catching up...part 1

time to play a little catch up with some blog posts.
they have been sitting in cyberspace, half finished.
patiently waiting their turn.

i put the Christmas tree up 2 weeks before  thanksgiving.
by far the earliest i have ever done that.
last year i didn't even bother...since we were here for Christmas.

excuse me while i wipe my happy tears....i heart laguna beach...i miss you pacific ocean.
ahem....
this year, it made it up in record time.

i used to never put actual ornaments on it.
just lights. baby's breath. pinecones. and bows.
i wanted it perfect.
like in a magazine.
now, not so much.
now i fill it up with lots of different things.
things that have meaning.
things i like.
and things with glitter... lots of it.

this is the breakdown of our tree:
25 % glittered & blingy things.
25 % police related things.
45 % animal related things.
2  % hairdresser things.
2 % actual Christmas themed things that don't fit into above categories.
1 % disappointment....you'll see what i mean further down :)
hmm....that doesn't seem fair.
i guess being an animal or police officer has it's perks when it comes
to Christmas ornaments.

now those are some ruby red Christmas lips!
and no tree is complete without one of these lurking under it.

remember the 1 % disappointment.

it's hanging in the back.
i'm afraid if santa see's it he will laugh and leave us nothing.
maybe i should of asked him for a winning season.
my guess is, even santa couldn't pull that off.

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we actually got the outside lights up before thanksgiving also.
not as early as the tree, but early enough to have perfect weather.
craig gets the honor of lighting the roof and peak.
i get up there only to hold the ladder.

he multi-tasks by cleaning out the gutters at the same time.
we bought LED lights 5 yrs ago and this is the first year we had a small section
that decided not to work.
it's on the porch railing in the greenery, and i really could care less.
in years past it would of drove me crazy...
but this year i must have got wacked on the head by the zen fairy.

i made these giant fake peppermint candies last year.
they are made from heavy duty paper plates.
i used the dessert size, but you could make ginormous ones with the dinner plate size.

they were super easy....
paint on your design.
add a little red glitter glue to make it pop.
coat it with spray glitter.
glue both side together.
wrap in cellophane and tie cute ribbon on both ends.
voila!
you only have to paint one side since that's all that will be showing.

i use them as garland around my front door.

i've had complete strangers on my porch looking at them.
wondering if i made them...and how i did it.
so far they've all been nice :)

i bought this cute rudolph at a auction a couple of years ago.
he used to live in a drinking establishment downtown.
now he lives with us.
after his former life, he must think we are really boring.

...and you would think with all these pictures that i would have at least one of the whole house
with all the lights and decorations up...but alas my zen self doesn't.
but i do have pictures of the inside decorations....well some of them anyway.

harri staked out her territory under the tinsel trees the minute i put them out.

see all the me's reflecting in the ornaments? 

so there ya go.... a Christmas blog post on steriods.
oh...and i almost forgot to mention, miley let me use her normal blog day so i could
get caught up on my posts. 
she will be back next week, if not sooner.
she say's i owe her big time...
she suggested a nice big bone would do the trick,
or locking the cat outside for the night.
we went with the bone :)