O Christmas Tree!

Today I was supposed to do a Christmas Tree link up, but I am a nut job and cannot remember who the linkup was with.  I tell you what....I am killing it at the blogging thing.  I had the post all ready to go so I figured I would share it anyway. So here is our sweet tannenbaum.

Since entering blog land, I have noticed that so many people change up their ornaments every year in a different theme, etc.  I love that, but we do it a little differently in our home.

We have been made fun of so many friends but the Fella and I continue to decorate our tree with ornaments that we have both collected since we were kids.  Our mothers each gave us a new ornament every Christmas until we were married (his mother now gives us one together).  They both gave us all of those ornaments of ours that once hung on their tree.  My mom even had the ones I made her when I was little, like this weird little dude.

Since this was a tradition we both grew up with, we decided to keep it going in our new life together. Our first Christmas together, the Fella and I exchanged meaningful ornaments and have continued the tradition each year.  Here are a few of our favorites that each have a special meaning.

 

We also buy an ornament on almost every trip we take.

Needless to say, we have a lot of ornaments.  And none of them match or follow a theme. 

I think my favorite ornament of all would have to be this awesome Mexican wrestler we got on our honeymoon in Mexico. 

Love him.

I do try to change up the decor around the tree very year.  This year I wanted to have a kind of rustic glam feel.  I just took stuff from around the house and threw it into a big wooden bowl with a faux sheep pelt in it...and I love it.

I love the light that comes dancing off the disco ball across the ceiling when the lights are off.

And off the tree topper as well.

I shared the story of the disco balls in an earlier post.  I love them so much.  And I can think of a million thing I want to do with them throughout the whole year. They make everything so special.  I could have left the ornaments off of the tree, like below, and the disco balls would have been enough.

Now I just need to wrap some presents and get them under there.

Dreaming of a white Christmas,

tbg

The Princess Epidemic

As you shop and drop on this Black Friday, I have a fun suggestions for the little girls in your life.  GoldieBlox.

Personally, I have never understood the obsession with being a princess or wanting to be treated like one.  When I was little I never pretended to be a princess and rarely played with baby dolls.  I pretended to be a news anchor, mad scientist, archeologist, lawyer, Pipi Longstockings, a magician, a sleuth, a potter, marine biologist, librarian and an international spy.  I wasn't a nerd at all.

Remember Spy Tech?

I had all that crap.

GoldieBlox would have been a dream come true for me.  It teaches girls about engineering, building, creating and spatial visual ability.  Toys, such as Lincoln Logs, that teach this ability have been geared only toward little boys for over a century.

I am sure most of you have seen the Youtube sensation commercials for GoldieBlox.  The commercials', set to Queen's "We are the Champions" and The Beastie Boys' "Girls", portray little girls fed up with their limited toy options in the Pink Aisle and gears them toward learning about engineering in a fun way.  Look up the Golideblox commercials on Youtube if you haven't seen them.

I am not saying anything is wrong with little girls who dream of being a princess. I just think it is wonderful that someone is taking notice that there are little girls out there who have other interests, like me when I was a child.  Anyone else remember Natural Wonders????

That store was BOMB!  I would spend hours in there when I was little.

If you have a spare moment, check out this speech given by the creator, a Stanford engineering grad, of GoldieBlox.  She explains the developemental and thought process behind the brand. Very inspiring.

Anyway, I just thought I would share this with y'all while you are out and about searching for that perfect gift for the kick-ass little girls in your life.

Shop till you drop,

tbg

Disco Fever!

I have made the most embarrassing and frivolous purchase....but I love it.  And it is just in time for the Holidays. Disco baby!!

A few years ago, I ran across pictures of this Christmas tree...

The Bower Power

 

 With a disco ball for a topper!!!

The Bower Power

 

I thought it was genius, pinned it and moved on, leaving the picture among nine million other pins that I am instantly obsessed with and then forget about.

As a few years passed I, like most of you out in blogger world, started seeing more and more disco balls pop up in home decor. I loved the idea but it became like lip print art and chevron rugs, meaning that "everybody" was doing it and well, I usually skip over those trends even if they are great.

And then, in early September, we threw this party and twenty or so times while party planning I thought to myself how fun it would be to have a working disco ball up in our garage during the festivities. So I started scouring the internet only to find that I wasn’t the only one looking. Folks on eBay and Craigslist had wised up to this trend and the prices were inflated. Well, y'all know me. I am a deal seeker. I NEVER pay full price for anything. It just isn't in my DNA. .

I held off thinking that I for sure would run across one at a junk shop or flea market. And I did...like a 10'' one for $60 at the Junk Gypsy store and a $400 one at another flea market. B**ch, please. I know, I know, it was from the 70's and legit but oh hell no.

I had given up on my idea and was waiting for the trend to completely pass before buying one.....and then I saw this picture....

The Nester

And plotzed.
 
Must have.  Must jump on trend.  Must conform.  Must have before Christmas.  They can add so much holiday festivity to a room with almost zero effort.
 
One of my favorite home decor bloggers discussed her recent purchase, here, and after reading that, I decided to really search hard and take the plunge.  I found a big one on eBay for less than $40!  And...it actually works and came with the kit and everything. 
 
Look at these inspiration photos...

The Hunted Interior

Dimples and Tangles

 

I decided to go with the 16'' rather than the 20'' and when it came in the mail I was shocked at just how big 16'' is.  It was way too big to go on top of the tree but luckily I ran across a $10 tree topper option at Hobby Lobby.  So now I have a little collection going.  Look at how festive they make our tree with one on top and one on bottom.

 
No we just need to add the ornaments and some ribbon up top.
 
Also, how cute is this Christmas duct tape DIY???

I've got the fever,

tbg

Skipping Thanksgiving....kind of.

Good morning my loves!

Did anyone else get a jump on Christmas decor this weekend? Since we are leaving town for Thanksgiving, I decided to forgo fall decor.  And so, we decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather, 80 degrees, in Dallas this weekend and implement phase one of our outdoor lights.

We will be adding more next weekend but for now, the hard part is done.  I wanted colored lights but I decided to give the fella what he wanted since I wasn't the one who was going to have to do this....

I was a nervous wreck the whole time he was up there. I am afraid of medium heights. Weird, I know. I have no problem being in a tall building or on top of the Eifel Tower or Empire State Building because I know I won’t fall off those. And if I do, I will die on the way down due to heart attack. But I HATE standing on things I could actually fall off and break a bone. Ladders, chairs, tables, roofs. Maybe because my sister pushed me off a chair I was standing on when I was five and I snapped my wrist. Not sure.

Saturday night I went to a fabulous open house that I will tell you more about later this week but here is my friend L posing in a sneak peek.

Look at these pillows I got for three dollars at Target...how cute are they?

 

That is all I have done to the inside of the house so far.  Not much at all.  The rest of the weekend was spent enjoying the beautiful weather by working outside and heading to the Farmer's Market. 

What did you do this weekend?  Did you skip Thanksgiving decorations and go for the gold of Christmas fun?

Fa la la la la, la la, la, la,

tbg