Binkies and Briefcases

We have finished decorating for Christmas. (We always wait until the weekend after Thanksgiving.)

The stockings are hung by the chimney with care…you know the rest.

I love this wreath I bought from a friend at our Mom N Me craft fair.

My sister’s childhood BFF, Natalie, was helping to clean out a relative’s house, and when they found this train she thought of Nicholas. It’s the first thing he runs to in the morning and he is still playing with it when we have to drag him off to bed. It’s also the perfect size for under the Christmas tree.

Speaking of the Christmas tree, have you seen my tutorials for snowman keepsake and applesauce ornaments yet?

I’m soooooo happy we were able to finish our fireplace mantle before the holidays. 

This is the first year we’ve been able to hang our stockings by a fireplace. 

Psst…Want to hear a secret about our monogrammed stockings? I only bought one of them (Penelope’s) from Pottery Barn Kids.

The rest I bought from one of my favorite websites, Uglysofa.com, that sells what they call “Brand X” (rhymes with “Snottery Yarn,” mentioned above) overstocks and returns at amazing prices. 

They always have a ton of “Brand X” stockings for less than ten bucks. A lot of them are monogrammed, but they only have common names. The monogramming is included in the price. They didn’t have Penelope last year, so I ordered her one to match from PBK. Truth be told, I was a little disappointed that the monogram on her expensive one wasn’t as thick as the others. I was expecting her monogram to be the same as Nicholas’. They also have what they call “recession stockings,” like our Santa on the left, that have the white cuff cut off because a name was misspelled or something. They don’t match exactly with the others, but you can get them personalized for free if you have a less common name.

This is not a sponsored post, I just really like that website, especially around the holidays, and I wanted to share it with you. Although, I have to warn you that my friend Lauren ordered stockings from Ugly Sofa last year and the monograms were crooked. Look at the photo carefully before you order. The photo is the exact stocking you are ordering.  

Are your holiday decorations up? Did you put them up before or after Thanksgiving? (If you say before, I’m not sure we can still be friends, but I’ll give you a free pass just this once since Thanksgiving came so late this year.)  

"It's gettin' hot in here, so take off..." ahem. Excuse me. I've spent the afternoon with my husband getting steamy on the dining room table.

It’s not what it sounds like. I got a new toy: a SteamMachine.

It’s for housework.

I love the holidays and all of the company that comes with them. I even like to cook. (and eat!) What I do not love, at all, is cleaning. Blech.

But, unfortunately, I do like to have a clean house. My children and their toys have other ideas.

That’s why I was super excited when HomeRight offered to let me try their SteamMachine .

The first thing I decided to try was our dining room table.

I clean this table every stinkin’ day, usually more than once, and the thing is still always a mess. Always.

It is a hand-me-down from my dad and step-mom, so it was not new when it joined our family 5 years ago and it takes daily abuse from three kiddos, so it doesn’t really owe us much.

Our table is tired, and it shows.

It’s kind of a Monet. “From far away it’s okay, but up close it’s a big old mess.” Name that movie. 

Poor guy (the table) had water marks, play dough, and remnants from old craft projects all over the place.

Check out those before photos. Super embarrassing. 

I made a video so you can see the SteamMachine in action.

 In the words of my husband, “Dude. That thing actually did a good job!”

Ta-da! The after photo:

 And in the spirit of holiday giving, HomeRight has offered to give a SteamMachine to one lucky Binkies and Briefcases reader. 

Just enter using the Rafflecopter below.

This post and giveaway are sponsored by HomeRight. This post contains affiliate links. This giveaway is for US residents age 18 and older. HomeRight is responsible for prize shipment. The winner will be notified by email and have 48 hours to respond. In the event the winner does not respond, another winner will be chosen.
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