2011 Favs

If you do any looking around the blogosphere, you'll quickly discover that it's "That Time of Year".  The time of year for me to report on the favorite posts of 2011.  I'm going to list your top three favorites, sorted in a couple of different ways.

Most Views

House Tour - The Family Room

House Tour - The Laundry Room

Even though this post was just one month ago, it made the top three.  Wow!

Designer Christmas Decorating Tips

Most Comments

The Family Room and Laundry Room Tours garnered the most comments of all, but since those were included in the top three most viewed, I'll go to the next three posts with the most comments.

Our Beach Condo - Part I

House Tour - The Kitchen

Cleaning an Antique Velvet Pillow

I can't let the year close without expressing how much I've enjoyed getting to know each and every one of you.  I've only been blogging for six months, but y'all rock my world!!!

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for being the loyal readers and friends that you are.  There is definitely a learning curve to this blogging thing and I'm so glad that all of you put up with me.

Because of all of you, I can't wait to see what's in store for 2012!

Make sure you get in on the giveaway going on over here!

Linking up to:

Top Projects of 2011 at Southern Hospitality

Sunday Showcase Party at Under the Table and Dreaming

Addicts (not so) Anonymous on Friday at Addicted 2 Decorating

Come Party with a Blonde on Friday at A Blonde's DIY Life

Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style

It's A Party on Thursday at A Creative Princess
Overflowing with Creativity on Tuesday at It's Overflowing

How to Organize Christmas Decorations

Every single year, I vow and declare to myself that I will organize my Christmas decor when it comes time to put everything away.
Every single year, I only halfway do it.

Every single year, when I'm ready to decorate the mantle (or the tree or whatever), everything is never all in one box.
Every single year, I have to pull down all of the boxes to find all of the stuff for the mantle (or tree or whatever).

Every single year, my whole house is torn up for a solid three weeks while I try to get it all decorated.
And every single year, I'm tired of it all before Christmas even gets here because of how much the mess stresses me out.

Well...I hope I've come up with a way to help myself next year!  It isn't rocket science or anything earth shattering.  It's just a list.  Let me explain.

I've tried several times to attach a list of what's in each box to the exterior, but the lists fall off before the next Christmas gets here because of the temp changes in the garage where my Christmas boxes are stored.  So...I wind up having to pull all of the boxes down at one time.  Chaos reigns!!!

So, in case you're looking for a way to organize your Christmas decor and in case you're interested, I'll explain my thought process.

I already have eight large storage bins, so I couldn't justify buying all new, clear boxes that I could see through.  I had to come up with a way to use what I already have and figure out how to identity what's in each box without trying to attach a list to the outside (since they won't stay).

Believe it or not, the mess that you see in this picture is really an organized mess.

The coffee table holds all of the decorations out of the kitchen (not counting dishes that get stored in cabinets year round), one end of the couch holds all of the mantle decorations, the other end holds all of the tree ornaments, all of the glittery picks used on the tree and in the tree topper are on the floor, the deco mesh poufs used in the tree are in a pile on the floor, the glittery tree garland is in a pile beside the mesh on the floor, miscellaneous items used to create vignettes are in one of the chairs and a yardsale pile has been started in the other.  The pile of paper beside the tree is just the packaging material that I use to re-wrap fragile items with when I put them away.  Whew!

I basically wound up using a box for each pile of stuff.  In some cases, more than one pile would fit in a box.  As I packed a box, I wrote out of list of what was in that box.  My handwriting is so sloppy that I wound up typing and printing the list.

After all of the boxes were packed and the list was typed, I laid the list on top of the items in one of the boxes.  The list will be the first thing that you see when the box is opened.

How am I going to know which box the list is in????  I used a magic marker to number each one of the boxes.  The list is in box #1.  Next year I should be able to pull down box #1 and know exactly which box I need next without having to pull every.single.box.down.  At least that's my plan!  ;o)

Here are the boxes all packed and ready to be stored until next year.  Pay no attention to the glitter all over the floor - this is pre-vaccumming.  Oh and no comments about my dorky looking numbers!

Once everything is packed, Mr. Worthing places all of the boxes on this handy dandy shelf that he added in our garage.

Just in case you're wondering, the garland and various seasonal wreaths are all hanging on nails that we hammered into this wall.

No pretty pictures here, but hopefully my idea will help you out if you struggle with some of the same things that I do.

Don't forget to enter the giveaway that is going strong here!


Linking up to these parties:

Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch

Meet Me Monday at You Are Talking Too Much

Motivated Monday at Be Colorful

More the Merrier Monday at DIY Home Sweet Home Project

Savvy Homemade Monday at Home Savvy A to Z

Tutorials and Tips Tuesday at Home Stories A to Z

Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style

Home Decor and Organizing on Wednesday at Organize and Decorate Everything

It's A Party on Thursday at A Creative Princess

Show and Share on Thursday at Southern Lovely

Addicts (not so) Anonymous on Friday at Addicted 2 Decorating

Come Party with a Blonde on Friday at A Blonde's Life

Inspiration Friday at At the Picket Fence

Potpourri Friday at 2805

The Worst Thing About Christmas

Do you know what I think the worst thing about Christmas is?

THIS!!!

I.do.not.like.putting.the.decorations.away!

This is what I've been doing all day today.  But I can see the light at the end of the tunnel - yea!

I struggle every year with organizing the Christmas stuff so that it won't be such a huge mess when it comes time to decorate the following year.  I think I may have hit upon a good solution - for me anyway.  I'll share it with you Thursday.

How about all of you?  Have you started taking down your decorations yet?  Do you have any good tips for organizing everything to make it easy for next year?  Do share!

The giveaway is going on strong!

Go here to enter.

Christmas Outtakes

I just can't believe how f-a-s-t Christmas came and went this year!  

With all of the hullabaloo, it's going to take me a few days to get back into my routine.

I thought it might be fun to share a few outtake photos taken during our family get-together a week before Chirstmas and a couple taken on Christmas morning.

I snapped this relatively sweet photo of two of my grands, Miss M (on the left) and Miss K in front of my tree.

Oh, how I wish it was as simple as sitting the two of them down and taking a photo.  Any of you trying to photograph children know exactly what I mean.  ;o)  Here are just a few of the outtakes with some accompanying narrative.

Miss M's mother - "You will sit with your sister and like it and smile!!"

Miss K says - "Are you smiling sissie?"

Me - "Let's try for a group shot."

Miss K - "Is everybody smiling?"

Miss K - "Yea!  They're all smiling!"

Watch the progression of Miss M's facial expression as Miss K's antics continue.

I finally managed to get one good shot with my daughter, Ms. JB, her fella, Mr. J and Miss K and Miss M.

Me - "Let's try with just the adults."

Ain't gonna happen!

On this night, the dogs were much more well behaved than the adults.

Ferocious Guard dog l-o-v-e-s my sweet stepdaughter, Miss B.  He sticks to her like glue when she visits.

However, Diva Dog was mad at me and pouting all night because I made her wear this dress!

On Christmas morning, JUSTIN BIEBER WAS IN THE HOUSE!!!

So was his wannabee.

So how about all of you?  Did you accidentally or on purpose take any funny/silly pics over Christmas?  Do share!

***IMPORTANT REMINDER ABOUT THE GIVEAWAY***

The giveaway is going strong over here.  Thank you to all of you who have taken a few seconds to enter!

However, I have noticed that some people are not becoming a follower of Worthing Court or leaving me a comment that they are already a follower.  Becoming a follower (or commenting that you're already one) is a requirement  for entering the giveaway.  I'm sorry, but if you only do some the extras without becoming a follower, your entry will not count.  Please don't miss out on winning this lovely necklace by skipping the requirement step!!!

It's Giveaway Time!

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED.  THANK YOU FOR ENTERING!

I'm so excited to present you with my first giveaway!!!

The generous folks over at Shabby Apple are offering you lucky peeps a chance to win a piece of their amazing vintage style jewelry!

They gave me quite a list of pieces to select from, but it was really tough to pick just one.  I wanted to choose a piece that would be very versatile, so after much drooling over all of the pieces, I finally settled on the
Key to Wonderland Necklace, which is a $52.00 value.

It's a lovely antique brass vintage reproduction piece suspended on a 24" long chain.  I think it will complement most any outfit.

In addition to vintage reproduction jewelry, Shabby Apple offers women's dresses, skirts, swimwear, tween and little girl's dresses.  Arts and crafts too!

You'll want to make sure that you "Like" Shabby Apple on Facebook so that you can get in on all of their special promotions and exclusive discounts.

For the next 30 days, Shabby Apple is offering each of you a 10% purchase discount.  So see, you're a winner no matter what!  Simply click on the Shabby Apple button located on the upper right of my sidebar to be taken directly to their site.  Make sure you use coupon code "worthingcourt10off" to receive your discount.

A couple of points to know before we get to the fun part:
1.  To enter this contest, you must have a US shipping address.
2. You are NOT required to have a blog to enter.
3. There is no exchange for the winning piece of jewelry.

Entering the contest is easy!  Just become a follower of Worthing Court and leave a comment saying either that you're already a follower or that you're a new follower.

You can have additional entries by doing one or all of the following:
1. Like Worthing Court on Facebook.  Leave a comment saying that you do.

2. Tweet about this giveaway.  Leave a comment.

3. Like Shabby Apple on Facebook.  Leave a comment.

3. Share this giveaway on your Facebook page.  Leave a comment.

4. Do a post on your blog about this giveaway.  Make sure your post includes a link back to Worthing Court.  This one counts as two entries, so leave two separate comments!

***Remember to leave a separate comment for each entry.***

I'll be using Random.org to chose a winner.  Each comment counts as an entry, so take advantage of the many ways to increase your chances!  

This contest will end at 12:00 am, EST on Sunday, January 8th.  The winner will be announced on Monday, January 9th!
  Once a winner is announced, you'll have three days to email me with your shipping information. 

If I don't hear from the winner within the specified amount of time, another winner will be drawn.

I'm a Shabby Apple affiliate, but I haven't been compensated for this giveaway in any way.  

Sunday Worship

While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son.  She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.  

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.  An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.  But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid.  I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people.  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.  This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

Luke 2: 6-14, NIV

Merry Chistmas!

I pray that each of you, along with

 your loved ones, will have a joyous 

and blessed Christmas as we 

celebrate the birth of our Lord and 

Saviour, Jesus Christ!

Christmas at Nancy's - Vignettes

Today wraps up our tour of Nancy's gorgeous Christmas house.  I've shown you many of the rooms in her home, but there are other vignettes scattered about that either I haven't shown you or haven't focused on.

A table and bench in the foyer greet you as you enter Nancy's house.

A sweet vignette with an ornament filled apothecary jar, bauble filled pottery basket and other Christmasy items are arranged on the table located beside the bench.

This cute little table that's also in the foyer sits right outside of the french doors leading into the office.

The red flower accent on the topiary is actually a broach!

There's more to see in the living room than what I showed you on Tuesday.  Check out the lovely arrangement on this console table with the sparkling mirror hanging above it.

Here's a closer look at the arrangement.  I didn't realize until it was too late that the only "closer look" picture that I took caught some of me in the mirror - sorry!

Simple, yet so pretty candle filled hurricane and a cute pair of quail are on the sofa table behind the couch.

I don't think you can tell, but there are reindeer among the greenery on the coffee table.

More reindeer reside in a light filled bowl on an end table beside the couch.

Nancy very carefully drilled a hole near the bottom of the bowl to feed a strand of lights through.  If you try this, make sure that the item you're drilling into isn't anything of value - just in case something goes wrong.

This pretty bow front chest is in the hallway on the way to the master bedroom.

Nancy told me that she guards the "Merry Christmas" ribbon every year to keep it from accidentally getting thrown away!

I know you've already seen the sleigh on the dining room table.

 I put this little collage together to give you a better look at all of the bauble filled cloches around it.

We'll end the tour by returning to Nancy's kitchen where this console with open fretwork resides on one wall. No, this isn't a painting of Nancy or anyone related to her!  You can see a real picture of this talented lady here.

Nancy is a rooster lover like I know many of you are - myself included!  See the little red cardinal resting in the tree?

Pretty decorations in the cabinets and on the counter in this little nook.

And last, but not least this vignette is on the counter in the opening between the kitchen and living room.

The golf attired Santa is very appropriate in this kitchen as both Nancy and her hubbie are avid golfers.

You can see the tour of the rest of Nancy's home here, here, here and here.

You may be a little sad that the Christmas tour of Nancy's delightful home has come to an end, but maybe this will cheer you up...

I'm hosting my very first giveaway beginning Monday, December 26th!!!


I'm only a little excited!  ;o)  Be sure to come back on Monday for all of the deets.

I'll be linking up here:

Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style

It's A Party on Thursday at A Creative Princess

Show and Share on Thursday at Southern Lovely

Open House Party Thursday at No Minimalist Here

Share Your Creations on Thursday at Kristen's Creations

Addicts (not so) Anonymous on Friday at Addicted 2 Decorating

Come Party with a Blonde on Friday at A Blonde's Life

Inspiration Friday at At the Picket Fence

Potpourri Friday at 2805