2014 Christmas Sneak Peek

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with lots of great food, love and laughter!

If you follow me on Instagram then you saw a little teaser about my tree this year. It is my very favorite so far and I was thrilled to find so many great ornaments that matched my inspiration look.

Here's the overall look at the tree. Sadly ,one section of lights decided to burn out the night before I took these photos. But you get the idea.

 

I just love the mix of mercury glass with silver, burlap and white.

 

 

This is one of my favorite new ornaments. I wish I could say I made it (and frankly I may get crafty and do something similar) but I found it at my favorite shop called Dwell.

 
I also found the burlap at Dwell. The white "pinecone" ornaments came from TJ Maxx Home Goods. The silver keys I found last year when we shopped downtown Littleton with Brent's parents. They were on sale after Christmas.

 


For the mantel, I like to keep it simple. I just add a few sprigs of greenery and some silver bells.

 


In the front room I added a few things and I have more to go! I love this silver reindeer alongside a basket of pine cones with small silver bells and some greenery.

 

Right when you walk in our front door, you see our closet door with this simple wreath. I also put a fun banner on the stair rail.

I still have a bit more to do. I need to set up my newly painted village (thanks, MOM!) and work on the outside decorations.

I'll do that this weekend---after turkey and pie.

Happy Holiday Season!
Karli

Visions of Sugarplums...

Let's be honest. I'm ready to start decorating for Christmas.

There is snow outside and its really, really cold here in Denver. So why not crank up the holiday tunes tomorrow and knock this out?
 
I am hosting my annual Cookie Exchange on December 6th and November is flying by, so I have the perfect excuse. The pic below is from 2012 during the party, so you can see what my tree has looked like for the last few years. (Mostly lime green and some silver)

 
I am having visions something more subdued for my tree this year. I am loving white, silver and a touch of black.

Here's some inspiration:

I love the bold banner wrapped on this tree.
 


Via lilluna.com


This is mostly white with lots of texture (pine cones, silver ornaments, ribbon, sequins, cardboard and burlap). YUM!
 


Via livinglocurto.com

 I especially love the very over-sized ornaments on this tree. What fun!



Source unknown, found on Pinterest


Finally, I know I'll be making some of my own special pieces from old music books. I just love the whimsy and simplicity of something like this. The touch of silver glitter on the edges is perfect!



Via somethingsweetdesigns.com


I'll be sure to actually post a picture or two of my house decorated for Christmas this year. :)

Stay warm!
Karli

A Sneak Preview: Exterior Project (Almost) Complete

It's hard to believe it's been almost a month since my last post. Where did the time go? What have I been up to? (Eating bonbons and sun-bathing?--I WISH!) Let me tell you a story.

In my last post, I told you about our trim being rotted and needing replacement before paint could begin. I also told you that the work was going to begin the next day. Well, that "little" project turned into a not-so-little nightmare. The contractor we used was very late starting the work, very slow to get the "two day" project done and made a few mistakes along the way that delayed the project even more. It was all I could do not to rant on Facebook and complain on the blog, but my sweet husband kept me from it. (I still have to practice deep breathing when I think about it--and to be honest I did write a Facebook post about my frustrations and when I tried to post, my phone kept giving me an error message. I considered it a sign from God that I should remain positive.)

I don't want to bore you with all the nonsense, so I'll get to the happy stuff. Brent's sister and her husband paint houses on the side of their already full time jobs and lives. They painted our old house and I realized then that their attention to detail is just as strong as mine. Perfect. Needless to say, they did an amazing job on this house too. I almost cried when I pulled up the final evening and it was done.

A year's planning and saving resulted in something I'm proud to call my own!

Here's a sneak preview of a full blown post to come...



I don't think I'd even posted about this! We add a new sidewalk into the mix too. So happy with the results!

 

The first bit of paint going on the house! I was giddy like a little kid!

 

Lime Green front door?! I think YES!

 

Shutters going up (and that last bit of reddish brown trim)!

 

Here's just a little bit of the finished product. More coming in a couple days!

What do you think so far? Better than where we started? :)

Happy Summer,
Karli

Sprucing Up Our Exterior--Removing Trees

Remember my post from a while ago about our new windows and how ugly our house looks in this transition phase? Well, we're making headway! Hurrah!


A reminder of the house "before"

A few weekends ago Mom and Dad came to visit with the chainsaw. I had grand aspirations of removing all the overgrown junipers and thorny bushes that were touching the house (in preparation for spring paint--so excited!).



And a view of the back. Too many bushes right up against the house.



It was only three bushes and two trees--how hard could that be?



Here's dear old Dad, starting on the juniper in front.

After one whole day of working on just the first juniper tree out front (and one Waste Management Bagster beyond full), I realized how hard it could be. And I also realized there are efficiencies in paying a tree service to do these things for you--especially when you live in city and you can't just have a good old fashioned bonfire out back.



All in a day's work. But we were all exhausted and the bag was overfull. You'll be able to see our leftover pile in a bit.



So I got an estimate today from my favorite landscape company and my hypothesis was correct. It was actually MORE economical for me to pay them, plus they can grind the stumps down, which is something we weren't able to do without the cost of more rental equipment. (I also feel better about them chipping the debris and reusing it rather that me hauling it away)



They'll be taking out the three circled trees/bushes. The forsythia on the left is beautiful in the spring and gets to stay. It's easy for us to keep in shape--so it doesn't bother me.



A closer look at the overgrown mess near our family room. It blocks so much light!

 


Different angle showing the bush and tree. You can see that the tree has grown too tall and it's now touching the gutter.

Once those are gone, I plan to use some of Mom's day lilies here. This area gets the morning sun so they should do great. And they won't grow tall enough to block precious northeast light.


The bush/tree by the dining room. (Side note: look at our old AC unit. I have plans to disguise that a little bit...someday) I also asked the tree company if they could raise the skirt on that large spruce so the area won't feel so cramped. We'll save that project for another time though.



The nasty thorny bush on the side of the house will also be gone. (And the pile of juniper we cut down that wouldn't fit in the Bagster will be chipped at no extra cost)

Whew. That's a lot of work! And that doesn't even begin to address the front lawn. BUT these items were the priority so we can get this house painted as soon as possible.

Are you working on spring projects? Anyone want to come help me design the front landscaping?

~Karli

A Tree Project

When we were recently at Karli's house, we took out an overgrown ugly cedar tree that was overtaking the side of her garage. That little project got Karli's Dad in the mood for more "tree work." He loves to trim trees. He walks outside at our house and the trees start trembling with fear dreading the abuse they will suffer at his hand.

Anyway, when we got back home his focus became centered on the trees in his own backyard. One particular aspen tree came up in our flower bed several years ago. I wanted to let it grow...he didn't.

I won. It grew with three trunks and much to his dismay, it is encroaching (or rather attaching itself) to the roof of the garden shed. So, on this day, he decided it was causing too much damage to the shed. It was coming down!


You can see the trunk "growing" into the garden shed.

 After some severe trimming on Dwight's part with the bow saw while standing on the roof of the shed, he was ready to take it down. Because the tree was as tall as a 2-story house, he decided we should use a rope and persuade it to fall where we wanted. My job would be at the end of that rope, supposedly out of harm's way, applying constant pressure (pulling), while Dwight operated the chain saw. All went according to plan for a while. He had sawed over half way through the trunk. Then the chain saw blade went dull...apparently from all the sawing we had done at Karli's. He stopped sawing and told me to try just pulling the tree down. He didn't think I was doing enough, so he came to help pull. With two people on the end of that rope and a mighty pull.................the rope broke and Dwight landed on his butt. The tree was still standing.

Plan B........more power with the tractor.

On to Plan B. Replace the broken rope with a chain and replace me with a tractor. Well, to make a long story short. That worked! We did bring the tree down, but in doing so our tree caused even more damage to the shed than it was doing in the first place.

You'll see extensive damage to the shed.

Looks worse closer!



Here she lays until we can repair the chain saw.

I will mention that no animals or people were harmed during this project. The photographer only took pictures when the chain saw was not running and had her cell phone on her person at all times, ready to call 911 if necessary.

This blog site is not intended to promote business or advertising for D and K Tree Service!!!!

~Kandy