Toy Storage Organization

Oh, the toys. I am sure I am not the only one out there overwhelmed with toys taking over the living room. When the toys are not in use, I like to keep them organized and not spread all over the room. After Christmas, I decided to pick up a simple two shelf bookcase at Target to try and organize. I didn't want to get a toy box because I wanted to be able to see what was in there and I didn't want it to become stuffed with toys that never got used. I am pretty pleased with the results and this will easily allow us to switch up toys and I will know exactly what is being played with and what is not. I plan to get even more organized in 2010, so stay tuned!

Merry Christmas to Me!

Santa brought me the cake stand I have been lusting after! Now, I just have to figure out how I want to use it this winter. Any ideas?

Oh, and one of Santa's elves is busy refinishing the nightstands I told you about here. Hopefully the bed is next. It looks great so far. I can't wait to share the final product!

Our "Family Tree"

As I mentioned the other day, I decided to do two trees this year. For my traditional "family" tree, I decorated it with a mixture of ornaments I have collected over the years and my Grandma's antique ornaments. Also, my husband and I buy a Christmas ornament each time we go on vacation. Instead of bringing home a t-shirt or something that will never get used, we buy ornaments that we get to display every year. Plus, it is always fun to pull out the ornaments each year and remember the vacation memories we had from that trip. And, it is fairly inexpensive. Sometimes it is difficult to find Christmas ornaments. We had trouble finding them in Cabo and St. Lucia. But in both places, we ended up finding very cool ornaments at little shops at the airport. So don't worry about searching every shop on your trip. The stores at the airport always come through!

I have always wondered what people did with their special ornaments if they only had a theme tree. So tell me, what do you do? And where do you get your favorite ornaments from?

The stockings were hung.....

I don't know about you, but we are ready for Santa. We have our stockings hung on the mantle and are just waiting for the big man to make his arrival!

This was my first year to decorate a mantle, so I wasn't too sure what I wanted to do. I knew I wanted garland, but after I hung the stockings up, it just looked blah. I added pine cones in a tall vase that I already had on hand and then went to Target (the best store in the world) and picked up two small pre-lit trees. I was planning on doing bows or something to dress up the planter for the tree, but, as you can see in the picture, I just couldn't seem to get it right. Maybe next year.

How do you decorate your fireplace / mantle? Send me a picture, I would love to check it out and maybe borrow some ideas for next year. It's never too early to start thinking about it, especially with with all the great after Christmas sales coming up!

White Christmas Trees

I have been wanting a white Christmas tree for years. For whatever reason, I never actually went out and got one. I guess I was afraid it would look dated and out of place in my house. But this year, I decided I wanted to do a "matchy-matchy" tree and a "family" tree. I was at Target one day and saw a cool fake white tree and just went for it! I debated about decorating it with brightly colored ornaments or green and red ornaments. In the end I went with the brightly colored ones. I am hoping to snag some more ornaments in different shapes during the after Christmas sales for a little more variety. Maybe next year I will do something with garland or ribbons or something. We'll see!

What do you think? Do you have a "theme" tree? And if so, how do you decorate it?