Dare to DIY “Deck the Halls” Features

Today is the last day of the Dare to DIY.  Tear.

The Dare to Deck the Halls Party was one of the most popular.  There were so many great projects that it really was hard to choose!  Be sure to check all of them out this week-end.

Maybe Matilda, NewlyWoodwards, and Two Twenty One will also be sharing their top three so head on over and check out their favorites as well!

My favorites in reverse order of entry were…

I really like this snowman wreath by Hudson's House.  Okay, Hudson totally stole my heart. I think he and Ike would get along well.

This Christmas art from View Along the Way is a good reminder of the ol’ reason for the season.  I love the color and font choice.

There are so many versions of the advent calendar out in blogland/Pinterest but this one by The Linden Life speaks to me.  I love that it was made from original door molding. 

Thanks again to all of you that participated in the Dare to DIY challenge!  I enjoyed seeing all of the creative ideas and finding some great new blogs along the way!

What was your favorite project?  Who wants to steal Hudson?

Outdoor Christmas Lights

This is a true story of a blogger that posts pictures of her home on the interwebs.

My Chiro:  “Ms. Michelle. I love your Christmas lights.  Now tell me about your secret internet life.”

Me:  “Uhh.”  *stutters*  *embarrassed because a real life person has discovered my blog*

So, my “secret” blog is getting out.  My chiro was talking to another person that lives in town about our lights and that person mentioned my blog (Hi, fellow small town person).  I guess strangers in our little town are reading and the word is getting out.  Weird. So very weird.  And cool.  Unless you are Nate spotted in a Mexican restaurant.  Oh boy, does he love me and this lil’ ol’ blog I’ve created.

Want to see the lights that are the talk of our little town?

We are no where near as cool as the house that is set to music.  We’re pretty jealous of that one.  I can only imagine how much time something like that takes.

Nate is most definitely in charge of the outside lights. I won’t even watch him put them on the peaks.  His dad helps him (thanks, FIL!). I’m just on stand by in the house waiting to call 911.  You only think I’m joking.  The following photo is the short ladder.  I’m still cringing.

Nate tells me that the secret to great outside lights is lighting the vertical areas and corners of your home.

We keep slowly adding lights each year.  This year we added the addition of light balls.  I’ll post more info on them tomorrow.  It was hard to get a good close up of them as it was pretty windy outside last night.  But trust me. They look cool in person.  Ask Kim.

We would like to add more to the entire tree area.  Someday Clark.

Nate’s recommendations for taking photos outdoor Christmas lights are to have your aperture set at f14 and ISO at 100. He recommends a tripod with remote or a self timer.  Each of these photos took about 30 seconds to take.

Do you hang outdoor Christmas lights?  Are your lights set to music?  Any weird blog encounters?

Linking up to: Serenity Now

Insert Clever Christmas Tree Title

Warning:  This post has focus issues. And proper grammar and spelling issues. I thought about re-writing it but I like sleep.  So I decided to warn you instead.  Good luck.

Did you know that decorating the Christmas tree is one of my least favorite holiday activities? The lugging out all of the ornaments, scratchy branches, and twisted lights just don’t do much for me.  I mean, I still like it.  It’s just not my favorite.

The finished product, however, is my favorite.

Our tree skirt is super fancy.  It’s a brown 70” round table cloth from Wal-Mart.  I’ve never really understood tree skirts.  They are so stinking expensive and you just cover them with presents.  So what’s the frilly point?

Our tree is 12 feet tall.  And we partly picked our floor plan because it allowed for a giant Christmas tree.  We kind of like the holidays around here.

We are cheap but wanted a giant tree.  We bought this tree after Christmas 5 years ago. It’s not pre-lit.  We decorate the tree in two parts.  Lights one night.  Ornaments the next.

Most of our ornaments are from Hobby Lobby or the Dollar Tree.  We is fancy. 

Can you tell that Nate took these photos while I wasn’t home?  Lens cap on coffee table.  Smushed couch cushions.  Candles unlit on mantel.  It’s hard being a working blogger with a accountant photographer.  Don’t worry.  I’m going to make him retake more for a full house night tour.  Mwah ha ha.  Wife for the win.  I hope he doesn’t read this before then.  He really is great.  He just needs to work on his décor blog photography.

Let’s stare at our pretty tree some more.

Christmas tree post out.