White Box Challenge

I participated in a White Box Gift Wrap Challenge over on my friend Bri's blog! Go check it out! I love wrapping gifts more than shopping for or opening them. My family often brings me theirs to wrap and I enjoy the possibilities that can be had with just some little bits and baubles. Because really, you know my house is filled with bits and baubles. =)

http://googlyeyesandglitter.blogspot.com/2012/12/everything-christmas-white-box.html

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

 

This happened about a month ago. Stringing white ornaments to hang from the vanity lights in my bathroom on a day when it was too warm to wear a jacket or tight. At this minute I am sitting in my flannel pj's drinking candy cane hot chocolate, listening to Christmas music with the lights of the tree the only lights in the room. A candle named Winter Night is burning. We just got a snow storm and I am feeling very much in the spirit. I hope the run-around is almost done for all of you so you can relax and enjoy the season now. I have a couple more errands but I am now officially on vacation until after New Year's so I am going to take it slow.  

Speaking of New Year's, anyone have any plans?

Christmas through the years

I thought it would be fun to take you through my Christmas trees and mantle decor from the past few years. You can definitely tell how poor I was the first year! But then I got my white tree and started adding bulbs to my collection during after Christmas sales and now I like to change up my colors every year. 

Year 1:

 I did a lot of home-made stuff: clear bulbs with paint swirled inside, paper stars, beaded snowflakes, hand sewn stockings, ribbon embellished candles, and an art doll made from polymer clay.

Year 2:

 Continued with my green/gold/red colors but this time I had some pretty bulbs to add and a new white tree! Made a runner out of multiple colors of green ribbon with bulbs tied here and there. Added yellow glass hurricanes with cranberries and green candles. Made a floral centerpiece with white mums, red roses, and gold bulbs and bead tied in and surrounded by pine branches. The flowers were then put in a vase with cranberries and water. 

Year 3:

 Same thing but different star.

Year 4:

 Saw some pretty blue colored bulbs and decided to switch things up. Added partridge feathers, cinnamon sticks, pine cones, and some pretty bronze flowers. Made paper cones in place of stockings and filled them with candy for the adults and a squishy piglet for baby niece. 

Year 5:

 pink and turquoise ornaments with pink ribbon lined with silver tinsel and big white feathers on top! I'm pretty sure this was a re-decorate after Christmas.

Year 6:

 Orange, gold, pink! I was going for champagne colors. This technically was a re-decorate for New Years. Added tinsel, feathers, and ribbon. 

Year 7:

This is the year I lost a bunch of my photos and we had to redo our Christmas card last minute. This is the photo we took for it. I did purple and gold. Lots of ribbon and topped with the bronze flowers. Used the flokati on the mantle again with the little white bottle brush trees and glitter reindeer. 

Year 8:

 Last year I went with pretty candy colors with jewel tones. pink lights added in, turquoise, gold, mercury glass, purple, green, orange. 

Year 9:

Re-decorate for New Year's in red/pink/gold. Poinsettias! And if you look closely, there is a little gold birds nest at the top.

Do you ever re-decorate your tree after Christmas?

Home Sweet Home

 teapots

 spiderman?

 salon style

 floral headbands

favorite books

Ten Things

I often walk through my tiny apartment and smile to myself because our space feels so layered, interesting, and cozy. I like when spaces keep evolving. My eye is always sharpening, my taste becoming more mature. I like to re-arrange our furniture and tchotchkes to keep things feeling fresh. It's funny because friends are always commenting that things look different every time they come. You definitely don't have to spend money to do it either. One quick tip that changes the look of a room is to swap curtains with another room.

I was thinking about the little things that make up my home that make it feel personal and inviting. Here are my must haves:

1. books, books, books. Especially vintage ones with great covers and typography, and books about art, entertaining, food, and other inspirational topics. We have our "library" in the dining room at present so I've included a lamp on our dining table for easy browsing. I have a lot of oversize books on different artists so having a table close by is great.

2. "Fireside" candles from Bath and Body Works. I am not big normally on scents (especially ones that smell like sickeningly sweet desserts) but this one is so restful and instantly makes my home feel like hibernation time.

3. Lamps. Having control over the amount of light is really a must. During the day I love to let the sun stream in as much as possible, but at night I like a quiet, relaxed atmosphere with pockets of warm yellow to snuggle in for reading. Candlelight and garden lights on a string are also used throughout my home.

4. Faux fur throws to snuggle under when it's chilly. The one I have really doesn't look like fur at all actually but it's really soft and matches my couch. I would like to get a grey one with more of a fur-like vibe.

5. Pretty china bowls to corral little things like nail polish, lipsticks, and hair ties. I don't mind visible clutter as long as it is housed beautifully. Oh what am I talking about, I just don't mind clutter if it's stuff I love. I have always been drawn to spaces that seem lived in and house a million memories and treasured objects. I am a total thrift-store junkie, old-thing lover, English house-filled-to-the-brim admirer.

6. A stack of pretty fabrics to change the dining table covering on a whim. After so many parties I have accumulated quite a stash and it's so nice to have. I love to play with color and place settings on the table. If I designed tablescapes all day long I would be in heaven. This stack of fabric also comes in handy if I want to change out the curtain in the dining room. I have curtain hooks on that rod so I can use any tablecloth, sheet, or otherwise unfinished piece of fabric on that window.

7. A place to display my shoes. I change this every so often. Right now they are hanging on a bamboo ladder I painted white. I've had them lining my fireplace mantle or taking over a cute bookshelf. I like them best close to the full length mirror so I can easily try different outfit combinations.

8. Photos and Art. I love gallery walls and mixing photos and artwork together seems very natural when hung in multiples. I seem to tuck things into the frames later too, so the layering is always a little undone and natural. My favorite part of our apartment is our non-working fireplace because it has a great classical mantle that houses an ever-changing display.

9. Layering curtains. Back to curtains again--I like to have a sheer or semi-sheer curtain hung flat (not bunched) across the window and then a pretty rod with thicker curtains hung over that. This way you can have privacy during the day when you let light in and at night when you close the thicker ones. It's fun to play with pattern on the sheers too. Our current curtains are pink and when the sun streams through them in the morning it turns the whole living room a flattering, pink glow-y color.

10. Stackable dining chairs. Since we do entertain a lot and have such a small space to do it in, we use great stackable chairs in a modern white design. When I was planning my dining room I really wanted to do a traditional table with a modern chair and I didn't want them matchy-matchy so I ended up with a black pedestal table and white industrial plastic and steel chairs. This way we can use the chairs outside or any where about the apartment when we have guests (or as a desk chair) and then stack them when not in use. Life savers.

Houndstooth stenciled walls

Love this: from Design Sponge

http://www.designsponge.com/2012/10/before-after-living-room-transformation-3.html

Sometimes a little peace and quiet...

I like looking at soothing interiors. I kind of think that as I get older, I might grow tired of my love of bright colors and prints galore and adopt a more peaceful palette for my abode. Maybe. 

 

Catherine Huckerby

from desiretoinspire.net by midcenturyjo

Add a little cheer

I've been meaning to paper the back of my china cabinet for awhile so one bright and sunny Friday afternoon I went to HobLob to pick out some paper. I almost chose a subdued blue chevron because all of my dishes are blue but then I saw this bright and peppy floral. I was a goner. I obviously need one more sheet to finish but I like how much it wakens up my cabinet.

Pink light in the morning

I love waking up to the light streaming through these curtains I dyed pink. I heard birds singing and the light was so bright I thought we had left one on. It made me wake up so much earlier and happier on Sabbath morning I had lots of time to read and dwell on Jesus' interaction with Nicodemus.

Love this banner from Urban Outfitters. Would be fun as a permanent decoration above a mantel or above your bed.

Pink and Blue make the world go 'round

Some things that have been inspiring me lately:outfit one above, not two. Like the casualnedd of the denim but the striped skirt is a bit unexpected.
The lovely colors in this room as well as that black and white rug that I have wanted for years now. Too bad my cat would coat each black stripe with white hair. sigh.
This beautiful pink beach scene by Paul Ferney.
I've recently been enamored with gold flatware and this pretty table setting really makes them shine!

Styling: Maddy Hague of Somewhere Splendid (somewheresplendid.com)
Photography: Paper Antler (paperantler.com)
Glossy navy blue walls sound like just the right amount of happy and moody.

This stopped me dead in my internet browsing tracks....

I think it's the buffalo check or is it gingham. I don't think I know the difference. Anyway, love it and the bright pops of color mixed with the cobblestone earthiness in the surroundings.

The green scene

I am loving this green ikat couch. Looks preppy with the blue wall too.

Style Inspiration

I know this top image reflects my style better (I do LOVE it) but there's a 70's coolness about the second image that is so loungey and bit more masculine that I love. But the room would be nothin' without that gold lamp!