Elf on the Shelf Photography : Part One

I've gone back and forth this year on whether or not to introduce an Elf on the Shelf to our family.  Well, someone at the North Pole graciously decided for us!  On the evening of December 5th the doorbell rang and a mysterious package was found on our doorstep.  This Elf is on the Christmas list of two of my four children, so they were super excited!!  I have to admit, so was I!!

The package came with a book inside...the Elf on a Shelf book.  No actual elf to be found though!  The kids ran around the house looking for him/her...nope...not there.  But early the next morning, this is what we saw:

Hmmm...I wonder if he's going to be a messy little elf?

All 4 kids were quick to agree on the name "Buddy" (the Elf movie is one of our favorites!) for our elf.  Personally, I like the name "Ninny Muggin"...so that's what his nickname will be.  The madness continues morning after morning after morning...here's some of the crazy things Ninny Muggin has done!  I'm not sure who's having more fun with this little guy - me or the kids!

 

 

Aww...Ninny Muggin, did you really have to steal Flynn's horse AND his clothes?

Okay, I have to say that the creators of Elf on the Shelf are genius!  The story warns that the elf may not be touched or else his magical powers will disappear.  Sooo...this means my 4 kids can't argue over who gets to hold him, who gets to play with him, who gets to feed him, etc....GENIUS!  Ninny Muggin is basically mine...all mine!

IKEA Cookie Tree

This might just be the simplest and most inexpensive tree decorating idea EVER!!  The other day I bought a package of IKEA Pepparkaka Figurer Gingerbread cookies for $1.75!  I thought they were so cute and couldn't pass them up!  I was impressed that they already had a hole cut out of the top of them for easy hanging (or easy eating).  It's so adorable and Swedish!

Santa Claus Came to Town!

Santa Claus came to town today!  We woke up this past Saturday morning to the most beautiful snow falling.  Luckily it didn't stop Santa and Mrs. Claus from making the trek from the North Pole to the little town of Monument, CO for the annual Monument Small Town Christmas!  The kids got to sit on Santa's lap on the patio of the local Mexican restaurant (heat lamps included!) and we all got to crunch our feet in the white stuff!  It was cold...in the teens, so it was very squeaky and crunchy snow...my favorite!  We had cups of hot cocoa, too.

I took this falling snow picture by trying to focus on the snowflakes falling in front of the tree instead of on the tree itself...kinda tricky when the flakes are blowing around in a zillion crazy directions!  I think it turned out pretty!

This was the first year our son chose not to go up to Santa.  He's thirteen.  Last year he stood next to Santa, but this year he stood back with my husband and just watched his little sisters.  I loved seeing the smile on his face while he watched them.  As for me, I had a few tears in my eyes.

 I'm pretty sure he still believes...

Peanut Blossoms

is there anything better...

than a chilled peanut blossom?

I don't think so.

And my dog doesn't think so, either.

recipe for Peanut Blossoms

(my favorite!)

These cookies turned out beautifully...even where I live at 7,000 ft!  I used unsalted butter for the 1 cup of shortening.  I used Skippy Natural peanut butter.

Simple Christmas Decorating

Today Ruby the Christmas Dog (as she likes to be called during the holiday season) and I worked on some decorating.  I think it's adorable that when I'm home all day working around the house she follows me from room to room.  If I go upstairs, she goes upstairs.  If I go downstairs, she goes downstairs.  Dogs are precious!  Okay, so I ordered this fresh wreath from the Boy Scouts...I love the Scouts, but their wreaths leave a few things to be desired!  It came with three dangling white-coated pinecones and a stiff red ribbon.  I took it all off and added my own champagne-colored ribbon.  I love, love, love the look of the simple greenery against my pale blue (BM Gray Wisp) bedroom walls!

This chalkboard sits on the mantle in my great room.  Everyone can read it all day long!  I love to write inspirational-type stuff for my kids' sake...maybe if they read it enough times it will sink in, right?  The Elf movie is one of our family favorites.  Gotta love Buddy's hilarious (and sometimes inspirational) quotes!  I think I'm going to rotate through some of the movie quotes for the first couple weeks of December.  It might be a good reminder for me to remain as cheerful as a Christmas elf throughout this holiday season!

I was oh so inspired when I ran across this idea on Pinterest from apartmenttherapy.com  I've always had a thing for bottle brush Christmas trees!  When I was a little girl, I'd decorate my doll house with the little snow-covered green ones.  This picture makes me drool!  As soon as I saw it I knew I needed a whole collection of these special little trees.

Well, I started my collection yesterday!  I'm now the proud owner of two beautiful bottle brush Christmas trees.  Good grief!  They are so pretty!

Here's my little vintage-y tree with my little vintage balls on it...I love searching for these kinds of treasures at antique shops!

 

You can actually see me taking the picture in the above bulb!

 

I absolutely love decorating for the holidays!  It's one of my favorite things to do.  I always keep it simple (and kid and puppy friendly).  It doesn't take much...just a few simple Christmas touches! 

Happy decorating! and don't forget to put some Holly near your tree...this is my Holly...she will turn 7 (along with her twin sister) on December 14th.

Halloween Prep

October is my favorite month (July and December come second!) and I've been taking a TON of photos.  I love how cool and crisp the weather gets (sometimes a snowstorm or two here in Colorado!)  I love the position of the sun in the late afternoon sky and I love, love, love decorating for fall and Halloween.  Today was a good day for me to cram in some last-minute decorating details.  The kids were at school (well, at least until the middle school called to tell me that my son had been hit hard in the head with a whiffle ball bat in gym class and had a headache and wanted to come home) and the dog was at the vet getting groomed.

Something I've been really into lately are vintage or vintage-like plastic jack-o-lanterns.  I actually found the two smallest ones recently at an antique shop!  One of them lights up and the other one is capable - I just need to get my handy husband to work on it.  The bigger candy buckets aren't actually "vintage" but blend well with the look.

 

My decorating style is simple and I love tying in natural elements.  I think that's why I have so much fun decorating with pumpkins as they are straight from the earth!  I can often be found wandering around my yard collecting pinecones and clipping branches off trees...all in the name of decorating!

 

It doesn't take much to make a statement!

Something I have fallen in love with this fall is chalkboard paint.  I've never used this stuff before and it's so much fun!  I started out small, making a label on a pencil jar for my kiddos.  I set it right on our living room coffee table for all the world to see!  And I haven't been told, "Mom, I can't find a pencil for my homework" for at least a month!  So handy and cute (not to mention the black label with the orange pencils shout out "Fall" and "Halloween"!)  I secretly keep thinking the word "write" might inspire them.

 

This is the kind of decorating simplicity I love - a stack of magazines with a pumpkin on top!  And it hardly cost me a thing! - (well, okay, I should admit the wire basket was something I found in Taos and wasn't THAT cheap).

 Here's another simple project involving my now-beloved chalkboard paint!  I painted a smooth piece of particle board from Home Depot.  Then I glued the board into the back of an open barn wood frame from Hobby Lobby.  I dig it!

 

Seriously...fly it!  But please excuse the stick-figure witch...I don't draw very well.

I've also been having fun making pennant banners - some out of regular cloth and some out of burlap.  I love the burlap for fall!

 

 Here, I took an unused frame that I've had on hand and stuck an old book page in it...then found a paper crow that I had randomly stashed last year in my Halloween supplies.  This gives my shelf of portraits a fallish look.

 Colorado Springs received a pretty good snow storm these past few days.  What used to be golden-colored, leaf-covered scrub oak in my yard are now these naked branches.  It's amazing how nature can produce so perfectly such a vibrant showing of complimentary colors.

Speaking of trees and Halloween...now is the perfect time to mention my very favorite Halloween book.  A Woggle of Witches, by Adrienne Adams, was written in 1971 (2 years before I was born!)  I adored this book as a child.  Not only was it my favorite childhood Halloween book, but it was my favorite childhood book period.  It is now out of print (why would a book this adorable ever been taken out of print?) but my dear mom was able to find me a copy on ebay a couple of years ago.  

 

Last Halloween my girls dressed up as a Woggle of Witches...they love the book, too!

 The artwork is amazing.  It makes me want to BE a witch...a nice witch like these... I would get to sleep in a hammock way up high in the trees, fly a circle around a super friendly moon and eat "spiderweb bread".  Sounds good to me!

 

Well, my son's head is fine and my dog made it back from the groomer...here she is...tired pooch.  I think she's a little put out by the fact that the groomer blew her curls out and made her all fluffy.  Ruby Girl, your curls will come back soon.  Of course they will, 'cuz you're a poodle.  Isn't she precious?