Christmas 2022

Happy New Year. Thought a quick Christmas wrap up post was in order. We had a nice holiday at home with our kids. The usual: lots of food and gifts and merriment. I hope you all are well and wish for all a healthy and happy 2023.

This year Dean and I did all the decorating over Thanksgiving weekend. Boy, were we tired but it was nice to have it all done.

I have to have a kitchen tree. I spend so much time in this room that I love the glow of a tree. I bought some cupcake lights off of Amazon. I think they added a whimsical feel to the tree.

I am a vintage gal and I think I love how it reminds me of my mom's kitchen. Some of my Pyrex was hers.

The old vintage graphics on boxes were just the best don't you agree? I think they should go back to the colors and images of the olden days. I am so drawn to vintage Christmas gift tags. I think they remind me of presents under the tree as a child.

I found cute vintage inspired gift wrap at Walmart this year.

I just am a sucker for cute ribbon and kept some out so I could wrap extra little gifts I had picked up.

Happy little boxes of goodies ready to be handed out on Christmas Eve.

In the summer we had to say goodbye to our 17 year old chihuahua but we also have welcomed a new member of the family. Someone dumped a little cat near our house and she was screaming and crying and only 4lbs when we coaxed her to come eat in our yard. After a few weeks we finally caught her for a vet visit and some shots and then a week later to fix her. She has gone from a very scared feral little thing to feeling right at home and now spends most of her time sleeping on our furniture.

Her name is Peanut and you can see she has made herself at home.

Dean and I (and Tugg and Luns) wish you all the best and again a Happy New Year. Thank you for coming by and reading this very long post.

 

Vintage Christmas - Blogmas Dec. 4th

Today I was able to do some girl time shopping with the Queen of Vintage Christmas, my friend Shelly.

This is the darling display outsider her door. Or really just one small part of it.

We went by her booth at the Pomona Antique Mart, space 16. It is always filled to the brim with vintage goodies. If you are in SoCal you should stop by.

2017 Christmas Kitchen Tour

Welcome to our 2017 Christmas Kitchen Tour! Woo-hoo the kitchen is decked out in traditional red and green Christmas decorating ideas.

Our Decorating Agreement

As always, I buy and collect the holiday decor and Dean decorates. In fact on my Instagram I gave him his own hashtag #deandecorates. How's that for a hoot. They guy has no social media but has his own hashtag. Come follow and see his decorating skills at work. Lol! But first, check out his doings in our Christmas kitchen this year!!

Picking A Christmas Kitchen Theme

From our Christmas cookie baking center to a nod to our love of camping, our kitchen really represents our family. I have some old pieces of my mom's and things my kiddos have given me. It is where I spend all my time and I love what he did this year.

Video Tour Of Our Vintage Christmas Kitchen

Please also take the video tour of our kitchen (click the arrow below) and click like and subscribe while you are there. We would so love that!! Thank you everyone!!! You are always so kind to Dean and I with your comments about our festive decorating.

Post Christmas 2016 And A Look Ahead To 2017

We had such a flurry of festivities over here. A little post Christmas 2016 update.

As usual the hubby outdid himself with all the decorating this year. I am so blessed to have him love to do it all. He really is a blessing. He gets it out, decorates and usually puts it all away with a little help from me. It really frees me up to do all the cooking and prep work.

Sweet gifts from friends like my little red cow creamer and a prim garden gnome that came as a surprise in the mail, just so appreciated.

We had parties to attend and 20 people over here on Christmas day. Our numbers are growing and we always welcome friends who would like to come. By far one treat everyone loved and requested were our rice krispy treat balls.  We made two huge batches. Aren't they fun?

 

The big guy and I look a little serious as we were heading out to a party but really we are so happy and thankful for another year of blessings with our family and friends and for all of you who come and take the time to read our little blog. We are looking forward to 2017 and sharing our home, hubby's holiday decor, food and tips to keep things simple in the coming year. Please check in often and again thanks and Happy New Year!!

Bliss Cottage Holiday Home Tour - Part 2

Here we go, part two of Shelly's Bliss Cottage Christmas Tour. I don't even catch it all but enjoy this Christmas eye candy.

A Little Holiday Home Tour Of Bliss Cottage - Day One

It's that time of year...time for a holiday home tour of Shelly's Bliss Cottage. Her invite and my Christmas home tour while we sip coffee and chat, is one of my favorite Christmas traditions now. I hope she always invites me as long as she is decorating her home in vintage style.

Our Hot Drink Station - Sending Hot Cocoa Love

Hello and welcome...I want to share our Christmas hot drink station for this year. It was really cute last year but I think I love it even more this year mixing the vintage blue in with the red. Our retro 50s kitchen still has the original tiles so it was fun to pull the blue from the old tiles into our Christmas decor.

Having hot winter drinks at the ready and all in one place, is made easy when you contain it in one tray.

Not all of us can afford to run to buy a hot drink at Starbucks when we have a craving for a flavored coffee so having a coffee bar at home saves so much money and coffee bar ideas abound from simple like I did, on a tray, to fancy coffee bars. We have lots of coffee tips for the frugal coffee maker. Homemade peppermint mocha is my favorite so I keep peppermint kisses available to make my favorite Christmas coffee.

For the younger kids, a DIY hot cocoa station is what they are all about. Marshmallows, hot cocoa and cute straws are just a few of the hot cocoa station ideas to create a fun place to easily make a hot Christmas beverage. I have everyone's favorite Christmas cup ready to go.

We use our yellow Keurig daily. I have had it three years now and by cleaning regularly, it has kept on making good coffee for us. I threw in a little bowl of tea bags because two of my girls love their hot tea in the mornings so we have a hot cocoa/coffee/tea bar ready to go.

Come by for a hot beverage cause we are all set. We would love to see you! Bring cookies though!! From our vintage kitchen to yours, sending Hot Cocoa Love!

Christmas Decorating Ideas In Red And White

First Christmas tour is part of our Christmas kitchen and this year Christmas decorating ideas in red and white. With our new butter yellow walls, a red and white Christmas was in order.

I love red so adding red and white Christmas decorations was easy and we loved the outcome. Of course hubby did most of the tweaking but I was in there too.

This was our bottle brush tree year. We just kept picking them up wherever we went. Gifts from friends and our toy vintage stove make for perfect red and white holiday decor.

The red vintage toy tractor was hubby's when he was a boy. I love that we still have it and vintage toys make great Christmas decorations. He added a little green Christmas wreath and waa-laa!

Of course some red, green and white Christmas decorations slipped onto our vintage shelf but that's okay. Adds just enough pop of Christmas color.

Whenever I search for red and white Christmas decorations Pinterest, I am always finding so much Christmas inspiration and charm. It is truly a favorite color combination and this may be my favorite little Christmas corner this year. Our original 50's kitchen is so fun to decorate. This is the room we go for bright colors in. We have always decorated the kitchen in previous years with lots of red. 

Next up is our little kitchen shelf all decked out in more vintage toys.

Hot Cocoa Station Ideas

Every year I put together a small hot cocoa station for the kid in all of us but I thought we might all be inspired by these hot cocoa station ideas from the web.

Below is our kitchen. I simply take a cute Christmas basket and fill with a container of marshmallows and packets of hot cocoa. The girls' friends love it and can easily make hot chocolate when they come by. I have also kept the marshmallows in a small vintage Thermos' which keeps them fresh and looks cute too.

I love this idea from a favorite blog, Ribbonwood Cottage. If you click the link you can see the free labels she used to make up the darling jars of hot cocoa fixins.

This one is so darling, a diy hot cocoa station contained in a festive plaid tin. The jars with green lids are so cute. They almost look like upcycled Starbucks drinks jars.

This hot cocoa station idea is contained on a simple tray. The large jar could hold hot cocoa k cups if you had a Keurig machine. Gathering Christmas cups adds a darling touch.

The hot cocoa station below shows you don't have to have the hot cocoa area in the kitchen. If you are having a party, the hot cocoa station can be the Christmas centerpiece.

Here is another hot cocoa station taken off the kitchen counter. A couple small shelves on a wire rack holds all the hot cocoa ingredients for some gourmet hot cocoa.

I love the Christmas package background of this eclectic hot cocoa station. The personalized coffee cups to go are adorable.