Holiday How-To #5: Decorate for Christmas if you've got a rambunctious toddler (or a cat)

Decorating for Christmas presented a whole new set of challenges this year. Kaylee is a climber, a daredevil, and loves to put things around her neck, so the thought of having a Christmas tree up this year was starting to give me heartburn.

I figured she'd do one of four things:

1. Climb the tree
2. Pull the tree over on herself
3. Try to make the lights into a necklace
4. Remove all ornaments from the tree and hide them wherever it is she is currently hiding 22 of her 24 crayons and all but one of her pacifiers.

I hate heartburn, so we opted to do things differently this year.

First order of business?

We downgraded from last year's tree...

...to this year's tree...


We're pretty partial to our Christmas tree ornaments, some of which were our very first Christmas ornaments on our first Christmases. We don't have a Martha Stewart matching tree and we never will (although I will admit part of me would love to have an elegantly decorated color coordinated tree - I think I'd go with pink and silver). We love our collection of ornaments that commemorate special events that happened each year, and Christmas just wouldn't be Christmas without them.

So...we came up with this idea for our entryway, which - believe it or not - was not inspired by anything in Better Homes and Gardens or the Martha Stewart magazine.


And, for the part of me that loves decorations that are beautiful and color coordinated, we have this, which Kaylee cannot destroy - I hope.


Now, I realize that it's a bit late in the game to be giving you tips for Christmas decorating. I mean - shoot - it's just a couple days away. But, hopefully this will give you some inspiration for next year.

And, I'd just like to throw it out there that I got all my Christmas decorations for 90% off at Target and Michael's during their after Christmas sales last year, so get in on that bit of shopping heaven a couple weeks after Christmas and you'll be set for next year.

Also - for you cat lovers out there, my totally rockin' and not the least bit cheesy wall display of ornaments will work wonderfully if for some reason you decide to opt out of a Christmas tree as a result of an adventurous cat (my dear friend Deb got to experience this first hand this year).

This post is my 5th Holiday How-To post, inspired by Summer's Holiday How-To Blog Carnival at Le Musings of Moi.

Wordful Wednesday - Raising the red curtain on the nursery closet

What a difference a week has made!

Last week I showed you the embarrassing pictures of the closet in Kaylee's nursery. Things were just shoved in there, and there was no form of organization whatsoever. This was pretty much the worst part of her unorganized room, so it's where I started first.

Her whole nursery is now cleaned up, decluttered, and all organized. I am just waiting to do the BIG reveal until I get these adorable pieces of art in the mail so I can show you the finished product in all it's bin-ridden and adorable glory (for those of you who recommended bins, bins, bins, you were right on the money - bins rock my face off!).

So, let's flash back to last week and check out the messy, messy, ugly before picture. Ughhh. (And, notice how I have just one before picture and seven, count 'em - SEVEN - after pictures...I'm just a little excited over here...)


















I love how I had the boxes stacked all zig zaggy so they stayed put. How frigging high can I stack EMPTY DIAPER BOXES WITH NOTHING IN THEM? Hello! What was I thinking? It's called a trash can. Through the living room, out the door and to the trash can. Simple. 30 seconds max, people. What was my problem? Ughhh.

Behind these closet doors there is no longer an avalanche waiting to barf itself out all over the floor like the picture above. Oh, no, no, NO! Behind this door is a beautiful little thing I like to call organization. Say it with me - "Or-gan-i-ZATION!"


















I can't seem to locate my giant velvet red curtain with yellow tasseled pull strings that I usually bust out for occasions such as this. But, I think it's a pretty dramatic difference, and if you ask me, it deserves a red curtain reveal, so this is as close as I can get to the real thing...














And...wa-la!


















I got a multi-cube shelf thing at Target on sale for $35 and got some bins to go inside of it. Before, I had 4 bins (hey, at least I was on the right track with the bins) under Kaylee's window - 2 bins had books in them, and 2 had toys. Now that space is open, and all her toys are in her closet. I actually have three of those long pink bins that her shoes are in. The other two are being used to hold diapers on her changing table, which you'll see next week, hopefully.






















































And the top shelf? No longer cluttered with random books and junk. We've got one of those bins full of books that, if given the opportunity, Kaylee would rip to shreds in 3.2 seconds flat because they are made of actual paper, and not cardboard or fabric. So, they'll stay there until she can learn better. The other bins are filled with clothes that she's not yet big enough for, and next summer's wardrobe. Eventually I'll put little labels in those plastic things so I don't have to get on a chair and drag each one down to see what's in it, but I'm taking baby steps here, people. BABY steps.














Part of the reason I'm so excited is because it's my goal to get Kaylee's room, as well as the rest of our house organized. Get rid of the stuff we don't need and actually organize what we have. Things don't get so crazy and messy and out of control when everything has it's place, and when things that don't have a place get chucked. I want our home to be peaceful and relaxing.

I don't want it to be spotless - I want it to be lived in, but I don't want Kaylee growing up in choas, either. I want to teach her that she can be organized and that a good old purge of unused stuff is necessary from time to time. When she gets old enough to understand the concept, I plan to have her pick a toy or two to donate to a shelter every time she gets something new - to teach her not to hoard, and to teach her that there are other kids out there who don't have many toys and could sure use some of hers.

I feel like I'm on the right track - like I accomplished something. Like maybe, just maybe, I can do this. I can have an organized house.

I know it's just a closet, but man, I sure do feel good about it. And so does Kaylee - cleaning out all the junk gave her a whole new place to play (and hide - thankfully, she can't seem to help but SLAM the doors shut - repeatedly - so it's pretty easy to find her)...

Head on over to Angie's 7 Clown Circus for more Wordful Wednesay fun!

Wordful Wednesday - Nursery Makeover: Before

What I'm about to show you is an incredibly messy, disorganized, boring nursery.

Before Kaylee was born, I chose to decorate her room in a theme of ladybugs and dragonflies. The colors were red, pink, and sage green. I had a matching curtain thing, hamper, and little wall decals that I thought were just the coolest thing since sliced bread.

Back then, I thought, "This is a smart choice. It's cute, it's girly, it's not Pepto Bismol pink everywhere, and it's a theme that will grow with her for a few years."

Silly, silly pregnant lady.

Let me tell you something.

I am SO over the ladybugs and dragonflies, and I have been for quite some time. I wish I'd just chosen a color scheme - that way I could have incorporated new things, taken some things out, kept it fresh...but no. No - I had to go with the silly little theme, and then I got sick of it.

So, one day not long ago, I took pretty much everything off the walls, and I rearranged her room - a fresh start, if you will. I used to have some painted wooden letters that spelled her name, a few of the decals on the wall, and a couple other hanging items.

Now, the walls are bare, and it's driving me batty.

Her nursery needed some serious reorganization, so I decided that I would get everything organized, and then once that was under control (which it is SO close to being!), I'd decorate the walls.

My plans? Minimize the ladybugs/dragonfly theme. Put photographs and artwork up on the wall. Add more stuff to help keep things better organized. Eliminate the dresser.

So, here are the boring before pictures (and remember - it wasn't always like this - this is just the bare bones, starting over phase)...

This is what it looks like when you enter. BORING.


















Crib, changing table - bare wall. What else can I say?














I just put that ladybug thing on the chair so you could see it. My sister-in-law made it for Kaylee from scratch, just by looking at the ladybugs from all the match-matchy ladybug stuff. That will be up on one of the walls for sure. I love it.














Here's the window to the outside world. I think I want to ditch the little curtain thing and go with a solid color. I'm thinking of red, to match the lamp, and to break up some of the other pink stuff (sheets, diaper organizers, hamper, etc.). The nightstand is staying, even though it really doesn't get used, because I think we need a place to set stuff like a humidier, etc.













Bigger view of the wall with the window















Lovely little mess there, eh? Welcome to life with a toddler. The dresser? It's going to its new home in the garage. I took everything out of it a few days ago, only to discover that 90% of what was in there is too small. After I hung some stuff in the closet, only about 1 drawer was being used, so it's going. It's taking up way too much space that could be used for playing.



















And, now we're at the closet. I believe, in part, that closets exist so that you can give yourself the illusion that a room is clean, even when it's not, simply by tossing everything that's all over the place into the closet. Out of sight, out of mind, right? Except, it wasn't exactly out of sight because I saw this horrific mess every time I went to get Kaylee some clothes. I'm happy to report that the closet is probably 90% organized and is looking fabulous.


















So, there you have it. In the coming weeks, I'll be showing pictures of the progress each Wednesday. I'm already pretty excited because I've made a lot of progress since I took these pictures.

Want to share your tips on keeping your kid's room organized and clean? Got any fun decorating tips? Leave a comment and share them!

Head on over to Angie's place at 7 Clown Circus to check out more Wordful Wednesday posts from other bloggers.