You know you are a Redneck when...

you buy all of your Christmas decor at Dollar Tree  ;}

At least that is what my niece, Cortney, and friend, Denyse, were calling me after I shared iPhone photos with them of my fabulously "tre chic" Wreath, Tree and Stocking Holders. 

The first thing Denyse said to me was...you should have used Red Solo Cups ;}   "What?"   Well I did not know that there was such a song by Toby Keith so will the real Redneck please stand up ;}

So now without further ado...I'm sharing my creative ingenuity with you all at Denyse's Pick-a-Theme Thursday blog party...so that you all can share in the laughs.

First up is my wreath which was inspired by this post {from a very classy party planning site I might add ;} that I had pinned on my Holiday Pin Inspiration board because I just thought it was...oh so clever ;}   For my DIY Dollar Tree version,  I used white styrofoam cups (because I knew the plastic "solo" version would melt when I used my glue gun...I'm kinda smart like that :) and then added a very sparkly holiday bow to hang it with...

In the center of the wreath I placed an appropriate verse (vinyl lettering from...you guessed it...Dollar Tree ;) and simply adhered it to the hotel door with some of my favorite Stikki-Clips...and the wreath stayed up on the door for over five days!

aka...boogers...around here and I've bragged about them before...because they stick to just about anything and because they do no harm to the surfaces...other than a little bit of sticky residue that you need to wipe down with a damp cloth ;} 

These boogers even held up the Monogram Hooks that I got at Michaels for stocking holders.  Word to the wise...when pulling  Stikki Clips off of painted surfaces...simply twist and lift gently...otherwise you could end up pulling the paint and wall board right off with the clips...just sayin ;}

Of course...I don't care what you use to hold your stockings...but MINE are NEVER big/study enough to hold our stockings...that would be because I tend to overstuff them ;}  Hence why stocking holders are purely a decorative element...as in the next photo when you can see the EMPTYstockings as they are hung up on the wall above where my sister is getting all weepy over a Shutterfly book that I put together for my Mom of all the grand-kids when they where little...Over the River and Through the Woods to Nana & Bumpa's House We Go. 

Since our family is all grown up and we are spread out all over the states...getting together for the holidays is a big thing for us.  So this year, even though we were getting together in a hotel room...I still wanted to make it festive and I really wanted to surprise everyone with my version of a tree ;}

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So I was really inspired by the two above photos that I had also pinned earlier in the month.  The Merry and Bright creation reminded me of the Lite Brite toys from when we were kids...only they used an art canvas to poke a string of lights through for their design.  The second photo of the snowy lighted outdoor tree...well, I was surprised how how pretty the colored lights looked...usually I'm an all white only lights...kinda girl.   So I put the two together and this is what I came up with...a water bottle tree {hint...squint your eyes together when looking at the following photo ;}

Since we were staying in the hotel for five days...I knew we'd be needing bottled water.  Since we travel alot, we like to be green, so we usually bring along our Bobble Bottles when it's just filtered water for DH and moi.  BUT since we were hosting the holidays and we were going to have seven thirsty adults...I knew that bottle water was going to be part of our haul.  So I picked up a couple of cases of bottled water and I slapped on some leftover Christmas wrapping paper {next year it's duck tape;} with my Xyron machine to cover the ugly labels.  Then I cut out circles of cardboard (from the cases the water bottles came in) to place between the levels of the water bottle branches...and cut a hole in the centers to run the lights up through...and whola!  I had to do a test run of our Redneck Christmas Tree at home before attempting it at the hotel...if it didn't work...the worst thing that could happen is that we'd have festive water bottles ;}

Everyone really got a kick out of the tree when they saw it set up in the hotel room...happy dance!

Tim and Ashley drove down from Pittsburgh, PA and they stayed in the same hotel...same floor...as we did and when they got in late Christmas Eve...Tim said that he should have known that it was our room when he saw the wreath on the door.   Here, we are joined by my sister Debbie, and her son, Wesley, in our hotel suite.  "Can you say...Martha F'n Stewart".  It's a family joke...and I take it as a compliment ;}

The Hampton Inn was a very pleasant surprise and we had more than enough room for everyone to sit comfortably in the living room area. The kitchen had a two burner stove-top, microwave, dishwasher and nice size refrigerator.  The center island and counter area served us well as our buffet where we spread out the ton of food that I prepared ahead of time...Spicy Chicken Fried Rice and Roasted Chicken (with all the fixings for sandwiches with bacon, cheese and yummy potato rolls)...along with many of our favorite baked Christmas goodies...lined up here on the counter in my Redneck containers ;}

Once my oldest son Mitchell arrived we sat down and enjoyed our spread before opening up gifts.  Of course the gift-giving commences with the kids opening up their stockings.

Finding stuff to put in their stockings is the best part of Christmas shopping for me...well almost ;]  Since we don't go crazy with loads of gifts...we try to make the one main gift that we give to the kids really special...which translates to me as...let's fool them with the wrapping of the gift...he he he

Please note that if you are reading this post in a reader or your email then the videos will not appear.

I apologize ahead of time for the f'bombs...aka...Yankee adjectives ;}

Then it was Tim's turn...again I apologize for the language...and the obnoxious laugh ;}

So by now Mitchell has caught on and he's not having any of it...

Then there is the aftermath of the gift opening...

It doesn't matter if you are home or in a hotel room...it always looks like a bomb went off...

We still had a few more presents to open up...but that would have to wait for an intermission...

So that we could open up our Christmas Crackersthat our niece, Cortney  had sent to us.  Since we were going to be Skyping with her in California and our family in New Hampshire we had to freshen up a bit ;}  For those of you who are not familiar with Christmas Crackers...they are an English tradition of gift giving usually done at the dinner table.  It is a small present in the form of cardboard tube that is filled with little trinkets and when you pull the ends of the papers...it sets off a little fire cracker in them and they pop open...or "crack" open...hence the term Christmas Crackers.

This year our Crackers were filled with little toys...be thankful that they were not filled with Kazoos and Christmas Carols as ours have been in the past...otherwise you would have had us trying to play our Kazoos on the video...oh my 

The above photo was taken from Christmas in 2002 and we had all gathered at our house in Concord, NC where we had put on our PJ's and our Christmas Cracker hats and tried to get through ONE verse of the kazoo carol...I don't think having wine helped ;}

But you know what...it was one of the MOST memorable of our Christmases...just like this years will be.  It was great to all be together and now with Skype, it makes it even easier to share the times with those family members who can't travel.

Like the sign on my door says..."The Best Things In Life Aren't THINGS"

Fondly, Roberta 

Joining in for all the fun at Tatertots & Jello's Weekend Wrap Up Party and spreading the BLOG LUV about Jen's fantastic Project Life Giveaway...be sure to check it out and let Jen know that Roberta sentcha ;}

Comments

[Debra]

what obnoxious laugh?

[Denyse@Crazy Beautiful Life]

I think you called me a "Redneck"...LOL ...You can use the red solo cups next year...HAHA!! And, it's a good thing I don't get gifts from you...I'd smack you with it...LMAO