LAVENDER ZEBRA BEDDING

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The purple zebra print sets are no longer to be found so will lavender zebra bedding work? From the number of comments that I've been getting from teen girls looking for the set of black and purple zebra bedding set that I posted awhile back (Zebra Bedding with a Twist) it would seem that lots of my visitors waited too long and may have lost out.

I actually located a few sets that drifted through auctions early last month but they are now long gone. Yeah, that's pretty bad news if you had your heart set on it but the good news is that there is a set of deep lavender zebra bedding that is very similar and most importantly available at the time of this post.

Don't blame Tween and Teenage Girl Bedding and Bedroom Decorating Ideas if you mess around and let this one get away from you!

RED LEOPARD BEDDING

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Tell me is the wild, red leopard bedding set in this picture a pick or a pan? I thought I had had enough with decorating with red early last month. But here I am again, going all out on a color just because of a particular holiday that's just around the corner.

Actually, I believe that I'm more into red bedroom decor at the moment than I was during Christmas and I plan to prove that this warm color has lots to offer no matter how badly your parents don't want you to use too much of it in your room! Stick around and keep an eye on Tween and Teen Girls Bedding and Bedroom Decorating Ideas because I might actually hit on a comforter set that will convince mom and dad that there are worse things than buying their teen girl a set of red leopard bedding.

Some Lessons Learned

A few of the things I learned as we closed out 2009 and started into 2010~

1. Pay attention and hold on when you are going down the stairs with a broom

because if you don't, you might get tangled up with the broom and fall down the stairs. And break your hand and one bone in your arm and your elbow. And jam your toe. And pull or tear something in your other elbow. And bruise yourself in several other places. And have surgery on your hand coming soon.

2. You really should strive to be 90% ready for Christmas the first week of December

because if you do fall down the stairs the first week of December and are limping and swollen and hauling around a huge cast and have to keep your arm OVER your head for two full weeks, if you have not finished decorating and have not even STARTED Christmas shopping, you will be very sorry that you are not one of those on-top-of-it people who are ready for Christmas.

3. Sometimes you have to let go of your perfectionist, controlling ideas and plans

and just say, "yes, that's good enough" ~ and then really enjoy the "good enough." (And, hopefully, you can always remember this lesson so that you do not get crazy and obsessive about events and occasions in the future.)

4. Your haircut is important - spend the money to go to a really good stylist - and go often

because if you do fall down the stairs and are one-handed for awhile, you need a cut that is manageable. If you have not gotten your hair cut in months, and have a long, droopy look you will be unhappy. And you will look like a scarecrow when you try to do your hair.

If you do find yourself in this scarecrow situation, go to a really good stylist and tell him that you need a cut that can be managed with one hand. Then - be patient - in a couple of weeks you will have figured out little tricks for drying and curling with one hand, and you will get to the point that you can achieve a moderate degree of success most days. Most. And on those other days, just stay at home in your pj's all day, claiming that your arm is really hurting, and send your kids out to do your errands.

5. While we are on the subject of hair -

do not try to use a round brush to blow dry your hair if you are one-handed. Unless your mom is in town for Christmas and can disentangle you.

6. You do not have to do it all!

It will not be easy to get ready with one arm that is also hurt. It will take forever to get ready to leave the house. It is ok to choose to skip some functions or events that you would normally go to. And it is ok if you look around your house and see the piles growing. Because eventually you will feel better and be able to do a little more. You do not have to be superwoman and do it all to perfection. (This should apply to all of us all the time.)

7. God might just want you to slow down and reorganize your time and priorities

He might just want you to simplify a little bit.

8. And God might be reminding you that you are supposed to also take care of yourself

because as mothers we tend to put ourselves at the bottom of the list and do not even keep up with some of our basic needs. So take your vitamins, get a good haircut, and spend some money on a couple of new shirts that will go over your cast - this will make you SO very happy. (Of course, I am not saying to put yourself first and become all witchy - just take care of yourself. It will actually help you to be able to care for your family even better.)

9. Just because you can type at a reasonable speed without looking at the keyboard, does NOT mean that you know where the letters are on the keyboard

but after typing with one hand for awhile, you will learn where the letters are and get surprisingly quick at one-handed typing. Which will also help you when you are using your new Droid phone with TWO nifty qwerty keypads!

10. Speaking of Droids -

can I just tell you that I LOVE having a phone with 2 qwerty keypads, TONS of apps that I can download in the middle of the night when I should be sleeping, and INTERNET ACCESS everywhere I go - anytime I want!!!!! And calendars to organize myself and set event reminders, and places to store all kinds of contact information, and fun background pictures, Christmas trees and mantles I can DECORATE, games like Bejeweled that I can play when I am waiting for my son at the dentist or orthodontist, and the list goes on...

Thank you again to my hubby - this was a great Christmas present!

11. Speaking of typing, if you abandon your poor little blog for almost 2 months, it will forgive you and welcome you back with open armS (because it is not in a cast)

and you will be very happy to be reunited.

12. 14 year old sons who happen to have the gift of service can be an amazing blessing

because they will constantly be noticing that you need a drink refill, will be able to tell that you need some tylenol and bring it to you without being asked, will jump up and open the back door when they see that you are having a hot flash, and can decorate a beautiful Christmas tree (since you did not get all your trees up before you fell down the stairs)!

13. A daughter who has worked with horses for several years can be very efficient at wrapping ace bandages when you are still in a temporary splint before your cast goes on. And she will be very efficient at taping your arm up in a plastic bag so you can take a shower.

When you tell her that she is quick and efficient, she will tell you that she has wrapped a lot of horses legs. (Do you think that means she is comparing me to a horse? Let's just not ask her that question, okay?)

14. It is very handy to have another daughter that has worked at Dream Dinners for years and is very efficient in the kitchen

and is a very good cook! And did NOT learn her skills from a horse.

I am sure that I can think of many more lessons learned, but it has taken me all morning to do this post (even though I am getting much faster at typing one-handed). My hubby is flying back into town today. I am still in my pj's. I should probably go get dressed, and turn the lights on, and open the blinds before he gets home.

Shannon

Christmas Feather Wreaths

This week at Red Writing's is all about wreaths and door decor. So I am going with my feather wreaths. This little red feather wreath lives on my mantel most of the year. And at Christmas I add this great stem to it to dress it up. I start with a little feather wreath. . .

Add one great stem. This one has a little greenery and a velvet and glitter chocolate poinsettia.

I also use one long silver glittery fern leaf.

I just curve the stem and glittery leaf and let them hang in front of the little red feather wreath. Here she is all dressed up for Christmas . . .I absolutely love feather wreaths. But they are really expensive! When I was doing my fall mantel I wanted a chocolate feather wreath, but didn't want to spend $40-$50 for one. So I made one with a feather boa. It really turned out great.

I used one of these wire wreath forms and a chocolate feather boa from Hobby Lobby.

I just cut lengths of wire and wired the feather boa to the wreath frame - put a wire about every 2" to 3" so that it stays in a nice full circle shape.

I wired all the way around the outside wire of the wreath frame, then wired all the way around the inside-middle of the wreath frame.

One feather boa was the perfect length to go around twice on the 12" wreath frame from Hobby Lobby. The frame was $1.99. The feather boa was $6.99 (I think) - and you can use a 40% off coupon on the feathers.

This only took me about 30 minutes and about $6. And it looks really good. I'm going to make a black one next.

For more great Christmas wreaths and door decor, click below to go to Red Writing's.

Shannon

Thanksgiving Table and Mantel Decorations

Before my house goes fully Christmas, I wanted to show you my fall mantel and dinner table. I went with chocolate, green and silver for the most part. I love those colors together.

I love the way my mantel worked out this fall. And I would just leave it like this for Christmas, but then where would I put my stocking holders? So I might go back to this after Christmas.

I love the chocolate, green and silver in my dining room. I am planning on sticking with these colors in here for Christmas, too.

We eat in this room every day. So I just leave the table set like this all the time. The silver chargers are silverplate trays I have been picking up at Bonne Volonte over time.

I have one more of these nickel-plated candelabras that I am going to list on my website this week.

I filled my tiered tray with some gilded fruit, wood fruit and some sparkly picks.

In a couple of days I will put up another post from the Holiday Tables event I attended. Beautifully decorated tables for Christmas! So please come back soon for some wonderful ideas.

Shannon

Holiday Tables - Thanksgiving & a Christmas Sideboard

Reflection of Thanks

This first table has a very traditional Thanksgiving look. I love the arrangement they made for the centerpiece - traditional Thanksgiving colors and filling the vase with nuts. It looked really pretty on the table.

This table was called "Reflection of Thanks." It was a theme of family. They had some old family photos on the wall, and some small photos in frames on the table.
And at each place setting they had used an old family photo under a glass plate. I thought this was a neat idea.

Blitz, Glitz and Fun

This next "room" was not a dinner table. They had decorated a long, narrow table that could be a sideboard or buffet, or an entry hall table. I love the way they decorated the spiral topiaries. And, of course, I love all the shine and glitter! That gold arrangement up front is just gold-glittered sticks. Easy, but so effective!

I love this old cabinet door made into a tray!
Some of my favorite Holiday Tables from this event are still to come! So check back in next week for more!

Thanks for stopping by!

Shannon

Kids Christmas Craft - Clay Pot Snowman

This week of 12 Weeks of Christmas is another Christmas craft. My girls made this snowman out of clay pots when they were preschoolers. Now they are 19 and 21! And I still love putting this snowman out at Christmas!
First glue two clay pots together, one upside down on top of the other. Probably any type of glue that is permanent. Cover both pots with a "texture" paint - you can find "snow" paint or some other texture paint in the paint aisle of your craft store. After that dries, paint the whole thing white with craft paint.

For the hat, paint a smaller clay pot with the same texture paint. Then paint over that with black craft paint. For the bill of the hat I cut a circle out of poster board (use a plate as a circle pattern - you just need it to be a size that seems to fit with the sizes of clay pots you are using). Paint the poster board circle with the texture paint, then paint over that with black craft paint (both sides of the poster board circle need to be painted).

At this point you can paint holly leaves or some other decoration on the hat with craft paint.

Now glue the poster circle to the top of his head, then glue the small pot upside down onto the poster circle. (I think I used hot glue so that we didn't have to wait a long time for glue to dry.)

Because I was making this with preschool age kids, I painted circle outlines for his eyes, mouth and buttons. Then the girls filled in the circles with paint.

To make his nose, I twisted white copy paper into a cone shape and glued it together. Then the girls painted it orange. I stuffed it with tissue paper (and glued this into the inside of the cone) - this gave me a "flat" surface that I could apply glue to and then stick to his face.

Then we tied a Christmas ribbon around his neck to cover up where the two big pots meet. We glued this ribbon to him in a few places so that it would not slide off.

You could use any sizes of clay pots you want to - he could be tiny, or as big as you want him to be. For his body we used pots that are 4 1/2" tall, and for the hat we used a smaller pot that is 2 3/4" tall. So ours is about a foot tall.

He is very cute in person!

For more Christmas crafts, click below to go to Red Writing's!

Thanks for stopping by!

I am doing a little series on Holiday Tables right now, so go to my main page to find those posts.

Shannon