Time to Spruce Things Up for Christmas

Hello, my lovelies! 

Are you one of those types who trim their tree just seconds after the last piece of Halloween candy is dropped into a bucket? Who moves immediately from pumpkins to sugar plums? Snowplowing directly past Thanksgiving all while blaring Mariah Carey and sporting their finest ugly sweater? 

Yeah, me neither. 

In fact, I have a hard "no Christmas until after Thanksgiving" rule. For some reason, I get very defensive on behalf of Turkey Day, maybe because it's so easily looked over nowadays and I feel bad. Or maybe because I think the month of November should be filled with Fall and not Fa-La-La-La-Las. 

With that being said, once it IS the proper time to celebrate the holiday season, I. AM. HERE. FOR. IT! 

I haven't bought new decorations in a loooong while. So since we'd be adding another stocking to the mantel, I jumped at the chance to "spruce" up (see what I did there?) the space above our fireplace to celebrate Harrison's first Christmas with new garland and trimmings! 

This year I wanted bottle brush trees. I've had my eye on these cute little creations for some time, and just love how whimsical they are. You can find them almost anywhere, but the large white ones in the photo all came from Hobby Lobby. They have quite the variety, and with all holiday decor 50% off right now you can't go wrong. 

Hob-Lob is also where I picked up the garland, lambs ear clips, owl pick (how CUTE is he??!!!), and gold tree picks. The red and green berry garland, lights, and "joy" sign I already had, and the small trees I ordered from Amazon. 

My process for assembly went like so; 
1. pour a cup of coffee
2. play Christmas songs 
3. start with the big stuff - garland, berries lights, sign
4. move to medium - white trees, lambs ears, gold trees
5. finish with small - tiny trees
6. before ANY of this, drop the baby off at daycare and take a personal day from work so you can actually be productive. 

When adding picks and such to garland, think about clustering your decorations in groups of three. Mix various heights and textures for dimension, all while keeping visual weight in mind so the whole piece is balanced. 

Holy holly berries that is FESTIVE! 
Such an upgrade from the sad little strand of plastic green garland I used to throw up there behind my knick-knacks. And isn't Harrison's stocking fabulous!? I picked it up at a local boutique, and grabbed three extra in case I decide Eric and I need to match. Or we have 3 more kids...whichever comes first. 

I can't wait for Christmas morning. I dont' think Harry will have a clue what's going on, but if his excitement is anything like when he met the big man...I think we're in for a jolly ol' time. 

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! 


Check out all of our home improvements and decor, by visiting the OUR NEST page.

All That Glitters...Will Go On My Dinning Room Table

Thanksgiving is over, and that means it's officially legal to decorate for Christmas! 

TIS THE FREAK'N SEASON BABY! 

Also, it's been like THREE MONTHS since I've blogged about anything...and well...it's about time. After the completion of our backyard, we've been taking things pretty easy. A lil something fun though...big shout out to Apartment Therapy for featuring us as a Before and After!!!! I'm a HUGE fan of that site, so seeing my own home as I scroll up it's pages feels AWESOME! You can read the whole article here.

But back to decking those halls! This year's theme? Mystical Christmas Mermaid.

Glitter? Pink? Sparkles? Mermaid! 

I've always had a fascination with those oriental looking ginger jars. I love the contrast of blue and white, so every time I spot one at the thrift store or antique mall I scoop it up. While normally my little collection sits on top of the stairs, when that space is needed for the Penguin Tree (we have lots of Christmas themes in this house), they get pushed to the side.

Sad day. 

So imagine my delight when I FINALLY figured out a way to incorporate them into the decorations. It was time to switch things up anyhow. 

Eric's response to my creation? 

"So. How exactly does this say mermaid?" 

Pssh. Men. 

The nontraditional colors of pink, green, and blue are really bringing me some happy vibes. I was given two GIANT tubs of these ornaments a few years back, and decided to bring them out again for funzies. I snagged the gold sequin table cloth from a friend who was selling her wedding decorations. It's huge, sparkly, and 100% worth it. 

And the best part? There's a certain time of day when the sunlight hits the table juuuust right, and BAM! The whole room is covered in beautiful sunny disco ball polka dots.

So the next time someone says "Ummm mermaids aren't really Christmas-y", blow some bubbles in their face and swim away, because nobody needs that negativity in their life. 

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!! 

Own Your Strong - 2016 Gift Guide

Do you hear what I hear?

Do you hear what I hear?

I hear another round of GIFT IDEAS!!! I’ve browsed high and low to bring you a few of my favorite things, and can’t wait to share them with you! From techies, to foodies, to athletes, and bookworms, there’s a little something for everyone.

Be sure to visit OWN YOUR STRONG for the full article, including links and descriptions of each gift!

Need more ideas? Check out these lists from Christmas past: 

2015 Strong Girl Gift Guide 

2014 Strong Girl Gift Guide
DIY String Art Projects Make Awesome Gifts
DIY Holiday Gifts that are Fun to Make AND Receive

(Warning, some links might be expired or products no longer available.)

The above products in no way associated with the brand Own Your Strong nor was I paid to promote them. All opinions are 100% my own.

Our Home for the Holidays!

One of my absolute favorite things about owning a house, is getting to deck the CRAP out of the halls for Christmas. Most of our holiday decor consist of hand-me-downs from parents, random knick knacks we've accumulated, and of course whatever it was we snatched up during the "day-after-Christmas" sales last year.

I love seeing how everyone spruces up their home for the holidays, so I hope you enjoy ours as much as I enjoyed decorating it! 

This year St. Nick was extra kind, and had all of the outdoor lights hung when I came home Sunday! Or Eric may have done it...either way I was delighted to pull up to the glow of twinkle lights. 

Does St. Nick visit your house on December 6th? As kids we stuffed our lists to Santa in our stockings the night before, St. Nick would come to take them, and then leave behind lots of candy and other goodies in their place. 

Heading inside, the wreath on our front door is something I made a few years ago. I'm pretty sure I got everything from Hobby Lobby, and just started piecing it together.

That little hall table has to be the best purchase I've made all year. It is AWESOME to just throw your keys on, or in this case, hold a beautiful tray of glitter-bombed peacock themed ornaments.

Growing up, my mom always hung lots of garland and swag going up the stairs. Big bows, poinsettias, ornaments, everything. So of course I did the same upon owning my own set of stairs.

Our Christmas tree is front and center in the living room. I adore our tree. The year before we got married, I went out on the 26th and found it on sale for 70% off or something crazy like that. And as particular as I am about certain decor, our tree is NOT one of those things I obsess about. There are some coordinating bulbs this year (because I had SO MANY) but 90% of our tree is composed of handmade, childhood, gifted, and "where the heck did we get this?" type ornaments. 

And yes, our wrapping paper is leopard print.

Wherever the location, we've been lucky enough to have a mantle to hang our stockings on. Even in our first apartment, there was a non-functioning fireplace.

Next up is the dining room. Even though it's probably the least used room in the house, it might be the most decorated. Since I had so many ornaments, I hung a handful in front of the windows using ribbon and duct tape. Soooo easy, but so cute!

Of course the chalkboard window got a new design, and this recently added ladder shelf took no time at all to fill.

During the Mini-Awkward-Bathroom Makeover, we added three more shelves, and three more places for ornaments! Nothing like a bit of glitz while you pee to really make your holidays special. 

Another new addition, which I've wanted for a while, is a small tree at the top of the stairs. We don't really have room for multiple full size trees, but this mini version is just perfect!

When all the decorations were up, and everything was said and done, my floors were COMPLETELY covered in glitter. I tried cleaning, but now I've just come to accept it as part of the "Christmas ambiance". 

Did you put up anything special this year? Are you a full blown Christmas elf, or do you prefer to keep things minimal? 

D.I.Y.'ing it Through the Holidays

ONE WEEK UNTIL CHRISTMAS! 

Can you even believe it? 

I feel like just yesterday it was Thanksgiving, and now it's already time to head back home once again for the holidays. I've been listening to Christmas music, adoring all the twinkling lights, and feeling extra spirited this year for some reason. Maybe it's because we're all getting older, but what I'm looking forward to the most this year is the people. Getting to visit with a special lady who now lives in Texas, and a beautiful couple coming in from Delaware (you know who you are!) just makes me giddy, and a permanent smile has been glued to my face all week. 

All three of my sisters are going to be in town for Christmas as well! Hanging out with them is something else I've been craving. Words don't even describe how much watching goofy home videos or just sitting around and talking with them means to me. 

Heaven.

But before all of the crazy traveling and parties begin, there are gifts to be wrapped!

This year I decided to make my own wrappings out of builders paper. We found our as Menards, so for around $11 we got 140 feet of paper! Sound the super savings alarm! Not only will this stuff last us through the holidays and then some, it's perfect to lay on the floor as a drop cloth while painting walls. 

Before wrapping the gifts up, I drew a funky pattern on the paper to make them a bit prettier. This was my absolute favorite part of this project! The variation of patterns you could come up with are endless. Depending on what the occasion is, you could customized each one with different designs. Or even just write the special someones name really big on it. Glue sequins, color a picture, write a love letter, any idea is perfect.

The tags are from a few leftover Christmas designs I did at work. I just printed them on paper, cut each one out with a circle paper punch, another quick punch at the top for the ribbon to go through, and done.

 I also grabbed some cotton string, and a few random spools of ribbon that were at Walmart for $1. They don't have a lot of ribbon on each one, but for a buck, they're totally worth it. 

Hopefully everyone enjoys their presents as much as I enjoyed wrapping them! 

I personally adore getting hand-made presents, it says "You are special enough to me that I took the time out of my insane life to make this for you!!!!!"  

If that isn't Christmas love, I don't know what is.

Anyone else trying to save some holiday green and DIY'ing their projects or gifts this year?