Monday, December 16, 2013

My Christmas Wishlist + $200 Amazon Giveaway!!

Hello everyone! Christmas is coming up very soon (9 days!), are you ready yet? I still have a decent amount of Christmas shopping to finish up but thankfully I can get a lot of it done from the comfort of my couch.

If you still need some ideas for some last minute gifts be sure to check out Coupons.com holiday gift guides. They have ideas for everyone: dads, teens, and kids. I especially love the Coupons.com holiday gift guide for moms; even though I’m not a mother yet I’d be happy to receive just about anything on this list!

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And if you want even more gift ideas here a few things I’d love to find under the tree on Christmas morning :-)
"Christmas wishlist" by blue11interiors on Polyvore


What’s even better than fantastic gift guides? An amazing giveaway! Head here to enter the Coupons.com Holiday Sweepstakes for a chance to enter a $500 gift card basket! You could win a collection of 10 $50 gift cards to awesome retailers like Kate Spade, Urban Outfitters, Home Depot, Target, and more!

To sweeten the deal even more Coupons.com has teamed up with a group of bloggers including myself to give one lucky reader a $200 Amazon gift card to buy anything you want! Use the Rafflecopter form below to enter! Entry form closes on Christmas Eve. Best of luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
  Thanks to Coupons.com for sponsoring this post!

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Christmas Tree 2013 + a GIVEAWAY!!

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The Christmas tree is finally up and decorated and it looks beautiful! There is an interesting story behind this year’s tree that I’d like to share with you (sorry in advance for the length). As you might remember, last year we got a real Christmas tree for the first time and while it looked (and smelled) amazing, I wasn’t a fan of getting it home/watering it/disposing of the tree/cleaning up pine needles all year. So although I was still open to getting a real tree again I also wanted to check out the artificial trees to see if we could find a decent looking one for a good price. Plus, when we went shopping for a tree last Friday night it was approximately 10 degrees outside and looking around outside for trees was not something I wanted to do.

So we checked out Target but we didn’t see any great deals. The cheap trees looked cheap, and the least expensive nice-looking tree was $125 (on sale). So, we headed home empty-handed Friday night. Ben had to work 12 hour days both Saturday and Sunday so we didn’t get a chance to go shopping again until Monday. We checked Hobby Lobby but their trees were way more expensive than what we were looking for. I had done a little research online about where to buy artificial trees and I was surprised to find that Kmart got good reviews, so after we struck out at Hobby Lobby we drove 20 minutes to the nearest Kmart to check out their selection.

Just like the article said, Kmart did have a good selection of trees for very reasonable prices. We liked the 6.5’ pre-lit Cashmere slim pine tree the best and it was on sale for $79.99, score! As we were looking at it a manager walked by and asked if we needed any help, and we said no, we’re just looking at the trees. He hung around and answered some questions, and then he told us that the tree we liked was sold out, but he could sell us the display model. And as a bonus for buying the tree off the floor we also got all of its decorations: the ornaments, ribbons, tree skirt, everything. Although we didn’t really need any of it there was no way we could pass up a beautiful tree for a great price that came with a ton of extra free stuff!

So we stood in the store and packed up all the ornaments off the tree before the manager wheeled the tree out of the store on a pallet for us, then we loaded it up in the car and came home. Since the tree wasn’t boxed up it took no time at all to bring it in and put it together. I absolutely love how it looks!

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I did use a lot of the Kmart items: the tree skirt, the ribbon, the bow topper, and a bunch of the ornaments. I also mixed in a lot of my ornaments though so that it didn’t look like it still belonged on the Kmart sales floor.

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Looks great don’t you think? And it goes really well with my mantle décor too.

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GIVEAWAY!

Now here’s the fun part for you: I have a lot of the Kmart ornaments left and I’d love to give them away to a lucky reader! I know that Target gets all the love for big-box store décor but I was very pleasantly surprised at how cute these ornaments from Kmart are.

So if you win you’ll get 12 ornaments from the Jaclyn Smith Midnight Clear collection: two frosted snowflakes, two acrylic snowflakes, two tiny cottages, two silver glitter starbursts, two bird in hat ornaments, and two white feather owls. In addition to the ornament you’ll also get the same Jaclyn Smith tree topper bow that I have on my tree. The whole package adds up to over $50 full retail value!

To enter just leave a comment with an answer to the question: Where is your favorite place to buy Christmas ornaments? Also please be sure to include your email address in your comment!

The giveaway is open to anyone who lives within the continental U.S. A winner will be chosen at random from all comments entered before 11 p.m. CT on Sunday, December 15.

Good luck!

 

P.S. This post and giveaway are in no way sponsored by Kmart, I just wanted to share some of my good fortune with you!

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Christmas Mantle

Hello friends! I’m getting so close to finishing decorating my house for Christmas. I’ll have more to show you tomorrow but for now I’m showing you one of my favorite projects so far: my mantle.

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The centerpiece is an old window I bought off Craigslist a long time ago. I’d always meant to do something with it and now I finally have! I added this rattan star from Pier 1 hung from a green ribbon and attached to the back of the frame with painters tape. Of course I added some twinkle lights to give it a little Christmas glow.

I kept the same stockings and stocking holders from last year and the same reindeer I’ve had since my first Christmas in my own place. I also brought in more gold and glitter by filling two dollar store vases with some cheap gold ornaments. The only new things I bought are the wire trees which I got for $10 each from Hobby Lobby.

I also decorated the hearth with a snowman card holder, a red tinsel tree, and some Christmas gift boxes.

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For a simple DIY project I strung some gold ornaments on a ribbon across the front of the mantle. I spelled out the words “Peace” and “Joy” by sticking on some simple black scrapbook letters to the ornaments.

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So, what do you think? My first Christmas mantle was good but I like my second one even better, do you agree?

Come back tomorrow to see my new tree; not only does it look beautiful, it also has a good story behind it Winking smile

Friday, December 6, 2013

Red and Gold Christmas Tablescape

Happy Friday everyone! I’m getting a little closer to having the house decorated for Christmas. I still don’t have a tree but my mantle is almost done, most of the accessories are out, and my dining table is looking beautiful!

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My Christmas tablescape was definitely a use-what-I-had/make-it-up-as-I-go-along kind of project. I kept the burlap runner I used for my autumn table and I added three red snowflake placemats I bought last year from Pier 1.

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The gold snowflakes are ornaments from a set I bought from Target on clearance after Christmas last year, and the “candle holders” are wine glasses. I had seen this done on Pinterest and I had wanted to try it for a while. The gold decorations under the glasses are from a couple tree picks I bought last year from Hobby Lobby; I simply trimmed the tops off with wire cutters.

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I made the tree out of pages from an old book. I didn’t take step by step pictures but this was a very easy, although somewhat time consuming, project. I started by forming a cone out out of a flattened fruit snacks box and then I attached approximately a million strips of paper using double stick tape. Each piece was about 0.75” x  2” and I curled every strip by rolling it around a pencil. I finished the top of the cone by wrapping a small piece of washi tape around the border, and then I stuck another piece of the gold tree pick in the top to fashion a tree topper of sorts. The whole project took me about an hour and a half. My fingers were definitely tired of double stick tape by the time I was finished but I’m really happy with how it turned out.

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I wanted to give the tree a little more height so I propped it up on a silver gift box that I had. I love the extra shine that it adds to the table.

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So there it is, my festive red and gold Christmas tablescape. My favorite part of this project is that I didn’t have to spend any money to make it, but if you wanted to recreate it from scratch you could certainly do so without spending a ton.

Tonight I’m planning to finally get my Christmas tree so I can hopefully finish Christmasfying the house this weekend. Stay tuned!

 

**Linking up to the Party Brunch**

The 36th Avenue

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Last Christmas

I’m behind on decorating for Christmas this year so in the meantime I thought I’d revisit my favorite projects and decorations from last year. Hopefully I’ll have pictures of this year’s decorations to show you soon.

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Red

DIY Christmas Wreath

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For more about last year’s crafts and décor check out these posts:

Ohhhh the Weather Outside is Frightful

Felt Flower Christmas Wreath

The Countdown has Begun

Christmas Mantle Craft

Monday, December 2, 2013

Cyber Monday

Hi friends! I hope you all had a fabulous holiday weekend. I did all the usual Thanksgiving weekend activities: ate way too much delicious food on Thanksgiving, shopped the Black Friday deals (from the comfort of my couch, I don’t go out with the crazies), watched lots of college football, and went to the movies (Catching Fire, SO GOOD!). All in all it was a very successful weekend!

Of course today is Cyber Monday which means there are tons of great deals to be found online. Here are some of my favorite sales that you may or may not know about.

 

Joss and Main: Extra 20% off with code CYBER20

Kate Spade: 30% off the whole site with code CYBER30

Kirklands: 30% off entire order with code CR86FE

Hammerpress (a KC company): 20% off with code EARLYHOLIDAY2013

J.Crew: 30% off and free shipping with code MONDAY

Rugs USA: 70% off select rugs

Etsy Shops:

The Curious Nickel (a KC artist!): Buy two 8x10 prints, get one free

Alicia Bock: All regularly priced ($35) 8"x8", 8"x12" and 8"x10" unmatted photographs are "buy one, get one free" with code HOLIDAY2013

Bomobob art prints, calendars, and gifts: 25% off site-wide with code BOMO25

 

Happy Shopping!

Friday, November 22, 2013

House Tour: Guest Room and More

It’s Friday, and that means it’s the final day of my home tour! Today I’m featuring the upstairs hallway/landing and the guest room. I hope you’ve enjoyed getting a glimpse inside my home. Thanks so much for checking it out, and a special thanks again to my friend Laura for taking the wonderful photos!

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Sources

Gallery Wall: DIY paint chip art, Garage sale mirror, Happiness print from TJ Maxx, Dog print from Perdido Key, FL gallery, the rest are free printables; Black Table: Garage sale; Blue pillows: Pottery Barn; Pink pillow: DIY; Striped comforter: Target; Bedside lamp: Walmart; Paris print (on dresser): Plaza Art Fair; Flower lamp (on dresser): Ikea; Everything else: Vintage, gift, or hand-me-down

Thursday, November 21, 2013

House Tour: The Rest of Downstairs

This may sound weird, but I think my favorite space in my house is the downstairs hallway/entryway. A lot of my favorite items are here, and I think this space represents my style better than any other room. Colorful, eclectic, modern, filled with art, and a touch of mid-century and Chinoiserie style.

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I also really love the downstairs powder room. It has great little built-in shelves that are the perfect spot to display my collection of French and Italian knick-knacks. About half of them are souvenirs from my trips abroad and the other half are gift from my mom.

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Sources

Rugs: Nate Berkus from HSN; Blue Mirror: My grandparents, repainted; Gallery Wall: Eiffel tower print from Plaza Art Fair, Beach print from gallery in Perdido Key, FL, Mirror from garage sale, boat photograph by me, Bird piece by Dolan Geiman, Butterfly print by Alicia Bock, Dog print by Dolan Geiman, Chicago print from Plaza Art Fair; Bamboo Mirror: Vintage, West Bottoms; Garden Stool: Marshall’sHome is Wherever I’m With You print: DearEmmie; Chair: Ben’s family, repainted and seat recovered; Bathroom prints: From Italy, DIY frames; Bathroom tray: Nebraska Furniture Mart

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

House Tour: Master Bedroom

It’s Day 3 of my home tour! Today I’m featuring the master bedroom and bathroom. There are still a few updates I’d like to do but I’m really happy with where everything is now. I hope you like it!

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Sources

Headboard: Joss and Main; Comforter: Target; Sunburst Mirror: Pier 1; Dresser: Craigslist; Makeup storage: DIY; Jewelry Hooks: Pier 1; Nightstands: Bed, Bath & Beyond; Lamps: Target with DIY shades; State Art: DIY; Chest: My parents’ house; Chair: Target; Throw: Target; Garden Stool: Home Goods; Shelf: Made by my FIL; Curtains: Target; Bath mats: Groupon; Towel Basket: Home Goods