Christmas time is here!

Wow, I just love my home when it's decorated for Christmas! One of the reasons I LOVE Christmas so much is because it makes my home so warm & cozy, sparkling with lights & scented with all those lovely holiday scents... it's magical! As a "sorta" newlywed, I had to decide a few years ago what I wanted my Christmas decor theme to be, so I could purchase accordingly. As there is sooo many themes, colors, styles out there I decided to go the classy/timeless/classic approach & do reds & golds. I love the richness it brings & I can still add all those collector ornaments to my tree and it doesn't get tacky!

This year I added a few new additions to my holiday decorating scheme & I wanted to share my ideas on how thrifty it can be! Christmas decor doesn't have to be super pricey to look nice and if you're anything like me, I tend to want to change things up/re-decorate/etc. often, so thrifty shopping is a must! (too often says my loving husband)!

New Project: Decorating the chandelier over our kitchen table:

What I used:

*Strand of garland 9ft. - (Michaels - $2.39), I wrapped this around the chandelier twice to make it thicker/fuller

*I used 5 floral stems (pine cone, gold leaves & red mini apple) - (Michaels - .39 cents/each).  

*Wrapped garland with gold ribbon (Michaels - $2.39/roll)

*5 stars hung from each light at different lengths (Pier 1 - $1/per star)

*Stars hung by gold ribbon (Michaels - .79 cents/roll)

Total project cost: 13.00!! Bargain deal and it looks beautiful

Have to give props to HGTV which is where I got this idea from.  Was watching a show called "30 Holiday Decorating Hits & Misses"

Another new Christmas addition:

Super easy and just adds a lot to my room! I got the hurricane at Kohls...it's actually a candle holder, but I think it could be used for so many things! After Christmas it could hold fake or real fruit as a beautiful kitchen piece.  I just love it. The ornaments came from Target (LOVE Target!)

Here are more Christmas decor pictures, enjoy!

Scented Pine cones, a must :)

Spruced up my kitchen table with holiday place settings.  i found the round/red plate chargers at Kohls for 2.99 each! The gold napkins ($1.99/2-pack) & red napkin rings ($7.99/set of 4) came from Target.

something new this Thanksgiving Day

Today I'm doing something new! Today I'm writing my first blog post ever.... well I take that back, I did have a blog in high school.  I have no idea what the site was but I remember writing on it and now I wish I could go back and read that because I'm sure it was trivial and probably pretty darn hilarious.


I've been following some blogs for a few months now and once I found some friends blogs from college, I realized that they've been doing this for a while... where have I been!  I've discovered that blogs can be very helpful especially when your trying to get a gem of an idea for a new home project.  This is where my blog obsession began.  I'm sure many of you can relate...  I get to brainstorming on a new project for my house and get on a consuming fixated search until I find a solution and map the whole thing out.  

Well...I hope that my blog can help those like me.  The name of my blog is still up in the air because honestly I'm not sure what it will become.  Currently it stands as "The Joys of Life" because I know that God gives us joy in all things (we just can't see it all the time), and the posts I write hopefully will show what those things are in my life.

Today is Thanksgiving, & I've decided today is the best day to write my 1st post because how can today not be joyful and happy? Knowing that I get to over eat on all the most starchy sides, turkey and sweet desserts...I'm definitely joyful thinking about it & will be in pain later, I'm sure! Today I'm not with my Tennessee family, but I'm truly blessed to be able to spend it with my California family who I love so much! No matter how rough things are & personally for me it's been a little rough for a while (in a particular area of my life), I can be joyful that I have God who is always to my right and left. I never feel alone.

So here is to something new in my life, a blog! 

And to all my non-followers (yet)... 

Have a Happy Thanksgiving! Enjoy a day of football watching & searching the hottest deals online!