SNEAK PEEK: WHITE CHRISTMAS

Last night, I started to lose my lifeline. Since last December, I've been utilizing my smart phone as my camera and I think it crashed last night. I have an HTC Eris (Andriod) and I love it! I've always enjoyed taking photos, but I was usually annoyed by the time it took to upload pics from my camera to the computer. And since our computer began to get short on space this year as well, uploading photos from the phone directly to flickr not only saved time, it saved some space on the computer. It's gotten "stuck" before (in a somewhat perpetual state of rebooting itself on) but not like last night. And I've been getting an error message all day advising me to free up some storage space on the SD card when there is plenty of space still on it. It won't even allow me to see all the photos (the gridded album) for me to know what's left on it. I even deleted some applications to clear the cache.  Be that as it may - it's delayed today's posting. I 'think' I did manage to retrieve all the photos (v e r y  s l o w l y . . . )  SO here's a sneak peek of some winter white holiday in our home this year - I'll post more about tomorrow...

Sephora's Silent Nite

(until 4am when she decides to whack the lower ornaments)

Stretch...

Pooped.

Digging for treasures...

Posing for the camera...

Found the sweet spot!

Besides Sephora being a big part of this years

white Christmas decor, here's a few helpful tips too:

Colorblock section by section, take a step back

and edit edit edit...

If your lighter goes out on you while lighting candles - don't fret!

Go old school and light pasta - just be careful to catch the charred pieces.

Best holiday decor investment ever:

Remote control plug adapters. We even use them for everyday lights.

Makes it REAL EASY to shut down

Broadway when all you want to do is go upstairs and go to sleep.

Better pics to be posted tomorrow.

Hope you enjoyed the sneak peek...



HOLIDAY HOME: ORGANIZING HOLIDAY DECOR TO DECORATE

Was your home a wreck this weekend? A wreck from putting away the extra pots, pans and dishes from Thanksgiving dinner, tearing down and packing up Fall decor - and of course the fun part - breaking into the storage boxes of all your Christmas decor? I don't care how organized you are - ti's the weekend for decor havoc! But it's all good... and thankfully it's all up! The next home wreck will be in January, when it all comes crashing down lol.... And even though the 'extra' non-Christmas decor has been edited down, the window panels have been changed, and this years decor is in place, one space just isn't feeling right - so I'm going to paint the dining room! Here's a peek at some oh my

Thrifted gold finds to add to existing silver:

$1 gold glass balls and $6 brass sconces

Dollar Store finds:

Champagne gold stars & elegant ornament hooks.

All white textiles cleaned and pulled together.

Quick sketches of decor plans.

Since our dining space is the first space you walk into when entering our townhome, I've taken the extra step to really paying attention to the lighting and feel of this space. It was great neutral & modern in charcoal, it was happy & fresh in turquoise, and it was crisp & cooled down in blue... But with doing whites this year for holiday - it looks too cool (cold) with whites against the blue. To warm it up, I'm going more mocha or chocolate, which will still work with our pale grey walls, as well as relate back to the TV wall in the living room. It will also warm the space better when paired with some of the gold pieces I'm mixing with the existing silver ones. I already have plenty of paint in the garage, so this will be a great way to use it up and transform a space for $0.

Holiday decor storage staged in the garage.

Using file boxes makes it easier to pass through

our attic opening in the MBR closet.

Left over paint stash.

Christmas decor transformation to be revealed shortly... Either my phone or flickr is experiencing a delay today with the photo uploads. I can't wait to see every one's vignette's, makeover transformations and especially those Pottery Barn re-interpretations you make into budget friendly DIY's...

Holiday inspirations.

Getting a look together.

Brass bells from Dollar Store will add

the right touch of gold to existing silver...



Thanks for stopping by and

WELCOME new followers of Focal Point Styling!



ATE. PRAYED. LOVED.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving day, filled with family, friends and food. Since Jeff had to be at work at 2:30AM this morning (an hour away from us) we hosted a small gathering in our home with just my mom and friend, Marcia. The day before, I cleaned the house, set the table, baked pumpkin pie, made chocolate chip cookies, and made our traditional style sausage stuffing. Between Jeff's Food Network app and Alton Brown's book, I'm Just Here For The Food, Jeff made a delicious turkey he soaked in brine before he had left for work Wednesday afternoon. It was really nice having prepped the meal together yesterday morning, since for the past two years, we've driven to his sisters - about two hours away. Marcia said the blessing, and I asked everyone what they were grateful for as we started to serve the food. It's been a challenging year, but with the love and support of family and friends, here we all are - roof over head, clothes on our backs, good health, and food on the table. Something we are all grateful for...

No matter what is on your agenda for today -

resting, shopping, or now decorating for Christmas...

be safe and have fun.

Special thanks to all of you - the followers & subscribers of Focal Point.

I am grateful to have met you (some just this past year). Between Facebook, Twitter and bloggers - you have really helped me through a major transition in my life.

xoxo

Have a wonderful weekend

and see you back on the blog on Monday.

LINKING POST TO:

DIY Showoff - Project Parade

Between Naps On The Porch - Metamorphosis Monday

Between Naps On The Porch - Tablescape Thursday 119

LOVE THE LOOK: HOLIDAY HOME IN WHITE

I don't know why, but there is just something refreshing about the look of a white space for the holidays. Maybe it's the thought of transition. Maybe it's a feeling of rebirth. Maybe it's the effort to try to recreate the look of fresh fallen snow. Either way - It's gonna be a white Christmas in South Florida for us this year! I had done my first white Christmas about two years ago, but it was paired a lot with greys and silver (very icy looking). This year, I'm going for all shades of whites and creams paired with gold and silver. Going digging in the closets today to pull together all my whites... (while coloring my hair red lol) In the meantime, here are some inspirational clippings of spaces layered with white....

Our walls are mainly pale grey, with the exception of a few accent walls in charcoal and chocolate... and that blue in the dining room... which I "think" I'm going to repaint in some left over mocha from the bedroom. Rather than run out and buy new rugs, I think I'm also going to try just bare floors since out tile is greige... Not sure how it's going to "feel"... but it's worth a shot to try. I'm not tearing into any of this until Friday, but at least everything will be prepped for installation.

The ultimate white inspiration:

Our cat - Sephora

How are you decorating for Christmas this year? Monochromatic? Modern? Minimal? or Traditional? Have you already begun? Do you put up a faux or real tree? Multi-color or clear lights? Do you do most all spaces with a little something? Or only the the family room? Do you decorate outside? Did you already start? Love to hear from you...

"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas"