St. Patrick's Day & Easter Wreaths are up for sale!

So excited to share that I have posted four different types of wreaths available for purchase on my Ellegant Decor Etsy Page.

St. Patrick's Day - Single ring metal form wreath 

St. Patrick's Day - Triple fringe metal form wreath

Easter - Single ring metal form wreath

Easter - Quadruple fringe metal form wreath (the fullest wreath available - over 16"!)

Please pass along my store link and information to anyone who is looking for a wreath to jazz up their door or home decor for the Spring! All wreaths are reasonable priced and ready to ship!

New Decor going up on Ellegant Decor's Etsy page

I am so excited to tell you all that I finished some St. Patrick's Day and Easter wreaths! I made two different kinds - a simple circle wreath with frayed fabric and then a much more complex wreath with lots of fringing. I love how both turned out! I am just confirming shipping costs and then up on the site they will go!

Cute Valentine's Day Ideas

I can't believe February will be here next week! With that said, Christopher and I have not finalized any plans yet. But I have been enjoying all of the fun Valentine's Day treats, gifts, etc on Pinterest. I thought I would share a few of my favorites.

Isn't this the cutest card? So simple too!

Fun treat for school or office. Simple too (getting a theme here?)

Adorable and easy decoration for the home

Another cute and yummy V-Day Snack

Holiday Plan 2014 - Week 14

Week of November 30th:
- Set up the rest of the Christmas decorations
- Put boxes from decorating away
- Decorate our front yard for Christmas
- Plan all family/friend holiday gatherings
- Start the "Twas the Night Before Christmas" tradition; Christopher recites this each night starting on December 1st after we do our Advent prayer

- Prepare all packages for mailing
- Order any foods necessary for Christmas
- Finish up the Christmas cards
- Pick up Christmas stamps for the cards
- Stamp all of the Cards

Holiday Plan 2014: Week 13 - Happy Thanksgiving!

Week of November 23rd:
- Stock the bathrooms with necessities for the holidays (ever been a guest at someones house and they run out of TP...it is the pits)
- Get everything out for Thanksgiving
- Make any food ahead of time for the dinner (typically done on Monday night)
- Thanksgiving day prep
- Use one or two of the crock pot meals this week
- Celebrate Thanksgiving!
- Black Friday Shopping (any last minute gifts needed?)
- Remove Thanksgiving decorations

- Set up Christmas Trees (we have three!)

- Set up Advent Wreath and Creche area

- Deep cleaning area this week: Dining Room. I usually leave this one for the week of Thanksgiving (crazy, right) but since everyone will be congregating in this room, I want it to sparkle!

From our house to yours we hope you all have a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving!

Holiday Plan 2014 - Week 12

Week of November 16th:
- Make one batch of freezable cookies
- Make two crock pot meals - one to eat this week and one to freeze for a later date
- Purchase some non-perishable goods used in the planned recipes
- Purchase some gifts
- Wrap the purchased gifts
- Work on homemade gifts
- Continue to work on Christmas cards
- Make place cards for Thanksgiving
- Review serving pieces needed to serve Thanksgiving and label
- Buy any extra disposable dishware needed
- Clean & press table linens
- Work on Thanksgiving Centerpiece
- Deep cleaning area this week: Basement. Probably will not do much, but will survey and see what areas need to be organized

Good luck to those following along!

Holiday Plan 2014: Week 11

Week of November 9th:
- Make one batch of freezable cookies
- Make two crock pot meals - one to eat this week and one to freeze for a later date
- Purchase some non-perishable goods used in the planned recipes
- Purchase some gifts
- Wrap the purchased gifts
- Work on homemade gifts
- Continue to work on Christmas cards
- Clear out the foyer closet for guest coats
- Rent/reserve/buy/borrow any items needed for Thanksgiving and Christmas

- Plan the table setting for Thanksgiving
- Review & revise the menu for Thanksgiving
- Plan table centerpiece for Thanksgiving
- Plan what we are wearing for Thanksgiving dinner (then clean & press)
- Deep cleaning area this week: Garage - the one room I do not have to worry about cleaning. This one is all Christopher :)

Good luck to those following along!

Holiday Plan 2014: Week 10

Week of November 2nd:
- Make one batch of freezable cookies
- Make two crock pot meals - one to eat this week and one to freeze for a later date
- Purchase some non-perishable goods used in the planned recipes
- Purchase some gifts
- Wrap the purchased gifts
- Work on homemade gifts

- Order or buy the Thanksgiving Turkey
- Take down Halloween and put up Thanksgiving; I cheat a little - I decorate for "Fall" and then put little Halloween stuff here and there. Then when Halloween is over, it is an easy swap out the Halloween for Thanksgiving
- Continue to work on Christmas cards
- Check smoke detectors and change furnace filter (Happy Daylight Savings!)
- Start polishing any silver pieces I will use for Thanksgiving
- Deep cleaning area this week: Living Room/Family Room. As this is one of the heaviest used rooms in the house, it needs to be deep cleaned twice!

Good luck to those following along!

Holiday Plan 2014: Week 9 (HALF WAY!)

We are halfway to the holidays; or at least to the end of 18 weeks of planning & prep!

Week of October 26th:
- Make one batch of freezable cookies
- Make two crock pot meals - one to eat this week and one to freeze for a later date
- Purchase some non-perishable goods used in the planned recipes
- Purchase some gifts
- Wrap the purchased gifts
- Work on homemade gifts
- Celebrate Halloween!!! Happy Halloween everyone!
- Purchase any extra batteries needed for gifts, decorations, etc

- Make a list of things needed for Thanksgiving
- Formally invite family over for Thanksgiving
- Start addressing our Christmas Cards (note: I picked up my Christmas cards last year during post-Christmas sales - score! Therefore, did not have to order any)
- Deep cleaning area this week: Pantry. I should have specified this last week, so if you were superhuman and cleaned both your kitchen AND pantry you get a gold star. For me - it is two separate tasks.

Good luck to those following along!

Holiday Plan 2014: Week 8

Week of October 19th:
- Make one batch of freezable cookies
- Make two crock pot meals - one to eat this week and one to freeze for a later date
- Purchase some non-perishable goods used in the planned recipes
- Purchase some gifts
- Wrap the purchased gifts
- Work on homemade gifts
- Figure out Halloween costumes (if we need them or are going to wear any)

- Buy our pumpkins
- Deep cleaning area this week: Kitchen - woo hoo!

Good luck to those following along!

Holiday Plan 2014: Week 7

Week of October 12th:
- Make one batch of freezable cookies
- Make two crock pot meals - one to eat this week and one to freeze for a later date
- Purchase some non-perishable goods used in the planned recipes
- Purchase some gifts
- Wrap the purchased gifts
- Work on homemade gifts

- Decorate for Fall :) And put out some Halloween items
- Purchase Halloween Candy
- Take a Family picture to be included in Christmas cards; we have not done this since we got married and I figured it was about time to include all 4 of us in a picture!
- Deep cleaning area this week: Office; not an essential room in our house but it some how becomes the room we drop all our crap in. Time to organize it!

Good luck to those following along!

Holiday Plan 2014: Week 6

Week of October 5th:
- Make one batch of freezable cookies
- Make two crock pot meals - one to eat this week and one to freeze for a later date
- Purchase some non-perishable goods used in the planned recipes
- Purchase some gifts
- Wrap the purchased gifts
- Work on homemade gifts
- Make up a guest basket for the guest bedroom; I put spare or travel sized soaps, extra towels, etc in the event we have a guest spend the night.
- Deep cleaning area this week: Guest Bedroom

Good luck to those following along!

Holiday Plan 2014: Week 5

Week of September 28th:
- Make one batch of freezable cookies
- Make two crock pot meals - one to eat this week and one to freeze for a later date
- Purchase some non-perishable goods used in the planned recipes
- Purchase some gifts
- Wrap the purchased gifts
- Work on homemade gifts

- Compile a donation box/bag; I realized after cleaning the mast bedroom, we accumulated some donations. This is a great time of year to re-evaluate items you need and items that can be donated. Our goal is to drop off this bag before Thanksgiving
- Deep cleaning area this week: Main Bathroom; although this room gets cleaned all the time, it is good to really scrub areas that may not get the attention during weekly cleanings

Good luck to those following along!

Holiday Plan 2014: Week 4

Week of September 21st:
- Make one batch of freezable cookies
- Make two crock pot meals - one to eat this week and one to freeze for a later date
- Start purchasing non-perishable goods used in the planned recipes; I usually buy a couple extra of each in case I have to double a recipe and/or have extra goods on hand for donations
- Start purchasing gifts; I am going to try to divide up so I am spreading the cost of the gifts over 6 to 8 weeks, instead of splurge buying in December. This way, I can also review the weekly ads in order to get the best prices on certain items!
- Wrap the purchased gifts; ugh this is my least favorite part, but I will be so glad it is done in December
- Start working on homemade gifts; my goal is to work a couple of hours each week on a craft in order to finish in time for Christmas
- Deep cleaning area this week: Master Bedroom; I know what you are all thinking - nobody sees the Master Bedroom. Unfortunately mine is driving me nuts! It is getting cleaned this week.

Good luck to those following along!

I wish my gifts looked this cute!

Holiday Plan 2014: Week 3

Week of September 14th:
- Make one batch of freezable cookies; So it is probably too early to start for Christmas, so this week I am going to make a Halloween themed dessert
- Make two crock pot meals - one to eat this week and one to freeze for a later date
- Start purchasing non-perishable goods used in the planned recipes; I usually buy a couple extra of each in case I have to double a recipe and/or have extra goods on hand for donations

- Buy all supplies need to make the homemade gifts; I also see what supplies I have on hand and can be substituted to save on cost
- Check the memory cards in our cameras; start watching for discounts in the weekly paper in case we need to purchase an additional one (probably with our December Disney trip coming up too!)
- Deep cleaning area this week: Little Entry area; I realized after cleaning the Porch and Living Room I skipped over this area - my bad! I really need to scrub the tile badly in this room.

Good luck to those following along!

Holiday Plan 2014: Week 2

Week of September 7th:
- Start to buy extra baking ingredients like sugar, butter, flour, etc; this way, you have the necessary ingredients when it is time to start baking AND you do not have to buy it all at once making your wallet hurt a little
- Make two crock pot meals - one to eat this week and one to freeze for a later date; I don't know about all of you, but things get really hectic in the Fall and it is great to have a supply of frozen crock pot meals handy
- Divide some of the gift responsibilities with Christopher; our first year we were married we did not communicate this well and ended up buying triplicate gifts for some people. We love being generous, but we also have to be conscious of our budget
- Discuss with Christopher our holiday traditions and expectations for this year; we use this time to re-cap last years holidays - what went well, what could be improved, etc. We also start talking where we will celebrate each holiday
- Deep cleaning area this week: Living/Family room - after entering our freshly cleaned porch, I want to wow guests with a shiny living room (at least that is the hope!)

Good luck to those following along!

Holiday Plan 2014: Week 1

It is the kick off week to my holiday planning and super checklist. What I tried to do is break down each task into manageable pieces in order to prepare for Halloween (we don't really celebrate, but I do decorate and hand out candy!), Thanksgiving (we host) and Christmas.

I am sharing with you my personal to-do list (or checklist). I created this around our values, schedules and our preferences for each of the holidays. If you want to follow along, please adapt for your families needs. And let me know what you add/subtract from the list - I am always looking for ways to do things more efficiently!

Week of August 31st:
- create and put together my Christmas notebook; nothing to really put in it yet, but I usually designate an old binder for this task
- Draft a gift list with budget; I create a list of everyone who we give gifts to and jot down ideas on what we should give. I also create a budget specifically related to gift giving and try to stick to that as much as possible
- Review my Christmas card list; I have a pre-made Christmas Card address book and organizer (I know - old fashioned) that I review and see if I need to reach out to people who moved, add new friends, etc.
- Start drafting menus for Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas
- Create a gifts to make list; I love crafting, so I usually will try to make 2-3 Christmas gifts each year
- After creating a potential menu, jot down long-term grocery shopping items. Most of my menu items are not unique and can be easily found. Some exceptions are ingredients or decorations for my Christmas cookies. It is always good to keep these items in the back of your head when the holiday items start getting put out
- Create a Christmas Cookie list & ingredients; I also throw in any desserts for Halloween and Thanksgiving too
- Order/replace any gift wrap, tape, bags, etc; I make sure I have everything I need on hand before I start wrapping (my least favorite Christmas task)
- Deep clean one area of our house; I think this week I will start with our front porch and entry. I love putting out mums, pumpkins, etc on our steps, so I think this makes the most sense to do first

And there you have it! Week 1 isn't so bad, right? Let me know if you are following along!

Date Night with Christine :)

I had the pleasure in June in joining Christine and her family to a Paint on Tap session! I had not had a date night with Christine in a long time, so this was so exciting. Plus - I have wanted to try one of those wine and paint parties anyways - double score!

We all went out to dinner beforehand and then went to the studio. We went to Paint on Tap in Williamsville and it was wonderful - highly recommend this company. Everything was set up when we arrived and we were all able to sit together. And our instructor for the night was someone we went to grammar school with - Dan! The place sells the wine and beer for some liquid courage. We needed it and finished two bottles :)

It was a fun night and ended with great painting and froyo! Can't beat that!

Wy-Guy

Last Saturday I got to watch my favorite God son Wyatt for a bit. We had a blast. He is at such a fun age right now where he loves to draw, play with blocks, dance, bounce and read. And we did all of the above many times over on Saturday.

I learned that:
- he loves Disney, especially Toy Story, Monsters Inc and Cars
- his favorite color is orange followed by purple
- he can draw lines and dots very well
- he loves to repeat what you say (good thing I watched my mouth!)
- towers are only good if you can knock them down (obviously)
- he is an excellent snuggler

Oh to be a kid again!

This Weekend's Fun Projects

This past weekend we did a bunch of errand running and got started on some home projects. Friday night we were total bums and continued our James Bond marathon. It is sad that I am actually sad we are over halfway through? Already thinking about our next movie marathon or show watching we can do.

Saturday morning we did a bunch of errand running and I brought Christopher along - which is dangerous because he usually can find extra things that we "need." Surprisingly enough, we did not go over budget on our purchases.

Once we got home, Christopher got started on refinishing a side table that was his grandparents. I will have to pull some of the before shots off his phone. It is going to take a while to complete the project because the legs and parts of the table are ornate and he has to go a lot of the sanding by hand. Which is also hard right now because he only has use of ONE HAND.

I caught up on a bunch of cleaning. I re-arranged some of our bedroom furniture organized our bed linens. I also planted our herbs and some flower seeds (it has to get warm someday - right?). Then on Sunday I re-organized the closet in our office. My goal is to create one of the craft closet/offices out of the closet. Christopher loves the idea because then my craft stuff isn't all over the house and when it becomes chaos in the middle of a project, all we have to do is shut the doors. But step one was to clean it all out and re-organize it for now. Come summer time, we will re-paint and Christopher is going to make my desk.

Needless to say I am pooped today at work but very happy with the results of a busy weekend!

The "After" shot - the "before" was just too embarrassing lol. One bag each of garbage and recycling plus some donations.

Idea of a craft station closet: