~holiday gift guide~

Kate, who blogs over at Centsational Girl, has put together the most fabulous
gift guide. It's a collection of 2 dozen bloggers and tastemakers sharing
their favorite gifts for giving. Hop on over here to see what is in store!

Thanks Kate for selecting me to be one of your contributors!

xoxo

~advertising special~

~our Thanksgiving table~

First of all, Happy Thanksgiving to all of you! I hope
you have a very relaxing day spent with loved ones.

This year I was inspired to use some blue and white, which is not typically what
I use. But, I pulled it all together, and mixed in with some natural colors I think it works.
You can view details and such right here.

xoxo

~decking the halls!~

Decking the halls, be back soon!

xoxo

~make napkins for Turkey day out of PILLOWCASES~

You know I love a good DIY, and I also love repurposing items.
While thinking about my holiday table ideas I couldn't seem to find
cloth napkins in a print I wanted.
So, I set out to make my own, and you can too~out of pillowcases.
Yes, you heard me right. And while we are repurposing items, why not cut down some old
leather belts for napkin rings?
Check out the how too, right here.

So if you have time, and if you can't find the exact pattern you want, give this a try!

xoxo

~new knobs for our dining room hutch~{& other news}

In the back of my mind, I knew I wanted to swap out the knobs on our dining room hutch.
While at World Market the other day looking for something else, I spied these.
I knew they would be perfect! I bought all they had and then had to go to 2 other stores to get the rest.
point is, if you like them, order them online! They are also a few cents cheaper online.
Every penny counts right?
Here is the link for them.

In other news, I finally made it out of bed. Felt so good to get some fresh air!
I met a real life blogger friend for a whip around downtown Seattle, and this fabulous lady just happened to be in town too! What a fun fun day with 2 very wonderful people.

Also, this year I am teaming up with Jennifer Rizzo and joining in on her holiday house walk!
Over the next several days I will be getting my home holiday ready to show you all back here on December 6th! Can't wait.

I am so ready for Christmas already, bring it on!

xoxo

~make recipe cards with PicMonkey~

Picmonkey now makes it super simple to create fun recipe cards for the holidays!
I love the idea of passing down family recipes to loved ones. You can create little recipe boxes forkids going off to college, maybe someone
just bought their first house…..
It's really easy to do, but their blog has step by step instructions.

I created this recipe card of my moms famous gingerbread cookies. Feel free to print out for your own use!

xoxo

~free printable eye charts for you~

Thank you for all your well wishes.
I am doing much better. I wanted to just pop in real quick and share with you about a cool website that
you can make fun custom eye charts. I shared this years ago, but since it's been a while, I thought I'd share again.
Feel free to save these I made and use them in your own home. I think they would be so cute on a gallery wall, or printed out really small for gift tags on presents.

A little hint: you can edit your eye chart further in pic monkey if you want to take the logo off the bottom, etc.

I hope to be back full time to blogging again soon!
xoxo

~guest posting~

Please come visit me today over here for a easy Christmas ornament idea!

I am going in for some minor surgery this morning and will be away from my computer for
a bit. Hope to be back blogging soon! Follow me on instagram for updates and happenings!

xoxo

~thrifty thursday~ {an Ikea hack}

Today's project started out with this botanical print from Ikea.
I bought it over a year ago, but never had the wall space for it. I finally decided I needed to do something with it, so I
set out to make a smaller wall hanging.

So I cut it down to around 17" x 27" and then painted it with chalkboard paint.

I was really bad about photographing this project, so bear with me. While the paint was
drying I cut down two strips of wood that I had laying around. Any kind will do, painted,
or not painted. Each piece measures approx. 19" x 2"

Next, using a staple gun, I attached the wood to the backside of the canvas.
Then I added a piece of jute twine with the staple gun to the top wood piece.
You could use ribbon, or whatever you prefer.

Next, "season" your chalkboard, meaning rub chalk all over it, then dry erase.

Then you get to get creative! Add a message, a picture, a menu, a honey do list………

I like that this is so versatile. It can change easily seasonally, for birthdays, etc.
The Ikea chart is also big enough to make 2, maybe 3 of these, so you can give some as gifts too!

xoxo

~a gorgeous home decorated for the holidays~

I couldn't help but share this home. It screams cozy to me and is over the top gorgeous
in my opinion. You can see the whole tour here, but these are some of my favorites.

xoxo

~better homes & gardens~

A couple years ago now, our home was featured in Better Homes And Gardens Christmas Ideas Magazine.
Here we all are, minus my husband who didn't want to miss work that day.

Since then some of the images have been popping up on their website which is fun to see!

Above is an advent calendar I made. Below is a chalkboard in our dining room.

It's kinda nice that the pictures they took 2 years ago are still in style today!
Have you started your Christmas decorating yet?
{photos by John Granen}

xoxo

~the best chocolate cake & frosting recipe~

Made this cake last night for Savannah's 15th birthday and

If you like chocolate, you will love this!

xoxo

~tart pan ornament sources & a winner~

Thanks to everyone who left comments on my thrifty Thursday project. I got so many
emails, etc. about the tart pans and stamps, I thought I'd quickly address it here!
Here are some places I have found the metal stamping stamps:

Amazon has some here, here, and here.

I also found this one on etsy.

There is a ton of different sized letters, so just search on etsy under "metal alphabet letter stamps"

The little tart pans I used were found thrifting.
I did find some here, here, and here

Ok, now for the winner of the Paper Moon Shop Designs giveaway.......


Susie from Hillcrest Acres!
Congrats! Mary should be in touch with you shortly!

Happy Firday!

xoxo