Christmas is over for another year…

Well, Christmas is over for yet another year and we had a wonderful one.  Cameron truly enjoyed opening every single gift.  Yep, not just his gifts, but everyone else’s gifts as well.  I tried to explain to him that ALL of the gifts weren’t for him, but he didn’t quite understand.  He tore into every single gift, the paper went flying and in record time he had everything opened.  I think he enjoyed unwrapping the gifts more then what was inside (lol).  Shawn and I exchanged a few small things, but nothing too extravagant.  We always just spend the money on Cameron. 

Anyway, we had a wonderful time with family.  Having my parents so close was wonderful and the time we shared with them was so memorable.  Here are a few pictures of my tree with the gifts under it.  Doesn’t it look so pretty?

Here is a picture of Cameron just relaxing after opening all of the gifts.

Did you all have a nice Christmas?  What else have you all been up to?  I don’t know about all of you, but once I take down the tree and all of my other decorations…. I feel the need to re-arrange my family room along with a few other things.  Goodness, where should I start?  I have so many pictures to share that it is unbelievable.  Well, let’s start out with some items that have great stories behind them.  My MIL gave me some old christening gowns along with her great great grandmother’s wedding dress.  I have just found the perfect spot for everything that she gave me and I guess I will start with those.  Trust me…… they are beautiful and they add so much beauty to my home.  I absolutely love them!!  Let’s take a look – shall we ladies?  Here is the wedding dress.  I thought it looked great on my old barn door at the end of my hallway. 

Here is a closer look at it.  It is aged to perfection if you ask for my opinion.  No coffee/tea staining necessary!!

I took something very simple and used it to hang it up.  I cut a twig from a tree and used a small piece of homespun… very prim and perfect!  The great prim hanger.  Isn’t the dress beautiful?

Here are the christening gowns….. my sweet hubby made the peg rack for me out of old barn wood.  Didn’t he do a nice job?

I just thought that they were beautiful and I was so happy when she gave them to me.  This old bag was also in the tote of things that she gave me, but I wanted to add something more to it.  I wanted it to look old so I coffee/tea stained it and then stenciled something on it.  I then stuffed it with poly-fil to make it look like it was full of old seeds.  I currently have it in my entry way and it looks great.

My MIL also gave me this old prim quilt (aka. crazy quilt) that someone had made.  She isn’t really sure who, but it was packed away with all of the christening gowns and the wedding dress so she is assuming it is pretty old.  I thought it had character , but I knew that it had to be on the wall all by itself since it was a bit busy.  So, I used another old twig that I cut off a tree and hung it up by that.  What do you all think?  Do you like it or not?  It took me some getting use to, but it is wearing on me a bit more every day.  Be honest…. what do you think?

I will leave you with a picture of one of my favorite Christmas gifts that I received this year.  My SIL had someone sketch a picture of Cameron.  She gave this to me for Christmas and I absolutely fell in love with it and yes….. it made me cry.  My other favorite gift was from my in-laws… I don’t have a picture of them, but hopefully in the next couple of days I will.  My FIL made me window sills for my windows and I am so excited.  He is going to put them in tomorrow evening and I will finally be able to put candles in my windows (YAY).  More pics coming soon!!

Here is the picture in my family room.  Isn’t it beautiful?  Thanks Karen!!

I have so much more to share, but I hate to share it all in one post….. my new chandelier that I re-finished was put up tonight, my ladder back chairs were started today, my bowl rack is finally up and well there are so many more pics.  So, please be sure to come back and see them soon.

Until Next Time ~ Enjoy your last few days of 2009 and be ready because 2010 is just right around the corner!!