Some of My Favorite Projects of 2010

Hope everyone had an amazing holiday, whether it was Christmas, Hanukkah or Kwanzaa!

I've been missing from blogland (MFB) for the last week because my son is home on winter break and we've been spending a lot of quality family time together. When I was a kid, the week between Christmas and New Year's Eve was a magical time with no school worries and plenty of fun winter things to do, so I wanted to spend extra time making this week a special memory for my son also.

But hey, I didn't want to miss out on a few parties that are happening this week! So I'm throwing up this post showing you some of my favorite projects that I did in 2010.

My most popular post of all time was about this console table that I painted in July.






I still love how this hutch turned out. Green is one of my favorite colors.




My curbside rescue wicker chair and ottoman was a fun project to do. The before photos do not do its ugliness true justice since I was using my Blackberry to take the photo. Gray, crunchy wicker about sums it up.




This oak chair seat redo was a quick project, but made such a difference.




And even though it's not earth shattering, I still like the refinishing of my old dresser. Yes, it would have been easier to just slap a coat of paint on it, but it was pretty satisfying to revive its original wood look.




And no, I still haven't gotten to my rocking chair. It is still mocking me every time I pull in the garage. I'm afraid it will have to wait until Spring since it will be too messy of a job to work on inside the house.




I am linking to these parties today:




Now I'm back to having a Back To The Future movies marathon with my son, see you in a few days.

Merry Christmas

Hoping you all have . . .

Christmas Eve

It's just hours before Santa comes tonight. At the House Of Hawthornes house we cannot wait!

Hope you and your family are enjoying the festivities of the season today!

Just A Little More Holiday Decor

I thought today would be a good day to show some of my miscellaneous Christmas decor that I haven't shown before. We all have colds here, so I'm in a mellow laid-back sort of mood.

In the family room I put another tree in a box. Picnic basket to be exact.


This tree was the one we used to set up for my Mom in the nursing home. For sentimental reasons I'm leaving her ornaments on it this year, next year I will trade them out for something that's a little more me.




The TV cabinet in the family room is where I store my crock collection.




This elf is ancient and used to hang on a door knob. Now he sits in this sleigh so his legs don't fall off (Otis the cat likes to bat him around).




I added some greenery to the dining room light. This is a recent addition, because I can never ever stop decorating for Christmas.




Some vintage birds sitting in a row.


The kitchen table Santa.












And the back porch Santa sitting on a child's sled.


I had to add some Christmas cheer to my scale on top of the fridge!


Our Christmas reading selection in a sewing cabinet drawer.


Even Otis is decked out for Christmas. I think I'll take a cue from him and go take a nap. Maybe I can whip this cold before Christmas.


And a little Christmas present to you. If you've never been to the Shadowhouse Creations site before take a look. They have the best free textures like the Silent Night one I layered into this photo.


I am linking with Kim At Savvy Southern Style's Boring To Better Party.

Outdoor Lights

Our outdoor Holiday lighting directly corresponds to how cold it is the week after Thanksgiving. The colder the weather the less lights. It was chilly this year. And regardless of the weather in late November you can be assured that in January when you are taking the lights down, the weather will be down right frigid.


This year we put up a lighted garland around the door frame.


The little lighted trees in pots used to be on the front porch in previous years, but I decided to get wild and move them to the sides of the garage. Yep, living on the edge here!


You can see the dining room tree from the front yard, so we're counting that as outside lights.




What is that glowing off in the distance?


Well, it's our lighting plan gone a little overboard.

You see, I had this moose that I bought on clearance at Target a few years ago.


Here he is in the daylight (prior to the snow)


and his deer cousins that I bought on clearance at Big Lots last year.


Since we were going to put them in the yard, we figured we'd put a row of lights on the fence along with a tasteful lighted wreath. But then we had a lot of lights left over, so we basically put ALL the rest of them on the fence.


Yes, it's bright. But you know, people slow down to look at the house. I prefer to think it's because they like the display and not that they think the house is on fire.