HOME TOUR DAYYYYY!
I’m so excited you’re here! Our house is all decked out for the holidays, there’s residual glitter on every surface and it smells like fresh greenery in here.
I burnt the cookies I baked for you, but if you scrape off the bottoms, they’re still delicious.
It’s my first time participating in the annual Holiday Housewalk tour with Jennifer Rizzo, which is always chock-full of holiday decorating inspiration! Today is Day Four of the tour, and if you’re stopping by from Makely Home for Girls, the stop right before mine…
…hey HEY!
If you’ve never been by before, I’m Kelly, and my family and I are on a (seemingly endless) quest to fix up our gross ol’ foreclosure on a tiny budget, one project at a time. It’s fun and crazy: sometimes things turn out just right… and sometimes we try to make art with our kids’ butts. True story.
On that note. *ahem.* We should probably just go on in.
Right inside the foyer is the bench we made from a headboard. I replaced the art in the frame with a piece of a gift bag whose pattern I really liked, and added the tiny sunburst mirror above it, and a sweet mini tree beside it.
Opposite the bench, I stuck some gilded greenery on top of my mirror and made a little apothecary jar village on our DIY console table.
)
I filled my glass jars with miniature wintry scenes made of greenery, my tiny brass deer and random little ornaments.
I totally snickered to myself once I got the idea to do this with one of my son’s toy cars:
but he kept asking me if he could have his car back to play with. Suddenly it seemed so tragic: the tiny yellow car, just trapped there, carrying the tree to no destination, in a little glass prison of hopelessness. I let him have it back.)
Down the hallway, I hung a mossy kissing ball (tutorial coming soon!)…
…and the “Love Came Down” gold leaf art I just made:
I’ve been digging the gold + black and white combo SO HARD this year.
Into the living room!
On top of the ottoman, I plopped a cozy sheepskin and a tray filled with candles, greenery, and THE MOST GIANT JINGLE BELL KNOWN TO MAN.
I hung some DIY gold magnolia garland on the bottom of the mantel – click here for the tutorial! Anchoring the mantel is Blitzen, my friendly gilded deer, who is got a little graphic bowtie for being the most regal reindeer of all.
And on the media cabinet, I put one of my favorite Christmas decorations: my white ceramic nativity set.
I’m not going to lie: that is an incredibly precarious place to store Baby Jesus. My one-year-old has tried to kidnap him multiple times. But I love the ever-present reminder that we’re celebrating the holiest night: when God sent hope to a weary world — a newborn king in a filthy manger, bringing peace to broken hearts. Ahhh Christmas.
I hung my easiest, cheapest DIY wreaths ever on the back of my barstools with a little strip of ribbon. (Here’s how to make your own!)
The breakfast nook got a plaid throw and gold pillow…
And I hung the little glittery snowballs I made on branches I brought in from the yard.
And brought in a little “Charlie Brown tree” – (a weed from our yard) – which I stuck in a glass vase.
Below it is our little DIY advent tree.
I’ll have more for you next week – I hope you’ll stick around! (You can follow on facebook, twitter or pinterest, or sign up to get each post sent to you via email!) I’m sorry about the burnt cookies, guys.
There’s SO much holiday decorating goodness going on with this holiday housewalk! You can check it out starting with day one right here... but make sure you hit the next stop on the tour: Between You and Me.
Thanks so much for stopping by, buds! Happiest holidays!
Hi, I'm Kelly. Glad you're here! This little blog is where I chronicle our efforts to fix up our beaten-down home on a tiny budget. We're not there yet, but here's a peek at the view along the way...
Love it all Kelly! I left you a message on Facebook. We have the same gilded leaves swag AND the gilded deer, down to a bow around it’s neck! 🙂 I laughed so hard about the car trapped in the cloche, so cute! Everything looks so beautiful! Thanks for sharing it with us!
Heather
I just found your blog through the holiday home tour. Beautiful; looking forward to reading more!
Hi there!
Beautiful touches to your home!!
I love the “It is well with my soul” quote on your wall.
Can you tell me where you got the letters? LOVE them.
Also, can’t wait to check out the tutorial for your green wreaths on the backs of your chairs….
Merry Christmas!!
Thanks Tara! Love your tour! Here are the details on the letters: http://viewalongway.wpengine.com/2013/05/it-is-well/.
Hi Kelly…thank you for sharing your home with us…Your front porch is gorgeous and love that rug and ottoman at the front door…so beautiful…everything looks great! Merry Christmas xo
Very cute! I love the little boots by the door!
I love the tree tied to the toy car! Such a cute idea.
My father-in-law (a pastor) has quite a collection of nativities, and their cat likes to steal the baby Jesus from one of them. They’ll find him behind the couch, down the hall, and in other rooms. My father-in-law actually used the cat’s pursuit of baby Jesus as a sermon illustration last advent, which was both poignant and hilarious.
It looks great Kelly! I love that you have weed trees like that just popping up!An I love your DIY advent tree!!! Thank you so much for being a part of the tour!!!
Kelly – Everything looks lovely, and i love the gold with black and white touches. Merry Christmas! Take care, Laura
You home looks amazing! I am also crushing hard on the black, white and gold! Where did you get your black and white striped paper? I want all of my gifts to be that this year! I seriously NEED it! I am looking forward to the gold garland tutorial! It looks amazing!
I don’t even want to tell you where I bought the gift wrap because it was SO bad. It came imperfectly printed, and they sent me less than I paid for, and the shipping took forever. 🙂 It was so bad the company ended up refunding my purchase completely. But I did see some on amazon that looked promising!
The sequin pillow! I need one in my life!!
HomeGoods! The answer to all good things.
Love it! I would definitely eat one of your cookies. It would make us feel right at home. Your monogram door wreath is one of my favorite things in your photos.
So pretty Kelly and your sons toy car is my favorite 🙂 So cute and great personal touch!
So gorgeous Kelly!! And a little crisp never stopped me from enjoying a good cookie!!
You’re house looks Beautiful! I think my favorite thing of all (besides the little wreaths) is the “weed” you brought in from outside! 😀 I know i’m weird, but it’s so Charlie Brownish I can’t help but fall in love with it! And the car with the tree tied to it was perfect! Loved the whole tour, but by the time I got here all the cookies were gone 🙁 They must have been delicious!
I LOVE your Christmas entry way. It’s so festive and bright. Your house is perfect!
I WANT THAT GIANT JINGLE BALL.
that is all. 🙂
This Tech gal is just finding it amusing and a bit ironic that you are using our colors for your Christmas decorations, being that you are a uga fan! Hee.. Love your work and inspiration on making this fixer-upper your home!
Oh no! I just took it all down and replaced it with red and black. 🙂
So fun and festive!!! I love the magnolia leaf garland that you have hung and that cute little kissing ball!
Blessings,
Kayla
So pretty Kelly 🙂 I love that gold garland on your mantel! Show-stopper! Everything is so festive and cozy. Love it!! xo Kristin
Your home looks so gorgeous! I love all of your Christmas decor! The gold and black and white is a winning combination! 🙂
Love your little wintery scenes in the glass jars, so cute and creative!
And the love art, I’m going to go check it out…
Very festive holiday home!
Poor baby! You stole his car! : )
I love how your Christmas decorations trail through the whole house and all relate to each other without being matchy-matchy!
And let’s hope Baby Jesus makes it through this Christmas season… When I was about 18 months old, my mom gave me my own Nativity set (three blocks with Jesus, Mary, and Joseph painted on them) in an effort to get me to STOP TOUCHING the white, ceramic Nativity (very similar to yours) that my grandmother had somehow been a part of making. I now have my little wooden Nativity and a “real” one given to me by my aunt. I use the wooden ones in Sunday School and when I was teaching at a childcare center. Apparently, it worked because that ceramic Nativity lasted through me and my younger brother, who was always more destructive than I was!
THAT is a great idea! I’ve heard of some little plastic nativity sets. I’m going to go dig around online and see if I can find a good one!
I love the little apothecary village inside the front door and you are right to keep a close eye on that little baby napper under your roof. Little kids have the stickiest fingers for figurines! My kids are gold animal nappers. I love that sequined pillow in the background – I made something similar this year and it is my favorite thing. Maybe ever.
I’m still sinning horribly by coveting your wall that says, “It Is Well With My Soul.” In fact, I just revisited your post on that “wall reveal” last week, because I’m thinking about doing it at my house. Please note that copy-catting is the very highest form of flattery! I also adore the sign that you made that says, “Love Came Down.” I’m beginning to think that it would be best if you just came on out to MY house for a cup of coffee and stayed for a couple of weeks, and rolled up your sleeves and put yourself to work with redecorating my home. Because I’m pretty sure that your style is exactly MY style, too. I love your holiday decorations… Well done!
hahaha! Copy away, my friend. I’ll take your coffee deal if you’ll do the meal planning. WORST JOB EVER.
You have so much festivity in your house! I really like your apothecary jar village. I keep trying to collect apothecary jars since Rick IS what some call an apothecary, but they keep breaking. Seriously, one was only in the house for an hour before it shattered. I hope this isn’t some terrible omen about Rick’s future as a pharmacist.
Oh and I’d totally have tried to steal that jingle bell from you…the last white elephant I attended I ended up with one of those naked cherub lawn statues that you put those glass orbs on top of. I have a love/hate relationship with white elephants because on one hand you can get rid of some dumb stuff from your own house, but then you just end up with someone else’s dumb stuff. So.
The house looks soooo good all Christmasy! Love all the gold + black. It looks so festive especially with all the greenery you sprinkled in there! Ramona is obsessed with highjacking Jesus from the nativity too.
It’s soooooooooo good, Kelly!!! Every little morsel! I about passed out with laughter over that car. Seriously. So. Funny. Looks amazing, girl!
I love the apothecary jar village. Good idea. Trap Christmas and make it stay forever perfect.
I just want to say, I have now done TWO projects from your site. That is monumental. I have never even used a Pinterest project on my home (despite the 300 I have pinned…). But I did the watercolor pumpkins in Oct. and now I did your sprucing-up-terrible-fake-greenery trick. It totally works! And for only 12 dollars (I have no good greenery in my yard, so I had to buy some), my house smells amazing.
Thank you for easy projects!!
No way! That just made my whole night. 🙂 High fives for the smell of fresh greenery!
Looks beautiful! I love the bow tie on Blitzen.
HI Kelly! So happy to have been doing the tour with you today;). Your home is so beautiful, I have envied it for a while. Your tour is so inspiring, Love all of your details and the little yellow car-CUTE touch!!! Happy Holidays, JEn
Everything is just gorgeous. I love all the gold, and I don’t mind scraping the bottom of my cookies. Thank you =)
I feel like a leprechaun because I’m so ridiculously attracted to all the gold. That pillow!
Love your home tour.
Your home is fantastic, Kelly! You did a wonderful job decorating for the season and I love all of the DIY projects you whipped up! I love everything (including the burnt cookies) 🙂
Wow – so original, festive, and gorgeous. Well done on the diy holiday decor. I especially like the gold diy garland.
So pretty! I love the tree by that gorgeous fireplace!
-Shelley
LOVE! all the gold and the natural elements- it’s perfection! love your new art, love that you used weston’s toy, and i LOVE that little tree by your bench!
I’m all about that magnolia garland. And the fact that its gold! I’m sooo behind on my christmas decorations!
Looking FESTIVE! Now I need to know where I can find my own giant jingle bell. off to google 😉
It looks fabulous Kelly!! You did such a beautiful job! I love all the touches of gold, especially that fabulous Magnolia garland!!
That is a very lovely color scheme, I like it! Your home is lovely and festive, thank you so much for opening your doors (love the porch decor too!) to us!!
Kelly!!! Oh my word I love everything!! The garland on your mantel and staircase is incredible. I covet it. LOL! And that “Love Came Down” art and the advent tree and I don’t think it’s technically part of your Christmas decor but I cannot even tell you how much I love your “It is well with my soul” on the wall. That was sung at our wedding and is my most favorite!
You did an amazing job girl!
Vanessa
Kelly, Just saw your blog for the 1st time. Where have you been hiding? Your home is just beautiful. Question-is your sofa Pottery Barn or IKEA. So hard to tell but it looks great!
Thank you so much! I’ve been hiding under my snuggie. 🙂 The sofa is ikea. I got it from craigslist for something ridiculous like $100 and bought a new slipcover for it. Looks brand new!
Ohhhhh how I would love to see the reactions of the new readers when they get to “sometimes we try to make art with our kids’ butts”.
Hahaha!
Everything is gorgeous! I love the black and gold thing. It reminds me of vikings. Vikings are cool. I totally just pictured a helmet with horns as a tree topper.
hahaha. I know – I figured they’ll either click away at that point because it’s just too weird, or they’re officially crazy enough to “get it.” 🙂 I think your viking idea is going to really take off. Christmas 2014 will be ALL about the vikings!
I love your home! The art you have created is beautiful- and I also am crushing on the black white and gold combo hardcore this year!!!
Your home is absolutely beautiful and I LOVE your It is well sign! Merry Christmas!
Kelly – I remain amazed at what you can do (I emailed you a year, or so, ago and told you we had the identical house plan in Kennesaw, but moved to Madison in 2000 and kept the house for a decade as a rental and recently sold). You have an amazing talent and great foresight. Very gifted. Everything looks beautiful! I will be copying the apothecary jars. Just letting you know.
Have a merry Christmas!!
-Trish
Gorgeous! The giant gold bell is the first thing that caught my eye. I would have schemed and wrestled if it came to that to make sure I went home with that awesomeness as well :). Love all the touches of gold. Your magnolia leaf garlands are divine! Beautiful home Kelly and amazing job.
Absolutely gorgeous! I love the “Love come down sign” and you are so creative… Merry Christmas!
This is beautiful. I lvoe the gold garland on your mantel. And pretty much everything.
I also cracked up at the toy car.
SO many great things! Holy moley! I can’t even pick one that’s my favorite thing. Love the Charlie Brown quote, the gold with stripes color palette and that jingle bell!
Beautiful decor in a gorgeous house! I’m confused as to what you meant at the beginning of your post when you called your house a “gross ol’ foreclosure”.
Thanks! It WAS a gross ol’ foreclosure when we bought it, but we’re slowly fixing it up. Here’s the before: http://viewalongway.wpengine.com/2013/07/house-iversary-week-starts-now/
So beautiful! LOVE the gold touches! Thanks so much for sharing! Life to the full! Melissa @ DaisyMaeBelle
Kelly, your home is beautiful. I love your advent tree. I know home tours aren’t easy – thanks for sharing.
I love your mossy kissing ball!!! And all the gold! 🙂
Everything is so beautiful, tasteful, and cozy.
Where did you get your glass jars for your Christmas village? I must have them. Though, I probably won’t be able to display them till my 8 month-old son is in middle school…
Ha! My two kids have been remarkably okay with them. My youngest is 18 months. I pretty much collect glass jars like that because they’re so handy for decorating. Aside from yard sales and thrift stores, I find the best prices as Ross, Marshalls, TJ Maxx and Homegoods.
You are definitely festive and fun and ready for the season! Great inspiration – thanks!
Your house is GORGEOUS!!! I LOVE all the decor!
Love it especially all the gold. Now i need to go get myself some faux reindeers and a giant jingle bell.
Love, love, LOVE it Kelly! Your home is so beautiful! Thanks so much for sharing it with us! That gold, black, and white combo is perfect, and the entry is looking great! Hope you have a wonderful weekend!
~Abby =)
Where did you get your nativity scene? I’ve been hunting for one just like that for years and haven’t been able to find anything!!
It was a gift from my mom years ago and I don’t know where she got it. Sorry I can’t help!
I love your home! So many inspiring vignettes; I especially like the the glass jars with winter scenes… so fun! Thank you for sharing your home with us!
Great TOUR! I love the front door letter wreath (hubby and I have last names so darn, maybe when I change it or hyphenate it). I GASPED when I spotted the gorgeous BLUE pouf at the door … gorgeous!!! And the toy car with the tree – too cute! I will remember that for next year’s decorating. I still haven’t finished pimping my home w Christmas decorating ideas. Still posting my creative gift wrapping series on my blog, but should hv my home pics posted by 12/22 .. or maybe 12/23, who am I kidding .. probably last minute 12/24 post 😉 HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!!