Shopaholic in Alabama

It's Christmas Eve - which seemed like a perfect time to share my Lilly Pulitzer-inspired and Football tree with you!   These are small 4' trees that were pre-lit with clear lights. Last year, I used a much smaller pink tree for the Lilly ornaments, but my collection has grown so much that I had to get a larger size. This tree is a mixture of ornaments that are either Lilly Pulitzer or "Lilly inspired" (think pink, green, preppy). Hope you enjoy the photos.  The "football tree" is a mixture of ornaments from our favorite college and NFL teams - Alabama and the Dallas Cowboys. It's the same size tree as the Lilly-inspired tree. Merry Christmas Eve!  p.s.  Tracy Negoshian giveaway winners will be drawn later today, and then announced. Please be sure to check back! 

It's my first time, so please be nice to me. Today I'm linking up with my friend Daphne over at Flip Flops & Pearls for (Semi) Wordless Wednesday. In addition, I am sharing the fruits of my labor - the Coastal Holiday Tree!  After countless hours spent glittering, crystallizing (is that a word?), and hot gluing for the past few days - my tree is now up and decorated. Unfortunately, I didn't have a tree topper that went with the coastal theme. My solution? Take a roll of ribbon up to the florist and have them make me a pretty bow!  As you all know from my previous crafting, I started by just making starfish - then I made a few sand dollars. After finding a huge bag of sea shells that I'd forgotten about, I decided to experiment with making some of those into ornaments. What do you think? I must apologize in advance for the photo quality (or lack thereof), I could not get the lighting right to save my life. It probably didn't help that I was taking pictures ...

In a move surprising to my family and close friends, I have embraced my "crafty" side. Note that I never even knew I had a crafty side...I've always been one of those people who couldn't design a room, couldn't arrange a vase of flowers, etc. Now if you asked me how to help you fund those same purchases, that I could do. I can help you write the business plan to open your design business, but I can't design my own bedroom. Go figure. A few days ago, I decided I was going to try for a Coastal Christmas decorating theme. Of course this is a wee bit of a problem, as I don't have any coastal holiday decor. So with limited resources here at the beach (read: no Hobby Lobby, Michael's, etc locally - just Target and Wal-Mart), I had to get creative. I went to the local souvenir store and bought a bunch of starfish and sand dollars - and have started decorating them.  Glitter, Swarovski crystals, a hot glue gun - they are all my new BFF's for this pro...

Source: theinspiredroom.net via Lori on Pinterest According to my calendar, today is December 6. In a "normal" year, my house is already decorated for the holidays. My decor usually consists of a traditional theme (think Old World Christmas style). I have spent years, and never to be admitted in public $'s collecting Christopher Radko ornaments. To date, I have almost 200 Radkos in my collection.  While they are beautiful and I love trimming the tree with such gorgeous ornaments, the process is lengthy. Each ornament is stored in it's own original box, and must be handled with care. They are removed one by one, unwrapped and hung on the tree. The Christopher Radko ornaments become very heavy when you hang that many, therefore the option of having a live tree is not advised. (After your Christmas tree falls and you lose a few beloved retired ornaments, you get smart). When decorating with the Radkos, I must use an artificial tree. And I'm ok with that - norm...