Merry Christmas to ME.

Mat thought up this one all on his own. I LOVE this present. No one should love an appliance this much. Its a single cup coffee maker.

Why do I love it so much? Because it allows me to have a few minutes of "me time" each morning with very little effort. It takes me longer to toast my english muffin than to brew this coffee.As a mother of two small children I love that I can sit down, check my email, facebook, or whatever and enjoy a cup of coffee for a few minutes by myself. Coffee drinking is really more of an event than a beverage after all.

Thanks birdie, this is my favorite gift.

But this one is a close second...

I have had that huge gaudy antique mirror in the middle for a few years now, and I loved it. It really didn't go with anything of mine, but I knew someday I could make it work. Then I was reading Liz's blog and got this idea to just add MORE mirrors!

So when I was home, my brother joined my mom and I as we made our usual trip to the antique store and I was instantly inspired to make my idea a reality...

I'm pretty satisfied with this side of the bunch.

This side needs some larger mirrors, but I was too excited about it all so I put them all up and decided to call it "a work in progress". I cant wait to add more antique mirrors. These are a mix of real antiques and Hobby Lobby.

I held back a gasp when I found this set of gold maple leafs stuck in a wooden bucket on the floor. It said they were used on a sugar house to sell maple sugar. Those of you who know my love of maple leafs would have jumped up and down and squeeled with me. But since I was alone in the isle I grabbed them up and tried to keep my heart from bursting out of my chest.

This was actually the first mirror I found. It was actually quite comical because I had JUST said to my brother "I'm looking for any sort of gaudy gold framed mirrors to put on my wall" and I turned around and looked deeper into one of the booths and found it. Justin and I laughed that I should have told him sooner, or maybe say I'm looking for a million dollars?? but I digress...

The mirror in the upper left was actually a very dark brown, and I took a little gold paint and dry brushed it over the whole frame. I have to admit half way through I had a panic attack wondering if I was just painting over a priceless antique and ruined the value. It happens on Antiques roadshow all the time. But at that point I was committed so I finished the project, and I love how it turned out.

I hope all of you enjoyed your Holidays as much as we did. I'm definately enjoying the fruits of my holiday shopping. Happy New year, and I hope this year is filled with great blessing and brave spirits for what God has instore.