King of Christmas Collaboration- Flocked Pencil tree

I can't believe it's been an entire year since I last wrote on this blog. There have many so many changes, progressions, setbacks and events I'd love to share. But for now, I just wanted to show y'all one of my Christmas trees for this year, alittle background about it and why I am in love with it! Generously enough, King of Christmas sent me this 9ft prince flock pencil tree this year to decorate! I've never had the privilege of owning a KOC tree but I have always heard just rave reviews about the company and their products. I will say that they did not disappoint. Although my shipment was alittle late and from what I understand, most people get their trees at lightning speeds... I am still just as impressed! In my previous years, I've owned (and still do) artificial trees from Walmart, our local Potterys and even some big box stores. Overall, they were just fine but there will always be reasons for the prices difference variations such as how many lights, LED or not, realistic branches, etc.

The branches were much fuller than I expected and probably had double the amount that I expected. I've never not ordered a pre-lit tree so this was a first for me. I think next year I will definitely order a pre-lit tree but it wasn't too bad stringing the lights myself. I just like a lot of light! All the branches were super easy to handle and maneuver into any place I wanted them to go. I especially love the 9 foot pencil compared to your average usually and expected 7.5 foot tree. We have 9ft ceilings at the lowest point in our main room so it was a no brainer to *at least* get a 9ft pencil here. I also knew that I wanted a pencil or slim tree because we have another 9ft tree not shown in the photos that is a beast of a tree I will show you another day!

Overall, I am super pleased with the entire experience. If you could please let King of Christmas know on their social media pages including Instagram and their Facebook pages that Home by Ally sent you, I will greatly appreciate it. I highly recommend you browse through their entire selection of wreaths, artificial trees and Christmas accessories for next year. It's never too early to start planning!

This guy seriously has the life. He loves to lay on anything warm and anything in the sunshine. The chair today with the windows open and the sun beaming in must have been a no brainer for him.

As you can see here, I placed the tree against my bright white board and batten along with a natural wood mirror, some fresh greens and more bright white moldings. The sled was my late grandmothers and most things on the tree have been purchased at after Christmas sales, the Target dollar spot, our local Pottery and even Walmart. 

There is truly nothing like the warm glow of a Christmas tree in the evenings. It's even more beautiful reflecting in the natural wood mirror at the brightest and darkest times of the day. I decided to use most natural elements for this tree since it is smaller in size. I kept with the whites, creams & natural wood with pops of greenery throughout. I've been over the Christmas tree skirts for a few years and have opted for Christmas tree collars. My favorites are always the woven & willow natural like ones.

I always say this corner is my corner. I can be found here a lot with the window open, our fur babies piled on me reading, searching Pinterest or just chatting with a friend. Home to me, especially after this past year, has been so important to just make a sanctuary and a place of rest. Not so much a place that always looks 100% perfect or has all the things done you would like but just comfortable. That's what I want home to be for me and for others who come into my home...

Old and new, go together to create this curated, natural look. I've also opted for just plain brown craft/ butcher paper for a couple years. It is so much easier and versatile when it comes to what themes you'd like to tie in. It goes with virtually any color and always is available! I will have some monster truck and tractor wrapping paper under the tree closer to Christmas too though :)

By using a lot of textures in this tree, I really felt it was interesting to look at first and foremost and very eye catching as soon as you walked into the room. Our new wall color is Agreeable gray by Sherwin Williams. The board and batten was a DIY by me as were the window mantles. I'll soon be tackling the fireplace hearth and tile after I complete spraying our new kitchen cabinets & laying our "reclaimed" like wood floor. There have been endless, endless projects but I am so excited to give y'all a peek into my home after many requests for so long. 

Thank you again to King of Christmas for graciously sending me this beautiful tree. I simply cannot wait to work together again in the future and I truly hope you all have a wonderful Christmas! Please let me know what you think in the comments! I'd love to hear from y'all! 

Christmas Living Room 2017

Hi, y'all! It has been quite some time since I last blogged about where we are in life, our home and our little family. So much has changed, so much continues to change everyday and 2017 certainly has been a challenging but rewarding year for us.

To recap, we sold our beloved home in Florida to a very sweet, southern retired couple who wanted to make it their permanent retirement home. We loved that and really enjoyed working with them. We moved back to NC in April to move into an old family home that needed some work from what we remembered. However, not stepping foot in the home in a decade, we were surprised that it needed more work than what we could afford to do while also renovating it aesthetically. It just didn't feel right for us and although it was a heartbreaking decision because it was my late grandmothers home, I truly feel looking back now that God had a plan for us with our current home all along.

We were homeless for about 4 months total, living with my parents until we could figure out what direction to go next. Fast forward to June, my husband struggled to find decent work outside of the military that had a decent salary. While still looking for employment, he took a low paying job just to help our family. Enter my best friend since middle school mentioned to us that there was a foreclsoure across the street from her & her husband that was about to go on the market she thought. 

We went and visited her but really didn't think too much about the house although I did snap a picture of it in my phone back in May 2017. Little did we know it would go on the market well below what we thought we would have to spend. Enter probably 20-25 offers and a huge bidding war with others vs us and the bank and she was ours. However, if you've ever purchased or sold a home, you know how much paperwork, ins and outs and basically limbs you give up to get in the home. It felt nothing short of that. We worked tirelessly with a lender to make sure this home purchase went through. There were a couple times we thought we would have to back out but we made it happen on our own. Although, things have completely not gone as expected and financially, things have been incredibly different, we felt and still do feel so blessed to be able to have a home of our own on a decent bit of land. So....all the while, a very long year... with lots of stress and tears... but our sweet boy has truly made every dark time, happy, every tear has turned into a smile and every worry is put aside.

This home was built in 2011 and we purchased it as a foreclosure. Now, back in my days of being a real estate agent or Realtor, this was not a typical foreclosure. We didn't have tons of damage or anything crazy happen to the house. It just needed some TLC, some painting incredibly bad & some cleaning. Thank the Lord because those are all things that we can handle and do slowly. We closed on this home and God answered again by anew job for my husband. One that he stated before we even put our home the market that he would be interested in. So, he had an interview and got the job the same day! God is so good and really answered our continuous prayers. He thoroughly enjoys his job  now and feels like he can make a difference and that's what any spouse wants for the other.

So, eventually I want to "brick" the fireplace where the current black tile is. I'd love to use the reclaimed brick veneer tiles, possibly in a herringbone pattern to give the fireplace some color, character and depth. But right now, we are just trying and adjusting to getting back on our feet. For now, we are trying to embrace the imperfection and the in between pretty phases and hope you will too! We are learning what I've said for years is to love the home you're with and enjoy where you are. Someone else might have a beautiful custom dream home but that may be their step 5 while we may be on step 1 or step 2. So, remember progress... not perfection. 

I found the mirror below at Marshalls here locally and had to have it as soon as I saw it! I am sucker for a salvage natural wood look and you will see a lot of that finish in our home.

My husband and I also were blessed enough to find a 9' flocked Christmas tree at our local pottery on sale! I sold a few things and was able to pay for it in full just by selling items we weren't using! 

Every year, I shop after Christmas sales for my ornaments. I obviously will buy something before Christmas if I really love it but this is the time where I get the bulk of my items for Christmas decor.

We also can't wait to lay some laminate or hardwood floors down! It is going to make such a difference in this house & will make it appear twice as big I feel! But since I am not one to do things half way, we are trying to save and do the entire house at once or at least start by finding something we can afford! We've been eyeing the Pergo Outlast 24 hour laminate and also some hardwoods. We also are looking into vinyl planks! That will for sure transform this house.

Anyways, I told myself this year I wouldn't make it about all the "pretty." I would enjoy being in the moment with our almost ONE year old if you can believe that and make some essential time to myself too. I hope y'all enjoyed these photos of our current living room and we cannot wait to share the progress as we start to dig into making this home ours. Thanks for stopping by!

Front room Christmas sneak peek!

Hi y'all! 

In case you're new around here, we are currently 9.5 months pregnant and waiting anxiously on our baby boy, Landon Joseph to make his wonderful appearance! Christmas is extra exciting this year and extra tiring for this mama so we really have kept the decorations simple, sweet and classic. 

Something last year that I really enjoyed was teaming up with Shutterfly and creating a few custom pieces for our home for Christmas! This year was no different! If you'd like to read last years post, you can do so by clicking here! I just wanted to give you a quick peak and snap some pictures of this super cute pillow I received in the mail this week! I loved it so much I have another style on the way!

I seriously love the fact that you can make virtually anything you want and customize it to your style, decor or family.  You can upload personal photos or free printable from the internet too, which is what I decided to do. I gave the free printable link at the end of this post. Just go to home decor > pillows > upload your own design > select your size > then personalize! They have so many options and you can even add a cute little pattern to the back like I did or even to the front, the possibilities are endless! I enjoyed creating these because they are true to us and no one else will have them.

Hope y'all enjoy this little peak into our front living room& into our custom decor this year! If you're interested in this printable, you can find it for free by downloading Lolly Jane, here! I can't wait to order new Christmas cards of our little man! You can find all of those options by clicking here! Let me know what you think of the pillow I designed. I'm super happy with it and really think it fits well with the rest of the look this Christmas! Xo

**All opinions are honest and all my own**

Shutterfly Christmas goodies

Tonight I have a quick post just to show you what I got in the mail this week from Shutterfly! If you haven't checked out Shutterfly, you definitely should! They have a huge selection obviously of prints & anything really photo related that you can think of… however, they ALSO carry home decor now! You can customize pillows with photos or without with fun patterns & cute quotes. They have such a great selection and I was so honored to have partnered with them for a few Christmas decorations for our house! If you haven't ever visited their website or haven't in awhile, I recommend y'all go look around by clicking HERE!

So, I really didn't want anything that was traditional Christmas like a reindeer or Santa or an elf pillow… I really wanted something that had a nod to one of my favorite Christmas movies…

I may or may not be obsessed with Clark and his love for Christmas. I never tire of the movie and there are certain quotes in the movie I can always hear in my head this time of year! Since I didn't want any foul language from Clark on my pillow, I shorted the quote but for anyone who knows the movie, it should click right away! I really love having something as personalized as this in our home. You could do family photos and quotes… or make a memory pillow of loved ones for the holidays that aren't here with us… or you can be like me, and make these silly ones that make you laugh every time I look at it.

There are a ton of options of their pillows and I choose to have both sides have something. I opted for the quote on the front & a simple ticking stripe on the back to give some depth. I can also switch it right around if I want a different look. Pretty nifty if you ask me. Yes, I just said that word. If you'd like to create your own and see all of their options, you can link directly to their home decor section by clicking HERE!

I also ordered a customized photo mug! I opted for the 15oz mug where I could add photos of my children! Since its something I'm sure I'll reach for daily to sip from, I wanted something fun, cute & happy to  be on it and what better than my handsome middle child, little Winston!

Having personalized items such as this mug or the pillow really make a house feel home so remember when you are decorating for the holidays or in general, to not forget to put YOU and YOURS back into the house… Yes, of course it can be pretty but the real beauty of the space will show through the photos of memories & sweet meaningful items that have a story personal to you. 

If you missed the rest of our Sunroom Christmas tour, you can find that post by clicking HERE! Here were a few photos to remind you either way… 

Again, I am so excited about our personalized Christmas items from Shutterfly and I am so honored to have partnered with them on this post! Feel free to check out their website again and please let me know what y'all think about my personalized items too!

**This is a sponsored post by Shutterfly. However, all opinions & views are honest and my own.

Christmas Sunroom 2015 "Farmhouse Christmas"

I'm really excited to finally be sharing our Christmas home tour for 2015. Although we are ALWAYS working on different projects in our home, I have taken some time this year to really add that festive touch of Christmas to the main living areas of our home. I've teamed up with some other awesome bloggers who also will be sharing their beautiful homes so I highly encourage y'all to stop by and show them some love! There is nothing like a good ole' home tour! 

Now, I know how I am when there is a good home tour…and even more when it's Christmas. I really try to read what the writer is writing but I look at the photos first…and then I read the post. So I'll keep the words light. For today, unlike a lot of the other folks, I'll only be showing you our sunroom because I have a few other projects this month I want to show you in different spaces so I will save those for another time! I really enjoyed decorating in here this year. We previously had painted the sunroom with an oops gray that I loved for like a month. I still did/do like the gray but something came over me the other night and I was craving my go to color, "Oatlands Subtle Taupe" by Valspar, which a very close match to Revere Pewter just about. I really enjoy the light and brightness of this space! Enjoy!

I purchased a few of these very cheap mercury glass votive candle holders from Marshalls. They have a slight reflection of a snowflake although it is hard to see that in the photos. I sprinkled some pine cones on the top of the TV stand and flocked the garland with mostly naturally things like my NC pine trees, some red berrie picks from our tree out front & some old fashioned lights. I'll more than likely add some fresh greenery when it gets closer to Christmas… but I want to enjoy them before they die off ;-)

I have LED candles in the lanterns that are on timers so they are super pretty at night… I'm thinking after looking at these photos I'll go get some plain red satin ribbon and tie the tops of those cute little trees from Michaels. I'm really a sucker for anything simple… and although my tree is decked out, that is really it. I don't like a lot of fuss and really wanted my tree to take center stage.

Below I used old architectural porch salvage spindles and simply drilled small holes in the top points & threaded some twine through to create my own custom ornaments! I really love these since I've never seen anything like it and even better, this is something I made and won't be able to find in a store!

There's something about this deep classic red that has my heart this year. I really wanted some heavy, glass old fashioned style ornaments and these below did not disappoint. I purchased these from Tuesday Morning in a variety of patterns & even colors. If you look closely at our tree, you will see that there are red, white and silver ones that also mimic mercury glass. I didn't really purchase anything new this year except for the woodland style "birch wood" ribbon which I got in NC at a local shop & these ornaments above. Everything else I really pieced together with things I've had over the years. 

Thank you mama for this cute little driftwood reindeer I've had for years! I stuck some fresh boxwood & a cute tag on him for some festivity! 

And thank you to my daddy for my cute little vintage ice skates that hang on my grandmothers old sled. 

All the pine cones I had fun picking up last time I was up in North Carolina visiting my folks. North Carolina will always have my heart, with its tall pines…. and southern accents! I miss home lots, especially this time of year so anything to remind me of it will always mean a lot to me and these are no different. I'll be keeping these out for awhile I have a feeling...

 I hope y'all enjoyed a small glimpse into our Christmas sunroom! I can't what to show you more so please stay tuned! As always, I love to hear your thoughts and how your holidays are going!

XO