The Totally Tacky Christmas Tour!

I pray that I do not hurt anyones feelings ...but I thought I would share with you a few things you will NEVER see if you come to visit Equus Villa during the holidays.

I don't care if my husband loves this movie...this puts a capital T on TACKY!

Just because I am from the deep South...does not mean that I think these shotgun shell Christmas lights are adorable.... Who thinks this stuff up??

This is a bull people...NOT a reindeer and outside of being a part of a really great Christmas dinner...it is NOT Christmasy!

I know that some people like blow up snow globes...especially children. Not me.

Umm - my Christmas tree may not be real...but it will never be made out of cans!

....or KEGS!

...OR Aluminum Foil!

...and the saddest sight of all.... a blow up thingy that won't even stay blown up!

This concludes the Totally Tacky Christmas Tour. I hope you all had a wonderful time and no less than one deep belly laugh from my post!

Our Nativity

Here is our beautiful Nativity set. The camels are actually made of olive wood and were purchased in Israel. I love this set and bought it piece by piece at a time in my life when money was pretty sparse for extras.

The beautiful star was purchased on a trip I took with my parents to the mountains.

This paper mache angel is the only surviving piece from my Grandmother's Nativity Set.

Steeped in Tradition

My Mother was 100% Swedish, so I grew up with Tumta's instead of Santa's, the traditional Santa Lucia ceremony and saying God Yul along with Merry Christmas. Mom gave this "Tumta" to my husband when he adopted my daughters.

Here is a little Santa Lucia candle holder.

This is a small wall hanging that belonged to my Grandmother, then my Mom and now me! Sadly during a flood one year, my Mother lost ALL of her antique Swedish Tumta's - some were over a 100 years old and had rabbit fur beards. I cried that day...along with my Mom.

More Christmas Decor

I love opulence! I am attracted to gold and I love anything formal...so this presents a problem because I live above a barn! I believe that not only should a homes decor match..but it should also match the style of home in which you live. For this reason, I have opted to decorate with a more natural woodsy theme and it is all centered around reindeer and birds. The theme colors are red and white and although I have slipped in a bit of opulence here and there...it is only in tiny amounts! I hope you enjoy our farm Christmas decor. More to come!

Fun Christmas Challenge!

Okay - This is just for fun. I want everyone to list 4 gifts they would love to receive for Christmas this year. Each gift is in a different category.

1. The Fantasy gift (Lets just say you won the lottery):

For me - this would be to build a free standing house on the other end of our property. This may sound selfish...but I really miss several things I used to have ..like a fireplace and room enough for guests to stay over..etc. and I am just getting tired of living above the barn.

2. The gift You want and maybe even need - but it is too $$.

I would love to have a Nikon D60 or D80 camera. I can use it for my editors job...but I really enjoy photography and want better photos for my blog....okay - so I don't want to have to work so hard to get good photos (which is what I have to do with my 1 step camera)

3. The realistic gift You need:

I love my little car, but a wave of strange weather this year caused the clear coat on my hood to bubble a bit and I want to get the car repainted.

4. The gift You could buy out of your own wallet right now.

The Josh Groban Christmas CD. Did God bless that man with an amazing voice or what???

Advent Calendars

I grew up with Advent Calendars and to this day, every time I see some, I have to stop and look at them...from the most simple to complex...I love them!

Ahhhh Christmas!

Buffet Decor

BEFORE ~

AFTER ~

Decorating for Christmas

This is our entertainment center/desk/window seat/dog house and yes, I built it. It is one of my favorite projects because it has to be the most useful. From the left to the right it is a desk, book shelf, entertainment center, book shelf, window seat and yes, the last section is actually a real dog house! I have a lot of fun decorating this for Christmas too...so here is a peek at what I have done this year...so far!

BEFORE ~ I cleaned out the shelves so I could decorate them!

AFTER ~ Each shelf acts as its own shadow box.

Santa peeking down from the top shelf.

The second shelf.

The 3rd shelf.

The bottom shelf.

BEFORE ~ The window seat.

AFTER ~ The window seat.

My favorite little elf!

This is a kissing ball that is as old as I am (WOW - that's old!) It belonged to my Mother who used to hang it in our foyer. If you pull the chord, it turns and plays a tune that is imbedded in my heart.

Santa hangs out in the window seat.

Thanksgiving Day!

For the first time we elected to have a bit of a more casual theme to our dinner. Originally planned for outdoors, Mr. Weather did not cooperate - so indoors we stayed! This is our table.

Last minute table decor. This is not what I was going to use for our outdoor Thanksgiving dinner. I was pleased with the results.

The Place Settings

The buffet worked out even better than I had expected!

Dad carved the turkey for us...and Chrissy NEVER left his side!

To end out the day, Don and I went for a motorcycle ride....and about froze our butts off!