Around the House

I've been wanting to blog for awhile and just haven't. So last night, I walked around and took some pictures and today I'm blogging. Some of these items are new, some are old, but here they are!

Our January Dining Room Table... I went with blues, silvers, and bronze... and I really like it!

Here it is just 5 minutes earlier with some different lighting... interesting!

The Sun Room Breakfast Table... this one is fun! lots of browns and blues!!
Ty's grandma just gave me those brown goblets... she just didn't want them anymore... I love them!

Love these! These were a Christmas gift from a sweet friend! They are so cute, yet so simple! A glass votive, a starbucks cup sleeve (inside out), and some raffia!

I had this mirror alone on the wall for years! It never looked finished, but I couldn't figure out what to do. Ty's aunt gave us these two prints, I framed them, and here they are! Perfect! and I love the colors they add to the dining room!

Across the dining room is this collage... most of the paintings were done by my grandma. The bottom middle one I just added, it is by Ty's grandma. I always felt that his collection needed something more, and now it's there! It's all coming together... just takes a few years!

A close up of her precious "gas station"

Love this! A sweet college friend gave this to me years ago! It hangs on my newly re-finished french doors in my dining room. I love the sweet touch it adds to the room, plus it reminds me of my dear friend Jen-E!

So excited about this!! I've had all of my utensils in a pitcher for a long time. I love pitchers! But the opening was small, and it was tough to get things in and out. Found this vase/urn last weekend for $22 and picked it up!

I brought it home and showed my dad. I said "look at the new vase I got!" he said, 'Um, it looks old. Is it supposed to?" YES!

Not sure how I feel about this... but it's a start... a work in progress. I like the plate. I like the bird. Not sure if the pitcher is making my heart sing today. It's fun making little vignettes. and this one I look at everyday while I study my Bible and drink my coffee.

New glasses!! Not on a table scape yet... but coming soon I'm sure! I found these cute blue glaseses at Marshalls for $2 each! I bought 6! (that's all they had)

Well... as I look over those pictures I realize they all have 1 thing in common... lots of BLUE!! And that's what's happening around my house in January.

Merry Christmas!

Just before Thanksgiving I decided it was time to take our Christmas picture. I had some great photos of us throughout the year... but because of our height difference, none of them would work in a Christmas card (I tried for hours).

So a new photo had to be taken! I grabbed the camera and a chair- went outside and set it up on timer... then I had to get Ty out there. He does NOT like having his picture taken.

Below are the 4 shots I took that day... he looks perfect in each one. I, however, had trouble getting my hair right, or my posture, or my smile... whatever. By the 4th picture, Ty said, "This is my last one, make one of them work." and so I did. I chose the last one. I have some hair in my face in that picture, but you can't really tell. I'm including all of the photos, because I think it's funny to watch me struggle through these photos and Ty looks exactly the same in each one.

Merry Christmas!

(awkward smile)

(slumped over)

(hair covering an eye)

The Chosen Picture
(small strand of hair in face)
Love, The Sawyers

"For unto you is born this day, in the City of David, a Savior, which is Christ the Lord."

Luke 2:11

(typed from memory since that was our Pre-K4 memory verse for the last 2 weeks)

The Tree

Our Christmas Tree...
We did not have a great place for the tree this year (due to the new leather chair)... so we got a really small skinny tree. So small that I (5 foot me) can put the star on the top without standing on a chair. That is a first ;)
So the tree is right by the front door.
It is full of lights, beads, poinsettias, and all of our favorite ornaments.
It's so small and wimpy that my normal star topper wouldn't work- I'd put it on and the limb would bend over and the star would fall right off.
So I found the new LIGHTWEIGHT star at Marshalls. I like it just fine. and this year is all about change for my decorations anyways.

There really isn't room to put presents under the tree since it's kind-of in the walkway... but I noticed I have a lot of cool Christmas boxes... so I picked my favorites and tucked them under the tree so it wouldn't be totally bare down there.


Apparently I didn't get many pictures of the tree... but I did take some close ups of my favorite ornaments. well, some of them...
We got this one when we purchased our first home...

I got this one when I lived in Branson... I was in a Bible study about Daniel and a sweet lady made these for everyone in the study (all 80 of us)... it is a picture of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abendego in the firey furnace with Jesus- dancing around. I love it.

I got this cute pink one the year I did my first 2 half marathons (hence the 13.1)

We like to get an ornament on every trip we go on. We got this last spring break in Clearwater.

These are my flip flops--- from my college town of Wilmington, NC. They are super special to me. If I remember correctly (and my memory is actually really bad), I think all of my college friends have a pair of these. and I think Jen-E bought them for us. is that true? somebody please help me.

We got this in NYC this past fall! I LOVE IT! A yellow taxi completes my tree!

Well- that's it. I guess the pictures of the tree were kind-of a let down and shouldn't have been the "culminating" post of my Christmas decorations. Oh well. Live and learn.

The Mantle

Three days in a row... a new record???

So I TOTALLY changed up my mantle this year... isn't that the theme of my decorating?
For years I have collected star ornaments. I have always imagined that a tree filled entirely of stars only would be so cool! They just make so many neat star ornaments. But, I don't have enough to do that yet. And when I do that, I really want to have 2 trees, because I really like all of my other "memory" ornaments too. So this year I created my mantle around the star ornaments...

I found these cute stars at Canton this year to put in the middle. I like them. I don't like that they get lost in the painting above them. I don't really like having that painting up during Christmas. I like the painting, but it doesn't go with my mantle and is kinda sad. But I don't know what else to do with that space- I don't have anything else large. And that painting requires a HUGE nail thing- so it would be really ugly if you could see that thing.

I used to use these red poofs on my dining room table, but we all know I've changed that up!

I have 1 on each side, and I LOVE our stockings! Just cute :)

Some of my favorite stars... turns out I hung most of my favs so they really stood out.

this one is whimsical

love this cow hide one- very "texas"

this is just so "mary englebret" (or however you spell her name)

Can't have a star collection and not have 1 with some pink on it.

I picked up this cute sign at Michael's on thanksgiving day and I love it on the side table...

I made these a few years ago from a kit I picked up at Hobby Lobby. Have never really figured out the best way to display them. The J kinda tilts to 1 side- I probably should add hangers on the back- but this works. I love adding the "scrapbooking" element to my decor :)

I've had this star basket since high school. I think it was from Pier 1. I've spray painted it different colors over the years. But I like it silver now. I just filled it with beads and a poinsettia.

The full look again... Of course there are also lights and beads- I can't seem to decorate without those at Christmas. And on the sides you can see the glittery stems of fake leaves. I've had those on the mantle for a few years and I still like what they add to it.

So that is my "star themed mantle." I wanted to get it finished in time to join The Lettered Cottage linky party... but I didn't. So oh well. Live and learn.

If you have any suggestions... feel free to throw them out there! I'm always up for changing things again next year!! Ha!

Christmas Decorations

Two posts in a row!! I'm loving it!
So... some random details around the house...

This cute set up in my kitchen...(as Ty's grandma calls it, "a still life")
Christmas tree plate: hobby lobby last year maybe?
angel: I've had her forever, no clue where she came from
tan plate: pottery barn (gift from my mom)
snowflake candle: handmade by Livi (my former student) (I LOVE IT!)
in my dining room- these cute stuffed animals live by the door...
the small snowman was Ty's growing up
the big snowman and santa were gifts to me at some point. I love Santa's beard!
The Entrance to our home... (don't look at the tree yet!)

Poinsettia painting- by Ty's grandma

I love this little "still life" on the table - the candle in the hurricane glass is surrounded by mini presents and red ball ornaments- meant to go on a small tree- but I just cut off the string for hanging and threw them in there

I love this little nativity- I collect nativities... but this one is one of my favs- it says on the bottom that it's made with wood from Jerusalem. I think my mom gave it to me (are you seeing a pattern?)

Above my bookcase... this is where my tree collection usually lives.

These glass vases live here all year- so this year I just filled the clear ones with some colorful balls.

the multi-pack of balls is from Target - maybe 10 years ago :)

Kitchen... above my cabinets I keep my pitcher collection (yes I have a lot of collections :))
I "Christmas-tize" it by adding some berries and fake poinsettias.

The Greeting Cards... one of my favorite parts of Christmas are the cards! yes I collect them too! I save them each year and add them to a scrapbook! I should take pictures of that!

This year my cards are sitting in this cute basket (from Pier 1- a gift from, you guessed it- my mom!) In January I'll put them in the scrapbook.

Tomorrow... my mantle! I'm super excited to show you this!