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Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Shipping Frenzy

We are hard at work here at Embellished Living.  We are not just preparing for our own Christmas celebrations, but we are blessed to have a small part in some of yours as well.  These are just some of the packages we shipped yesterday!  We have more to go out today so all of you that placed Christmas orders will have them in time to give to your loved ones.  Thank you so much for all of your support and for shopping with us this holiday season!  We are going to take a blog hiatus so we can focus on getting orders out and spend some extra time with our families during these next couple busy weeks!  Merry Christmas Everyone!


Wednesday, December 5, 2012

What's Up Wednesday

We lived with a naked tree for about a week, but it is naked no more!  I bit the bullet and transformed the living room while the kids were in school and the hubs was at work.  It was so fun to see their reactions as soon as they walked into the house!

While I love our tree, my favorite decorations are on our mantle.






Growing up, from my mom and dad's mantle hung the stockings that Mom had knitted for us when my sister and I were little.  I knew that once I had my first son, that I wanted to do the same for our family.  Last year, I finally finished my own stocking, so our set is complete!  The mini-stockings are just one of our many Advent calendars, and each one holds an Andes Mint for our boys.  I got the idea from a blog years ago when my kids (now 7 and 10) were just 1.5 and 4.  I fondly remember sewing the stockings while the boys took turns sitting in my lap to see what I was doing.  The village of little people adorned every room of the home I grew up in and were purchased in Norway when my family lived abroad.  Now they reside on my mantle during December.  My book page wreath and the countdown blocks hold wonderful memories of crafting with dear friends that I've made here in Murfreesboro. 

Our mantle is full of memories from my childhood and of when my babies were babies.  What is your favorite decoration?


Tuesday, December 4, 2012

It's Miscellaneous!

The stockings are hung, the nativity is set, my mantle is as cute as it is gonna get.  But my most favorite decoration of all, stands proud in front of my window fat and tall.
I love my Christmas tree.  LOVE IT. It is big and full and a total pain in my rear every year!  My tree is 13 years old.  It is not pre lit.  It does not come apart in 3 nice little sections.  It has many, many branches that have to be taken out of their 2 super size rubbermaid totes every year and fluffed and stuck into a pole one, by one, by one.  Then strand after strand of lights is strung round and round the tree.  It takes forever to put up my tree.  But I know I will have it forever.  When I step back and look at it finished every year, I fall in love again.  Knowing that I got it as an after Christmas special for about $20 makes me love it even more!

The first Christmas we put up this tree was our now 12 year old's very first Christmas as well.  It was full of matchy store bought ornaments in a certain color scheme.  As the years have passed by and our family has grown, I now look at my tree and see something so different than it was all those years ago.  While I still have some matchy ornaments in a certain color scheme I don't really notice them any more.  I see all of the memories.  Each of my girls gets a new ornament every Christmas Eve representative of what they liked that year.  There are also, ornaments to remember loved ones, ornaments from family, ones to represent special occasions, and trips taken.  Ornaments out of beads and popsicle sticks and painted by my kids.  Ornaments from many ornament exchanges with friends over the years.  It is a hodgepodge mess of memories all in one place, it is fabulous!  Take a peek at some of my favorites

These 2 always stick together and are always at the top. For a friend of ours that passed away


These are just a few from trips we've taken: DC, Vegas, Cozumel, Isle of Palms, yes you see an ornament made from a dog biscuit in this shot as well lol

My kids favorite ornament!  Stacie may or may not remember this but it came from her in our 1st (previous) mom's group ornament exchange together.  It counts down the days till Christmas!

My personal Baby's 1st Christmas ornaments :)  1980 baby 

Given to my by my favorite Aunt for my 1st Christmas as a mommy

Crazy and hysterical inside joke, but it reminds me of some really good times with great friends


Made by my mom in the 70's

My beautiful, hodgepodge memory tree
I spy a paper snowman, a sock monkey, strawberry shortcake and a cheerleader ;)