My new historic doll clothing blog! :-)

I just started a new blog, selling adorable, period style doll dresses! I sewed a lot of doll clothes for the American Girl dolls when I was about 10-14, and I decided to start doing that again. Only now I have some really cute patterns from the Regency/ Jane Austen Era, as well as the Edwardian and "Romantic" era that I am really excited about, being the Jane Austen and period drama fan that I am. ;-)
I just finished this gorgeous rosebud dress Jane Austen style dress. I love the detailing on the back of the dress, which you can see better in the closeup pictures on my new blog. ;-)

I would love for you to visit me at http://thewell-dresseddoll.blogspot.com ! :-)

Changing from Christmas to Winter

Hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and a happy New Year! We had a very nice first Christmas in our new home. :-) It was a special time for our little family after being apart for Christmas last year, separated by the ocean!
We didn't get a white Christmas, but we did get some snow flakes the Thursday before Christmas, so we were happy with that. :-)

After Christmas time is over, there are still about 3 months of Winter left. So, since Spring is much too far away to decorate for yet, I wanted to have a few Winterish decorations left around the house after taking down all the specifically "Christmas" stuff.
I added this berry garland to the fireplace, and I really like it there.

To ease the pain of all the Christmas cheer being taken away, Nathanael and I decorated the white tree for Valentine's Day this year! We have never done this before, but I think it is really cute. We found a couple packages of Valentine's heart ornaments at Hobby Lobby, so I guess some other people must do it, too. Ha

I really love this snowy looking wreath on our back door, and it is a perfect example of how some Christmas decor can double as just Winter decor.

I like to have a few lights around the house all year, such as in this tree in the corner of our reading room, by my desk. :-)

Happy Winter decorating! ;-)

Jessica

Joining in the Open House party at: http://nominimalisthere.blogspot.com/

Christmas Decor Details :-)

I thought I'd show you some of our Christmas decorations close up, plus I have added a couple more. ;-) The bottle brush tree was another TJMaxx find. ;-)

Nathanael loves this little snow man who is counting down the days with him. :-)

Some of my favorite ornaments on the white tree....

Cardinals seem to be a theme on our "real" tree this year, which is appropriate, since there are real cardinals in our our yard and at our feeder all the time. :-) Such pretty, Christmasy looking birds!

I am linking up with Julia's Holiday House Tours http://hookedonhouses.net/2011/12/08/hooked-on-holiday-house-tours-a-show-us-how-you-decorate-linky-party/. :-)

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas :-)

Welcome to our home, where Christmas has definitely arrived! :-)

This is the best pic I could get of our tree, for some reason. Ha

I love these vintage style Christmas houses, and I looked online everywhere trying to find a good price. Then, I went to TJMaxx, and happened to see these ones for $12.99 each! And they are much bigger than the ones that cost way more. I think that store is one of my new favorites. I found some cute vintage looking ornaments there, too. :-)They are glass, however, so one has already been broken by a certain little 2 year old....

I couldn't get a great shot of this wreath, on the inside of our back door, but it is actually one of my favorite Christmas decorations this year. So Wintery!

Some little Christmas touches in the Kitchen. :-)

I love my little, white "shabby chic" tree. :-)Heading downstairs, this is the view from the lower level. We have a split entry, so you can see all the way up to the big tree from down in the family room.

"Silver bells, silver bells..."

I found this little tree at a thrift store. It is pre-lit, and I put most of our red ornaments, and a lot of the boys' cute little toy type ornaments on it. :-)

Our Christmas village. The new addition this year was a fire station, Nathananael's choice. ;-)

This is the front porch entry at night. I tried to take a picture with the flash off first, but the picture was too dark. ha

Hope you are enjoying the beginning of the Christmas season this year! We sure are. :-)

Jessica

I am linking up with Julia for her "Holiday House Tours" http://hookedonhouses.net/2011/12/08/hooked-on-holiday-house-tours-a-show-us-how-you-decorate-linky-party/. :-)

And the Christmas Home Tours at
http://theinspiredroom.net/2011/12/12/virtual-christmas-house-tours-linky-party/

And The Nester

http://www.thenester.com/2011/12/2011-christmas-tour-of-homes-2.html

Our trip to the Christmas tree farm! :-)

We went to a nearby Christmas tree farm today where you cut your own tree. It was really fun! They had wagon rides and hot chocolate while you wait for your tree to be shaken and tied. Teddy especially loved the wagon ride! He even ventured a quick pet of the horse. ;-)

Not a great shot of us, but the only one with all of us together...

Teddy headed straight for this tractor! Haha

My pictures ended up backwards order on here. Ha Oh, well.

Sawing the tree down....

The chosen tree. :-)

We have the tree mostly decorated, but we need to get some more balls or something to fill in with. The tree is big, so we don't have nearly enough ornaments. Ha I have two other small (fake) trees, so a lot of the ornaments got used on those. ;-)

I will take a lot more pictures soon of our house all decorated for Christmas and post those. :-)

Jessica

Happy Thanksgiving!

"O give thanks unto the Lord; call upon His name: make known his deeds among the people".

Psalm 105:1

I am so thankful to the Lord for the many, many blessings he has given me. Most of all I am thankful that he saved me as a 6 year old little girl! I am so thankful that I was raised in a Christian home, and was given the opportunity to receive the Lord as my Savior so early in life.

Have a Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving!
Jessica

A Quote For Today :-)

I came across this quote in a book called "Storybook Cottages" by Gladys Montgomery:

" It often happens that some modest cottage, all chaste and simple and expressive, but in strictly correct taste and good keeping, awakens in our minds a far higher pleasure than the most costly saloon, bright with gilding, and rich with satin and velvet, where we only discover magnificence and expense without taste or propriety. We feel that there is some living spark of genius in the former, but in the latter- only unlimited credit at the banker's. "

- Andrew Jackson Downing, The Architecture of Country Houses, 1850