Random thoughts on an almost-Thanksgiving Saturday morning:

1. Just in case no one else has mentioned it yet today? You are amazing. Truly. In this whole entire world there is no one else like you.

2.  Don’t you think that your mother always ends up being right?

Mine gets smarter with every year.

3.  Is there a cut-off age for headbands? I found two in a drawer when I was organizing my closet and I can’t decide if I should wear them or not.

4. Do you add anything to your coffee that’s low calorie, but tastes delicious?

I’m trying to find a new hot drink for fall.

5.  Hallmark is rolling out the Christmas movies. My couch and cup of hot chocolate just told me that that this the best television programming decision ever.

6. In case you missed any of the days of “12 Days of Getting Ready for Christmas” I rounded them up here.

And now?

Let’s see all the fun stuff I found for us this week.

This is the simplest and the prettiest idea to decorate for Christmas.

All you need is five-minutes.

You can see the how-to here.

Look at these adorable mini-houses.

Aren’t they the cutest addition to a cup of hot chocolate?

See the how-to here.

Love this barn door makeover.

The paint color is perfection and I love the hardware.

You can see the entire makeover here.

This Christmas tree.

Every year I look forward to her Christmas decorations and she never disappoints.

See the entire tree here.

 

And in random news this week:

This clever furniture transformation

This DIY rug project

This fireplace mantel

This beautiful free downloadable

The best sugar cookie frosting

These cabinet doors

How to dry fruit for holiday decorating

These blue and white Christmas decorating ideas

This simple tip

This is the cutest apartment

This looks yummy

And this.

I am so looking forward to watching this new show.

And one more for the road.

Thank you SO MUCH for all the encouragement on the weight loss and for everyone who asked, I’m doing a program called Optavia.

I have so much farther to go, but here’s a picture of the progress so far.

Purple toenails and all. 🙂

Happy random Saturday to you.

Want to know how to decorate your home for free?
Click here to get my FIVE BEST secrets.

Comments

  1. Image for laura@everydayedits.co laura@everydayedits.co

    Congratulations on 40 pounds sweetie! That is amazing! One day at a time. Okay, I clicked on the old houses show (already blanked on title) and ending up following a young couple restoring historical homes in Dayton Ohio. I love Lucy and her dog! And, her fireplace wall. Happy Saturday! We are warming up here in Denver! laura

  2. Image for Beverly Beverly

    Looking amazing❣️ I wear headbands all the time. I have approximately one zillion. Haha Skinny syrup in my afternoon coffee is my daily treat. Lots of flavors.

  3. Image for Linda Linda

    You are amazing inside and out ! Glad to know you as a friend. Keep up the good work ! I know it's hard but you look great ! I've lost 3 pounds but IAM still going too. O and by the way Scobb and Merl says " thanks " for showing that pretty Buddy

  4. Image for Nancy Nancy

    I am so proud of you and your new approach to health! Wonderful! It is so hard to maintain a program in the best of times and to stay away from the wrong food in the pandemic requires being a WARRIOR. Good going! Your 3 white trees grouped together speak to my heart! I am trying to talk my husband into one skinny one! We downsized last year and he is very aware of storage challenges. I say buy one at the Resle and donate it back in January. Now I’m going back and read about those mini gingerbread houses. My kitchen is always Nan’s Gingerbread world in December.

  5. Image for Lori Lori

    You look great - I am a fellow weight struggler. Keep up the awesome work!! I love anything by Skinny Girl in my coffee and have never been disappointed in the flavors. They are almost all sugar free (yay).

  6. Image for Melissa Busby Melissa Busby

    I’m with you on the headbands! My personal policy is that age doesn’t apply to fashion and they’re so cute I want to wear them but feel a little silly when I put one on. Obviously it’s all about confidence....if you will I will! 😉 You look amazing, congrats!

  7. Image for Lyndsey Lyndsey

    Losing weight this time if year... THIS YEAR in particular?!?!? I didn't think it could be done! I'm even more amazed by you!

    1. Image for Michele M. Michele M.

      Exactly what I was thinking - extra bonus points - especially right after having left-over Halloween candy as well. It's fabulous of her, whoo hoo.

  8. Image for Calypso in the Country Calypso in the Country

    First of all, you look amazing! My neighbors have done that program and they swear by it. Meanwhile, the rest of us our gaining our covid weight...ugh. Great projects again this week! I'm so excited to start decorating for Christmas! Enjoy your weekend! Shelley

  9. Image for Mary S Mary S

    You look fantastic, Kerrianne. I'm down 5.. Been walking in the morning and working up to 30 minutes. Want to increase that time as much as as I can. I wear a headband almost all the time. Either that or a butterfly clip to pull it up off my neck. Can't stand my hair in my face - I can't see!!! Have you put it in a pony tail?? I'll bet it would be really cute with all your curls. Have those twins give you some help there. Either way, you are still beautiful!!!

  10. Image for TERESA GONZALES TERESA GONZALES

    Wow another great wrap up. I add sugar free cinnamon dulce syrup to my coffee-either cold or hot. It is Christmas in a cup year round. I also wear a head band-my hair feels like spider webs on my face. You always look fabulous!

  11. Image for LD LD

    Delicious hot drink...Hills Brothers Cappuccino sugar free French vanilla. I do add a couple stevia packets & squirt of whip cream. Good for non coffee drinkers. 50 calories ! Thanks for your blog!

  12. Image for Barbara Moore Barbara Moore

    You are the bomb diggity, sister. So proud of you. It is so very hard to lose weight but you are doing it. And so well! You look mah-va-lous!!!! Great stuff this week!

  13. Image for Jolyn Jolyn

    SUPER-congrats on the weight loss! That's awesome! Also, I'm loving sugar free pumpkin spice coffee creamers - Coffee Mate and International Delight are both good! Looking forward to other suggestions you receive, too, so let us in on the good ones, please!

  14. Image for Liberty Liberty

    Hi Karianne! Thanks for sharing my Simple Tip! And, my husband did Optavia 2 years ago and I wrote a post on it. Good for you for sticking with it. And I've been pinning those cute little mug houses/ mug cookies. They're so cute! Liberty

  15. Image for jillian jillian

    If you were to go to-- almond cow . com-- you would find a plethora of drink/creamer recipes. I indulged in the machine because we use a lot of almond milk and I got sick of making/straining it. Not fond of store almond milks. I have to say the machine is a wonder. Makes it so fast and no straining involved, easy clean up. I made the peach creamer, yum, excellent on oatmeal.

  16. Image for Lori H. Lori H.

    Now I'm looking forward to that new show! I hope it's not on a channel we can't get as we don't have HBO or Netflix but we do have Amazon Prime and love HGTV! Love the tip about the dryer vent too. I'll have to look at ours. Weight loss is a life change. It's a routine change. It's how I keep my perspective about it. It's a way of life. Your doing awesomely, purple toes and all! I found a non-sugary hot drink that I love. I'm not a huge coffee drinker due to the acid it creates (heart burn oh Boy!) but Crio Bru ( I like Ghana light roast) found on Amazon or Whole Foods is made from Cocoa Beans and since I'm lactose intolerant and Oat milk, Almond milk and some others cause me great pain I love Nut Pods Vanilla or any other flavor, non-dairy, non-sweetened works great plus I add a little Stevia or my favorite Sweet Leaf sweetener. I have nothing fancy but my Cuisinart Extreme Brew coffee maker. Game changer for me! Dark chocolate every day makes me happy and it's a healthy easy treat with your warm Cocoa Brew! Hugs!

  17. Image for Diane Ruebel Diane Ruebel

    Hello inspiration! Torani sugar free syrups flavor my capresso. I'm particularly fond of salted caramel and any of their chocolate varieties. Almond roca at Christmas provides the holiday flavor without the calories. Shaker and Scandinavian remind me of one another. When we leave our family home, I can imagine combining them to create an uncluttered yet layered country look. Restful Sabbath, Diney on Camano Island

  18. Image for Kris Kris

    Who's that cute girl in the picture? :) You rock. Keep it up. Thanks again for another fun internet romp. It will not surprise you to hear that once again, my fave is the Scandinavian site with the apartment. Gorgeous. But that furniture transformation was pretty amazing, too--it's fun to see all the creative minds out there!

  19. Image for Michele M / Finch Rest Michele M / Finch Rest

    GREAT Keeping this week, KA!!! Best part of post is that beautiful picture of you. Wow. Half your face is missing - you have lost SO much! You asked about coffee additives: my very fav is Nestle Coffee Mate Hazelnut Sugar Free. It is sweet but doesn't have that yucky gross fake sugar aftertaste. It's fabulous. I especially like to also use it as a splash of creamy yumminess to french toast batter or instead of milk in pancakes or certain cookie recipes that may be too dry - anything sweet you'd need to add water to I use it instead for added flavor and moisture. Keep up the good work. You look maaaaaaaaarvelous, darlink.

  20. Image for Kerry Kerry

    Congratulations on your weight loss--you look amazing! I just started drinking Chai tea as an alternative to coffee. I found a sugar-free chai tea latte concentrate made by Oregon Chai at Walmart. I mix it 1:1 with unsweetened vanilla almond milk, heat it up in the microwave and then froth it up with my immersion blender (I'm asking for a milk frother/steamer for Christmas lol). You can add some coffee to make it "dirty" if you want. It is delicious and perfect for this time of year!

  21. Image for Ann in Atlanta Ann in Atlanta

    OK, I am jumping in on the sugar free coffee add-ins: TORANI syrups (there are a gajillion sugar free flavors but I adore the SF peppermint at this time of year in my peppermint bark k-cups and use the SF hazelnut most of the year in my Dunkin Donuts hazelnut k-cups). Also the SF creamers from CoffeeMate are fantastic and I wish they would do the SF peppermint mocha all year! This fall, they introduced SF coconut creme (I mean, yum!) but it is nearly impossible to find. Their SF hazelnut is delicious. Can you tell I love my coffee?!? And, girl, you look amazing! Go, Karianne!

  22. Image for Kelly Kelly

    Looking good my friend! And I still wear headbands and have big curly hair so I say, go for it! Have an awesome weekend and thanks for the inspiration!

  23. Image for Janette Janette

    You're looking amazing, well done its so hard to lose the weight I know. You can still wear a hairband, its not against the law I promise and the best sugar I found is Half Spoon, it taste just like the real stuff and has helped me alot.

  24. Image for Rev. Suzanne Taylor Rev. Suzanne Taylor

    KariAnne! What a great photo!!! (Exclamation points truly positioned properly here. .😀) You look 10 years younger. I proud of you for sticking to this lifestyle change.

  25. Image for Celeste Celeste

    Wear the headband, I do and I'm older than you! Best device for keeping less than perfect hair out of your eyes. I leave this caveat though. If it's a small, sparkly pink, Lisa Frank headband you may want to think twice. Otherwise, be brave, set the style, do it!

  26. Image for MARY-ANN (FROM CANADA!) MARY-ANN (FROM CANADA!)

    KariAnne, you look so great with all the weight you have lost! So happy for you! Have a great week!

  27. Image for Marlene Stephenson Marlene Stephenson

    You are doing so good, very proud of you. Thanks for sharing with us, hope we are helping you. I wear headbands sometimes, to keep my hair out of my face, They aren't very fancy, just black and brown, some twisted, some straight. Have a great week.

  28. Image for LisaRose LisaRose

    I *love* a morning coffee with lots of flavor. My sweet husband makes me a custom mocha every morning before I wake so that it's on my bedside table when my eyes open. And you won't believe how low carb and healthy this decadent treat is. Start with an espresso or dark roast coffee. Add dutch process cocoa powder and stevia to taste. Use Ripple Protein Plant Based Milk (original unsweetened) as the "cream." Then add 2 drops of LorAnn Caramel Super Strength Flavor. And there you have it! A protein rich, super low calorie chocolate caramel mocha. Enjoy!! https://www.amazon.com/s?k=LorAnn+Caramel+Super+Strength+Flavor%2C+4+ounce+bottle&ref=nb_sb_noss

  29. Image for Laurie Laurie

    Congrats on your weight loss!! You look amazing! I'm not a coffee drinker but I drink 3 cups of green tea every morning and I swear by the health benefits it gives me. A year ago I started adding french vanilla creamer (sugar free) to my 3rd cup as a bit of a treat - Yum! And this time of year I love the sugar free pumpkin varieties that are out there. Enjoy!!

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