Cleaning the Tennessee room

and praying I can get it decorated today.  It is a large job because I was putting all the things that needed packed away in there for weeks and the time has come to deal with them and put them away for the season.  I have two large farmhouse/Tennessee trees to decorate in that room.  I am also considering a Ralph Lauren themed tree.  I love the green tree I saw on another blog and would love to add navy blue with green on the third tree in that room off the kitchen.  It would probably also include travel ornaments on it.  I have cut down to 20 trees this year.  I was going to stick with 32 like last year but I started late and I have other activities that are added onto our schedule.  We are volunteering at the Canonsburg Old Fashioned Christmas Celebration.  We will be working in the photography area and some of the family is going to be in other locations also.  Canonsburg was chosen by Hallmark for the second year in a row for their sponsorship.  It is a huge honor.  We are avid Hallmark fans and Keepsake Ornament Club members for years now and we begin to plan our Christmas in July when they reveal the new ornaments for that year.  We love to shop in the Hallmark stores and I have boxes of cards that I have saved over the years from my parents, family and friends.  We are so honored to be able to volunteer at this wonderful celebration.  My parents moved to Canonsburg when they got married.  They lived in the new projects after WWII.  We live close to that area and are so excited about this year's celebration!  

On to decorating...I have the Tennessee room empty of other items but I have to admit that other than that I have only added the 18 inch extension to our dining room table and put a cream and white tablecloth on it.  Actually I did not put the extension in...I just told my husband and daughter to be careful, ha!  I am not fond of my new tablecloth and am struggling with the decor for that room now as well.  I have a Martha Stewart tree that has beautiful, soft pine cones on it.  I use it in the dining room every year and it is decorated with white balls and snowflakes along with a few special white ornaments.  Everyone always loves that tree.  So it remains pretty much the same every year...why mess with perfection!  I have two trees that are 6 feet tall and very slim flanking the china cabinet.  One is decorated in teacups called Tea at the Grand Floridian and the other is themed...Coffee, Chocolate, Men...some things are just better rich.  Those three themed trees have been around since at least 2009.  

Coffee, Chocolate, Men - Some Things Are Just Better Rich

Coffee, Chocolate, Men - Some Things Are Just Better Rich

 

Tea At The Grand Floridian

Tea At The Grand Floridian

A few photos of those trees now and I am going to sit down to dinner with my family.  

Farmhouse Christmas

Farmhouse Christmas 

Check out our awesome Rae Dunn personalized ornaments!

Hallmark Santa and his reindeer!

 I love these ornaments on this tree.  Some are from Pottery Barn, Tis the Season Christmas shop in Ohio, some are handmade, and the Rae Dunn ornaments are from Southern Style on Fifth Avenue!

Handmade Snowman

I hope you are warm and cozy where you are tonight!  CMA Awards are on and I love me some country music!  You will find me cozied up on the sofa with my granddaughter and daughter listening to every song!  Have a good night y'all!

The Chef Is In The House.

The Chef is in the house!  

And she is noticing all the changes for the Christmas Holiday!  Our chef is Isabella and she is most talented for a chef of age 13.  But like most chefs, she does not like her kitchen messed with!  Of course I wait until I have the rest of the kitchen decorated before I attempt to get her permission to put a little Christmas in her baking area...which you can see here...

This is Isabella's baking area with her two Kitchenaid mixers with new glass bowls.  She bought them from Macy's.  She gets her basics out so it is ready when she gets home from school.  Her new kitchen towel is from Primitives By Kathy, the spatulas are from The Old Mill store in Tennessee and her pan is Rae Dunn from Marshall's.

The cookbook is her own recipes with some passed down from her Mama, Nana, Auntie and Gram.  It is an album from Michaels Craft Store with the recipes slid into plastic protectors.  Nana made it for her birthday this year.  

These are treats for her after school today.  She collects spatulas with cute designs on them.  I found the Spangler candy canes that are a favorite as they were made by my mother's family, the Spanglers.  We bought them today at Aldi's-where we also bought the cutest Advent Calendars!  Love that store!  Notice that she is prepared to bake her favorite brownies, Isabella's S'More Brownies.  The chocolate jar in the back is filled with her Hershey's cocoa.  Everything she cooks is nut free as she is allergic to all nuts.  That is the reason she started baking and cooking.  She knows her ingredients and the dishes she makes are totally safe for her to eat.  

More decorations in the kitchen after the Chef is in the house again!