Happiness is..............Getting my packages wrapped EARLY this year (in cute wrapping paper) so I can relax more on Xmas eve :)
Happiness is........the fact that my SWEET husband planted holiday flowers for me because he knew I have ALWAYS wanted to but never ever have (thanks babe)!!
Happiness is..........Christmas cards filling up their fancy holders :)


Happiness is..............this happy little house that the kids and I made to surprise daddy :)

Happiness is...................This silly snowman counting down the last days until Christmas :)
Happiness is.......my sweet boy picking these lights out at Target and insisting that they hang over the door to his room to "welcome his guests."
Happiness is.......going with the family last night to the fantastic Christmas Light house that has music themed lights covering their house. See this post from last year for more pics.
.....and watching this little girl discover that she loves "warm" apple cider :)

.............and watching these goofballs enjoy the show of holiday awesomeness :)
And last but not least, happiness is having GETTING to go shopping these last few days before Christmas and being someone that LOVES holiday shopping crowds (not joking). I am a happy co-shopper and love the hustle and bustle that this time brings (the trick is to NEVER be in a rush and to just go with the flow).
Happy Tuesday everyone!!! xoxo

Hi everyone!!! I know I already posted today (technically it was late last night), but I wanted to pop back on to share my Christmas tree with you. I am SO happy with how it turned out and this is by far my favorite tree to date. Ready to see it???


I ended up making a tree topper out of glitter card stock and a pom pom. I just hot glued a clothespin on the back and clipped it to the top of the tree...
I think it has a vintage look to it which definitely "goes" with all of the pom poms. Granny chic?? Ha ha! I used the same technique as I did when I made the the wreath flowers here. It was super easy!

Want to see the big picture??
 If I could, I would add a video of me doing a {Happy dance}! I love it so much, it's so bright and happy!!! Do you like it, love it, hate it?? You can be honest, I can take it. I looooooooove it but am fully aware that my "style" is not for everyone.
Thanks for stopping by :)

Happy Moan-day everyone!!! I hope you all had a great weekend. We had a great time getting our tree (the best one we've ever gotten if I do say so myself), and I'll be back soon to show you what she looks like all fancied up. I'm in the process of making a tree topper because I'm just not feeling my old one anymore. Stay tuned for that, fingers crossed that it turns out cool :)

I'm sort of done with my mantle so I thought I'd give you a peek. I'm struggling with filling the empty space in the middle and need to give it some more thought. Here are some pics :)

HAPPY pom pom mania!!! Ha ha! Pom poms are my "theme" this year. They're so bright and cheery and they make me smile. (just pretend Hayden's stocking isn't all sideways, k??)


Happy close-up :)
more.....
I had some strands of white beads that I got at Ikea a couple years ago. I just made a bunch of pom poms that matched my wreath, and tied them to the beads. Easy :)

I also got these little white metal pots and faux greenery at Ikea this year. I wanted some sort of "natural" element to tie it all in the with Christmas tree.


The middle of the mantle is what is tripping me up. I'm debating on just getting one more pot and plant and then evenly spacing all 5 of them out on the mantle. Would that look boring?? My Michael's doesn't have those cool paper mache letters otherwise I would spell a holiday word and wrap it in bright yarn. Hmmm. Thoughts??
Mr.Elf made himself at home in the wreath yesterday :)
Also, this is the week leading up to my sister's baby shower so I have been "ollie-crafting" my brains out (my new nephew will be named Oliver in case ollie-crafting had you confused). I will definitely have a zillion pictures to share after the shower but at the moment I am working on these.....
What are they?? Cupcake picks :)
And I also have a few pom pom garlands in the works...
I have SO much more to do and I am already getting a yarn callus. Ha ha!!!
Hopefully I'll be back tomorrow or Wednesday with the reveal of my pretty tree complete with handmade topper. We'll see how it goes :)
Have a GREAT week people!!

Or would it be "The Happs" or "The Hap's" You know, like "Happenings." Anyway, ha ha! Never mind!
Random post. Short and sweet.

First: "He's Baaaaaaaack!" Yay, we've missed this little guy :)
Second: THIS is happening today. Oh yeah baby! It's ON!!
Haulin' out the holly, decking the halls, Blingin' it out. Whatever you want to call it, I'm doing it today :)

And third: The kids are thrilled to start this...
Santa is #1 on our magnetic advent calendar. This set is from Hallmark a few years ago and isn't my fave really. It's cute, but the numbers are sewn in green, on the green house. Duh!
We may have to upgrade next year, but either way, my kiddos are excited! They want to add all of the days RIGHT NOW! Ha ha, silly kids, that's not how it works ;)

Hope you all are having a gReAt DaY :)

O.k.
I fought the urge as long as I could but I couldn't fight it any longer. I Christmas crafted!! I know I have already been Christmas crafting for Etsy, but I went and did it for my home. YES I know it is only mid-November. I KNOW! But I couldn't help myself and I-BLAME-PINTREST! My crazy premature Christmas crafting occurred because I saw THIS:
I KNOW!!! I KNOW!!! Amazing! I instantly fell in love! I am a pom-pom lover so this wreath had to be mine! No other choice! Mine - mine - mine!

Here's what I did to make my own :)
First I made about a gazillion pom poms. No joke, I have a claw for a hand (totally worth it btw).
Next I bought this wire wreath form from Michael's for $2.24

Then, I started tying on the pom poms one by one. 
front:
Back:
And then I repeated this process like a gazillion times :)
I didn't have the fabulous metal light reflector flower thingys that were in the inspiration wreath so I had to improvise. My go-to material, as many of you already know, is glitter card stock. No-brainer really!

Step one: cut circle out of glitter card stock...
Step 2: cut slits in circle...
and then more slits...
Step 3: Do the same thing to a smaller circle...
Once all the slits are cut in both circles, you need to use an exacto to cut a star shape in the center of each circle...
After this is done, it's time to thread the mini-pom pom :)
Layer the 2 paper flowers together and BAM! Flower power :)
Ok...enough of this tutorial nonsense. Do you wanna see it!!???

LOOK at this!!!

!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BIGGER picture??

Are you dying from picture-mania yet?? NO?? Ok, good.



Keepin' it real moment?? As you can see below, it doesn't quite fit in well with my simple Fall decor. It may have to come down until after Turkey Day.
I have a feeling that this pom pom magic is going to set the tone for Ali-Xmas-2011! Oh yeah baby!!! I hope you like it (and I totally get it if it isn't quite "you" but is OH so me!!)
Happy Day to you all!