~r & r~

I don't know about you, but after the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, a little rest and relaxation is a must. We headed to the mountains for a few days after Christmas.

Being in the crisp cold air, hiking, boating, taking long walks, it was fabulous.

For the second time we stayed at Canyon River Ranch.

I highly recommend it to anyone around Ellensburg Washington.

Here are a few photos I took of our time away.

~Happy New Year~

{and happy birthday to my now 12 year old Cody!}

xoxo

~a New Year table~

To view the original post, click here.

xoxo

~let's get organized~{a fabulous giveaway}

2015 is right around the corner and I have teamed up with some of my favorite bloggers for this fun giveaway that includes the essentials for a great start to the new year!
How would you like to win everything you see below including a mini i-pad?!

 

   Blue-Eyed Bride | Lil Luna | Tom Kat Studio | Hi Sugarplum | Jenny Collier My Sweet Savannah | The Tiny Twig | Love, Sarah Schneider | Whitney English | Mindy Lockard a Rafflecopter giveaway

xoxo

~wishing you happy holidays~

From our family to yours, Merry Christmas 

and a happy New Year!

xoxo

~The Brown Eyed Fox~{pure inspiration}

She doesn't know I am featuring her today, but she has been such a huge inspiration to me, I have to give her a shout out.

Have you read The Brown Eyed Fox?

If you need a dose of HAPPY, head on over right now.

Her house, her photos, her kids, everything makes me smile.

Here are some of my favorites.

Btw, she was the inspiration for Savannah's bedroom makeover.

Thanks darling, you are a gift.

~Happy Holidays everyone~

xoxo

~8 delicious holiday cookie recipes~

Tis the season for holiday baking!

Making Christmas cookies is one of my favorite things to do, and for the first time this year we spent one whole day making cookies to gift to friends.

It was so fun and they turned out so cute, I thought I'd share them with you in case you want to make them all, or just some.

I wrapped them up in white boxes from the restaurant supply store. 

In between the layers of cookies inside, and again on the top, I cut down these paper placemats.

You could also use parchment paper inside and scrapbook paper on top.

I tied the top with twine and added a little sprig of cedar.

I also added the recipe cards.

Not because I think so highly of my cooking skills, but more in case people have allergies and need to see whats in them.

At the very last minute I added a candy cane to the top, drove around and delivered them to my friends!

It was a fun day baking with the kids and it really only took one full afternoon. 

A lot of these recipes have chill times in the fridge, so it allows you to get started on others while they are chilling.

And just in case you wanted to do something similar, I've created the recipe cards for you as well. All you have to do is right click on them and save them to your computer, then insert them into a word document.

{or copy and paste in a word doc}

For reference, I made my recipe cards 3 1/2 x 5 and printed them on card stock.

The paper place mats I cut down to 7 1/2 x 5.

Happy baking!

xoxo

~DIY scrap wood Christmas tree~

I apologize for not posting this yesterday for thrifty Thursday but my computer was down.

For this scrap tree you will need the following:

Felted wool balls {optional, you can use pom poms}

1x2 wood cut at varying lengths

paint color of your choice

a piece of scrap wood cut into a square for base, approx. 5"x5"

hot glue gun

liquid nails or wood glue

Etsy has a good selection of these wool balls.

Cut 1x2 wood into varying lengths. 

You will also need a base. Mine was a 1x6 I cut into a square.

You will also need a small scrap 1x2 for the tree trunk.

After you cut them, sand any rough edges and paint all the pieces.

Once dry, sand the edges if you like a little aged look.

Then attach your tree trunk to your base. 

I used a combination of liquid nails and an air nailer with small nails.

Then you just start working your way up the tree with your branches, adding them in a random fashion.

The top piece of wood can be standing vertical to create the illusion of a star.

Using hot glue, add the felted wood balls.

xoxo

~make a custom picture frame~

If you follow the steps found here you can make this adorable picture frame.

The best part about these frames is that you can use any paper to match your decor, you can even use fabric, or like in the link above, wallpaper.

To add the text simply run your scrapbook paper through your printer!

Make sure it is trimmed to a 8 1/2 x 11 and print a sample piece first.

If it prints wrong, you can adjust the text without ruining your final paper.

I cut apart our last years Christmas card from Minted to fit in the opening.

And here is this years card, again done by Minted.

Happy happy holidays friends!

It's actually my 40th birthday today, so I am off for a little fun with the family.

xoxo

~some fun before and afters of our master bedroom~

This was our master bedroom.

Yep, and this was even phase two.....

Sorry for the blurry photo, but I want to tell you what stayed and what went.

 Most everything in this room is from a thrift store. The bed, one nightstand {above} and cabinet that sits under the tv across from the bed were all bought matching at a big box store when we were in our 20's and didn't know better. 

After a re-do I had my photographer friend come take pictures with her wide angle lens.

It distorted the color though. I need to change up my photos on the house tour.

The real color is below.

It's graphite by Ben Moore.

I kept the bed because they were expensive and painted it.

Brought in bigger nightstands from Goodwill, painted to match the bed.

It is funny when you live with things for a while, the more you realize the necessities. For us in this small house, storage is key.

Painting the wood trim around the windows was huge. 

I am constantly changing bedding, but it usually remains white or cream.

I also removed the shades from the chandelier which I like a lot better.

The chandelier is from Restoration Hardware kids.

If you want to read about the diff. phases of this room, you can click, here and here.

Our Christmas tour is here if you'd like to take that.

xoxo

~simple and fresh holiday decor~

Well we are home safe from a quick weekend trip to Vegas.

How much fun!

But, back to reality. I have presents to wrap, gifts to purchase still, and a house to clean.

Before I left for vacation I saw this on one of my favorite blog s

Cote De Texas and had to share with you.

I love the simple touches.

xoxo