MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE!

Joy to you and yours!

Ladies luncheon

Mom and Grandmother came into town Friday afternoon and I had a small luncheon at our house on Saturday with some great old friends and family. As most of you know, Grandmother grew up in Chattanooga and graduated high school (GPS) here. She's still close with her very best friend from high school, Sara Lee. So, we had Sara Lee, Aunt Kitty, and one of Mom's "summer friends," Ann up for lunch. It was a nice gathering and I think everyone enjoyed the visit!
I wasn't so good taking pictures once everyone arrived, but here's a picture before the luncheon with Grandmother.

And, the table. I had fun with the floral ring around the Christmas tree. I put it on a cake stand and then just filled it in with greenery and roses.

A more up close shot of the flowers.

And, looking down...

And, for place settings, I decorated cookies with their initials. Of course, drawing on cookies is much more difficult than it seems. I have a new respect for cookie decorators! :)

a bit of Christmas decor...

Well, I'm finally finished decorating (almost!). We're done with the guestroom paint and have hung blinds in there (thanks, Brooke!), but I'll have to take the "after" pics when the room gets back in order. For now, I thought I'd post a few shots of our Christmas decorations. EBTS came out a bit today. For my friends that might not know about EBTS, it stands for "Everything but the Silver." One day I'd love to have my own business---doing tabletop decor for small parties and gatherings. I love setting a table and as all of you know, I love decorating in general. I'm having some of my Grandmother's friends over for lunch next Saturday, so I'll have to take some more pictures before the luncheon. I've got a few ideas ready for the centerpiece.

Here's my gold "stick tree." I bought a terracotta pot and sprayed it gold, and then gathered limbs from the yard, spraying them gold, also. I found these cute mini ornaments at Hobby Lobby and hung them on the branches. Easy to do! The hardest part was finding the coral ribbon. I still didn't find an exact match, so it's now my mission to find the perfect coral ribbon for that room!

A bit more up close.

And, here's our front door wreath. It's not exactly the best picture in the dark, but it's just an evergreen wreath with ribbons and then a bell (cheap plastic bell from Wal-Mart) that I covered with reindeer moss. Gotta love glue guns!

Here's a better shot of the reindeer moss bell. I also made another one that I've hung on our mailbox.

And, here's the manger scene that I decided to place in my rice bowl this year. I really like how it looks in there.

This is a very fuzzy shot of the tree, but there it is! We moved it this year to this corner and I like its new spot.

And, the mantle. I still have some more work to do on this, but it's Saturday night and I'm stopping! Notice the new shades for the lamps. They FINALLY came in after a month of waiting! I ordered them from this custom lampshade shop that can do any style, size, and fabric. I think the black shades look good.

And, sadly, the last item from Stray Dog for this year (because the warehouse sale is over!). I got this paper maiche mirror frame from them for $15. I can buy a mirror at a wholesale mirror place here in town for $20. The price on the Stray Dog site: $450! I think this mirror will go over the sink in the downstairs bathroom once we renovate it.

Guestroom and lantern...

The hallway is finally done! YEA! It's amazing what a couple (or three or four) coats of paint can do! The space is so much more open and it actually makes it feel as though we've added on to our house. It's amazing how closed off that side of the house seemed with the dark paneling. It's a great change! We also began painting the guestroom. I unfortunately didn't take any real "before" pictures and my "during" aren't great so far as we have all of the furniture piled in the middle of the room, so it's hard to get a good photo. But, you at least get an idea. It has been a pale yellow, and we're painting it in Riviera Azure by Benjamin Moore---a lilac-y blue color.

Hallway done!

And a view down the hall towards the guestroom (the open door here is the office).

And, here's our new foyer light. It's an "outdoor" lantern. I like the look, and it was certainly a nice deal at Home Depot!

Here's the guestroom. The door on the left goes out into the hallway, and the door on the right is the closet door.

Here's the closet door...very exciting, I know. :) At least you can see the beginnings of a new color!