A Sneak Peek At My Christmas Decor

 Gingerbread, Christmas Trees and Holiday Cheer

Hi friends!  It's taken me a little longer than expected to finish some of the decorating but, as I promised, here is a peek into this year's Christmas Decor at our house. Decorating this year has been a bit different because I have been very mindful of where I put decorations due to a certain new four legged family member! River is a voracious chewer and I don't want him to get into something that he shouldn't. So, fewer ornaments on the living room tree, other items put up high where he can't reach, etc. Above you see my gingerbread decor which I am displaying on top of the bookcase in "my room." I really like how the display looks this year. You can see that Mr. and Mrs. Gingerbread are proud of their little cookies and life seems pretty happy in the gingerbread village!

Our living room tree is four feet and on a table as usual. I'm only using certain ornaments on this tree. Nothing "plush" or "chewy." Something new this year are the candy cane sticks I found at JoAnn's. They add some height to the tree at the top and are quite festive next to our bear topper!

I used oversized pieces on the little white light tree that sits on top of my curio cabinet in the dining room. I have used these pieces in the guest bath in years past. That bathroom is having some work done so I'm not putting any decorations in there this year. I like how this tree looks, though.

And, finally, here is our mantel all decked out with stockings and other decor! I found the cute "Meow" stockings this year for Cassie and Garden. I wanted a stocking that said "Woof" or some other cute saying for dogs but I couldn't find one so River gets the red stocking in the middle. The tree plaque was a gift years ago from The Mr.'s sister and her family and my favorite Santa is on the mantel where River can't get to it.

I'm still decorating so will have other items to share in a different post. And, of course, I will be placing my nativity out once we celebrate Thanksgiving. I hope that each of you enjoys a blessed and happy Thanksgiving Day! Hope you enjoyed this mini tour of our Christmas Decor so far!

Until Next Time,

Debbie

Style Ideas for Fall and An Update on River

 A Fall Outfit, Multi-Stick Makeup and River

Hi friends! It's almost Thanksgiving and you might be planning your meal, packing for travel or even starting to decorate for Christmas. With lots of holiday get togethers coming up, not to mention shopping and meeting up with friends, it's fun to think about how you might want to dress for some of these occasions. Today, I'm sharing a casual outfit that fits the bill for Fall, holiday and travel style. 

The star of this outfit is the blue and brown oversized scarf which was a Christmas gift from one of my sisters a few years ago. It is so pretty and pairs really well with my tan cords, blue top and tan cardigan. I added blue tennis shoes to pull a little more blue into the look. This outfit is comfortable and warm enough for colder Fall days as we move into the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons. 

As you can see, River wanted to give me a hand with my modeling! More on him later. This outfit helped me to discover how good blue and brown/tan look together. So, go to your closet and see if you have some blue and some brown pieces that you could put together to create your very own look. I think you will enjoy the result!

Next up, I want to share my experimenting with the e.l.f. monochromatic multi-stick. Have you ever tried a multi-stick? It basically is stick makeup that can function as eyeshadow, blush and lipstick all in one. I have tried a couple other multi-sticks before but never the e.l.f. brand. I ordered it from Amazon to give it a try. 

This isn't the greatest pic to show the results but, as you can see, the color is very subtle. I'm wearing it on my eyelids, cheekbones and lips in this picture. I have found that I am mostly using the multi-stick for eyeshadow as I tend to like cream eyeshadows better. 

This shows the eyelid and lip color a little better. It was worth a $5 experiment from Amazon to try this multi-stick. e.l.f. offers several color choices. I'm wearing Sparkling Rose which has a slight shimmer. I do think this stick would be great for travel as it would take care of three make-up needs in one and reduce what you would need to pack. Just a thought. 

And now, what you all have been waiting for.....an update on our puppy, River!!

As you can see, our boy has really grown since we brought him home on July 11th! He is now 11 months old and has turned into a very big puppy! After beginning to wonder if our girls would ever come out of the bedroom again, they finally both decided to accept their new dog brother and everyone is now co-existing happily for the most part. Cassie seems to be fascinated by River and follows him around a lot. Garden likes to be a bit of a bully towards him and will swat him if he gets in her space. She also sits by his toys and he doesn't want to go near his toys and whimpers. He is a bit afraid of her which suits Garden just fine! We are continuing to do lots of training with him and have a personal trainer who visits us every couple of weeks to give us input and tips and to work with River. As far as day to day living is concerned he is doing great and responds pretty well to our commands. He is still struggling with being on a leash when hiking on a trail with The Mr. or when doing road walking. So that is still a skill that he must improve with drastically. We have read that labs don't fully mature until between two and four years of age (it depends on what you read online as to whether it is two years or four years). So, we are hoping that River will mature more on the two year spectrum but only time will tell. If there are dog owners reading, especially of black labs, please chime in with your experiences with dog training and their maturing, okay? River is a very loving dog and enjoys being right with us, sitting on our feet on the floor. And he thinks he's a lap dog and wants to sit on The Mr.'s lap all the time. He is too big for that but he does it anyway. I am not allowing him on my lap, however! He enjoys his toys and is gentle with his cat sisters which is just what we wanted in a dog. So....things are shaking together in our household. It was a rough first few weeks with my adjusting to having a dog once again. But, we are over the hump for which I am thankful!

Speaking of being thankful....what are your plans for Thanksgiving? I would love to hear from you in the comments. And stay tuned for my next post in which I will share how I have started decorating for Christmas. I am choosing carefully how I decorate this year due to our new four legged family member! So be sure to stop by next Tuesday to read that post!

Until Next Time,

Debbie

Mixing Paper and Glass Dishware on a Fall/Thanksgiving Table Setting

 Fall/Thanksgiving Tablescape For Two

Hello everyone!  Today, I am going to be sharing a beautiful table setting that will work perfectly for either a Fall meal or a Thanksgiving dinner. I'm using a mixture of paper products and glass dishes to create this tablescape.

Now, while some folks would never use paper products to create a holiday table setting, others feel differently. (I am one of those folks!) There are so many pretty and affordable paper products available these days that it is possible to create a really beautiful place setting. Plus, it cuts down on dishwashing which can be a true headache with lots of people attending a holiday meal. Of course, there is no right or wrong in terms of how one chooses to create their tablescape. I'm using solid white china plates as chargers under the paper plates for this tablescape but the paper plates would work just as well without them. It does make the place setting look a little dressier. 

I think the paper plates are so pretty especially since they include blue/teal pumpkins on them which match my blue glassware. The napkins are a nice contrast with a wonderful message on them. The placemats are woven and filled with gorgeous Fall leaves. And the gold and green leaf shaped plastic dishes would work perfectly to hold salad, desserts or side dishes for the meal. 

If you would like to create a similar tablescape you can check out the following locations. I purchased the paper plates and leaf shaped dishes at The Dollar Tree. The napkins were purchased a long while ago, I believe at the Tuesday Morning store. The placemats were purchased at our local grocery store, Ingles Market. They carry a large variety of Thanksgiving decorations so, if you live locally, check them out! I'm not being paid by any of these stores to mention them. I'm just letting you know where I bought the items for my tablescape.

How about you? Are you beginning to think about the holidays? Would you mix paper products with glass dishes on your table? Be sure to let me know in the comments section! I enjoy hearing from you! And once again, I will remind you to be sure to leave your name at the end of your comment if you are posting anonymously. Otherwise, I won't know who is leaving the comment and I may not guess correctly! (wink)

Until Next Time,

Debbie
 

Visit in West Virginia

 Take Me Home Country Roads

Hello everyone! I've been away for a short trip to West Virginia and thought I would share a bit about my trip. The main reason for my trip was to attend a memorial service for my sister who passed away one year ago. The memorial service was given by the Hospice group who cared for her during her final illness and it was a lovely service for all of the Hospice patients who had passed this last year. Above, you see the flowers that were placed next to her picture and candle and then presented to the family. I'm so glad I went as it was a very healing service for me. 

The Mr. and I were able to connect with some of our family and friends while in West Virginia. Above, you can see a beautiful rose that was blooming, among many roses, at a park in Huntington, WV where we visited with our niece, Aubrey, and her family. Aubrey gave us a tour of Huntington and showed us her beautiful home while we were there. 

We also stopped by to visit longtime friends, Rex and Natalie, and I asked their permission to photograph some of their lovely Fall decor both inside and outside their home. Their front porch was so welcoming when we arrived!

Natalie described to me how she had watched the glass pumpkins being handblown. Such wonderful keepsakes!

More beautiful glass pumpkins here and notice the pretty cut glass dishes, as well. Great tablescape accents!

I like the sign above the antique piano which, if I am recalling correctly, is well over 120 years old!

Fall and pumpkins certainly do bring happiness! 

So many things to be thankful for! 

This trip to WV felt especially good to me and I am glad I was able to make the trip. The drive up was especially beautiful with the spectacular Fall colors on the trees! I hope wherever you are that you are enjoying a wonderful Fall as well. Let me know in the comments what you have done to enjoy the Autumn season, okay? I so enjoy hearing from you!

Until Next Time,

Debbie

Fashion, Fall and An Update on River

 A Little Bit of This and That

Hello everyone! Can you believe that it is October 9th already? I honestly don't know where time goes here lately. It seems I just blink and it is already the next month! Anyway, today, in true "this and that fashion," I have several items to share with you and hope you enjoy these this and that posts where I share bits and pieces of life with you. 

First off, is my attempt to style a pantsuit look without the pantsuit! You all know that I love all things royal, and recently I have been looking at pics of Catherine, aka Kate Middleton, Princess of Wales, who is always gorgeous in whatever she wears. What I read recently said she has entered her "pantsuit phase" of life. I really didn't know there was such a phase of life and, as someone who always loved a good pantsuit, I kind of took exception to this somewhat snarky comment on her behalf. (You're welcome, Kate). It's hard to find a pantsuit in the stores these days anyway as everything is sold as separates but, oh well. Perhaps pantsuits are coming back which would be great IMO! 

Anyway, inspired by Princess Kate, I decided to try my hand at creating the illusion of a pantsuit using these separates of a black cardigan, gray corduroy pants and an off-white tunic top. I love a longer cardigan, like this one, which takes the place of either the pantsuit tops from the 80's or a blazer jacket. Add in some pretty jewelry and you have yourself a faux pantsuit. Shop your own closet and see what you have on hand that might create a pantsuit style look. Let's all join in with Kate on being in our "pantsuit phases," shall we?!

And in Fall news....I had promised in my last post about Fall decor that I would share what I had purchased as I browsed through all of the Autumn items available this year. I ended up falling in love with this metal pumpkin and decided it was too good to pass up! I love how it matches our living room decor and, because it is metal, a certain puppy can't chew the stuffing out of it! I have really needed to think through the items I put out this year because of River being so young. I will need to do this at Christmas too. 

And speaking of River.....

Look at how big he has grown! And, he thinks he is a lap dog, lol!! The Mr. allowed him to get on his lap one time and now he thinks he can do it all the time. Of course!! The Mr. doesn't seem to be suffering too much, though. 😉

What is happening with you? Any fun Fall projects going on? Any trips? Any fun pet stories? Be sure to leave a comment and let me know, okay? I love hearing from you!

Until Next Time,

Debbie

The Colors of Fall

 Finding Colorful Fall Decorations

Hello friends!  I had such a fun time a couple days ago browsing at Lowe's in the garden center and looking at all of the many beautiful Fall flowers and decorations they are offering. I decided to snap some photos and share them with you. I'm not being paid by Lowes for this post. I just happened to be there and really enjoyed browsing. 

How beautiful are the pink flowers with the orange flowers surrounded by pumpkins?

The color combinations of the flowers were just gorgeous!!

And I was very surprised to see that they had so many decorative items for sale this year for Fall. I had not seen so many items in previous years. Decorating for Fall is definitely a thing!

I could have bought out the store looking at all of these decorative items. And then, I saw all of the colorful pumpkins available.

Pumpkins sure have come a long way since I was a kid. I used to decorate with the cardboard pumpkins you put in your windows. Now there is a large variety of many colored faux pumpkins that you can purchase to keep and use from year to year. 

I would need a whole lot of storage space to buy all of these items! I sure would like to try, though!

I did make one purchase which I will share in my next post. Be sure to keep a lookout for that! In the meantime, let me know how you are decorating for Fall both inside and out, okay?

Until Next Time,

Debbie

Easy DIY Fall Arrangement and Autumn Decor

 Easy Fall Decor and Craft For Everyone To Enjoy

Hey Everyone!  With Fall just around the corner, I have started thinking about how to do some easy DIY crafting and also some "early Fall" decor around the house. So today, I'm sharing a couple of ideas with you. Now, you know, that I like EASY and I promise you that is what I'm sharing today! (wink)

I spied these Fall shaped pasta noodles at Aldi last week and the creative juices started flowing as I thought about how I might use them, other than eating of course!

I decided that the pasta would make good filler for a glass vase to hide the flower stems. Any glass jar would be pretty with the pasta inside as well.

The only Fall flowers I had on hand when I did this craft were these sunflowers, so that is what I used to fill the vase. I may change them out for another Fall flower at a later date. They look pretty for now, though, and the vase sitting on a Fallish candle ring adds to the look. This is how the infamous foyer table looks now. I'm not certain that this even counts as a "craft." Somehow, filling a glass vase with pasta doesn't really count in my book! But, it sure is easy, lol!!

While I was at Aldi, I also saw this cute Fall throw and decided to buy it to use in the living room. It cost under $5 and has a very soft, luxuriant feel. Plus, it looks cute with my Fall pillow. I'm looking forward to cozying up with it on cooler Fall evenings. And, I don't intend to allow a certain little dog to get hold of it! 

How are you getting ready for Fall at your house? Be sure to leave a comment below. I love hearing from my readers!

Until Next Time,

Debbie