Christmas in July~

 

Christmas……..

I love Christmas!  Simply put, just everything about it!  I like hearing from old and new friends, in person and through Christmas cards.This one above is so serene, just makes me smile.

 

The last day of July!! Can you believe it???!! There are so many things that I wanted to accomplish this month. Oh well they will have to wait.

I had wanted to do a Christmas in July giveaway. The best part of Christmas is the giving to me. What do you like about Christmas?? Have you been watching any Christmas shows?

So….the giveaway isn’t going to happen yet, but  I was thinking of a couple of regular prim ideas or fall items that I would like to share with someone. So be looking, I am still coming up with an idea for  that giveaway. It will be soon though!! I have been working on some new creations. Can’t wait to share them with you.

For now I thought I would share with you a few pics from last Christmas and if you would like to see more you can go HERE, to see my pics from last year. Or you can go  HERE to see a few more of my  favorite things.

And why we celebrate!!

 

Hope that everyone is staying cool this summer. I know it has been rough for some of you. We are at 102 today and it is going up everyday. So maybe all this talk of Christmas will cool us off a bit.

Blessings for a great week~ Sara

Can We Talk……………..about decorating styles??!!

 

I have heard so much lately about decorating styles. There are so many different decorating “places” on the internet that one can be part of. ~This defines country; this defines farmhouse; Oh that’s not primitive!! This past week I read a couple comments from people; “What does that have to do with primitive?” “Why are you posting that picture here? That isn’t primitive!” Wow! ….That’s all!  Ok I have taken a deep breath. I have been pondering this thought all week.

There are so many different decorating styles. I for one don’t want to be labeled with any particular one. If someone were to ask me how I decorate my home, my answer would be ~ My inspiration for decorating my home is to step back in time when life was simpler and generations of family gathered to enjoy each other’s company.  The influence of older generations, love of family, and wishing to pass on the joy of homemaking to future generations is my passion.

~This is a pic of my home back in New England. You can see my son is young. He and his cousin would play here all the time. Nothing was off limits. It was a home to live in and enjoy. Not to be a showcase. This coffee table was an old table that we cut the legs down on. It has a drawer on the side that he would keep all of his cars and tech deck dudes in when he wasn’t playing.~(You can see more of my New England home by clicking on the picture)

My home always has a touch of a patriotic theme and is comfy and welcoming to all who enter. I have filled my home with things that
”I” love! Things I have created and made my own.

I don’t want my home to look like any one else's!! Don't get me wrong, there are so may talented people with beautiful homes in this great world of ours. I love to get ideas from them and I love to share my ideas with others. Don’t just copy a magazine picture; make it your own. So many magazines just look alike nowadays. I am getting bored with the same old same old. Find a color you love (can you tell mine is red??!!), and incorporate into your home. I try to use some of the same colors in each room, because I am always  moving things around. Nothing stays the same, just ask my family. I am always moving furniture from one room to another.

This is my first “country cabinet” that I purchased

 

Decorating styles also evolve over the years. When I was first married, I remember loving anything silver coated. A glass coffee table with silver legs, a white shag rug, seagull mobiles….well you get the picture. Along came children and the necessity of changing this up a bit became evident. It just isn’t logical to have a glass coffee table with a child that is beginning to walk. Enough said about that. lol. And so the evolution begins. An old chunky wooden coffee table, wooden cabinets, dark rugs……anything that “looks better” after a toy has been thrown against it. Oh how I love dinged up wood!!! Maybe because each little ding has a memory behind it. And that is how it is for me. Each piece in my home has some memory in it. We are now empty nesters (not sure for how long). As I look at our worn furniture, there are memories.

The worn arms on the sofa and chair, where once sat a full room of children and there friends enthralled in video games or movies together. The collection of bears, given with love for all of those holidays that we celebrated together. You see it takes a while to pull together your own “look”.

We are now in a rental. It is a one floor ranch style with a big window in front, sliding door in the back, no window trim and stucco walls . Very comfortable for us and we are so appreciative to be able to live here. But it is a little different than what we were used to. We had a  large New Englander with 5 bedrooms, a separate kitchen, dining room, den, large family room with high ceilings. So we have tried to make this our own. We have done a few things to make it “familiar” to us.

This is before~

and this is after~

 

We have added some wooden shutters and a little simple valance

This is the kitchen window before we moved in~

And after~

We have added wood trim around a couple windows and also added a faux wall on the back of our hutch to break  up the space a little.

~back side of hutch

~side of hutch

(You can find more pics of my fall home on picture trail by clicking the pic above)

Sometimes your style will become that of necessity and sometimes just because you love something. In my case it is usually a combined effort. We built this table to accommodate all of our family so we could have dinners together.

Create spaces that bring your family together, or give you a place to entertain. You don’t have to make it fancy. A basic casserole shared with family or friends can make lots of memories, simply because you added love and caring for them. Also don’t forget the seasons and holidays. You don’t have to do much to change to a new season. Sometimes just the color of your tablecloth, a vase of flowers, or a serving piece is enough. (I change things for the seasons constantly~ I will pack up a box (or 2) of things from around the house and change it out with seasonal items ~ dried flowers in baskets or crocks make a simple but BIG statement.)

I absolutely love antiques cabinets, but I can’t take the old odor. That being said,  I have worked with my hubby to create some unique one of a kind pieces of furniture that “look old”, but are new and clean smelling(I love the smell of pine!)

 

As you can see my style is constantly changing. Some of these pics are from years ago.

 

Don’t be afraid to add personal touches~

maybe your family name on something by the door~

a verse, or statement you want to share with the world~

 So…..Country? Primitive? Farmhouse? Colonial? Cottage? Shabby Chic? A mixture?!  Who knows what tomorrow will bring??!! One thing is for sure ~ my home will be comfortable, a place to entertain and always have a little bit of patriotic flare to it. Go find your style! Don’t let anyone tell you something doesn’t fit in. It is your home and if you love something, it will fit in. If you need to be inspired there are so many ideas on the web. (Just remember to give credit where credit is due. So many pics are floating around and you don’t know who the original designer is.) Happy decorating!!

 

Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it. Hebrews 13:2

Blessings~Sara

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You can visit my etsy shop by clicking the pic below~

 

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Have you  entered my latest giveaway?? Click the pic below to bring you there~ Ends August 23rd at midnight

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ps~ I still have more vacation pics to share with you.Maybe next time. If you would like to see pics of our New England trip click on the pic below.

linking up  this week~

with Elaine

http://sunnysimplelife.blogspot.com/2012/07/sunny-simple-sunday_21.html

Feathered NestFriday ~http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com/2012/07/feathered-nest-friday_19.htmland also with~

The Summer Wind Came Blowin’ in form across the Sea

 

Come along with me as we visit  Southern NH and Southern Maine. There are so many beautiful and historic places, such as Prescott Park, Strawberry Banke, Dover Point……

~I have lots of photos here, so you may want to grab a nice cold glass of iced tea.~

Let’s begin in Portsmouth, NH~

 

 

Portsmouth, NH ~ a historic seaport in Southern NH, bordering the Maine line.

Prescott Park~ A 10 acre public garden park located on the Piscataqua River. Includes walkways, beautiful flowers and in the summer time also includes the Prescott Park Arts Festival. The Arts Festival combines a series of musical performances and full-length plays performed "alfresco" and under the stars. Just bring your blanket and a small donation and enjoy the performance, take a walk along the river and just enjoy the ambiance. This summer the production is

WILLY WONKA

Produced by Prescott Park Arts Festival in partnership with Seacoast Repertory Theatre.

 

 

 

Prescott Park is situated in the historic section of Portsmouth NH and is directly across the street from Strawberry Banke.

Strawberry Banke is an outdoor history museum that features more than 40 restored buildings built between the 17th and 19th centuries. The buildings were built in the Colonial, Georgian, and Federal Style architectures.  It is the oldest settled area in NH. My favorite time to visit is during the Candlelight stroll in December.  Candle lit decorated houses, horse~drawn carriage rides around the property, gingerbread house contest, live music, holiday hearth cooking. Every person that is involved in the demonstrations etc. are dressed in period outfits. If you have a chance to visit, you will not be disappointed.

 

 

While our daughter Lizabeth and her family were in NH, they met up with a family friend that just so happens to be a photographer, and had a maternity photo shoot in Prescott Park. He is also the photographer that did their wedding photos. He is hosting a give away for a free photo pkg for homeschoolers. If you know anyone in the Southern NH area that may be interested please pass along this info. You can get to his blog and see more pics of my daughters photo shoot by clicking the pic below.

Prescott Park is a special place for our daughter Lizabeth. This is where she was engaged while her husband was stationed at the Portsmouth Navel Shipyard, which is located just across the river.

 

Now we are headed over the big bridge to Dover, NH~

Dover Point

Yummy seafood, fresh from the ocean that day!

This is an olde favorite place to shop. They had a green house, fresh organic produce , specialty items and a gift shop. This and all of the historic land has been in the same family for generations. President Lincoln stopped here once on his travels. Sadly, it is now closed and all of the farm and land is for sale. :(

Off to Down town Dover, NH.

Mill buildings and the waterfall….

Our favorite bakery. I think all of our travels included visits to special restaurants and bakeries  for all of that specialty food that we so missed.

Now on to the historic village of York, Maine

And of course to the beach….

 

 

And…………

The reason that we went to the East coast!

For a family reunion. Here are my sisters and I.

and with brothers…………

~a beautiful park on the river in Southern Maine~

(A big thank you to Tracy and Claire, and your families for all of the hard work you did in pulling together the family reunion!!!)

 

More family……….

and friends….

my sister and her family……

cousins…..

 

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No man needs a vacation so much as the person who has just had one.  ~Elbert Hubbard

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More vacation pics here~

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Next post will have pics from Kennebunkport, Maine.

Thanks for coming along for the tour, with me.

~Sara