Special Gift from Mama

 I don't have much time for myself these days, but I have managed to do a few Christmas projects since Lillie has  come home.  It feels nice to craft again.  When I was pregnant, I was too tired or had too much going on.  This past year has been super, super busy for us!

 

 

 

These aren't the best ornaments, but I threw this together for the dogs this year.  We found house chipboard at Hobby Lobby.  The house had a chimney, but Justin cut it off turning it into a perfect shape for a dog house! 

 

 

For Lillie, I made this bird security blanket.  While I was still pregnant, I looked for months in stores and online to buy one for her.  When I couldn't find one, I decided to make one.  Little did I know that I would be able to give my girl this special gift for her first Christmas!

 

 

 

The bird toy was a stroller toy that had rings and other doo dads hanging from it's wings.  I just cut them off, cut a slit in the middle of the blanket, sewed the bird in and added the ribbon.  I love the way it turned out and I hope she loves it too! 

 

 

 

 

Christmas Dogs!

Dexter and Molly wish you a Merry Christmas!

Christmas Mantel and Shelf

 Here's the last of the home decorations!  

Our mantel is kinda a work in progress.  I made it look the best I could with the decorations that we already had.  I can't say that I hate it, but I don't love it either.  Hopefully next year I'll have more time and a little more money to make this look really good!

 

 I could never find a stocking that I liked for Dexter, so I decided to make one for him.  I saw this stocking on etsy and made my own dumbed down version.  I found the stocking at Dollar General for a buck and used felt and no sew iron on transfer for the doggie and bone.  I think it turned out really cute!  And It only cost me $1.50!

 My mama made me that cute little frame that you see on the wall.

Everyone asks if I made the snowflake wreath.  I wish I could say yes, but I found it at the dollar spot at Target.  

 Since it was so hot here over the summer, most of my candles melted in the attic.  But these weren't damaged so bad.  I made sure to cover up all the ugly spots with the poinsettias.

 So, there ya go.  The Harmon family Christmas mantel.  Needs some work, but looks good for this year!

 Here's the dining room shelf that went from fall to Christmas!

 I switched out the framed pumpkin for a handmade snowflake.

 The ornaments were originally in a clear cylinder vase, but the shelf fell off the wall somehow and broke it.  So I opted for the mason jar in its place.  I think that I like it better than my initial idea!  It ties in together with the "snow filled' mason jars on the dining room table.

   The free printable is from eighteen25. 

I found a plain wooden 8x10 picture frame at Dollar Tree and painted it red specially for this printable.

 How have you decorated your home this Christmas?  I'd love to see!  Leave me a comment with your blog address, facebook page, etc if you'd like to show of your home decorations!

O Christmas Tree.... O Christmas Trees!

Remember our tree from last year? 

I love this tree!  It's so beautiful.  We have it up again, but this year, I decorated the mirror banister with lights, ribbon that matches the tree, and poinsettias.  And we hung a wreath (given to us my Justin's super nice boss) at the top.

It's gorgeous!

AND, I was lucky enough to find a FREE tree on freecycle this summer.  So we have 2 trees this year.  The fancy tree in the formal living room/office area and a family tree in the living room!

 The family tree has miscellaneous ornaments on it like ones from our childhood, ones given to us as gifts, milestone ornaments like our first Christmas together, our first Christmas in our new home, etc.  I'm going to carry on the traditions of both of our mothers and buy/make ornaments for us and our kids every year.  But since we don't have kids yet, I bought Dexter and Molly ornaments instead!

What? These doggies love Christmas as much as we do!  And I needed an excuse to buy more ornaments to help fill up the family tree (got them at Dollar General for a buck a piece!).  Who wants to look at a sparsely decorated tree?!  Ok, ok, I admit it.  I'm kinda a crazy dog lady...both doggies have a present and something to go in their stocking.  But they can't be left out of Christmas!   =)


More posts to come-mantel and Christmas shelf decorations, an awesome, sentimental diy gift and lots more! 

30 Days of Thanks

One of my facebook friends is posting every day this month to show what she is thankful for in her life.  I think that is a great idea so we are going to do it here at Harmonizing, but with our own little twist!  Instead of posting one thing I'm thankful for each day of the month, I'll do a weekly posting and include serveral reasons why I think "it's a wonderful life."  (umm....Christmas, I do not need you sneaking up on me now-November is to focus on Thanksgiving no matter what Hobby Lobby, Garden Ridge, or TVsays.)

So here we go...Week 1 of Thanks

Thankful for my sweet husband.  He does the man work AND helps me around the house.  He lets me bring home junk and store it in the garage until I have time to make something wonderful out of it.  He even gave up his parking spot for it. He let me get another dog and now they are best buds.  He writes me love post it notes and sticks them in my car encouraging me when I have something big coming up.  He makes me laugh and sometimes he tries to scare me and I scream and then I want to punch him.  But I like it that way. 

I am so thankful for our sweet Molly girl and our cute Dexter boy.  I love her sweet kisses and I love his doggie hugs.  They come running to greet me everyday when I come through that door and that makes me feel like a special girl =)



Who couldn't be thankful for my sisters!  And while my bestie in the middle is not a sister by blood, we are just as close as if she were apart of my own family.  I love these girls with all my heart.  They are my go to people, my best friends, the girls that I most want to hang out with, the people that I don't want and can't imagine doing life without even though we are all scattered across Texas. 

DIY Dog Pillow/Bed

Sweet little Dexter has been so mistreated.  He's been sleeping in his crate with just this measly old blanket to keep him comfortable. 



He'd rather lay on this old egg crate than that hard crate tray.  Hmmm....my wheels are turning.  I think I feel a project coming on!  I think I'll repurpose this old egg crate and a fleece blanket and make him his own pillow!

Puppy Love

For those of you that know my dog, Molly, you know that cuddle time with her is few and far between.  But as I was cooking supper over the weekend, I noticed that I didn't here the dogs playing.  Just like children, too quiet means that they are getting into trouble.  I looked down and saw these sweetie pies curled up, snuggling together.  How sweet!

I called Justin in to show him, but he had already witnessed the growing love between these two!  He found them curled up on the couch together earlier that afternoon while I was outside working on refinishing our desk. Oh, how we love our sweet doggies!