Holiday Spiced Tea–Reindeer Recipes Blog Hop

December 13, 2016

I’m back with the final post in the Reindeer Recipes holiday blog hop. A big thank you and hug goes out to Heather of Totally Tailgates for creating such a fun blog hop.

I hope you’ve enjoy the fabulous recipes, cocktail inspiration and beautiful holiday tablescapes as much as I have. Be sure to stop by and visit my fellow bloggers to see what fabulous inspiration they are sharing today–you’re going to love it! (links at the end of the post). If you’re coming over from Positively Southern, welcome. Isn’t Tamyra’s New Years tablescape just beautiful?

♦♦

I mentioned in my first Reindeer Recipes post that unlike many of the other bloggers in the blog hop, I am not a cook. In fact, I can think of about 5,ooo other things I’d rather do than cook. So the cocktail recipe and the mini cheese boards I shared in previous posts have something in common with today post. They are all quick, easy holiday ideas that don’t involve cooking 🙂

If you’re in need of a last minute holiday gift, I’ve got a gift that anyone will love–Holiday Spiced Tea. Not only is this a super easy to make but it is sure to bring back lots of childhood memories at Christmas time.

p.s. depending on the gift recipient, you could also add a small bottle of Rum to make it a Holiday Spice & Spiked Tea!

Once you’ve made a batch of spiced tea, place it in an air tight jar and add a holiday tag to the front of the jar.

Don

Don’t forget to pick up a pretty tea-cup to go along with your spiced tea gift and wrap it all up in a pretty box.

tip: Spiced Tea makes a great gift for teacher’s, co-workers and all your blog friends.

boxwood wreath // ribbon

Thanks for stopping by. I hope today’s post helps you check one more thing off your holiday gift list.

The next stop on the Reindeer train is M. Jones Style. What a fun and easy recipe Marsha created.

Now it’s time to head over to see what the other Reindeer Recipe bloggers have to share…

Tamyra @ Positively Southern

Marsha @ M. Jones Style

Gwynn @Swirls Of Flavor

Lisa @Clutter Cafe

Brittany @Brittany’s Pantry

Pat @Life At Lydia’s House

Heather @Totally Tailgates

Creating The Perfect Holiday Gift Basket

November 26, 2016

Hi friends! I hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving and survived all of the Black Friday madness. I woke up with the chickens yesterday morning and popped into a few stores. I’m happy to say that I was able to snag a couple of really great deals (for the hubby) but sadly I didn’t get anything crossed off my Christmas gift list 🙁 Oh well, I still have 28 more days to get my shopping done, right?!

Yesterday I mentioned my 30 Days of Holiday series. I’ve been doing this series for a couple of years and I’m excited to bring it to you again this year. From now until Christmas Eve I’ll be sharing loads of holiday inspiration with you including the 2016 Merry & Bright Holiday Home Tour. This is the second year for the tour and over next 3 weeks I’ll be joining an awesome group of bloggers to share our fun and festive holiday homes with you. Stay tuned because the tour starts Wednesday, Dec. 30th.

Today I’ve got a fun post, all about holiday gift baskets. During the holidays, gift baskets can be a fun gift to give especially for that hard-to-buy-for person. I also thing gift baskets are great for family gifts too. If you’re looking for a creative gift, follow these tips that will help you create the perfect holiday gift basket.

♦♦♦

CREATE A THEMED BASKET

It’s easy to build a themed gift basket if you think about the hobbies and activities someone loves. Fill a basket with art supplies for someone who love to draw or paint. Or create a book lovers basket filled with new books, a throw blanket and a pretty tea-cup. A holiday themed gift basket can be just about anything you can think of so let your imagination soar.

via Style Me Pretty

USE A FUN & FUNCTIONAL CONTAINER

One of the things I love most when creating a gift basket is finding a unique container. Any item that can hold things is an option for a container. How about a vintage urn filled with a candle, design magazines and small decorative tray for someone who loves design? Or stuff a pair of cozy slippers with beauty products as a ‘pamper yourself’ gift basket. When I’m building a basket, I always find my container first and then find items to fill it.

via Vitamin-Ha

FILL YOUR BASKET WITH FUNCTIONAL and FUN ITEMS

What you put in a gift basket is key to making it great. Fill your container with a mix of functional items, fun items and something unexpected. If I were creating a gift basket for a man I might use a leather tray as the container and fill it with socks, beer and a collection of movies or video games. And if my basket was for someone who loves fashion, I’d fill a cute tote bag with jewelry, a scarf and fashion magazines.

via Style Me Pretty

USE A DECORATIVE FILLER TO FILL YOUR BASKET

Once you have your container use a fun filler to prop your gift items up. Mix metallic and plain shredded paper or use fabric and linens in a food or drink basket. And I love using wrapped candy like peppermints to fill a basket at Christmas.

tip: create your own shred by running colored paper through your home paper shredder

via One Kings Lane

ADD A SWEET TREAT

Don’t forget to add a sweet treat to your gift basket. Put candy canes in a cocktail themed basket (they can be used as drink stirs) or add a jar of holiday chocolates to a baking themed basket.

via Style Me Pretty

PUT A BOW ON IT

Naturally if you want to hide the contents of your basket you’ll need to wrap it in a decorative bag or paper. If not, tie a bow around some of the items or on the container to make it festive. And don’t get a fun gift tag to finish it off.

via Craftberry Bush

source unknown

Better Home and Gardens

♦♦♦

I hope these gift basket tips and ideas will be helpful with your holiday gift shopping. As always, thanks for stopping by… & happy gift-giving!

Holiday Hostess Gift–DIY Gift Tag Jar

November 20, 2016

Is your holiday party calendar is already booked up? If so, I know you’re on the hunt for creative hostess gift ideas. I’ll be sharing my Holiday Gift Guides starting Monday but today I have a fun and easy DIY hostess gift idea to share.

No matter what type of holiday party we attend, my criteria for a hostess gift is that it needs to be creative, fun AND useful. This year I came up with the idea of creating a Holiday Gift Tag Jar filled with an assortment of gift tags and ribbon. What I love about this gift is that it only take a few minutes to pull together and you can find all of the supplies you need for less than $12! Everything you see here came from TJMaxx.

I used a glass jar for this hostess gift but you could use jsut about any decorative container that you want. The jar is purchased has a pretty embossed snowflake pattern on the outside but you could add a sticker to a plain jar to get the same effect. And I purchased boxed sets of ribbon and gift tags which included enough of each that I am able tome two jars.

Lay out all your ribbon and tags and mix and match so that you jar includes a variety. Fill the jar so that you can see everything inside and then tie a bow around the lid as a finishing touch. It’s that easy!

In addition to being a great hostess gift, a Holiday Gift Tag jar would make a fun gift for a girlfriend, co-worker or someone in your posse like your hair stylist or manicurist.

p.s. A Holiday Gift Tag Jar isn’t just for Christmas. You can make a year round version filled with all occasion tags and ribbon.

♦♦♦

To make your own handcrafted gift tags, check out this post. And you and get tips on building your own gift tag collection here.

Favorites Of The Week (things I’m loving, reading and shopping for)!

November 5, 2016

Happy Saturday friends. I’ve got a great round-up of my weekly favorites for you to today. I think you’re going to really love the products I’m highlighting–just in time to get your holiday shopping started. Enjoy and I’ll see you back her on Monday.

♦♦♦

FAVORITE POSTS

Why we go all in at the holidays!

via At Home

Choosing Creativity over Criticism

♦♦♦

FAVORITE PINS

I love this design space and everything in this design duo’s portfolio.

This pantry will put a smile on your face and make you want to bake something. You can see the full kitchen tour here.

This grey and white bedroom set-up I spotted from Pottery Barn is just stunning.

via

♦♦♦

FAVORITE PRODUCTS

It’s becoming harder and harder to find unique gifts for family and friends but with the help of Oprah and a few of my favorite stores, holiday shopping is going to be easy.

Oprah’s Favorite Things list is out and I’m loving this, this and this to name a few!

I think I need this candle just because of the gold jar.

These cute hobnail cocktail shakers are the perfect bar cart accessory for the holidays.

I’m loving Anthropologie’s new monogram mug. What at great holiday gift!

This little red bucket from Ikea is inspiring all kinds of holiday decorating ideas. It’s also available in black and its only $7.99.

The Inspired Room Coloring Book

June 29, 2016

♦♦♦

You all know I love the whole adult coloring book trend which I talked about here and here. And that I’m really excited that there are several coloring books coming out that are designed for home decor fans. Well, just last week I was thrilled to receive a package in the mail from Melissa of The Inspired Room. Inside the package was an advanced copy of her new home decor coloring book. (thanks Melissa). #happymail

When I talked about The Inspired Room Coloring Book on the blog before, I had only seen images online and the description on Amazon. I knew the book was going to be good but it is even better in person.

Unlike many other coloring books, Melissa designed the pages with images only on one side of the paper which makes the pages ideal for framing. And each page is perforated so that it can easily be torn out and hung on a bulletin board or used for a creative projects. The paper is thick which reduces he chance of ink bleeding through so you can use my favorite markers just as easily as pencils to color the images.

I’ve spent several evenings unwinding by coloring in the book and I have to tell you it’s addictive and relaxing.

The image below gave me the opportunity to envision what an emerald green secretary would look like. I’m hoping to score one at an antique store and paint it green.

Isn’t this page of chair designs fun?

I used one of the pages to play around with a color story I’m working on for a design client. I pulled one of the fabric swatches we’re considering and created an accessory plan using this accessory page from the coloring book.

If you’re looking for a great girlfriend gift under $10.00, this is it. Although the official release date isn’t until July 1st, you can buy a copy on Amazon today.

image via The Inspired Room

If you want to see more pages from the book, follow the hashtag #TIRcoloringbook on Instagram.

Coloring Books for Design Fanatics

May 23, 2016

via

Ok, its confession time. How many of you have coloring books?

I jumped on the coloring book craze when it first starting gaining popularity. As a creative, I’ve loved coloring my entire life and the idea of a coloring book for adults was so up my alley that I couldn’t resist. My first coloring book was this one filled with Beautiful Patterns just like the title says. I was drawn to the abstract and intricate designs which are perfect for someone like me that is a ‘coloring inside the lines’ kind of gal.

Since my first coloring book I’ve been gifted several others by family and friends and now switch back and forth between books so none of them gets neglected.

Recently I read that several of my favorite bloggers (and authors) are jumping on the coloring book wagon and developing home decor themed books. I can’t wait!

John and Sherry from Young House Love have their coloring book, Color At Home coming out in October and from the looks of the cover image, it is going to be a good one. The cover image resembles many of the beautiful rooms you see on Pinterest.

And Melissa, the blogger and author behind The Inspired Room blog has a coloring book coming out in July, aptly named The Inspired Room Coloring Book.

Melissa shared a few pages from her book on her blog and it is also looks like it’s going to be a fun book. I love that there will be room environments along with individual home decor items to color. I see a whole lot of #chinosierie inspiration in my future.

I don’t know who or why the adult coloring book trend started but I think it’s only going to get bigger and home decor coloring books take it to a new level. Being able to color design a room in any color combination you want can provide great visual inspiration for someone decorating a room in their home.

For those of you that can’t wait until the Color At Home and The Inspired Room Coloring Book come out, here are a couple other home decor related coloring books I found.

Color Me Cluttered–The title and cover image of this coloring book might scare off a lot of people but I’m really intrigued by the artwork and potential transformation that can happen after a few hours of coloring. And the minute I saw the image of the gift wrap, I was hooked.

Off the Bookshelf–This coloring book contains a range of images, many of bookshelves and home decor scenes and others more random. This book was also designed using a slightly heavier paper weight so you don’t have any color bleeding if you use markers to color your images. And I like that each page is perforated making it easy to tear out the pages and frame as artwork.

Now that I’ve got you itching to purchase a few coloring books, you’ll also need to buy some great pens or markers. I switch between using pencils and markers when I color. If I want more intense color on the image I go with markers and if I’m looking for a softer effect, I tend to choose colored pencils. Here are several brands that love and in most cases own myself so I can highly recommend these from personal experience.

No. 1 Prismacolor is definitely my favorite brand for markers and I also love their colored pencils. They sell a variety of styles at price points from affordable to expensive. The Premier 24 pk. Colored Pencil Set is a great value, includes enough colors so that you have lots of options to work with and the pencils are ideal for blending colors. There are larger sets available too.

No. 2 Tomboy Dual Brush Pen Art Markers are great because of the dual brush heads and because the pens are odorless, bendable and non-bleeding.

No. 3 I’ve owned a set of Uchida Le Plume II Double Ended Markers for many years and they still work like a charm. They’ve traveled with us when we moved for Seattle to Atlanta and I’ve only had a few dry up. The extra-fine tip is great for intricate designs and the pens are easy to handle and won’t cramp your hand.

No. 4 For those of you that might want to take your coloring on the road or in the air, here’s a great set of 48 Marco Affine Artist Quality Pencils that include the roll-up case. While I don’t own this exact set, I am considering purchasing a case to hold my pencils. I like this case but if you’re looking for a great deal, you’ll want to scoop this case up.

No. 5 The 72-piece Prismacolor Premier Double Ended Art Marker set is for the serious color artist and crafter because these markers are an investment. This is another set that I’ve owned for years and just love. These markers provide a very saturated color and work great for blending. I also love them because once applied, the color is consistent with no blending or start/stop lines.

Coloring books for adults is a pretty cool thing in my book. I’m a big fan and encourage you to give it a try is you haven’t already.

DIY Holiday Mug Wraps–2015 Edition

December 22, 2015

Last year one of my favorite holiday DIY projects was the mug wraps I created. It was so simple to make these chic cup coozies with just some plush tartan plaid ribbon and velcro.

2014 Holiday Mug Wraps

I wanted to update the look this year to fit my holiday decor so a new version of my Holiday Mug Wraps was in order.

2015 Holiday Mug Wraps

My 2015 Mug Wraps were made with printed burlap ribbon (from Hobby Lobby) and instead of velcro, I attached red eyelets to the edges and used red suede cording to lace up the ends of the wrap.

Just like last year, these wraps are easy to remove when I don’t want to use them or want to change the look.

I love this years version of my mug wraps just as much as last years and from the looks of things, mug wraps are going to be a yearly project for me.

Only 3 more days until Christmas, are you doing any last minute holiday crafting?

Gift Guide: Four Books to Inspire Your Girlfriends

December 21, 2015

When it comes to Christmas gifts for girlfriends, I think books are one of the best gift items you can give. With a new year approaching, I thought I’d share 4 inspiring books you just might want to get for the special women in your life. Oh, and you might want to pick up a copy for yourself too!

♦♦♦