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Monday, December 21, 2009

We can't all be Martha Stewart

Can you believe that Christmas is in 4 days? Yikes!!! I'm not ready!!! Are you?

I am such a procrastinator. I still have tons to do, but I'm running out of time quickly. I still haven't finished my shopping (this is a first). I usually love to go shopping, but with a lack in funds and grown boys who only want expensive items, I haven't been motivated to shop this year (except for myself). So I'm not really sure what to get them. And don't get me started on my Christmas craft projects or my home made gifts. I guess I will have to save them for next year. Do you think my family would mind waiting till next year for their gifts?

At least my decorating is done. Everything looks like I'm ready for Christmas. There just isn't a present under any of my trees. Since my shopping isn't done, I'll have to share what is done. And that is my decorating.

Today I'm sharing my front porch. And I can't believe that I am actually sharing it with you. You see, I hate my front porch. Number one in the ugliness department is the security screen. It came with the house and I hate it. It's so ugly. Yet so functional. It's great to have here in southern California. As a good part of the year the weather is warm & we can leave the front door open with having the security screen door. You still feel safe. But it's ugly & I would prefer a beautiful front door. But it ain't happening. At least until I can afford to buy a prettier security screen door.

The second thing I hate about my front porch is that the dryer vents out onto it. So it is always covered in lint and dust. And then there is the part about trying to hang stuff on the wall. The house came with 2 nails already in the stucco. So that is where I get to hang my stuff. Hubby doesn't want me putting anymore holes in the stucco. Party pooper!!!

I wish I had a gorgeous front porch like most of you. But alas, I do not. And after decorating the inside of my house, I'm too tired to do much outside. You see, I am basically lazy, so I resort to fast & easy decorating.


Take for instance this old wood bench that sits on the right side of my porch. The wooden "Fleur" box always sits here. I just plopped in some oversized ornaments from Dollar Tree (from last year), stuck in an evergreen twig. And wa la, instant Christmas. The lantern usually sits on my round table, but I placed it on this bench for now. The green wreath around it is actually some garland I got on clearance last year. I put it in a circle & tied it together with a twist tie. And presto, instant wreath.
I usually froof up the lantern a bit more, but again the laziness kicked in.

I originally bought these large ornaments to hang from my willow tree in the front yard. But I was too lazy to hang them, so I placed them in this box instead.

I love these large presents. They light up at night. I've had them for a few years now.


My wreath is another easy peasy project. I took an old grape vine wreath I had hanging around the house. Wrapped it with some Dollar Tree garland. Hung some large jingle bells & a wooden sled in the middle (all after clearance items from Michael's a few years back). Stuck on a big bow (I snagged it off some gift I received a few years ago). And there you have an instant wreath. I love this sled.
Hung a Dollar Tree sign from the door knob. I don't really recommend this. It is always falling off or ends up hanging cock eyed.

Hanging from one of the 2 nails in the stucco is this Candy Cane Lane tin sign. I love it! Got it from Tender Heart Treasures earlier this decade.

The Sleigh Bells Ring sign hangs from the other nail. I got it a few years back from ABC Distributing catalog.
I have this round table that sits just outside my front door. I placed it here for our wedding reception 3 1/2 years ago to hold our guest book. I liked the table out there so much, I just left it. I change out the table cloth for each season and/or holiday. My lantern that is on the small bench usually sits on this table. But this year, I placed a small Christmas tree (it lights up), a Santa (he is actually a candle) in a sleigh and a rustic looking candle holder.

To the left is a larger bench. This bench was hubby's. On the bench I have 3 smaller presents that light up. I realized as I was making this post that I forgot to take a closeup photo of them. In front of the presents I placed this vintage looking wreath. I picked this up from the thrift store just this weekend for 50 cents. They had all their Christmas items 1/2 off. I'm not sure if this is really vintage, but it looks like it to me. I really don't care if it is, I still liked it.

On my fountain I placed a tin star. The fountain water is dirty as it's the runoff from the roof from the rain storm we had last week.

As you could probably tell, I didn't spiff up the place before taking the photos. Sorry, but that's how I roll. You get the real me, warts and all. Wait, I don't have warts. But you get the picture. I'm not afraid to show you my dirt and spider webs. Not to mention lint and yucky fountain water.

I hope that my porch didn't scare you too bad. I guess I'll find out if I start losing followers. And I am so lucky that Martha Stewart isn't looking at my blog. She'd surely disown me, not that I'm in her will, wish I was, but I'm not, still wish I was, I don't even know her. But now that I've mentioned her in my blog, someone from her organization may be looking just to see what I said about her. If so, I love Martha!!! Even if I'm not in her will. Wish I was!!!!

Tomorrow I will try & post my living room decor. And show you the 2 craft projects that I did manage to complete (only because I did them at my SIL's house with her).

Whew!!! All this work has made me tired, I better go & take a nap. Wait, I don't have time for a nap, I have too much left to do. I better go shopping and start my wrapping. Or maybe one of Martha's Christmas specials is on TV. I get distracted too easily.

Are you ready for Christmas? If not, what do you have left to do?

8 comments:

  1. Ho..Ho..Ho...

    Hey Girlfriend...I love your festive front porch!!! You shouldn't knock it...it really is beautiful!!! And my friend, you are wayyyy ahead of me in the "outdoor" decor department! Well...actually the outdoor decor is my honey's dept. and it hasn't gotten done! Ohhh well...the inside (which is my dept) is festive and finished!!! Hehe!

    I love your door wreath with that darling little sled...sooo cute!!! And I love the big Christmas packages...those are great!!! Really showy!!! Love your pretty lanterns too! Girl, it all looks really beautiful...you should be proud!!!

    Well Darlin'...I see that I've missed your Christmas tablescape so I'm heading there now!!!

    Love ya,
    Chari

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  2. Your front porch is wonderfully holiday festive! I am jealous as mine is barren and without any cheer yet. Perhaps I will drag that poor wreath out after all! Thanks for the inspiration!
    Marie @Lemondrop Vintage

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  3. I love the presents on the porch. That's darling!

    If you want to hang more without putting holes in the stucco you can make a PVC pipe frame (cube) and then paint it or wrap it with garland. It's really cheap (and modular) and you won't need to make holes for any of it. I did it for Halloween and have a couple pics of it (unpainted) but it would work for Christmas, too.

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  4. I love your front entryway...it is charming with all your Christmas decorations. I bet the wrapped gift boxes are adorable lit up at night.

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  5. Who likes martha anyway? Too anal. :)

    I love your porch, so festive and fun. I used those rusty bells this year in my family room. Love them!

    Your photography is always amazing, and your humor makes me smile.

    Happy Christmas!

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  6. Kim,
    I think your front porch looks great. The only outdoor decoration I hung this year was a wreath on the door. I had planned on a little more but never got to it.
    I really enjoyed reading your post...Martha Stewart could learn a few things from you!
    Happy Holidays.
    Jane

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  7. my fave is that little sled wreath :D

    be proud you decorated at all, it's a lot of work LOL :D

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  8. I think it all looks great and very welcoming! Good luck with getting all your shopping and wrapping done!

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