I love Thanksgiving. I love the food, the family and the reminder to stop and be thankful for all of my life. For the last couple of years, our family has done a Thankful Tree as a reminder to be purposefully thankful during the month leading up to Thanksgiving. But this year, life got in the way (and I procrastinated) and we haven’t started yet. Since Thanksgiving is next week, I went on the hunt for some meaningful Thanksgiving traditions that us procrastinators still have plenty of time to do.

We’ll be making Gratitude Rolls from Jen at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam. So simple if you use a tube of crescent roll dough.

Silverbox Creative Studio has created a beautiful, FREE printable that you can use to make napkin rings, a paper garland or paper tags. Each strip has a spot to write what you’re thankful for.

Here’s another free printable from Sissy Print! You can use it to play the “I am Thankful For” Guessing Game!

How about making a Thanksgiving leaf garland with your kids on Thanksgiving morning?

I love this Blessings String from Southern Living. You could just wind the string around the tabletop and let people add tags with their own words during the meal.

Get a jump start on your Christmas paper chain garland by putting out strips of scrapbook paper and asking everyone to write down what they’re thankful for. Thank you Little Birdie Secrets! What a wonderful way to tie the two holidays together!

I love the Thanksgiving Journal tradition shared by Just Something I Made. What a great way to see how your family changes and grows over the years.

I got tears in my eyes when I saw this Thanksgiving Tablecloth shared by From Glitter to Gumdrops. What a precious treasure.

Does your family have any special Thanksgiving Day traditions?

The Procrastinators Guide to Meaningful Thanksgiving Traditions is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

I don’t do a whole lot of Halloween decorating. Not because I don’t like the holiday (I love it!), but mostly because it usually sneaks up on me and I’m not prepared. Shall I show you my boys store-bought costumes as proof?

But my boys are of the age where a little bit of spooky and creepy is thrilling. And since we all find spiders thoroughly creepy, I created this string art spiderweb for our mantel.

The whole project took less than 30 minutes and you could probably figure out how to make it yourself in no time. But, since you’re all here, I’ll show you how I did it.

All you need is a piece of plywood, nails with big heads and some fat black yarn. My plywood is a 2′ x 3′ scrap from our basement remodel. If you don’t have scrap wood laying around, Home Depot and Lowes sell 2′x2′ and 2′x4′ pieces of plywood and MDF in the wood area.

Start by figuring out where you want to center of your spiderweb to be and hammer a nail there. I put mine a little off-center to make it more interesting.

Then hammer nails around the outside of the board wherever you want to “spokes” of the spiderweb to end. That probably makes no sense and I’m sure that spiders don’t call them “spokes”. Hang on. It will make sense in a minute.

Now you’re going to create the spokes using your yarn. I like the fat yarn, but you can use whatever you have. Start by tying the end of the yarn around the center nail. Then wrap your yarn around each outer nail always coming back to the center nail. You’re kind of creating a sunburst pattern with your yarn.

All spiders probably hate me now with all my talk of “spokes” and “sunbursts” in relation to spider webs.

Now you’re going to start making the inner parts of the web. Make a circle of nails close the center of the web. Keep the nails as close to the “spokes” as possible.

Then wrap your yarn around each set of nails. Seriously. It couldn’t be easier.

After it was all done, I went back and painted the heads of my nails with black craft paint. You could be smarter than I and use black nails.

Now my boys are asking for a giant spider to put in the web. Shudder.

Linking to the Halloween Mantel Party @ Home Stories A to Z

Spider Web String Art: Halloween Mantel is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

How adorable are these yarn wrapped pumpkins? Totally huggable. I think. I am crushing on all things yarn right now because I can’t resist all the yummy fall colors.

I bought a few fake pumpkins last week (and pulled a some smaller ones from my stash) and wrapped them up in different shades of yarn to give them some fall snuggly-ness. The large pumpkin came from Michaels and the large gourd came from Joann. The smaller pumpkins and gourds came from Wal-Mart.

Don’t you just love all the rich fall colors in the yarn? The fat yarn came from Wal-Mart and the rest from Joann. Wavery yarn comes in beautiful colors that are perfect for fall.

The process is super simple, if rather tedious. All I did was glue the yarn around the base of the stem with hot glue. Then I continued wrapping and gluing the yarn as I went down the pumpkin. Super simple and mindless. But, if you’re attached to your fingerprints, you may want to use low-melt glue to minimize the inevitable burning of your fingers. The tips of my fingers have long-ago lost most feeling (not to mention their fingerprints). I’d make a great criminal.

I think the big white one is my favorite. I may or may not hug it when I walk by. How can you not love a pumpkin that looks like it’s wearing a sweater?

I used the extra-thick yarn and twisted two strands together as I glued it to the pumpkin. The stem is wrapped in jute twine. It’s super easy, but took some time. I did the big white one while watching 2 episodes of What Not to Wear.

I can’t stop touching them. The texture and colors are perfect for fall. I seriously want to wrap everything I own in yarn. The dog is scared. The kids too.

Note: The Fruit of the Spirit artwork is from the Urban Soul Collection at Dayspring.

Thank you to Martha Stewart, Everything Under the Moon and Two Shades of Pink for the inspiration. Check them out for more pumpkin-wrapped goodness.

Yarn Pumpkins AKA Yumpkins is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

There’s something about fall that brings out all of my best nesting instincts. I want to bring out my snuggly blankets and fall-ify my home. I probably won’t have time to do them all, but here are just a few of the beautiful fall projects that I’ve seen lately.

I would love to have a beautiful front porch so I can fall-ify it like this one from BHG.

Chicken wire pumpkin (and wheat stalks made from twine!) @ Craftberry Bush

Love this tray with gourds, candles and hedge apples via BHG. We call those green things monkey balls around here (I know not why), but they’re all over my street!

Adorable cardboard owls from Altered Perceptions on Etsy.

Did you have fun with your Summer List? How about a Fall Bucket List? Free printable available from Loves of Life.

I love felt and I adore this fall leaves garland via A Beautiful Mess.

Framed fall leaves via BHG. Love the way these look between the clear glass.

Places I Land:: Fall-ification is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

via

A couple of months ago, I saw this picture of Martha Stewart’s Gourd Garland on Pinterest. I loved it. So simple and pretty. And it made me want to put a split-rail fence all around my yard.

I have no doubt that Martha’s version is made with hand-twisted, organic jute twine and air dried Peruvian gourds. Mine is made with regular old jute string and fake miniature gourds that I found at Michaels.

Drill a hole in each gourd using a drill-bit that’s similar in size to your twine or string. Don’t make them all stand up straight. Drill some of the holes at an angle so the gourds hang to the side. It looks better that way.

Thread your twine or string through the holes in each gourd. Here, a big embroidery or upholstery needle would have been helpful. I didn’t have one, so I wrapped the end of my twine in tape to give it some stiffness.

Shoot a glob of glue into each hole to hold the gourd in place on your twine. I left about 5 inches between each gourd. You could also tie a knot on either side of each gourd to hold it in place. That’s what Martha did. But I’m a rebel.

Done! $4.00 and 20 minutes, including a Diet Dr. Pepper break. I still don’t have a split-rail fence, but it looks nice and fall-ish on my mantle.

Martha Stewart Hack is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

We’re having a party for over 70 people on Sunday and I’m having a ball making things a little festive around here.

I may have a problem, though. I bought a bunch of American flags from Oriental Trading Company and the craft store a few weeks ago and I’m putting them everywhere!

All along my front sidewalk tucked in among the Annabelle Hydrangeas.

In my pots of ferns on the front stoop.

In my Front Door Hydrangea Basket.

And, of course, a few inside too.

Need some ideas for the 4th? Check out my Independence Day Pinterest board for a HUGE amount of inspiration!

Do you have any plans for the 4th?

More 4th of July Inpiration: Flags, Flags and More Flags is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

Oh my word. I love this so much I may never take it down. Which will look a little strange in December, but whatev. I think the American flag is beautiful.

This 5ft x 8ft American flag came from Amazon ($27.00 with free shipping).

I used a few tacks and hung it right over the map artwork that’s already there. Easy peasy and so fun for our 4th of July party!

If you’re looking for more 4th of July inspiration, make sure to check out my 4th of July Pinterest board. Well over 100 ideas for parties, decorations, food, games, etc.

4th of July Inspiration: The Gigantic Flag in my Family Room is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

It’s only the middle of June, but I’ve already got Independence Day on my mind. We have a large 4th of July party every year and I start planning for it in May. What started as a small get-together with a few friends has grown over the years and we’re expecting at least 70 people this year.

It’s day of fun, family, freedom and love for our country. Add in some delicious food, rowdy games and fireworks and you have a perfect day.

I’ve assembled a huge collection of July 4th inspiration over on Pinterest. At last count, there were 101 ideas and I’m still adding more! There are recipes, decorations, crafts, party games, free printables and even a rockin’ summer party playlist. Everything you need to throw a steller July 4th party. Check it out on Pinterest!

Over the next couple of weeks, I’ll be sharing some of my own projects. But I thought you might like to see my inspiration files in the meantime. If you have a great project, leave a link in the comments section!

What are your plans for the 4th of July?

101 Ideas for the 4th of July! is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

My poor front stoop looked severely neglected after a long, hard winter. The doormat was literally torn in two. And the ick and gunk that had accumulated underneath it was too horrifying to mention.

Not very welcoming is it? It’s a little too soon (up here in the cold midwest) to put out my flower pots, but I figured I could at least spruce the place up with a personalized welcome mat.

This little DIY couldn’t have been easier. I am so in love with it that I think it will be my go-to housewarming gift. Here’s what I used:

• A plain doormat – Mine came from Lowes, but I’m sure you could fine one anywhere. IKEA has a coir mat that would be perfect for this project.
• Masking tape – I used 3″ and 1″ tapes
• Exterior spray paint – I used Krylon Outdoor Spaces in Earth
• A big letter – I used a wooden letter that I had laying around but I could have just as easily cut one out of cardstock.
• Diet Dr. Pepper – optional

I used masking tape to cover up the areas that I didn’t want painted. If you don’t have the right size masking tape on hand, you could easily use paper strips to create your borders. Just secure them in place with straight pins.

On my mat, I created one border using the 3″ masking tape and the 1″ tape to create a second border, leaving about one inch between the two. I used a ruler to make sure that my borders were even the whole way around the mat. Since there is some texture to my mat, the masking tape doesn’t stick perfectly. That’s ok.

I put the letter in the center of my mat and masked off two smaller areas that I thought I wanted to stay the original color. I changed my mind later, but it was an easy fix.

Next, I gave all the exposed areas a good coat of my spray paint. The trick to this step is to spray straight down as much as possible. If you spray at an angle, you risk getting paint under your tape.

Let the whole thing dry for about an hour.

Now comes the fun part! Hold your breath and start peeling back your tape. Did it work????

YES!!!!! After I pulled off all the tape, I decided that I didn’t like the little lines next to my “R”, so I used my drop cloth to cover up everything but those two little sections and covered them with paint. Easy peasy.

Since I used exterior paint, it should hold up, but I’ll keep you posted.

Expense for this little project? About $20. And that was all for the mat. Everything else I had on hand. I think I’m going to make another one with our house number on it.

Does your front porch need a little spruce up?

Linking up with SAS Day!

Spring Spruce-Up: DIY Doormat is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

Our family will be hosting at least one (maybe more) meals over the Easter weekend. I wanted a pretty centerpiece that didn’t cost me a ton and could be used all spring and maybe summer! Enter my Easy Easter and Spring Living Centerpiece. Mine is really big, but you could do something a little more human in scale.

First, grab your shovel and dig up a patch of moss from your backyard. Make sure you do this in the middle of a wind-storm. You want to get the full-on crazy neighbor thing working. They haven’t seen me spray paint any bunnies for a while and I like to keep ‘em guessing.

No moss? No problem. Use the fake stuff. Or skip it all-together. We’re flexible like that.

Fill your container with some potting soil. Mine is an oval galvanized bucket from Lowes. They sell them with the paint supplies. I know not why.

Lay your moss on top and fill in with whatever little plants you can lay your hands on. I used some mini-ferns, dusty miller and some 50% off purple pansies. There’s no science to it…Just keep shoving stuff in there until it looks good. If you don’t like how it looks, add more stuff. Trust me. More stuff is good.

I also added a sweet little bunny that looks strangely like a zombie in these pictures. This post is taking a very strange turn.

After Easter, I’ll probably put it on the back porch and hope that it keeps growing. Once the pansies are done blooming, I can pull them out and add in some summer flowers. Maybe petunias?

Some more inspiration?

Meredith is the Queen of Use-What-You-Have and I still love her Easter Centerpiece from waaaaaaay back in 2009. Her moss-digging ways inspired me to do a little digging of my own.

Ann’s Easter Garden may not be a centerpiece, but it’s beautiful, meaningful and I love it. Sweet, inspiring Ann will probably be horrified to be included along-side all my crazy moss-digging, zombie bunny talk.

Living Easter Garden Centerpiece is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

A few weeks ago, I saw Centsational Girl’s pretty blossom candle and I was reminded of a craft that I recently did using inexpensive prayer candles. I made these with a group of kids at church, but I think it would be fun to do as a DIY Mother’s Day gift for grandma (or auntie, teacher or neighbor).

It couldn’t be simpler. All you need is some tissue paper (cut into little squares), Mod Podge, and a candle in a glass container. I was feeling springy when I did this version so I used pink and yellow tissue paper. The prayer candle came from the Dollar Tree.

Side note: I’ve started keeping a small stash of those religious candles on hand so I’m prepared in case of an extended power outage. They burn for over 80 hours (!!!) and you can find them at the dollar store. HUGE bargain! Not to mention they’re great for making an inexpensive craft with the kiddos.

There’s no magic to this. It’s just your basic Mod Podge project. Start with a light coat of Mod Podge and start layering on your tissue paper.

Keep layering the paper and coating it with Mod Podge until you like how it looks.

I wasn’t happy with just the pink and yellow, so I added some flowers that I cut from another sheet of tissue paper.

Add a final topcoat of Mod Podge and let it dry. Done!

Since I’m a bit of a freak, I couldn’t make just one…they’re kinda like chips! I did this coral patterned one with a paper napkin.

And in case you’re wondering, this is the version that I did with my kids from church. They’re all boys (heaven help me), so we used primary colors.

May I just say that the best part of this project (for me AND the kids) is getting to peel all of that dried glue off your hands. Why is that so satisfying?

Crafty Stuff ~ Decoupaged Spring Candles is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

Hello, sweet friends! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. Ours was spent hiding indoors from Old Man Winter who made a very unwelcome return. Doesn’t he know it’s spring? I’m ready for some sunshine, people!

But lucky for me, I had some spring inside the house because, last week, I started growing some grass to use in an Easter centerpiece. This was a fun, easy project to do with the kids because you can’t screw it up and the grass sprouts super fast.

All you need are some containers, potting soil and seeds.

I used wheat grass because I happened to have some on hand. You can usually find it at heath food stores and places like Whole Foods and Trader Joes. I’ve heard that it’s super healthy and people use it in smoothies, but I just grow it to look at. If you don’t have any wheat grass, you can use regular rye grass. It works just as well but sprouts a bit slower.

Cover your soil with a generous layer of seeds and a very light coating of top soil. Give it some water and keep the soil moist. Depending on the type of seed you used, they will sprout in 2-4 days. Then just keep watering it and trim as necessary.

In 7-10 days, you’ll have a container of lush springy grass.

My older son said that this one looked like a head. I agree.

Now if only someone would invent a teeny-tiny lawnmower, because sometimes your grass centerpiece needs a little trim.

Until then, you can use a pair of scissors or, do what I did, and give it a trim with your electric knife.

Perfect.

This isn’t my first time around the block with wheat grass. A couple of years ago, I grew it in my apothecary jars.

And I left my centerpieces plain, but you can dress them up with all sorts of spring-y-ness.

Maybe with butterflies like Urban Comfort?

Or peeps like Gather and Nest?

Or with gerbera daisies like Floral Verde?

Have you checked out Centsational Girl’s Fair Weather Forum?

Easy Spring Grass Centerpiece is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

Because I think their Anna Moss Basket looks a wee bit like my Moss Easter Basket from last year.

Check out this post for easy instructions for your own DIY Moss Basket.

Who Does Pottery Barn Hack? is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

Do you want to know how to make one of these fluffy, spring butterfly wreaths? It’s ridiculously simple and I feel kind of silly even telling you.

Here’s all you need:

1. A foam wreath form: I used a 12″ green form, but any size will work. I went with the green form in case some of it showed through under the yarn.
2. Green furry yarn: I used 1-1/2 skeins of fun fur yarn.
3. Hot glue
4. Fake butterflies or whatever you want to use to decorate your wreath. You could use flowers, scrapbook paper, maybe mini Easter eggs?
5. Toothpicks

I love that green fur yarn. I think it looks like grass.

The basic wreath couldn’t be easier. You just glue one end of the yarn to your wreath form and start wrapping. This yarn is really thin, so it takes a while to wrap the whole thing. I didn’t glue as a went. Just at the beginning and the end.

At this point, you should kick yourself for only buying 1 skein of yarn. Go back to the store for another skein. Glue the end of yarn to the wreath and give it a good fluffing. It should look kind of shaggy and wild.

I like the way it looks without any embellishments. Kind of grassy and simple. But hubby thinks it looks like a muppet.

I fancied my wreath up with some fake butterflies, but you could use whatever you like…paper flowers? Easter eggs? Doughnut holes?

You could just glue the butterflies directly to the wreath, but I wanted them to float a little bit. So I broke a bunch of toothpicks in half and hot glued them to the bottom side of each butterfly. Ignore the fact that this looks like some horrible fake butterfly torture chamber.

Since you used a foam wreath form, you can just poke the butterflies right into it and move them around until you like how it looks.

Keep poking and moving.

Did you miss last weeks Flowered Spring Yarn Wreath? Check it out!

Yarny, Grassy, Spring Butterfly Wreath is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

There may still be snow on the ground at Casa Kimba, but I’ve been dreaming of spring for a month.

I figured it was time to replace the pine cone wreath that’s been hanging in my kitchen with something a little a little more spring-y.

It was super simple (and inexpensive) to make. The base is a 14″ foam wreath form wrapped in yarn and the flowers are made from scrapbook paper. I ended up not using the little birdie in my picture and used a fake butterfly instead. Some may call them tacky, but I’m in love with fake butterflies.

The first step is to wrap your wreath from in yarn. I used a chunky yarn in shades of brown, yellow and natural. You just attach one end of your yarn to the wreath form with a dab of hot glue. Then you start wrapping. And wrapping. And wrapping. When you get the whole way around, secure the other end of the yarn with a dab of glue. Done.

It’s easy, but a little tedious. I’d say it took me 1 DVR’d episode of Survivor (minus the commercials) to wrap the whole thing.

After you wrap the wreath, it’s time to have fun with the embellishments. I used a stick from the backyard that I wrapped with some earthy green yarn. Then I hot glued it to the wreath. Play around with it a little to see how it looks best on your wreath.

Next up are the paper flowers. I used 4 colors of scrapbook paper for mine…brown, tan, cream and yellow. For the bigger flowers, I used 8-1/2×11″ paper and cut it into 4 pieces. For the smaller flowers, I started with 3″x3″ squares. There’s no science to the process. It’s all freehand. You cut your paper into circles or ovals. Then you cut out the spiral shape.

You roll the paper from the outside all the way into the center keeping it as tight as possible. I secured the whole thing with dab of glue. Rather than me reinventing a great tutorial, check out this paper flower tutorial from I’m a Yarner. That’s where I got the idea.

From there, it’s just a matter of gluing on your flowers. Again, no science to it. Just make it look pretty. And don’t forget your butterfly!

I hung mine with some spring-y yellow ribbon and that’s that! A fun and easy spring wreath.

Credits:
This wreath was inspired by Layla’s Spring Wreath and I’m a Yarner’s Rose Wreath. Check them out!

DIY Spring Wreath is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

I think I write about my mantle more than any other topic around here. I guess that’s because 1) I love it and 2) It sets the tone for the entire first floor of our home. I like for it (and the rest of my home) to evolve with the seasons.

After all the clutter of Christmas, I wanted the mantle to be simple for the rest of winter. Some might say it’s sparse or plain but the simplicity feels right to me.

The window was a $10 salvage store find. All I did was dust it and clean the glass.

The white ceramic pieces are a combo of things I already had a couple that I picked up at Marshalls.

What do you do with your mantle for the rest of winter after Christmas has passed?

The Winter Mantle is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

The problem-child tree came down the day after Christmas, but I haven’t been in a hurry for everything else. Then, on Sunday, the boys were all watching football and the itch started. The Un-Decorating Itch.

The Christmas un-decorating is usually a frenzy of bubble-wrap and boxes. The kids run and hide. I can’t bear to look at it all anymore and it feels like a race to take it down. I don’t want to take the time to sort and organize. Next Christmas seems eons away, so I jam it all into boxes and hope for the best.

But this year it was different because of the organizing that I did last year. I finally got rid of most of the stuff I don’t use anymore. Then I organized the boxes and bins so the stuff that was displayed together got put away together.

It made all of the difference in decorating and undecorating this year. When I was decorating, I could bring just one box out of the basement, put things out, then take the box back downstairs. It wasn’t a train-wreck of 50 boxes for a week while I found everything I needed.

And the undecorating is that much easier too! I can just do a little bit at a time, when I have a few minutes, without trashing my house with boxes.

Let me encourage you to take the extra time to FINALLY get organized this year. I promise you it will make a huge difference next year.

Here are my top 3 Christmas Un-Decorating tips for 2011.

1. Rubbermaid. Rubbermaid. Rubbermaid. Those plastic containers are worth their weight in gold for Christmas storage. Go for the translucent ones so that you can see what’s inside the box.
2. Get RID of some stuff! If you haven’t put it out for 2 years, it’s probably time to let it go. Trust me, it’s so freeing.
3. If you have young kids, like me, get a special box for Christmas videos, books and games. They’re so much more special when they’re not out all year long. But keep that box handy in your storage area for when you find Santa Clause is Comin’ to Town in July.

What’s your plan? Are you organized or no?

Bit by Bit: The Breakdown is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

We’re still fa-la-la-ing and the last friends and family are barely out of the driveway. But I couldn’t wait one more minute to take down the tree. Why am I such a fickle-pickle? I can’t wait to put it up and then I can’t wait to take it down.

This year, I was particularly ready since our tree has been a bit of a problem child. First, he fell over. Then he stopped taking up water about a week ago. That meant that he totally dried up and started dropping needles like mad. A slight breeze would start an avalanche of falling needles.

Think I’m kidding? By the time I was done taking off the ornaments, garland and lights, the branches were nearly bare. I’ve never seen anything like it. At this rate, I’ll still be sweeping up pine needles in July.

Some decorations, like the mantle, will stay for another week or two, but I couldn’t wait to take out the tree.

What about you? Are you a leaver-upper or a taker-downer?

Get Down is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

I’m trying to keep things simple this year. Simple traditions. Simple gifts. Simple parties. Simple decorations.

I loved my Carnival Light Garland from last year and my Gigantic Natural Garland from the year before. But I just didn’t have it in me to do something big this year.

I found the fake juniper garland at a craft store a few weeks ago and loved it. I added some real magnolia leaves that I bought on ebay.

Yes. I bought magnolia leaves. Don’t judge. This northern girl has a southern heart and magnolia leaves just scream Christmas to me. Pity I can’t grow them here.

I love how they dry all green and brown with the curled edges showing the leathery backs. Very pretty.

Then I threw in a few red berries and called it done.

My gigantic sugar pine cones (also bought on ebay) are appearing again this year. I adore them and find a new place to use them every year.

Very simple and very done. Makes me happy.

A Simple Garland is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

After the Great Christmas Tree Debacle of 2010 (here and here), I wasn’t sure I would even bother getting our tree all prettied up this year. But Thrifty Decor Chick is hosting her Christmas Tree Linky and I wanted to play along. That and my kids would have had a collective cow if I just gave up on the whole Christmas tree thing this year. But, trust me, the thought crossed my mind more than once.

So there she is (I’m sure my tree is a she this year). In all her standing-back-up glory.

My favorite thing this year is the new wooden bead garland that I found at the craft store for $2.00 a strand. It’s got different colors of red in it so I like to pretend it’s real cranberries.

I started with 5 strands only to discover that my mammoth tree needed at least 8. My dear mom scoured all the stores in the area to find me the last 3 strands. Thanks mom!

And that crown looking tree topper? It’s only The Most Beautiful, Wonderful, Sparkly Tree Topper Ever. I made it last year and somehow it’s delicate-ness managed to survive the year in the basement. A Christmas miracle!

~~~~~~~~~~

In other business, the winner of the ornaments from Lisa Leonard is Hilary from Eric, Hilary and Sierra. Congratulations and Merry Christmas, Hilary!

O Christmas Tree: You Oversized Pain in My Patootie is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

Oh, maybe just a couple of words…

My life is ridiculous. First we couldn’t get the darned thing in the house. Now we get the answer to the question…If a tree falls over in your family room, does it make a sound?

Answer? YES!

I wish I could say that this is the first time we’ve dealt with a Christmas tree debacle. Someday, I’ll need to tell you a story about the year we had to saw the bottom off of a fully-decorated tree because it stopped taking up water on December 5th. It may or may not have been because I forgot to water it for 4 days.

Come to think of it, that was the year we bought the artificial tree. I’m thinking this might be the end of the Real Tree Experiment.

Do you have a ridiculous Christmas tree story?

No Words is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

It’s only December 1st and I already know that Ann Voskamp’s Jesse Tree Advent Devotional will be one of my favorite things this advent season.

It’s free for the asking at A Holy Experience. Every word is wondrously beautiful and is encouraging our family to wait expectantly for Christ.

I printed off the devotional part on regular paper and the ornaments on photo paper. I feel like I’ve been given a beautiful gift already. Thank you, Ann.

If you’ve never heard of a Jesse Tree before, it’s an advent devotional that tells the story of God’s plan for salvation starting with the creation story, through the Old Testament to the coming of the Messiah. Each day has a family devotional with a special ornament that gets hung on your Jesse Tree. Your tree can be anything….a small evergreen, a branch, a silhouette of a tree drawn on paper.

Enjoy!

A Christmas Tradition is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

Am I the only one who can’t judge the size of a tree when it’s at the tree farm? Apparently, I have zero spatial skills.

For the first time in about 10 years, we have a real tree, but it’s the same problem all over again. The tree that seemed just the right size at the farm is ginormous! We’ve already cut at least a foot off the bottom of the tree to get it in the house.

The conversation while we’re picking out the tree is always the same. It goes something like this…

Me: “Honey! Here it is! The perfectest most perfect tree ever!”
Hubster: “Honey. Don’t you think it’s a little big?”
Me: “No! It’s perfect! It’s only a little taller than you. And look at its shape!”
Hubster: “But it’s at least 6 feet wide!”
Me: “No! It’s the perfect size for the corner by the windows! And it smells good!”
Hubster: “Sigh.”

And God bless that man. He cuts down the tree for me knowing that we’re going to have to jam, shove, jiggle and otherwise wrestle the tree just to get it through the door.

The fact that it wouldn’t fit through the tree-wrapping thing should have been my first clue. Luckily, I’ve got enough ornaments for 10 trees, so we’re good.

Here’s my burning question? Real or fake? What’s your tree?

Objects (at the tree farm) Are Larger Than They Appear (when you put them in your family room) is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

Last Friday I had the chance to chat on the phone (YES, the PHONE!) with Nate Berkus of The Nate Berkus Show. If you’re an avid blog reader, then you’ve probably heard of Nate because he’s done such a fantastic job of reaching out to the blogging community by hosting bloggers in his audience, having them on his show and featuring their best ideas.

This whole week, The Nate Show has been doing a series of surprise home makeovers, “Nate Crate Drops”. On Friday’s show, Nate’s Crate makes the day of a hardworking hotel…it’s a joy to watch! If you missed the show on TV, you can see the episode online.

But back to our phone call…Everyone on the call got the chance to ask Nate a couple of questions and one of mine was “Do you have any great ideas for inexpensive and meaningful hostess gifts for the holidays.” His answer was pure genius!!!

He’s done a segment on his show on this very topic. If you haven’t watched his show before, take a look. He’s so adorable.

One of the ideas he suggested on our call was to find a piece of vintage silver (like a serving spoon) at the antique store, thrift store or even goodwill. Then take it to your local trophy store and have it engraved with your host’s initial.

Genius!!! I love this idea!

I’ve been on the prowl at my favorite fleatique store and I’ve found some beautiful vintage silver for a couple of dollars. I found a local store that does engraving and they’ll do a simple initial for just a few bucks.

Thanks Nate! I’ll be using your fantastic idea this holiday season.

Many thanks to my friends at One2One Network for the invitation to join Nate on this call.

photo credit

Chatting with Nate: A Brilliant Idea is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

OK. Maybe it’s not quite time.

But I can’t help myself! The boxes of Christmas goodness have been taunting me from the basement for 2 weeks now.

When do you start decorating?

PS…Have you seen my Christmas e-Book?

It’s Time! It’s Time! is a post from: A Soft Place to Land