Valentine's Day decor 2013

I'm finally getting around to posting the pictures from my Valentine decor for this year. As I've said before I love the fact that I have a white/galley style kitchen. It lends itself to decorating it in any style or color which is perfect for my love of decorating for all of the holidays. The galley style is ideal because it is completely separate from the rest of the house. I could decorate it in pink and black and it wouldn't "clash" with the rest of the decor in the house!

So in this case, the holiday decor focus is on Valentine's Day. Here is my sink with kitchen window. I love the little "alcove tile shelf" above my sink. First and foremost I love that I can open those windows on a warm day and let the cool breeze come in. Secondly I love all the natural light the windows brings in. Lastly I love that I can decorate the shelf! At Christmas I put our Christmas Village on the shelf and it was so wonderful there. For Valentine's Day I put the "BE MINE" wooden blocks that I painted and decorated with scrap book paper several years back.

I hung a vintage plate on either side of the window. Underneath one of the plates in a wooden heart hanging.

Under the other plate I hung this fun rosette hanging I made at my friend and Stampin Up! Demonstrator Krista's house last year.

 

Here are the BE MINE blocks close up.

I additionally adorned the kitchen counters with these fun decoupage heart boxes that my Mom made many years ago. They are so fun to get out every year. Every year they bring with them lots of thoughts of love as I remember my Mom who passed away five years ago. She was very artistic and loved to create all kinds of crafts. She also loved to decorate her home for the holidays. She definitely passed on those loves to me!

Here is a fun heart on a finial that I found in old town Temecula and The Farmer's Wife 3 years ago.

I put a red place mat under neath the coffee maker and another one of my Mom's decorated heart boxes out with my Stevia sweetener packets inside. I found the little vintage heart ornament at World Market this year.

Four years ago when I worked at a scrap booking store I purchased a couple of these decorated chip board heart ornaments. I came home and made more. Enough to cover this little white iron "tree". I call this the "tree of hearts".

I hung red towels on the double ovens.

When you step down into the galley kitchen there is this perfect little "nook" where I keep my iron corner shelf. Of course I loaded it up with Valentine's decor.

The top shelf has my framed "collage art" I made of paper, stamps and stickers many years back.

This Susan Branch book on LOVE was from my Mom as was another one of her hand painted heart boxes. It says "Remember Me   Love Always" I truly believe that approximately 10 years prior to my Mom's death she began to sense that she would not be with us as long as she would have wanted. Many of her gifts (including this one) reflect that.

Because I was in need of a red plate to complete this display, I dug out the "You are special today" plate along with a couple of Mary Engelbreight heart boxes. I've had the plate since 1996. Whenever one of the kids would have a good report card, Kevin would get a raise or promotion, or any of us was having a birthday etc....that person would eat on the "special today" plate. We still use the plate to this day and I plan on using it with future grandchildren too.

I hope you all had a Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Deck the Halls 2012

Here is our house all decked out for Christmas! The cards and gifts are sent, gifts wrapped and under the tree, groceries purchased and menu planned for 2 big family meals.. Kyle has completed and turned in his independent study work and has the next 2 weeks off and Kate just got home. Ahh.... all is well with with my world....and time to RELAX and enjoy family and Christmas!

 

At last I have a minute to post some pics that I took of the house and my Christmas decor WEEKS ago! Kyle, Kevin and I all worked together on the outside lights. The guys did the lights on the house and I did the lighted garland and bows on the picket fence, planted poinsettias in our outside plant urns and hung the wreathes.

 

 Kevin and Kyle framed the outside of the house with lights and I love how it lights up our front couryard.

 When you step inside our front door you are greeted by 3 woodland trees. When my Mom passed away 5 years ago I inherited many of her holiday items including all of these ornaments that she loved. My Mom loved acorns, and had many acorn ornamnets. She also had many cross and bird ornaments. So I have decorated these little trees with the ornaments in honor of my Mom.

I have this little pic of my Mom hung on the tree. It's in a frame ornament that has an acorn on it!

 I hung our stocking from the stair rail that leads up to our family room.

 This is the living room where we put the tree near the fire place. The tree is decorated with 23 years of family ornaments that we have collected over the years. I'm so grateful to Kevin for building this mantle over the fireplace so I could decorate it for Christmas.

 

 A closer shot of the tree below.

 

 Back when my children were small my Mom started a snowman collection for Kate and Christmas bear collection for Kyle. Here is Kate's collection set up in the living room book shelf.

 Hanging next to the book shelf is a JOY vertical banner that I purchased at The Julie Jane Paper Co in Vegas a few years back.

 This will be my last year to enjoy these snowmen in my home! Now that Kate is 22 and will be graduating from college in early Dec 2013; I will be passing them on to her to decorate with next year. That was always my Mom's intention. I will miss these snowmen, so I guess I'll have to start my own collection!

Here is a view of the dining room from the living room.

...and looking back from the dining room.

 I decided to display several of my Christmas dishes, plates, cups etc this year in the dining room hutch.

 This Hollie Hobbie Plate was my Moms and I found it in a box of my Mom's things that my Dad gave me over the Summer.

 This Joan Walsh Anglund plate was also my Moms.

 I bought these JOY coffee cups at Starbucks a few years back. I had 4 but sadly one broke.

 I've had these snowman dishes for many years. We use them all through the month of December.

                                Here is another shot of our living room.

 

Below is my Mom's Santa Claus collection. I set it out on my wrought iron shelf in a little nook in my galley kitchen. It love it here!

 

Our very good family friends Mom and Grandma, Dorothy...made the above Santa. I bought him at one of her craft fairs. She was such a lovely Christian lady and a good neighbor of ours for a short period. She went home to be with the Lord a couple years back, but when I bring out this Santa each year I think of her with such affection.

Below is a shot of the kitchen looking at my sink and windows. I hung pictures that all belonged to my Mom on either side of the windows. I set up our Christmas village in the window ledge. It just works so well there.

 

 Above is my angel collection. My Mom started this collection for me a few years before she passed away. I always keep my eye out for collectible angels for my collection but so far this year and last I haven't seen one that I like.

 I made this "count down" to Christmas tree a few years back. It's fun watching the days count down until Chirstmas.

Another shot of kitchen above.

 

Here is a shot of the woodland trees looking down from the stairs.

Our nativity scene is something I look forward to seeting out each year.

 

I decided to decorate a couple of inside windows too!                                                                                               

I bought this advent sleigh a couple of years back and I made the little paper luminere.

We are in the process of converting the upstairs loft/room into our family room. It's been a "man cave" of sorts since we moved in with Kevin's office up there, a couch and TV where Kyle plays X Box and some exercise equipment. However we recently bought a really nice flat screen TV and put it up there and are looking for a big sectional so we can all start spending our evening TV time up there. I didn't decorate for Christmas up there this year, but plan on it next year. Once we get the room done, I'll post pics of the new family room.

From our house to yours, Merry Christmas everyone! Happy New year too.