New Year Wishes...

Wishing you a Happy New Year~ May this year bring you much happiness, good health, prosperity, and love!



Hugs,

Wishing You And Yours...

... A Very Merry Christmas, And A Blessed New Year Full Of Peace And Joy!

Hugs,

Cozied In And Wrapping Things Up...

This weekend really didn't go as planned due to being a bit (well, more than a bit) under-the-weather. In fact, I'd have to say I've lost a full day~ during a very busy week! There are so many rainy days when I'm headed out the door on my way to work and wish that I could just stay home- cozy on the sofa- watching movies or reading a good book. Well, Saturday I had that opportunity! So, since I had quarantined myself to the house, I decided (between cups of hot tea and snoozing) to take some photos of my cozy little nest...

I added a string of white lights (that have since been straightened out!) to my gift garland. I think it gives it a little more sparkle. I really love how it glows in the evenings.

Darn, I wish I had taken this photo before the Christmas cards went out! How cute is he?? He was cracking me up. He just kept sitting there waiting for me to take more photos. He's so funny! Hagrid's been such a good boy this weekend~ my constant companion, looking over me.

Today I've been feeling somewhat better, thank goodness. I've been able to get most of my gifts wrapped. These are the adorable tags I've been using. They are actually "Vintage Christmas" postcards by Cavallini & Co. I just sliced each pre-glittered postcard into four strips... and viola! Festive gift tags, ready to be punched and strung with baker's twine. I love the vintage style graphics. Love. Them.

My favorite is this sweet little pink church...

The bottom of my tree is starting to fill in with sparklie-giftie-goodness!

I hope as we enter this new week we can all take time to enjoy the simple gifts of the season~xoxo

Hugs,

My New Gift Garland

Inspired by the fabulous-I-could-hardly-breath e-magazine, Inspired Ideas, I decided to tackle one of the projects that I fell completely in love with... The Gift Garland. I took the project in a little bit different direction with the color scheme, using the colors I decorate with at Christmas~ red, silver, and sparkle. Okay, sparkle isn't really considered a color, but it's a crucial element for my decor, you know.

After scouring through my pantry to find the right sized boxes, I found some boxes of various sizes and shapes. I didn't quite have enough for the project, so I resorted to purchasing things in small boxes... like chocolate. And jell-o. Hey! Jell-o is cheap!

So munching on chocolate, I got to work on laying out the boxes in the order I would hang them. After that was completed, I moved on to the fun part~ wrapping and embellishing the boxes! I love wrapping gifts. I always have. I love making a present look special... even if the gift itself is kind of modest.

Here's the completed garland in all it's glory. In person, it's very shiny and sparklie! I'm really pleased with it, but I think I need to embellish it more on each end where it hooks to the fireplace. I love how the original creator, Analise Sled embellished with round ornaments. I'm going to keep my eyes on the lookout for some red/silver ornies to add onto the garland. I think it would finish it off nicely. One thing that I did differently on this project was connect the gifts onto the garland using twine instead of hot glue. I just wanted to be able to disassemble this garland for easy storage after Christmas. I actually tried Velcro, but I just couldn't get the packages to hang the right way.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed seeing the new addition to my Christmas decor extravaganza. I'm enjoying this festive season and have been so inspired and blown-away by the wonderful Christmas creations out there in Bloglandia. I feel like now that I have this project out of the way I can just focus on enjoying Christmas itself... after all, it's countdown time! I hope that you, too can take time to enjoy and savor the season!

Hugs,

Dear Santa, If I Were Just Three Years Old...

...this is what I'd love for Christmas!!

...oh! I love this too!

... or maybe this!

...oooooh! This is sooo sweet!... ahhhh, and love this too!! Okay, I'm sounding kinda' greedy, but are these just so stinkin' cute, or what?? It makes me wish that I was three again... or that my nieces still were! I found this HERE... along with a ton of other absolutely enchanting, adorable kiddie-goodness... and no, they did not pay me to advertise. I just love this all so much I need to tell somebody!

Hugs,

I'm The Happiest Christmas Tree... Ho Ho Ho... Hee Hee Hee!

Hidy-ho my friends! I've been busy as a Christmas elf, decking the halls around here. One of the first things I did was set up the Christmas tree. I have a special place in my heart for real Christmas trees, but last year I broke down and purchased a fake tree. My living room is teensy, and I needed a skinny tree. I must say, my favorite thing about this tree is that I don't have to string the lights on every year. Let's take a peek at what's hanging on my tree...

I've collected sparklie, red, and silver ornaments throughout the years. Although there is a color scheme, there's still a lot of variety going on. I like continuity, but I don't want my tree to look like a "Department Store Tree". This year I added a little green to the collection with my Shiny Bright reproduction ornaments and garlands. I love how the Shiny Brights add some whimsy to the tree.

This little guy is a new addition...

... As is this glittery little cluster of 'shrooms.

And yes, this is one of my favorite ornaments... my little glittery can of Diet Coke! I'm a bit of a Diet Coke junkie. Yeah, yeah... I know it's not healthy stuff. I love me some Diet Coke though.

This is a little peek into my living room. Some of you had expressed interest in seeing photos of my living room. It's a tiny living room, but it's just right for me. You may have noticed the blankets on my sofa. Hagrid is allowed on the sofa, so although it's slipcovered, it still needs that extra protection. The things we do for those fur babies...

This is what the other side of the room looks like. Yes, that's a television smack dab in the middle of my living room. It seems that I never see televisions in bloggers' living rooms. Maybe they hide them, I don't know. Maybe they don't have them. I didn't have one for a long time. I'm glad to have one now though~ I love to snuggle in and watch good movies. I watched "The Holiday" last night. Love. That. Movie. I bought the dvd, just so I could look at Iris' cute little cottage over and over.

This is a close up of my pillows. I just purchased this wonderful patchwork pillow this year and love it! It's made of vintage tablecloth fabric-- by the fabulously talented Amy of the blog Into Vintage.

Sorry about the shadows... natural lighting + unprofessional photographer = shadows. I love this simple little chair. I found it at a consignment shop and sewed slipcovers for the cushions. It was my first and only attempt at creating slipcovers. I think they turned out okay, for a first attempt. Check it out~ I made piping!

This table runner was also created by Amy. I looooove her creations. I purchased this and the bunting over my fireplace last year, but this is the first year I've used it. I love the whimsical, festive spirit they have added to my home.

There's the bunting... love. It. May I just say, Amy's quality of construction on every item is outstanding? Well, I will. That girlie can sew. Like, seriously sew. I really admire her incredible talent. I really love how her creations have warmed up my home this Christmas.

Just a little closer view of my mercury glass sparklie goodness. I just added red mercury glass to the regular mix, along with white lights and a pine garland. I love how the white lights intensify the sparkle. My favorite thing is to come home and turn on the tree lights and these lights on the mantel. I love having my home aglow with little lights.

I hope that you have all had a chance to do some Christmas nesting. It really doesn't take much to add a little Christmas spirit to your home. Heck, I thought about cutting out a bunch of paper snowflakes and stringing them around the house like Will Farrell in the movie "Elf". (I looooved that!) Well, maybe next year...

Hugs,

Christmas Nesting in Process...

It's been busy around here since I returned from spending a wonderful Thanksgiving with my family. Actually, it's been busy around here for several weeks, but now (after a good house-cleaning) I'm finally able to do some of the "fun stuff". I usually try to decorate just before I go to Thanksgiving, so that I can come home to a festive "Christmas House". That just didn't happen this year~ but I'm catching up now!

I love "Christmas Nesting" here in my little home. I've always loved decking the halls~ even when I was living in a teensy tiny studio apartment. It doesn't take much to bring a festive spirit in. It's amazing what a strand of white lights can do for a tiny-but-charming little apartment. Why, oh why didn't I take photos back then?? I have such sweet memories of that silly, endearing little apartment!

Anyway, I'm hoping to share some photos of my "Christmas House" after I'm more fully nested~ please stop by and visit again soon!

Hugs,

Thanksgiving Greetings...

Wishing you a blessed Thanksgiving Day...

Hugs,

Well, Zippity Aye and Heido Ho...

Today is my birthday! So in honor of this fabulous day, I thought I'd make you some cakepops! I saw these on Bakerella's blog probably more than a year ago, and I've always wanted to try making them. By the way, Bakerella has come out with a cookbook focused on these fun little morsels. It looks like a good one, and it's on my wishlist!

I wish that I could actually send these to all of you. I've been preparing these goodies to give to some friends that I'm spending the day with~ a great excuse to use my new colorful baker's twine! Yeah! I love baker's twine, and it comes in so many fun colors now.

This is what they look like in the inside. I took a bite of that one piece... I couldn't help myself! It's okay though 'cuz it's my birthday.

All wrapped and ready for gifting! I hope that they will like them...

I made a chocolate covered version also... as you can see, one of these things is not like the others! (Can you hear that Sesame Street tune in your head?) Apparently, it helps to get the cake/frosting/chocolate proportions correct, or this will happen!

Yummmmmm!!! I hope you are all having a fun, fall weekend... I'm off to go celebrate now!

Hugs,

Holiday Inspiration... I Just Can't Help Myself!

The fabulous, sweet, and inspiring Amy Powers has published her Holiday Issue of Inspired Ideas (an e-magazine), and I couldn't be more excited!! Amy's blog, Inspire Co., was the very first blog that I ever, ever read... ever. She was the incredible springboard for meeting my miniaturist, stitchy and crafty bloggie friends.

My world has never been the same since.

I love her sweet, whimsical style, and I always leave her blog with a happy heart. This e-magazine is no exception. Every craft project is so fun, that I could hardly breathe as I looked at each page. Well, I did breathe, because a person has to breathe in order to squeal.

So, go ahead... take a peek. It will make your heart happy.


Hugs,