kdottie designs

Holiday Hangover Recap part 2

Happy Tuesday everyone!!!

Lets pick up where we left off... its time to recap CHRISTMAS MORNING!

Christmas Morning is a family event- and by event i mean marathon. All of us take our turn (from youngest to oldest) and open our presents one by one. And yes one year we ended at like 1 am...

Now in this post (and the following ones) there is quite a cast of characters... (i'm toying with the idea of putting a "Cast of Characters" button on the side of this blog where u can learn all about the folks in my life... what do u think???)

Here is Brayden... Carb-loading for the upcoming present explosion.

and here are Hillary (brayden's mom/my cousin- see the need for the Cast of Characters page now???) and my Aunt Cathy strategizing the day ahead..

and Here is Dad... loving life...

First up, LIBBY! (it should have been Baby Max but when your 2 months old you can do whatever you want... and he preferred to be higher up on the list this year ;)

Next Up: Brynley!!!

Nothing says Christmas like Eloise and an American Girl Doll!

And of course they liked to help each other out:

Next up: Brayden!!! (brynley's brother, hillary's son, my second cousin once removed or something odd like that- again really considering that extra Character page!)

and every dude's dream... STAR WARS BEDDING!

Then we took some time out for a photo shoot.

The photographer was brynley:

Libby, Nathan, Elliot, and Brayden were the models

and if this doesn't show the Christmas Spirit i'm not sure what does:

Then after Nathan and Elliot (which apparently my camera was MIA at that point ... or i might have been hitting the bottle... who knows)

it was MAX's First Christmas

Abbey had to help out Max...

Now lets think back... for about 13 years I was first to open my presents... 13 years!!!! Well now that i'm 7th on the list, noodle and I were just taking a breather before I started...

and i think I started mine around 2 or 3 pm... are u starting to understand the magnitude of this day???

more to come tomorrow.......

xoxo-ak-xoxo

Holiday Hangover...

Good Evening Blogging Buddies!

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas or Happy Chanukah!! PHEW, i am one tired lady. I truly have "Holiday Hangover." I mean- I LOVE CHRISTMAS and all that leads up to the festive holiday... the decorations, the little kids christmas programs, Charlie Brown on the tv, the mad dash to the stores, etc... u get the picture. But let me tell you, today is my first day off from the holidays- and I am very excited about that. Thats 5 days of CELEBRATING- which although is fun... it can take a toll on you... But out of all the craziness- i did manage to take LOTS OF PICTURES!! Which is why i'll be posting every day this week!! (yes Haley- EVERY DAY!!!) So please enjoy ;)

First Stop: Christmas Eve

Noodle and I kicking off the festivities in style..

Noodle wanted to open her presents... but we had to wait until after Church.

Here are some pretty Christmas Eve Service pictures from Church. Enjoy...

from an angel's perspective.

then we came home and Noodle opened her presents...

She LOVED them.

Then we went upstairs to go to sleep so Santa could come to our house...

Noodle had to take her blankie ;)

Here is a little "sneak peek" on whats to come .....

I bet your asking yourself a few questions right now... well come back tomorrow for more during this "Holiday Hangover Week of Recaps."

xoxo-ak-xoxo

GAMES!

In this age of technology, it is amazing to see that much fun can be had by playing an "old fashioned" game and even one you just make up because the "spirit" moved you!  

During the holidays, our family got together again for more nourishment (as if we needed to eat more!), laughter, hugs, catching up and reminiscing.  The little girls, Brynley and Libby (my great nieces) got tired of playing "beauty shop" and so with the help of Ashley decided to play "YEAH, CHRISTMAS"!  You say, you never heard of that game?  Me either.....but with the help of ALOT of imagination, you just make up your own game.

Here's how to play "Yeah, Christmas".  First, you must talk and plan on how to play:

And sometimes, it even requires a little more planning:

After much discussion of the rules, everyone puts their hands on top of each other:

Then you jump up and yell "YEAH, CHRISTMAS"!!!!!!!!!!!

After that, there are many hugs given:

And then guess what?  You do it AGAIN!  At least a bizillion times.....or until Ashley says, "okay girls, that's enough!"

Then you decide to include the boys and play TELEPHONE!  Remember, that game?  It was always fun to find out how one little sentence could end up so different that what it was at the beginning.

First,  you must explain the game and think about what you want to whisper:

Then the game begins!

I'm thinking it is already lost in translation........

It doesn't really matter what was said, what matters is we were all together sharing laughs and fun - THE OLD FASHIONED WAY!

Have a good day and a better tomorrow....

Caren

SILENT NIGHT.........................

BLESSED IS THE SEASON WHICH ENGAGES THE WHOLE WORLD IN A CONSPIRACY OF LOVE.

LET THERE BE PEACE ON EARTH!

OH, CHRISTMAS TREE............

As with all our other decorations, our Christmas tree is a bit different.  We used to have the standard red and green Christmas decor....but after re-decorating our house to French Country, decorating for Christmas always made me feel unbalanced and crabby.  Yes, I am a Libra and must be balanced at all times or things just aren't right!    So, we totally redesigned Christmas.  Aahhh....a sigh of relief, things finally matched and were balanced.

The WHITE Christmas tree found it's way to our house.  I know many more people have white trees these days, but at the time they were unusual and hard to find.  We left the traditional ornaments in their boxes and went jewel toned:

Last year we decided it would be different to hang butterflies above the tree as if they were floating around the top.  They are hung on thin fishing line with white thumbtacks in the ceiling so as to not see how they are hanging (the ceiling is white).  It's an awesome effect in person - not quite the same in the picture.

You can see Julie (the white horse) is sitting next to the tree.  She always sits in our living room anyway, but she adds something special at Christmas.  We gave Julie to Ashley on her second birthday and she has probably traveled enough miles on Julie to circle the globe!

The other horse, Consuela, is a new addition........remember we found her for next to nothing at the Ventura flea market?  Julie likes the company.

There are two things that ALWAYS go on our tree no matter what it looks like.  They both belonged to my Mom - one is a reindeer that was always on her tree when she was a little girl.  The reindeer has had many a broken leg and or antler throughout the years, but I just continue to patch and glue her and she is as good as new.  She always sits near the top of the tree, I guess as a place of honor or so she can see and supervise all that goes on.

The second thing is a little piece of tinsel that was on mom's tree when she was small.  I only have a tiny, tiny piece left.  Mom made sure that my sisters and I each got a small piece of what she had left. It is probably close to 80-85 years old.  It also is placed high on the tree - right next to the reindeer.  I hope that one day when Ashley has her own family, I can give these two things to her for their Christmas tree - from her "MAMA".

We also have "Adeleine" decked out for Christmas...actually I got this idea from a blog I read, Curious Sofa.  Although, it kind of looks like she is auditioning for the Supremes singing, "Stop In the Name Of Love"!

That's all I have to show you tonight.  Come back tomorrow night - it will be our last Christmas post.

Oh, wait Noodle wants to show you that she is in the Christmas spirit too!

See you tomorrow - we're getting excited!!!!!!!

the stockings were hung by the chimney with care

p>

Happy Monday everyone! Only 2 more days until CHRISTMAS!!! How exciting is that???

Today we are going to continue the Christmas Tour of the kdottie household...

First up.....

THE FIREPLACE of course!! From left to right:

Dad's Stocking, Mom's Stocking, My Stocking, Noodle's Stocking

Doesn't it look so cozy with the fire going? i love Christmas!

On either side of the fireplace, MOM decorated with old Children's Christmas Picture books! Which in our family, WE LOVE children's picture books!!

My favorite book is a "One Minute Christmas Stories" picture book. My mom and I used to read one every night leading up to Christmas Eve ;)

this picture just sang out "CHRISTMAS TIME" love it!

Which REMINDS me... we bought this "Night Before Christmas" vintage book at a vintage show in Burbank, California. ONLY $6.00 and it is in WONDERFUL condition and has BEAUTIFUL pictures...such a steal!

can u remember whose stocking this is??? hmmm?? can you??

moving a little to the right, here is the beautiful reindeer coffee table decor

and they double as CANDLE HOLDERS! Now if I were these reindeer i'd be P*%&!@ that something was burning on my backside... but they don't complain too much. I mean they do have to pull Santa's fat a%$ for like 24 hours...

and remember Violet? Well she went shopping at Neiman Marcus and bought this lovely Christmas necklace and refuses to take it off

Thats all for today... COME BACK FOR MORE tomorrow... my mom will be doing the next 2 blog posts leading up to christmas!!

happy last minute shopping and christmas wrapping ;)

xoxo-ak-xoxo

A LITTLE MORE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT....

I used to decorate the dining room table with crystal, candles and baubles but instead this year I decided to be different.  I found the most exquisite white Santa and sleigh being pulled by not reindeer but a POLAR BEAR!

Santa has such a beautiful face and hands...wish the details showed up better...the lighting wasn't the greatest today, since again it is gray!

Check out the little animals hitching a ride to where ever Santa may take them....looks like through the woods.

The polar bear also has a strong beautiful face.  He looks determined to take on whatever those silly reindeer evidently couldn't handle!

In the entry hall we decided to do something different there too.  Instead of the mistletoe we thought a skiing/parachute jumping penguin was in order this year.  We were going to create a ski lift up the banister with other penquins on their way to flight, but time and energy has gotten in the way.  Maybe another year.  In the meantime --WATCH OUT!!!! The penquin must work harder on his landing!

I decided in my little cloche that sits on the table in the family room needed a little "somethin'somethin'" to represent the season so carolers, santa, snow and a "tipsy tree" would work just fine.

I often wonder, especially at this MAGICAL time of year if I would sneak down the stairs at night I would find the carolers, santa, polar bear, the wacko family of strange things from the last blog, and all the other things we have to show you in future posts having a party with the skiing/parachuting penquin........................maybe catapulting off the balcony?  He looks like a party animal to me - one that would always get the others going...you know the type.

PARTY ON!!!!!!

Until tomorrow............

Caren

the kitchen table

Happy Friday!

Lets continue our tour of Christmas at the Kdottie Home....

Above is our kitchen table decor... doesn't it look like half way through Christmas Day (with the Bourbon Slush Punch Bowl half empty) the family of crazy Christmas characters decided to take a FAMILY PORTRAIT?

Well i think so... so lets get to know these folk one by one:

lets first start off with the family Pet... always should be involved in a family photo.

and here is the crazy aunt that always has that faint scent of too much wine around her. Funny as hell, but you always wonder how she gets from point A to point B.

the creepy uncle ... doesn't this guy look like the The Plaza Hotel guy from Home Alone 2???

Here is the younger eclectic cousin who always is "dressed up"- whether it be electric orange leggings with her dad's rain boots or a Pink tutu with candy hot glued all over... you know... the "Fancy Nancy" of the family.

the uptight aunt... very concerned about the decorations being "just right." Her worst night mare?? The free spirited "fancy nancy" niece deciding to add her "flair" to the perfect christmas tree.

(The Uptight Aunt does NOT participate in the annual bourbon slush drinking)

The Wise Grandpa.... while asleep in his Lazy Boy Recliner.. the little kids of the family decided to add candle sticks and glitter to his antlers... The Wise Grandpa still has no idea what happened while he was taking his nap...

The Boys.... yup these are the slightly sneaky, always up to something boys of the family... might as well be twins because where there is one, you will find the other and probably a prank in the working...

And the Calming Peaceful Grandma... she just wants to make sure everyone makes it out of Christmas alive and in one piece... Always knows the right thing to say... and always knows exactly how to make you feel good :) The Quintessential Grandma.

I think the Christmas Family on our kitchen table is going to have a splendid Christmas this year... don't you???

******** Every DAY until Christmas, THIS BLOG will be updated daily- even through the weekend. This week got kind of crazy- and we have SOOOOOO many more decorations to share with you! So check back tomorrow, and the next day, and the next........ for more blog posts!

AND DONT FORGET you can comment too!****************

Until Tomorrow,

xoxo-ak-xoxoxox

a tour of ashley's wonderland

Hi Blogging Buddies,

So i'm back home for the holidays!!!!! And that means CHRISTMAS DECORATING at home with mom and dad. oooooo i absolutely LOVE christmas decorating. (i had to add that in honor of the one and only Eloise.)

In the next coming days, leading up to Christmas, my mom and I will be posting many blogs about the decorations around the house. I think we've really outdone ourselves this year. but i have to give you a WARNING: these christmas decorations are not like "traditional" christmas decor. I warned you ;)

SO FIRST STOP in our decorating tour is:

ASHLEY'S WINTER WONDERLAND

location: 2nd Floor Landing

thought process behind the village: I really really love those little houses... i dunno maybe it goes back to the days i used to go to open houses at age 7 just for "the fun of it." But each year I add another little part to the village that signifies something that has happened, a place i've lived, etc...

FIRST STOP: Our house... ok so it doesn't look exactly like it but its pretty close:

We moved into this house in 1989 (probably wearing hot pink leggings and scrunchies) so I thought this was a good way to start off the tour.

then we head over to the famous "Charlie Brown Christmas Tree"- shows the meaning of CHristmas in my opinion. Also the card behind it plays the amazing speech by Linus... how much more CHRISTMAS can you get??

Here is the NEW ADDITION for this year... Its supposed to show the times I've lived in California.(3 times ... count them...1,2.3) I tried to find a beach-like house but there weren't any ;( But thats ok!! because who doesn't love Disneyland in Orange County?!?!?! So Disneyland is going to symbolize my time in California.

Here we start the INTERNATIONAL portion of the "Wonderland." Houses from Holland and Germany- from my European Music Outreach Tour with the Young Americans. Symbolizing all the homestays I stayed with ;)

And here is a German Musik School. Again for all the time spent in Germany teaching kids all about life through music...good times good times

ahhh and now here we are in Sweden. Ok so long story short... One Christmas when I was 6, I decided to re-create my friend Kirsten's (yes, that would be Kirsten the American Doll from Sweden... yes she was my friend... you would only understand if you were an only child lol) Christmas Eve celebration. So I donned the wreath (a la candles) on my head, wore the very festive white dress with the red sash, and presented "Christmas In Sweden" with the WHOLE family.... sometime I'll have to tell you about how I gave Church Service to everyone at progressive dinner at age 8.... but thats for another time.

And here is The Real Reason of the Season... i had to have a nativity scene... come to think of it this could also be a "California Symbol." I believe this nativity scene was made in Mexico- my mom bought it at a Church Mission Fundraiser... and sometimes living in California might as well be like living in Mexico- no offense ;)

And here is the Church. We always go to Christmas Eve Service, and i guess this kinda looks like our church... but i also make it symbolize my favorite spot in NYC (besides Shubert Alley)- St. Patrick's on 5th.

and here are the Nuns from Viz!! For those of u who don't know, my high school years were spent at Viz (all girls catholic prep school.. plaid skirt and all) And yes, i'm pretty sure the nun on the left is Sister Margaret Mary.

Here are some Charleston Dancers paying a little tribute to my summer at Boyne. See Rob, your sooooo awesome you made it into my christmas decorations. hahaha.

We arrive at Radio City Music Hall!! The Rockette's Christmas Spectacular was my first Broadway Show. it shares that part of my life when I lived in New York..... also I like to "kick my face" and what better to represent that then 3 rockettes kicking their faces!

Paying some respect to the Homeless folk of NYC (which once you live there- you start to have a huge love for. You start to name them, come up with back stories... its like the ultimate people watching in NYC!!!

and we end our tour at the Magazine Stand ;) And if you don't know, magazine stands are my mom and i's kyrptonite... its an obsession and we are working on it ;)

So there you go! My WINTER WONDERLAND underneath my 3 little Christmas Tress!

Come back tomorrow for more!!!!

xoxo-ak-xoxo

a dash of hectic, a spoonful of craziness, and a trunk sale

I'm going crazy.

And i'm ok with it ;) This Friday "KDOTTIE DESIGNS" will be having our first ever Holiday Trunk Sale. So naturally, i'm working on it before I go back home. Although I LOVE this time of year, i always get really hectic. does that happen to you? no offense but i hope i'm not alone on this one ;)

AnD MY APARTMENT- lordy lordy its a disaster area. There is just stuff EVERYWHERE... which drives me crazy but what can i do? Here are some pictures of the craziness:

the table has become "CREATION CENTRAL"- its a mess... just scary

a box full of vintage stuff... i was making ornaments right then.

a closer shot of the table... so much going on.....

maybe i'm a little OCD.. but i had to make a bulletin board of checklists... here it is!

some glitter ornaments for the Trunk Sale

i'm making these scrabble pieces and vintage french stamps into Rings!

a vintage ornament i made

cute little tags to put on your presents... available at The Holiday Trunk Sale

scrabble piece hair barrettes!

Well i hope you enjoyed seeing some of the fun little things for the Trunk Sale. We will also have Vintage Designer Clothing, Deconstructed Clothing, and more!!!

So if your in the area- come on by on Friday from 4:00-7:30!!

xoxo-ak-xoxo