More on Christmas Decorating

Speaking of Christmas decorations, I have to tell you, I saw the most stunning tree at Target this year. It was an all white tree, and they had it decorated with these beautiful aqua ornaments. Just one color, various shades. I wanted to take it home with me that day. I checked out the other stores' trees while Christmas shopping, and found the best price at Sears. But even on sale for $90 was just too much right now. Plus, Lewis hated the idea. Mind you, he had not seen the white tree, so I think he was having trouble picturing it.

It looked something like this one from Apartment Therapy:

That was more than a month ago and I am still thinking about it. I still love, love, love it, but am having second thoughts. I can't quite picture this beautiful, crisp, bright tree in my bungalow, with its earthy tones. So I started looking around. Did you know that artificial trees come in nearly any color you can dream up? And I could have fun with almost any of them, but I really can't picture decorating an orange tree for Christmas. But, hey, you never know, maybe if you have the right space...


Meanwhile, I'm kind of liking the idea of the champagne gold tree. I don't know, though, maybe that's too plain, it might get lost in the living room, with the butter yellow walls. I think I want something dramatic that will stand out. But then I always pictured the living room tree having a slightly rustic, woodland theme. You know, with pine cones and silvery ornaments. I even have a string of wooden cranberries. And this little guy I found on flickr. I saw him at Target this Christmas season, too.The trouble is that I like too many styles. It is a good thing I'm lazy or I could be one of those people with a tree in every room!

Christmas Pictures

I just realized today that I never posted any pictures of our Christmas decor. I didn't go all out this year. I keep meaning to, just can't find the time. So we only put up the silver tree again. In fact, I need to take it down tonight because Sheri is coming to clean tomorrow, and since Christmas was like four weeks ago, it is past time to take the tree and gift wrapping supplies back to the basement.

Here is our simple mod tree, sporting new red "berry" style lights. I think a string of 100 may be a bit much for the little tree.

All the gifts seemed to coordinate nicely this year, too. Not planned, but nice. They also lend to the mod feel, I think.And finally, what's a Christmas without a golden retriever in a sea of shredded wrapping paper?It's all fun and games until someone gets a bow stuck to the roof of their mouth!

Change Of Course

Okay. So, remember all that lovely progress we were making in the back bedroom? Yeah. Well. We've kind of stalled. There are a couple of factors:

1. I am lazy.

2. We couldn't buy the mattress because we are very broke and recognised that we shouldn't go further into debt at this time.

3. Kelly wasn't going to stay with me over the holiday (but in the end she did stay a few days).

4. I've been having misgivings about the color of the bedding I ordered from JCPenney since it arrived. I like it, but I don't love it. The color just isn't right. So I'm going to send back the bedding.

5. I still really like the curtains, and they are really cool, but the colors are also lighter, a perfect match to the too-light bedding. They do come in other colors, so there is hope yet.

6. And then the latest L.L.Bean Home catalog arrived in yesterday's mail...

These are the beautiful sand dollar sheets they've had for years, but weren't available just two months ago when I was online shopping. Maybe they only have them for the spring and summer months?

Then I saw these starfish sheets, and I think I like them even better!

The downside is that they are very blue-blue. Like cobalt glass. And I've really had my heart set on more of a teal blue or a sea-glass blue. Speaking of sea glass...

What's the matter with me? I've never had so much trouble decorating before. Bedrooms are possibly the easiest rooms to decorate, too. Why am I being so wishy-washy?

Maybe I can use the sea glass wreath as color inspiration, using all those hues of blues and greens. Hmm... I know that I can build a whole room around one object. I really love the sheets. Maybe, when I'm truly ready, I'll order them and go from there. Pick the paint next and actually paint the room. Spray the handles on both dressers to match each other. Then buy the mattress. Then pick out a solid comforter and blankets. Gee, it sounds like we won't be revisiting this for a while, but that really sounds like the best course of action.

Humidifiers

Even though we keep the temperature down, the heat still manages to make the house pretty dry. To combat that, we use a combination of devices.

First, these beauties. My trusty humidifiers. I couldn't get through the winter without them. If I get too dry, my sinuses dry out, then my allergies flare up. It's just bad all 'round.We just got this little guy over the weekend, the Vicks V3500N. I think it is just an updated version of the two we already have. It is put together exactly the same way, it just has a slight style change. So far, so good. It seems to put out more water than the older ones, but is slightly noisier.

Don't let the lime scale fool you, this old school method does help. Well, it contributes. I need to get out to the Salvation Army store or Goodwill to find a couple more enamel pans to put around the house. These can do their work when we are not home, and if they dry out, no worries.

The same can be said of this little guy. It is another old-fashioned, evaporative-style model. I ordered it several years ago from Killian Hardware in Philadelphia.

I bought one, figuring that if it worked out well I could give it to my dad, who is a tinsmith, to make more. Unfortunately, I'm not so in love with it that I want more. It only fits in one of the eight radiators in the house, and I inadvertently over filled it one time. As it turns out, you cannot fill it anywhere near the top of the reservoir. See that lime scale line? That's the absolute maximum.

I know there are other options out there, prettier decorative ceramic things that hang on the front, but they are far more costly. So for now, I will have to make do with these.