It's the little things

For whatever reason this year I was SO SO SO ready to get the Christmas stuff put away. I was feeling smothered in red, white and green and everything I thought was so pretty in December instantly felt stale January 1. I think maybe it's that "out with the old, in with the new" feeling. Anyway, but it's all back in its boxes and suddenly I had a bare mantel and walls, so this is what I did the day before Izzie's party. And remember folks, I'm not a decorator and in no life pretend to be, so this is hard for me, but between these little projects, cleaning the house and then decorating for the party I felt had a very productive day.

My mantel with the pictures Shelly took over Thanksgiving. Love them, thanks Sis! I'm also in love with that little snowman. :-)

A wall in the piano room with another such pic. Our first family picture since... well, since... hm. It's been a while.

And did I ever post about Audrey's haircut? We had a little hair mishap about a month ago and have been using a LOT of bows these days because pretty much all she can do is a ponytail. We did get some great bows from Grandma and they're so expensive that I finally made a little bow holder to help keep track of them all. (And to keep them from being used for stuffed pets and dolls, another common way they're lost at our house!) I made this out of a scrap piece of drywall, some felt for padding, scrap fabric and ribbons and staple gun. It works great and took literally fifteen minutes. Tada!

I also got a few more pictures hung in various rooms so little by little I'm feeling more at home. I'm working on a wall collage for the hallway next and a stencil for a wall in the living room. We're also going to be pulling up the dining room carpet sometime soon and maybe someday I'll decide on a paint for in there, but though it's slow and steady it's nice to feel we're making progress!