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Monica’s Christmas House Tour 2012

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hey there! I'm monica 

I pride myself on making amazing style and design accessible for everyone, regardless of location, budget, or ability! My design philosophy is rooted in authenticity + attainability - If I can do it, you can too! My work has been featured in countless publications, but I take the most pride in homeowners that have been personally inspired by my DIY ideas and have tried something in their own homes!

learn more about ME + MY BIZ

Welcome to my Christmas House Tour! Last year our homes were decked out for all of America to see on Nate Berkus, but this year it’s just for my family to enjoy.  Sometimes in the blogging world it can feel like there’s a lot of pressure to have an HGTV worthy home, but guess what?  This mom of four, that works a full-time job, is not going to cave under the pressure.
 I proudly present to you, our Very Merry & Realistic Christmas Decorating for 2012!
(it’s going to be a picture heavy post, so get ready and Pin it if you like it!)

I’m still loving my Grinch Front Door.  Last week I gave the full tutorial.
 
Before and After- LOVE it!
Welcome to my foyer and my favorite Christmas tree of all time…
I follow Urban on Instagram, and saw that they had put staff pics on a tree at one of their NYC store locations.  I was smitten! I got a Fuji Mini (which all the kids call the “Magic Camera”) and snapped a ton of fun pictures of our family and some special friends.  I added spray painted bicycle ornaments (from Target), some orange ribbon, brown ornament balls, gold lights, and leftover fabric to create the coolest tree ever!
Even the tree has the shabby look I was going for, do you want to know how I achieved that look? I cut the tree on October 5th and it’s been sitting in my house ever since! Ha! It’s dead as a door nail and I love it! (I needed it for some P&G videos- coming soon!)
Fuji Mini Pics
 Brown ornaments
Bicycle ornaments- I spray painted gold
Added hooks to each picture using a finishing nail
Ready for the tree
Best.Husband.Ever
 
 
This tree make me really, really happy!
Directly off the foyer is our formal living room/kids’ craft room. It’s the most unfinished room in our house (it’s a hot mess), but I still did one little vignette in front of the window.
I love the chalkboard printable, and you can get it (and many others) free here.
I also love my little yellow bird, and while she’s not super Christmasy I think she looks mighty fine!
Here’s the whole thing together
Even though we’re no longer “The Real Housewives of Bucks County,” I’m still gonna keep it real for you… here’s what the rest of the room looked like. I’m showing this to you, so you remember that we’re totally normal girls with messy houses, crazy kids, and so not perfect.  Hopefully, you can relate!
(The Christmas boxes and decor are still there, but they’re on my TO DO list tomorrow to put them all away!)
Okay, enough reality, back to the pretty stuff…  This is on the console table in my family room.
I love that crazy picture of all of us!
Here’s the wood grain Christmas Countdown I made this year. I LOVE plywood projects where the wood grain is highlighted.  You can check out the tutorial here 

 

We have 3 trees- #1 Family Tree (below)  #2 Mommy’s Tree (foyer)  #3 Kid’s Tree (not shown)
Here’s the “Family Tree.” We decorate this one together as a family and it looks pretty much identical every year.  Some traditions are too important to change for the sake of decor 🙂
Did you notice the stinkin’ awesome lighted silhouette artwork?  We’ll be posting the full tutorial on Infarrantly Creative on Dec 13th.    Jess and I love it and it was so simple to make!
Of course Charles loves hanging out in our tree sometimes
It seems that I have a thing for pictures on trees. We got these ornaments at Crate and Barrel about 6 or 7 years ago. The picture on the left is our ultimate favorite Christmas picture ever. It was taken of Kaden when he was 3 (he’s now 8).

This year I’m proud to say that we have 4 kids on the NICE list… Last year the eldest might have made the NAUGHTY list.  Oh Snap!
My mantle is Lame with a capital L… The dang TV always limits me, but it is what it is…
This year I was into the traditional nutcrackers with primary red and blue
This little guy rocks. I picture him talking with a Russian accent- don’t ask me why!
I’ve had these stocking holders for 9 years, but this year I hit them with a tiny bit of white paint, so they popped a bit more. They were originally dark brown and got lost on the mantle.
Target had this cute stockings this year and they totally worked with my red and blue nutcrackers.

Michael’s had some really fun graphic words in their dollar bin and I picked up a few.

Well, I hope you’ve enjoyed this little peek into my home.  It’s definitely not perfect, but we’re pretty darn happy here.  I mean, just look at us, don’t we look happy??  🙂

I’d love to know what’s your favorite part of my Christmas Decor?
Leave me a comment and let me know!  

 

The comments +

  1. Your house looks great, but love your family photo! I hope that was on your Christmas cards this year 🙂

  2. Kristy says:

    First… y’all are ADORABLE! (and look ridiculously happy!)

    Second… omgsh.. loving the ditto tree!

    Third… just put one of those fun cameras in my Amazon cart thanks to you 😉

    Keep on, keepin on… cuz I like what’cha doin! 🙂

  3. Mrs. Dubose says:

    You guys are so sweet and I love your blog. Did I miss the MOMMY tree? or is that the one in the foyer? I love that you keep it real — showing all the boxes because that’s what the rest of our houses look like! My favorite is the Grinch door– that is going to be HUGE hit on pinterest! Merry Christmas to you and yours.

  4. Love the polaroid tree! One quick question though — there doesn’t seem to be a link to the printable… Do you mind sharing?

  5. Kim Wilson says:

    Looks like you are ready for Christmas for sure! What fun decorations! I can’t wait to see that silhouette tutorial! Very cool.
    Kim @ Sand & Sisal

  6. Rachel says:

    Yes, I tried to get to the printable also and there wasn’t a link. Where did you find them?

  7. Sorry ladies! The link for the printable is now live! Enjoy! 🙂
    Mon (and Jess)

  8. Y’all look pretty darn happy!!! I love your stockings!! I love that tree in your entry!! I want that little magic camera now!! And thanks for keeping it real!! That’s what my house looks like all around my pretty pictures!!! ~ Lori

  9. Megs says:

    Your house & decorations are beautiful! Thanks for sharing! 🙂 ~Meg K, Collingswood, NJ

  10. Sara Stone says:

    I love your decor! As much as you love your tree, I love your front door! I want to do something super awesome like that but I just can’t get it right:( Love it thanks for sharing!

    http://www.shecookscraftsruns.net

  11. 2busy says:

    My favorite part of Christmas decor is just the warmth it brings.

  12. Looks great Mo. I love how your photo tree came together.

  13. connie says:

    Love the photo tree! Aka the mom tree.

  14. thanks for the shout out for the chalkboard printable! your house looks like it’s so much fun! love the front exterior too!

  15. Hi! Found you on Pinterest and just adore your style and charm. Love all of it…. a real family Christmas with heart….that’s what we love!

    Stop by and say hello. Merry Christmas! Sharon and Denise @BeBetsy.com

  16. runtspickins says:

    Everything looks great! I absolutely LOOOOVE the silhouette deer print thing by your Christmas tree.

  17. Everything is so beautiful and festive. I love your “naughty” ornament. I was looking for that exact idea for a “naughty gift bag” I gave at a gift exchange a couple weeks ago (it was full of booze and candy cigarettes). I asked for a naughty ornament at several locations and the sales clerks looked at me as if I was asking for a three-eyed alien to take home. I love the Polaroid ornament idea as well ~ I may steal that.

  18. TidyMom says:

    LOVE all your cute ideas!!!!

  19. Kathy says:

    I love the Grinch front door! Almost makes me want to paint my front door green! Thanks for sharing.

  20. […] year during our Christmas House Tour I showed you how to create an Illuminated Deer Art knock off using a Silhouette Cameo. Well this […]

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