Jane, so glad you are giving your foot time to heal before your next surgery. It would be awful to not have at least one good one. I had foot surgery on my right foot 12 years ago and couldn't drive for 2 months. It was a year before I could do a full run and feel comfortable. I couldn't even ride a bike for a few months.LOL DD's BDay is Jan. 14th so that's what gets me out shopping after Christmas. It's always so cold but she's so special I have to! DGD's BDay is coming soon and she wants her party here again. May get to use some of my neat dishes again.Yeah DS came down today but didn't get to see DGD. We did alot of cleaning and yard work so that worked out good. Didnd't make it to the cemetary till late this afternoon because we were so busy. We will have all the family home over the 4th so have alot to do around here to get ready. I always tease my family they come and visit to keep me on top of things. Jeanne, the small star candle holders are from Dollar Plus. The lg center one is crystal and I picked up the other two at ys. Your the reason I always light my tables. Thanks for the comments on the flowers. They look better in RL but I didn't want to go take any more pictures. I need you here to help in that dept.haha I have a bush in one of my gardens that reminds me of your honeysuckle but it's blooms are pink. I'll have to take a picture and see if you know what it is one day. Luvs, always great to hear from you. Hope you are hanging in there and finding some time for you. Will keep you in my T & P. Thanks so much Jane, Jeanne and Luvs for all your sweet comments. Punk

Omgosh, when I first saw this topic, I thought "dining room? Other people really have those?". (I thought they were mythical in old houses - like unicorns, lol!). Turns out I'm not alone, I guess. :-) We have a counter with raised eat-at bar separating kitchen from living room, and the kitchen table in the living room (of all places), for sit down meals & homeschooling. In this house I have to throw convention out the window & be creative, kinda like the "multi-purpose" rooms in grade school. ;-). The decorating isn't done (ok, started), yet, but I'll get some pics on when it's ready. (Hopefully before new years). Jiggreen - your kitten looks just like our "Sunday", complete with the tree! She was about that age last year & did the same thing - except I gotta tell you it was worse when she & her brother ("Saturday") were chasing each OTHER all around inside & UP that thing! DH had to custom build a stand for it so we didn't have to pick the tree back up every morning! I'll absolutely be trying the aluminum idea - thanks Tricia! :-)

I think that's so beautiful you want to make these memories for your child! Knowing my own decorating and reading the above responses I see a common thread of choosing which holidays and how to decorate coming about organically. Like your child will be making decorations in preschool, and now that you've decided you want to do this your eye will start noticing others' (inc. shops') decorations and what appeals to you. This forum has also really helped me with SUPER ideas about decorating. Like a few years ago kswl had that incredible slideshow of her home at xmas and I fell so hard head over heels ... it totally inspired my nutcrackers (for xmas). And another generous participant posted her beautiful gumdrop tree (again for xmas) which got me going in that candy direction, and I'll tell you I RAN with it! I don't even like (to eat) candy yet I've found it the most magical, perfect way of decorating the trees. Thank you GW! So we're multiethnic (I'm 1/2 Jewish, 1/2 WASP and my partner is 100% Shinto Buddhist Japanese) and we have fun with it. I love love love our Hanukkah waterglobe collection and growing collection of dreidels. I love all the koinobori (carp windsocks) we have for Children's Day (May 5th). I find that for many holidays my decorating effort extends to color-appropriate candies in the living room -- like red & silver kisses for Valentine's, pastel pastilles for Easter. I am NOT a jingoist but I do love red white & blue bunting on the 4th ... on other people's houses. I'm not that motivated, I guess, although this year we did line our front walk with stars and stripes pinwheels. That was fun and made me really part of our sweet little town's festivities. We have Japanese lanterns up in the backyard so they're already handy for Obondori (another Japanese celebration honoring your ancestors), and then because I am a wannabe Mexican I have tons of fun with Halloween and my calaveras / catrinas. My 6 y.o. is *delighted* with the enormous fuzzy tarantula we affix to the outside of his window each year -- the kids love it. This year I went bananas at Target and purchased a string of jack o lantern lights and put them in a tree, and then a cobweb made of orange lights which we plastered on the living room window. I'm not sure who loved all this new stuff more: my 6 y.o. or me. (me)

The Foxes Pad-- I would love to see photos of your rooms! It sounds like you have the perfect backdrop for holiday drama! I love the idea of using various shades of red to create "the look." Tibb-- hee hee! I wish I could even aspire to a magazine look, but that is so far removed from any possibility! I love "cozy" and mishmash but struggle to make it look GOOD. It takes serious skill and/or an innate sense. Artemis, ah, a fellow orange lover! I can only imagine how wonderful your log home will be! You are right-- I need to focus on day-to-day life. I am following the KonMari method and loving it-- so this perspective fits right in. (Less to store, more to enjoy in the immediate sense.) Lynn, I would love to know the name of the warm cream you've used. In my adjoining LR and sunroom, I am looking for the perfect cream. I am finally going to paint my behemoth of a fireplace as well! (In the warm cream.) I have the untinted paint-- just trying to find the perfect color palette! You are so right about the artwork, too. That gives me something else to consider. I have had trouble with artwork for years, so that will help me focus more! Lascatx, your color scheme sounds gorgeous! I adore coral as well and is another color I am considering. Good point about just leaving out a color that clashes! Butternut, thank you for your input! I love your screen name-- butternut squash soup is one of my favorites. Tuesday-- wow! That really helps me think out of the box. Those are amazing! I don't think we will ever coordinate our tree like that, but it gives great ideas for color schemes! Handmethathammer-- not trying to impress anyone but myself! I have a terrible habit of wanting the flexibility of wanting "anything" to go but it leaves me with no direction or focus. Also-- to anyone interested in the paint info, it is from the "Colors of Historic Charleston" paint collection by Duron. Duron was bought by SW, so I called SW to see if they had the paint (called "Rhett Pumpkin") in their computer, and they do. Here is the info. https://www.historiccharleston.org/Shop/Historic-Paint-Colors/Colors-of-Historic-Charleston-Paint-Palette.aspx Thanks everyone!