Christmas Stuff

Remember how I was going to be all super mom-ish and sew a giant bean bag chair as a gift for Coops on Christmas morning?

Bahahahahahaha. That was funny.

I was able to decorate a few little spots around the house. It helps to have a few areas that look pretty and tidy and not strewn with superheros, pirate hats, and mini hockey sticks.

It's funny because I tidy our living room about 50 times a day and it never fails that two minutes later I'll turn around and it looks like this:
.

Keepin' it real, yo.

I try not to stress about it. We did have an epic game of sit-in-the-tiny-chair basketball and my pink suitcase is packed to the brim with toys "FOR CAMP!!!!" even though we're not going again until the spring.

;)

So. Back to Christmas stuff. I decorated my dining room shelves pretty much the same as last year. Except I made a few small changes. Like, a different white pitcher. Sparkly pine cones instead of plain. A strand of red berries. White pine boughs instead of fir. Why mess with a good thing, am I right?  

We had our Christmas tree up three weeks before Christmas this year! I even remembered to water it every day. We got a Fraser fir again. It's pretty.

My little Coopster was VERY into the decorating this year. He's got some pretty good skillz as you can tell from the next picture. Hee hee.

Since we have four Christmas stockings this year (hey Winnie!!!) I wasn't able to fit them on our tiny stair railing. I decided to try hanging them under our dining room window. They were looking pretty cute. Until.......

.....my little decorator decided that the S for my name needed to be decorating somewhere else. It hasn't been seen since. I searched high and low all over the house because I want Santa to be able to find my stocking if-you-know-what-I'm-saying. I made an emergency trip to Michael's to buy another matching S and could you believe that they had every single letter except for S. I'm not kidding when I tell you that I started to have a mini panic attack in the middle of the aisle. I did what every person with no free time and a to-do list a mile long does. I bought four different letters, repainted them in chalk paint, conditioned them all with chalk, and rehung them so that they all matched. Phew.

Well, that's about it for now. I only have to finish wrapping gifts, do groceries, prepare my appetizers for Christmas Eve (we're having my side of the family over for appetizer night, nom nom nom), finish my Christmas baking, make homemade ornaments with Cooper, sew a bean bag chair, and clean my entire house. I've got time, right?

See you in 2016 my friends! I hope your Christmas is all lovely and stuff. :)

If you want to check out some other Christmas posts here are a few oldies!

A Little Christmas Shelf 

Simple Christmas Gift Wrapping 

My Super Cute Homesense Christmas Finds 

Burlap Stocking Tutorial 

Our Christmas Stockings and Other Simple Holiday Decor 

Simple and Neutral Christmas-y Shelves

My Winter Windowbox

What We've Been Working On - Part Two

In my last post, What We've Been Working on Part One, I shared that we've been tinkering away on some random projects around the house. 

One of the bigger things that we've been working on has been our side entry - but the inside this time! You'll be able to see in the next few pictures that it is a super tight area that we use many, many, many times a day. I'm sure you can imagine the wear and tear the space takes on a daily basis with two adults, a little boy, a baby, and two dogs coming in and out often at the same time. My face is starting to twitch just thinking about it. 

I shared a long time ago that the original house had the exterior door open right onto the stair landing. The previous owners added on a teeny, tiny (12 square foot) addition with a little cubbie for coats and shoes. 

While I'm grateful that we have a little bit of extra space, the previous owners used a real mishmash of materials. In that one little space there was painted brick, painted plywood paneling, and textured plaster. They had a window, trim, and baseboards that didn't match the rest of the house. The entry also had very old Berber carpeting that was stained and unraveling. I took a picture but can't even share it because it is SO bad. Okay I'll show you but just know that it hurts to look at it.

Oh man, I am dying from all of the ugliness right now.

I tried and tried to convince Alex that we needed to gut the entire area and start from scratch with new drywall, a new window, new trim, new flooring, new wainscoting, etc. However, my pleadings were flat-out denied.

Oh yes. We just bought a cottage ($$$$$). And we still aren't finished the basement. And we still haven't finished our ugly kitchen upgrades. And our storage room in the basement looks like an episode from Hoarders and needs to be emptied and organized. And I'm in the middle of three sewing projects and five painting projects. And, and, and, and.

So, we're doing a quick and cheap rehab instead: new paint, new flooring, new baseboards, new exterior door trim, and a new light fixture. 

A few weekends ago the boys got to work ripping the carpet out. 

I wrangled the baby, took pictures, made coffee, and of course did a little happy dance.

Cooper made sure he was prepared for work with his construction hat, soccer t-shirt, pajama bottoms, and Buzz Light-Year wings.

Don't you just love old houses when you pull up old carpeting to find about ten layers of different flooring glued on top of each other?!?!?!?! So awesome.

Once the carpet was ripped up, we cleared everything out and got ready for paint. I have no idea what went through my mind five years ago when I decided to paint our side entry a medium shade of green in a small space with minimal natural lighting. Oy.

We decided to carry the basement colour all the way up the stairs and into the entry. It's called Silver Satin by Benjamin Moore and I looooooove it. It's light, bright, and not green!

We've finished painting the walls and ceilings and are getting ready to repaint all of the existing white trim. 

Alex spent last weekend figuring out all the cuts for the laminate flooring that he will be installing SOON. I can't wait. It's the same flooring that we used in the basement. We had quite a bit leftover anyway. Score!

Quick-Step Reclaime - Mocha Oak

I've got googly eyes when I look at this picture. ♥♥♥

Once the new flooring is down Alex can reinstall the door trim and baseboards. Then I'll be able to add some fun touches like curtains for the window and coat cubby, new hooks, a cute carpet, etc.

I don't have any great after pictures for you today, BUT I will show you the cute light that I found to replace the bare bulb that we've had for three years.

Light Fixture - Lowe's

Tada! Cute, right?

I wish I could tell you that I'll be back with some after pictures in a few days. Unfortunately due to something I like to call 'the old house phenomenon' the floors are too uneven to put the laminate down as is. Alex will need to do some leveling first.

Fingers crossed that the majority of this redo will be finished by Christmas? New Years?

Easter!?!?!?!

;)

P.S. Please tell me there is a spot in your home that is beyond hideous like our side entry was? It will make me feel better about sharing these pictures.