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120 Comments

  1. Ann Marie @ Twice Lovely
    December 18, 2013 @ 10:11 am

    There was an episode of That 70’s Show where Eric and Donna are registering for gifts for their wedding and Eric is finding the task tedious and horrible, so he decides he’s just going to purposefully do it badly, register for horrible things, so Donna will take over. He says “I guess I’m just bad at it.” with a shrug. I think Paul is that kind of evil genius. 😉

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  2. Amy B.
    December 18, 2013 @ 10:11 am

    Your mother loves your husband as much as my mom loves my husband. A woman always wants her mother to love her husband, but it starts to feel a little bit wrong when it starts feeling like mom might love hubby more than she loves her own daughter. 😉

    Your bows are completely lovely. The red satin is really the most perfect red. Your post makes it worth the head ache for the rest of us. I hope it makes it worth it for you too.

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  3. Sandy @ You May Be Wandering
    December 18, 2013 @ 10:14 am

    Absolutely hilarious post – and truly gorgeous bows! You made my day!

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  4. Amanda
    December 18, 2013 @ 10:16 am

    I come to you and you alone for a good laugh….please don’t ever stop

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  5. Jean
    December 18, 2013 @ 10:23 am

    Oh, I love Ted talks! And I love this blog….everyone needs to laugh, and often. Tell that to MY husband 🙂

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  6. DB
    December 18, 2013 @ 10:24 am

    E, Everything looks perfect EXCEPT those People’s Party Armbands.
    Paul, Another shoddy job. You cannot win. You know we are ALL on her side.

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  7. SSdGJ
    December 18, 2013 @ 10:25 am

    the pillows and ribbon look so very beautiful, congratulations on your beautiful work

    my desk however needed (1) immediate cleaning and (2) an emergency blow-dry to my keyboard as I read your new title of Supreme Dear Leader and more when I saw Dear Mom’s Patch, hahahahaha… but wait… there’s more

    don’t hate me… but I LOVE that Dear Supreme Leader Husband indulges your every want in his own special way… so I concur with Dear Mumsy that he’s very nice

    Happy Holidays… may I please have the 3 asian dolls… I love them

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  8. My Crappy House
    December 18, 2013 @ 10:26 am

    This post was ridiculously chaotic. I LOVED it! 😀

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  9. Babzy the Elder
    December 18, 2013 @ 10:31 am

    Once again, hysterical – but the outcome is beautiful and classy. When my kids were still very young, we lived in an historical house – country, not Victorian, and I was really into decorating for the holiday. Garlands around the fireplaces. Homemade holiday table runners with coordinated napkins, etc. That year we were hosting our entire family on Christmas Day, but I wasn’t deterred from staying up Christmas Eve until 4 in the morning, because at the last minute I got it in my head that for the already decorated tree to be perfect I needed to sew ribbons out of holiday fabric to wrap around our tree. Thankfully, it didn’t occur to me to do two-color ribbon. Never mind that the excited kids would be up bright and early. Well, I have to say that the tree looked spectacular when I finished. Me? Less than spectacular. No amount of makeup was able to conceal those circles under my eyes. But hey – guests weren’t supposed to be looking at me, right? They were supposed to be distracted by my awesome decorations. I can still remember the exhaustion and saying to myself, please, just let the company arrive so I can stop all this preparation madness, and get back to obsessing over those other projects I’d been neglecting.

    Thanks, once again, for your great post, and making me laugh. Have a wonderful, wonderful Christmas.

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  10. Carole @ Rustic Artistry
    December 18, 2013 @ 10:42 am

    We are all so grateful that your brain works the way it does. Or doesn’t.

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  11. Mary
    December 18, 2013 @ 10:47 am

    I know I said this the last comment I made, but I LOVE Paul. I would start a Paul Fan Club but I am too busy with my own over reaching ideas of what should happen for Christmas.

    The bows are stunning and worth all the effort especially when it is SO entertaining for all of us, your adoring fans, to read about. I, too, would rather make something I could easily buy because the made one always looks 100 times nicer. I am also very fussy about color. I love color and see about a million more shades than the average person.

    Love your blog SO much.

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  12. Jen
    December 18, 2013 @ 10:49 am

    Love that you are wearing gorgeous sparkly earrings, pretty lipgloss and pajama pants. 🙂

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  13. Stephenie
    December 18, 2013 @ 10:52 am

    Great post! Still wiping tears out of my eyes from laughing so hard. Hey, I see in you new picture with Don Draper that you are wearing one of your bows! By the way, thats the first time I’ve ever approved of the use of hashtags. Obviously you can do no wrong in our eyes.

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  14. S
    December 18, 2013 @ 11:01 am

    No better way to start the day than looking inside your beautiful brain.

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  15. Guy
    December 18, 2013 @ 11:06 am

    As a guy who happens to be named Guy and the only guy that appears to be adding a comment, I’d like to say something in Paul’s defense. He showed up ! (Note to Paul: I love you man but you gave me very little to work with in this particular situation. Stay strong ! )

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  16. Gloria R.
    December 18, 2013 @ 11:08 am

    You are amazing. I have followed in others footsteps and decided I will have to comment on every post that makes me start the day laughing and crying! LOVE LOVE LOVE the bows and I also have a mission that my house be the Christmassiest at least of my family and friends but do not worry, I am not in a class that could qualify as your competition!! I can’t wait to get home and start the bows…in other words “the next project to prove to my family that I irreversibly insane!”

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  17. laura
    December 18, 2013 @ 11:17 am

    You always make me laugh, and so does Paul even though he isn’t trying! No store bought ribbon could ever compare…it was totally worth it!

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  18. karen
    December 18, 2013 @ 11:26 am

    INSANELy funny….love your bows and best wishes for a quick recovery from your surgery. Make sure you have a bell handy to call Paul when you need anything during your recovery period. xox

    Reply

  19. Renee
    December 18, 2013 @ 11:34 am

    Oh, I am crying from laughing so hard! And then I read this post to my husband, who replied with, “Is this woman your long-lost sister?”
    Hilarious, he is. Hilarious.

    Reply

  20. Tanya
    December 18, 2013 @ 11:36 am

    Earlier this year I saw one of your posts somewhere, probably from another’s blog, and immediately subscribed to your blog. When I got your email notice this morning about a new post, along with those few words in the email to tease me with, I clicked on the link to see the entire post because I was sure it would be filled to the brim with some wonderful last minute decorating technique that I would just have to fit into my already filled schedule.

    About the same time I was waiting for your page to load, I received an email from our administrator that our internet is down for the time being. WWHHAAATTTT??? I asked to be excused from the office so I could go home to read the post but they felt it more important that I stay here and find some busy work until the network came back. What an agonizing two hours I spent perusing an 800 name christmas card list for one of my bosses, weeding out old names and adding new.

    Finally, the time arrived and I was able to read your post with very few interruptions (which were met with the stink eye and the questioner promptly slinking back to his office to wait for me to finish).

    As usual, you didn’t fail to amuse! Thank you Victoria Elizabeth Barnes for showing us that you are human, have an equally human husband and an extraordinary mother. And, I forgive you for not showing us those wonderful step by step instructions because I’m sure I don’t have the time to complete this beautiful project and could never measure up to your expertise anyway.

    What I do enjoy most about your posts is your honesty and ability to show us your errors in judgment – you know, not using ribbon in the first place AND trusting your husband to cut fabric (come on, Victoria, really?).

    I hope you recover quickly from your minor surgery and have a most wonderful Christmas!

    Reply

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