Snow Cream Sundaes with Jacob!

My grandson Jacob makes his "debut" over at the Inspiration Cafe today.  He's going to show you how easy it is to make snowcream Sundaes.  He fancies himself a food critic these days. 

You can check it out by clicking on the picture below!

LIVING IVY CHRISTMAS WREATH

I promised myself I wouldn't make my life any crazier this holiday season by decorating this house while trying to renovate the other.  However, with company coming this weekend, I felt like I needed to make things just a bit festive so they wouldn't think I was a complete scrooge.  Time to put creativity to the test, using what is at hand.  In this case it was an ivy plant I had in my kitchen.  Looked like a perfect candidate for a Christmas wreath to me. 

This went together so fast and was so easy!  You could make this out of any trailing plant.  You just need a couple of things you probably already have.

Hot Glue Gun

Twig Wreath or any wreath form

Dowel Rod or stick

 
All I did was shove a dowel rod into a twig wreath form and secure it with a generous amount of hot glue.  After it was set, I just broke off the dowel rod to the length I needed and shoved the whole thing in the center of the plant.

At this point I separated the ivy vines and began winding them around the wreath form.  Every now and then I secured it with a few "twist ties" I made from this twiggy looking paper-wrapped wire stuff, which I loved because it blends right in.  (Floral wire would work fine too.)

Add a pretty bow and you have a lovely living wreath that won't dry out and lose needles.

Add a wooden deer with a festive ribbon around his neck for that extra holiday decor cuteness factor.

How easy was that?!  After the holidays, I'll just remove the bow and leave the wreath form in for a pretty ivy topiary.  (I suspect it will make a grand reappearance sometime around Valentines Day.)  Not bad for just using stuff I had.  Zero dollars......perfect for my holiday budget!
I still have one or two more easy holiday decor magic tricks up my sleeve.
  

WE BOUGHT A HOUSE!

I could have titled this a lot of things, like "We Bought a Major Project" or "Blogging Has Given Me Waaaay Too Much Confidence".  Maybe "I've Lost My Freakin Mind" would be more appropriate.   Probably, "Where I Am and Where I'm Not" would be the best title. 
Really...nothing says crazy like starting a major renovation project at Christmas, right?  Did I mention that my wonderful friends from England are coming in less than 2 weeks with their 3 teenagers??  Uh-huh.
The low-down is this....we had a house all picked out and were waiting for the sale of our land to close (next week).  A house that was perfect, within our price range and didn't even need a drop of paint or anything.  One night, just a little over 2 weeks ago, at 7:15p.m.,Sam is sitting in front of the computer and I hear these words..."Danni, I think you should come take a look at this."  Okay...I felt like the girl in the scary movie who hears the noise downstairs and knows she shouldn't look, but goes anyway.  I walked slowly, but yes...I went.  This is what I saw.  I did not love it.

(More ugly pictures at the end of this post.)

 Of course it was a smokin deal....a 4bedroom house, 2 car garage, family room, fenced back yard, brand new roof, 1 yr. old appliances...for $74,000.00.  Smokin!  But...it was a fixer upper.  It needed a lot of work.  He said, "This house will be gone tomorrow.  We should go look at it first thing in the morning."  My stomach rolled, but I knew he was right.  My husband is an awesome, full-time realtor with a brokers license, he knows his stuff.
We looked at it at 8a.m., made an offer of $68,000 at 10a.m., it was accepted at noon.  We had an inspection on Monday and based on the inspection, and a 2 week close, we scored this lovely beast for $64,000.  We closed Wednesday.  Yep...2 weeks start to finish and this is where I'll be living in February.  I have a lot to do in a very short time.  
I will not be posting on my blog regulary for a little while.  Unlike my friend Suzan at Simply Vintageous.....by Suzan, who is awesome, and who can live AND blog in the middle of renovating her house, no... that will not be me.
I will not be reading and commenting on blogs, because I have just a little over 2 months to have this house move-in ready and I will need almost every minute of it.  I will miss you.  I will miss reading your blogs terribly.  (It's my favorite morning thing to do!)  I will most likely not have time to even reply to comments, which I will also miss terribly.  If I have time at all to be on the computer, I will be scouring pinterest and DIY sites for all of the cost-cutting ideas I can find. (Like right now pinterest has made me feel like I can build my own range vent hood as well as add a master bath!)  I will be gutting one bathroom and adding 2.  I will prime and paint every room and ceiling and put in all new flooring.  I will gut this kitchen and use those ugly black 1 year old appliances in a fabulous way.  And something I'm actually very excited about...I will try a new style in the family room, something I've always adored, but feared...Danish Modern. 
I do have one or two Christmas craft projects that I will post next week, and then I will be AWOL most of the time.  I will leave you with these pictures of my new "Money Pit".

My life is about to be insane and I will miss you all, but...I'll be back from time to time with updates.  
Have a lovely Christmas and a Happy New Year!