~Christmas...The Dining Experience~

Today I thought I would show you the dining room all decorated for Christmas. Again, I tried to achieve a more simple look. I wanted touches of Christmas without it taking over the room. I hope that I achieved that.

Take a look around and I will show you what I did.


I still need to fill the box on the dining room table. I want to fill it with natural greenery and fruit, so I am going to wait until a little closer to Christmas. I will post pictures when I do it.



The greenery on the mantle is artificial. I got it at The Olde Homestead in Mt. Vernon, Illinois. The fruit is wax. I pick it up at Wal-Mart. The Santas came from The Cranberry Merchant in Carterville, Illinois. I strung the green beans last spring and Jeff strung the cranberries for me.





I had the felt white stocking, so I decided to tea stain them. Then I filled them with some twig greenery and added to candy canes that were made from pipe cleaners and then tea stained.



I made the greenery on the French door that leads to the music room from some old greenery I had. I tea stained the ribbon and tied it into a bow.



Each of the French doors leading to the keeping room, have one of these stockings on them. I had plain white cotton stockings, so I tea stained them and then added twig greenery. They are attached with a suction cup which is hidden by the greenery.





Jeff decorated this tree with his vintage glass ornaments. He always does such a good job placing the ornaments on the trees. Jeff decorates all of our trees.





I got this reproduction feather tree at Simple Country Treasures in Lebanon, Illinois. We put some vintage glass ornaments and some vintage candy ornaments that Jeff has collected over the years.



These folk art Santas were designed by folk artisit, Johanna Parker. I love them!


I designed and stitched the Christmas sampler that is next to the tree.





I like how the dining room turned out, how about you?

Thank you for visiting Yesterday Once More. I appreciate you stopping by and I hope you will continue to come back as often as you can. Don't forget to look for Yesterday Once More on facebook. I would love to see you there too.

"Christmas is doing something extra for someone."
~Charles Schulz~

All My Best,
~Dan~

~Is Christmas Child's Play?~

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We had a very nice day at home and then went to my parent's house for dinner. We will be with Jeff's family tomorrow.

It was such a nice day today that Jeff and I decorated the outside of our house for Christmas. We are not quite finished, but when we do, I will be sure and share some pictures with you.

In the meantime, I am going to show you some pictures of our guest room all decorated for Christmas. We decorated this room with children items and it is the room that our nieces and nephews play in when they come over. So, have a look around and I will explain what I did.


I recently bought this handmade Santa at Arnett's Country Store which is located in West Frankfort, Illinois. Stacee Droit makes wonderful Santas and other wonderful creations too. I place my Santa on the bed. I really like how he looks in the room


I placed greenery in different places in the room to give it a Christmas feel without taking over the space.


I also but a candle and some greenery on the windowsill. I made the little greenery window decoration by cutting pieces from some garland I had and then tied them together with a piece of ribbon that I tea stained.


I placed a little handmade snowman that I have had for years in the baby crib at the foot of the bed.


I also decorated the little hutch that is in the room with some greenery and some newer Christmas books that we have collected.


I bought these sconces at Arnett's Country Store also.






I cross stitched the tree sampler this past summer and my mom help me make it into a pillow.




Jeff hung some of his miniture Hallmark ornaments on a little Hallmark tree we had. I am going to wrap the base in burlap, but I have not had a chance to do it yet.


This is my collection of vintage Christmas children books.




I also decorated the little table that sits in the middle of the room. It has my ironstone tea set on it. I placed a vintage Christmas table cloth on the table and added a pair of Christmas salt and pepper shakers.






I hope you enjoyed the tour of our guest bedroom. I would love to know what you think.

Thank you for visiting Yesterday Once More. I appreciate you stopping by and I hope you will continue to come back as often as you can. Don't forget to look for Yesterday Once More on facebook. I would love to see you there too.

"Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful."
~Norman Vincent Peale~

All My Best,
~Dan~

~Thanksgiving Once More~

It is hard to believe that Thanksgiving is upon us again. This year as just flown by. I think we all start thinking about what we are thankful for this time of year. I thought I would take this opportunity to let all of you know what I am thankful for this year.

Image by www.cherylbartleydesigns.com

I am thankful for Jeff. He supports me 157.5% in everything I do. He is patient, kind, loving, and generous. He always encourages me to go for my dreams and never tries to persuade me to abandon them.

I am thankful for Parker, Peyton, and Paycee. They have filled my life with so much happiness and love. They are always happy to see me and they want nothing more than to be with me and to get and give love.

I am thankful for my parents. I am so blessed to have had parents who have stayed together. Who taught me how to be a good person and to always do my best.

I am thankful for my grandma. She has always been there for me and has taught me to love unconditionally and to have faith in God.

I am thankful for my brother, Andrew, my sister-in-law, Amy, my niece, Katie, and my nephew, Jake. They remind me of the importance of family and of how magical childhood is.

I am thankful for my friends both near and far. They love me and accept me for who I am. They do not try to change me. The celebrate my achievements and support my failures. There are too many to mention, but four friends always come to mind. Jerrah, Diane, Kathy, and Linda M.

I am thankful for my job. I am so blessed to get to work with wonderful children everyday. They have taught me more about life and the importance of the little successes of life than anyone else has.

I am thankful to get to write for A Primitive Place & Country Journal magazine. I never thought I would get to take this journey and this road has given me so many wonderful opportunities and has given me the chance to meet many wonderful people and to see inside their fascinating lives.

I am thankful for my beautiful, warm home that I can decorate and that I can make reflect my many passions and my family.

I am thankful for my health and for the health of everybody in my life.

Image by www.thepatterncupboard.com

As you can see, I have many things to be thankful for. I am blessed beyond my wildest dreams and I can never thank God enough for all He has done for me.

I also wanted to tell you that I wrote a Thanksgiving article for the A Primitive Place magazine facebook page. You can read it by clicking ~Here~. I hope you enjoy it.

Thank you for visiting Yesterday Once More. I appreciate you stopping by and I hope you will come back as often as possible. Don't forget to look for Yesterday Once More on facebook. I would love to see you there too.

"True Thanksgiving means that we need to thank God for what He has done for us, and not tell Him what we have done for Him."
~George R. Hendrick~

From our house to yours, we wish you a very blessed and happy Thanksgiving. May you spend the day with the people who you love the most and who love you the most.

All Our Best,
~Dan, Jeff, Parker, Peyton, & Paycee~

~Christmas Comes to the Basement~

Today I thought I would show you the Christmas decorations that are in the basement. I really tried to not go overboard in the basement. This is where we spend a lot of our time and it is one of the smallest rooms in the house. I did not want the decorations to take over the space.

Take a look around and I will tell you what I did.

We will start with the basement kitchen.



On the cabinet in the eating area, I simply added a little greenery and apples to give it a Christmas look while still maintaining the look of my collections.



On the Hoosier cabinet, I added more greenery and a collection of my favorite snowmen.



Here is a close up of the snowmen. They are all by artist, Dan DiPaolo. I love Dan's work and I especially love his snowmen.



I tried to add a little greenery and a little Christmas to most of the displays.



On the table, I displayed a small Christmas tree in a firkin. I decorated the tree with wooden candy canes and salt dough candy canes.



I added a primitive stocking to the tobacco basket that hangs in the dining area.



On the island, I filled an old wooden tool box with Christmas greens and added a pineapple.



I added my collection of vintage bottle brush Christmas trees and a little greenery to the top of the boxes that are stacked in the kitchen.

Now, let's move to the family room.



I placed a twig tree in an old crock. It sits in front of the old door that I found in the chicken coop this past spring.

The rest of the pictures are just some little touches that I added to some other displays that are in the basement family room.









One last picture of the mantle. I do love how it turned out!

Thank you for visiting Yesterday Once More. I appreciate you stopping by and I hope you will continue to come back as often as you can. Don't forget to look for Yesterday Once More on facebook. I would love to see you there too.

"I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men."
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow~

All My Best,
~Dan~

~Christmas in the Master Bedroom~

For as long as I have know Jeff, he has been begging me to decorate the master bedroom for Christmas. I have always been a bit of a Scrooge about it. I just never felt like the bedroom was the place for Christmas decorations. You don't have to tell me, I know I was wrong...LOL!

Well, this year I decided to decorate the master bedroom for Christmas. I am so glad that I did and I think it turned out really well. So, have a look around and I will tell you what I did.


In this picture, you can see two of my latest and most favorite finds. I recently got the Johnston Benchworks settle and I could not be happier with it. It replaced the couch that Paycee got a little carried away with. I also purchased some new bedding. It is Family Heirloom Weavers. I bought it online from Circa Home Living. Both of these new items took the master bedroom to a new level and helped me acheive the look that I was striving for.



I should have moved the Ps basket of toys before I took this picture, but it is their bedroom too.





I moved the Johnston Benchworks chair from the music room into the master bedroom sitting area. The stockings on the old ladder were made by my mom. They have all of our names on them. Hopefully, one day soon, Paycee will have one too!



I placed a small twig tree in a firkin and decorated it simply with candy canes and a tin star.





I filled the wooden box on the coffee table with artificial Christmas greens and wax oranges.



Both of these pillows were designed by a very dear friend of mine, folk artist, Kathy Parker. Both of these pillows can be found on the Primitives by Kathy website.




So, let me know what you think. I don't know why I waited so long to decorate the master bedroom for Christmas. I love it and we are really enjoying it.

Thank you for visiting Yesterday Once More. I appreciate you stopping by and I hope you will continue to come back as often as possible. Don't forget to look for Yesterday Once More on facebook. I would love to see you there too.

"The children were nestled all snug in their beds while visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads."
~Clement Clark Moore~

All My Best,
~Dan~