.

Night, night...

Tiff

Christmas Countdown Day 16...

We dug out from the storm, the kids went to school, and hubby went to work. Tonight the temps are going to be in the negatives and more snow is expected tomorrow...  I think winter has definitely arrived.

Remember all the apple cozies I made for the church fair? I think I did about 25.  Well, I've been busy making another 40 ! I'm getting a bit tired of crocheting the same thing over and over, but I wanted to get them made for the elementary school.  I'm going to attach little sweater labels to them and then put them in the teachers mail boxes as a little secret Santa thing. 

 And I know you have seen this tree already, but I had to share it again.  I wasn't sure about putting a tree is this spot because of the traffic through to the stairs. But is has turned out, that I absolutely love it here. It makes me smile every time I walk down the stairs and see it warmly glowing at night.

 I'm extremely glad I put it here.

Stay warm,

Tiff

Christmas Countdown Day 15...

We definitely got some snow today. I don't know the official total, but it was quite a bit for one storm.

Some of you asked about the banner on my tree, so I thought I would show you a close up of it.  It's not burlap or fabric, it's actually just brown butcher like paper.  I bought it at a local shop(The Mustard House) before Thanksgiving and it was only around $7.  It came in one long roll, so I cut it up to make it work for the tree.  She sold out pretty quickly, but it was a manufactured thing, so I'm sure it's out there somewhere. Next time I am in there, I will ask her about it if any of you are interested.

 And in case you were talking about the actual burlap on the tree... I made those little bundles from a roll of burlap ribbon that I found at Pottery Barn a few weeks ago.

 And now for the snow.... This is on top the picnic table on the deck... probably close to 18" or so.

It sure feels like Christmas now :)

Have a lovely Sunday,

Tiff

Christmas Countdown Day 14... The Rest of the House...

Oops, I'm late, but it's still the 14th so I'm squeezing in Day 14... the rest of the downstairs.  Sorry for the grainy pics, they are from my phone.

I haven't even touched my lap top until this evening, we have been running around all day, picking up layaways, getting grocery shopping done(big snowstorm coming tomorrow), and helping our oldest daughter get a new to her car(hopefully she can pick it up Monday).

Here is our front hallway with my all glass ornament tree...

 I haven't put the Nativity scene up in ages and I missed it. So I found the perfect spot this year... on top of the pie safe... safe from little hands and mischievous cats.

 The tree...

 The tree as seen from the family room...

 The little wall between the kitchen and the hallway...

 I hung the  stockings in the hallway this year...

The gameroom tree.... This is all I did in this room, kept it very minimal for the boys.

 This is the tree with the homemade ornaments.

The downstairs half bath... kept it pretty simple in here too.

 The mudroom...

 This snowman was my newest addition this year.

 This is where my snowmen reside...

 I love the full bodied stand up guys...

So there you have it... the rest of the house.

We will be staying home tomorrow... sleeping in(they have already cancelled church), making rum balls, and staying warm by the fire. Last I heard, we are supposed to get 18", guess we will see!!

Have a lovely evening,

Tiff

Christmas Countdown Day 13...the Family Room

Another cold one out there today, I thought these temps don't come until January?

Anyway, on to the photos of my family room decorated for Christmas...

View from the kitchen...

 Closer look...

 Sitting corner by the fireplace...

 One of the windows on either side of the fireplace...

 Looking toward the front of the room...

 Notice all the pillows on the couch?  I made 8 pillow covers from sweaters that were too big for me. I love how they turned out and add a lot of warmth to the cold leather.

 Hutch that I repainted and a peak to the glass ornament tree that is in the front hallway...

 closeup...

 another view...

 and another...

 the area behind the couch...

 My feather tree with orange slices...

 A painting that I found at the church sale...

 one more view....

 The mantel....

 A small herd....

 On the wall....

 And the tree....

Hope you enjoyed the tour :)

Have a lovely day,

Tiff