Merry & Bright Holiday Home Tour–All Around The House!

December 13, 2017

And all through the house…

Welcome to the finale of the Merry & Bright Holiday Home Tour. This year’s home tour started off with a bang and now it’s time to wrap up the series with lots of holiday cheer.

If you’re coming over from Green With Decor welcome! Meg has such a cute home and I love all of the holiday decorating ideas she’s shared in the home tour.

I’m so happy to invite you into my holiday home and share more of my decor with you. I think I mentioned in an earlier post that I like to add holiday touches throughout my house. Today I’m sharing those little touches with you so grab a cup of cocoa, sit back and enjoy!

Big thanks to Amara and SmithHönig for sponsoring this holiday home tour. Products were provided from each – however all opinions are 100% my own.

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Let’s start with the coffee table. The only holiday decor I added to the table was a small red mercury glass tree under a cloche. It’s a simple decorating idea that has an elegant feel and I love the way it looks.

The red tree on the coffee table coordinates with the red mercury glass trees on the dining room sideboard. The arrangement on the sideboard is another simple and easy decorating idea.

I added a holiday touch to the sofa with the addition of a solid red pillows and a Merry Christmas pillow that I bought at HomeGoods last year.

Christmas In the Kitchen

I didn’t do much decorating in the kitchen. A mini tree in a blue and white cachpot sits on the kitchen island and a small wreath hangs over the stove.

Christmas DIY

I didn’t do much holiday crafting this year but I did make this cute cone door hanger. I’ll share the DIY tutorial on the blog this weekend so stay tuned. It’s super easy to make and is a unique hostess gift if you have a party coming up.

We’ve only hung one piece of artwork since we moved into the house so I hung this wreath on one of the stair walls. This was a DIY too that literally took me about 20 minutes to make.

I purchased the wire wreath form from At Home and added some of the pretty pink ornaments I received from Amara. I’ve loved using these Amara ornaments on my tree, mantel garland and now this wreath. FYI–Amara is have a big sale of their Christmas decor so now is a great time to stock up for next year.

I hung a preserved boxwood wreath on the door at the top of the stairs and added a multi-layered bow.

ribbon from Costco

Christmas in the Master Bedroom

I deviated from my red and pink color theme in the master bedroom and used blue and green ornaments to decorate a small tree. A pair of wreaths hangs on the doors to the bathroom and I draped swags on the corners of the armoire.

Because the tree doesn’t have lights on it, I used different size and finishes of ornaments to give the tree visual interest. And instead of using the tree stand that came with the tree, I put the tree in a beautiful silver urn that a friend gave me.

Since our bed is the focal point in the room, I hung a wreath on the headboard and draped garland around the edge. The garland really makes the room feel cheerful.

Do you recognize the sign in the middle of the wreath? It’s actually a charger plate from the Target Dollar Spot. I attached it to the wreath using a wire plate hanger.

wreath pillow from HomeGoods♥

A grouping of silver mercury glass trees sits on our dresser and relates back to the silver urn the tree is in.

And to round out our holiday decor is some of my gift wrap. I still have lots of gifts to wrap but here’s a look at a couple of the boxes dressed up so far. I’ll be sharing more of my Christmas gift wrap along with some of my favorite gift wrapping tips on Friday.

Thanks for stopping by friends. I’ve loved sharing my holiday home with you this year. Be sure to stop by Positively Southern, the next stop of the home tour. And then check out all of the other participating bloggers to see their Merry & Bright Holiday Homes.

ConfettiStyle

Positively Southern

M. Jones Style

Rover At Home

Chic On A Shoestring Decorating

Love Your Abode

Green With Decor

Cheers to the season!

Disclaimer: This blog hop is sponsored by Amara and SmithHönig. Products were provided from each – however all opinions are 100% my own.

Merry & Bright Holiday Home Tour–Part 2

December 6, 2017

Welcome friends to Part 2 of the Merry & Bright Holiday Home Tour. I’m excited to share more of my holiday home with you. If you missed the Part 1 of the tour and the unveiling of my Christmas tree, you can find it here.

For those of you coming over from Positively Southern, welcome. Tamyra’s decor is so lovely and exudes southern elegance and beauty.

Today I’m sharing my dining room, holiday bar cart and the fun accent I added along our stair rail. First up is the dining room.

Come gather at our Christmas table…

The main level of our townhouse is an open concept so the dining space flows into the living room. I continued the colors on my tree (red & hot pink) into the dining room decor and on to my holiday tablescape.

When it comes to entertaining, I love an overly layered table. I chose not to use a tablecloth and instead let the placemats and table runner serve as the first layer of my table decor. The table, runner which you get a glimpse of below, has a modern pattern which mixes well with the other elements on the table. Don’t worry, you’ll get to see more the runner in just a bit.

I pulled out this vintage swan to use as the centerpiece and absolutely love the whimsy it adds to the table. Pink roses and a few evergreen and eucalyptus sprigs created a really lush and glamorous arrangement.

Flanking the swan are red mercury glass vases with red silk peonies. And since every tablescape needs candles, I added white taper candles in crystal candle holders.

I kept the place settings simple and made sure to incorporated both pink and red to coordinate with the rest of my decor. The glass charger plates and white china with a silver rim add a little bling to the table. The chargers have a beaded bottom which also adds a lot of sparkle.

Hot pink dinner napkins sit on top of the salad plates and on top of it sits a red & gold holiday appetizer plate.

tablescape tip: don’t be afraid to mix silver and gold in your table settings.

Here’s a closer look at the reversible table runner from SmithHonig. It so beautiful and I couldn’t be happier with how it looks with table decor. The top of the runner features the Ashes Of Roses fabric and the bottom is red velvet.

SmithHönig is a line of textiles, art, furniture & furnishings from award-winning designer Kellie Smith & visual artist & travel blogger Melanie Hönig. Their product line includes pillows, linens, fabric-by-the-yard and wallpaper. If you’re looking for unique decor and fabrics for your home, you’ll definitely want to check out SmithHonig.

All is merry, all is bright…

One of my favorite elements on the table are the Mario Luca Giusti Dolce Vita Acrylic Wine Glasses. These beauties are from the UK-based decor and gift company Amara. The green is such a rich and vibrant color and I love the fact that they are lightweight and unbreakable. Wine glasses are just one item in Amara’s acrylic tabletop collection which includes pitchers, tumblers, champagne glasses and more.

If you saw my Christmas tree last week, you’ll remember that I used tissue paper honeycomb balls to decorate it. Well, look what I found in my stash of entertaining goodies? These cute honeycomb ball hors d’oeuvre picks. They couldn’t be more perfect with my Christmas theme.

The dining room chandelier that was in the house when we bought it is not my style. I plan to replace it next year so for Christmas I used holly leaf and berry garland to camouflage it a bit.

The side board is decorated with a grouping of red mercury glass trees, greenery sprigs and round ornaments in pink and red.

’tis the season to be jolly…

I placed my bar station on the far side of the living room, next to the door that leads to the deck. Instead of a traditional bar cart, I used this three-tier table that I scored it at a flea market for $30. It’s perfect for holding bottles, glassware & bar accessories.

preserved boxwood wreath // 1 1/2″ wide red satin ribbon

The mini Christmas tree is sitting in my DIY blue and white ice bucket. You can read all about how I made it here.

DIY Monogram Drink Stirrer // vintage monkey (similar here)

And finally, here’s a look at our stair banister all dressed up for Christmas.

I swagged garland along the banister and hung iron bells and ornaments at different intervals. The metal bells are from one of my favorite stores in Norcross called The Shops Of Antique Traditions.

red ribbon // hot pink ribbon

Well, that’s it for this week. I’ll be back next Wednesday, 12/13 for the finale of the Merry & Bright Holiday Home Tour to share the rest of my holiday decor.

Now it’s time to hop over to Chic On A Shoestring Decorating to see more of Kate’s holiday home. Last week she shared her Christmas tree and it was stunning. I know you’re going to love what she has to share this week.

And be sure to stop by the other Merry & Bright blog participants to see their holiday homes!

Merry & Bright Holiday Home Tour

Green With Decor

Rover At Home

Love Your Abode

Positively Southern

ConfettiStyle

Chic On A Shoestring Decorating

M. Jones Style

Thanks for stopping by!

Disclosure: Some of the products featured in this blog post were provided by Amara and SmithHönig as part of the Merry & Bright Holiday Home Tour. All opinions, images and holiday cheer are 100% mine.

DIY Embroidery Hoop Christmas Wreath

December 4, 2017

Happy Monday! Today I’m popping in to share a quick and simple DIY Holiday Wreath with you.

A few weeks ago I was unpacking book in my office and came across some embroidery hoops I bought at Goodwill last year. I don’t remember if I had a project in mind when I purchased them but there they were. One of the hoops was really large and I immediately knew I could use it to make a holiday wreath.

Here’s the supply list and the easy steps for making this wreath.

Embroidery Hoop Christmas Wreath

Supplies:

Large Embroidery Hoop–you can find these at craft stores but also check the shelves at your local thrift store.

Decorative Paper–The paper will need to be wider than your embroidery hoop. I used a piece of polka dot wrapping paper cut to size for my wreath banner.

Faux Holiday Greenery–You’ll need about 4 or 5 depending on how full the stems are. I used a mix of greenery types to create a natural look.

Sharpie–You’ll use this to hand letter your holiday message. If you have a crafting machines like a Circut or Silhouette you can create a decal for your banner.

How To:

Step 1: Cut a piece of decorative paper about 2 inches wider than your hoop and about 5 inch tall. You can leave the edges of the paper straight or use craft scissors to create a decorative edge. **adjust the size of your banner to fit the size of your hoop.

Step 2: Open the embroidery hoop and insert your banner between the inner and outer pieces of wood. Cut away any excess paper behind the hoop.

Step 3: Attached the faux greenery stems to the top of the embroidery hoop using floral wire to secure it. I arranged my greenery off-center for a more artistic look.

Step 4: Hang your wreath on a door (interior or covered door) and enjoy! My wreath is hanging on our guest bedroom door.

2017 Merry & Bright Holiday Home Tour–Part 1

November 29, 2017

Welcome to the Merry & Bright Holiday Home Tour. I’m so excited for this year’s home tour and all of the fabulous bloggers that are participating. Plus we have two awesome brand sponsors for this year’s tour, Amara and SmithHonig. I’ll share more about these great brands throughout the home tour series.

p.s. You’ll find links to all of the participating bloggers holiday home tours at the bottom of the blog post.

If you’re coming over from M. Jones Style, welcome! My friend Marsha is a southern girl at heart so entertaining comes naturally to her. Her holiday drink station is beautiful and makes me want to sit down and have a hot toddy. I can’t wait to see more of her holiday decor in the coming weeks.

Every year I start my holiday home tour by sharing the inspiration for my decor. If you recall, my theme this year was using my favorite colors, pink and red along with touches of white and green. I wanted our decor to be classic and playful at the same time and my original vision came to life just as I imagined.

Here’s a look at the inspiration boards I created earlier this year.

And here’s how it all turned out…

My Holiday Home

The foundation of my Christmas decor is always our tree and if I must say so myself, she’s a beauty.

I’ve been so busy these days that when my friend Don offered to help decorate my tree, I squealed with joy. Don worked for me when I had my store and is one of the most creative people I know. He came over one afternoon and we got to work adding honeycomb balls, deco mesh and close to 400 ornaments to the tree.

I topped the tree with a big silver star that I purchased over 25 years ago on a buying trip to San Francisco when I worked for Eddie Bauer.

I used a variety of ornaments on the tree including some beautiful blush pink ones from Amara. Amara is a UK-based home and interiors brand. The company sells a variety of decor and gift items from over 300 of the world’s more luxurious home fashion brands. And while based in the UK, Amara ships all across the globe making their product available to everyone.

Amara has a great selection of Christmas ornaments and decor and the blush pink set was perfect for my theme. The set includes 4 styles of round ornaments– shiny solid, solid matt and two glitter styles. I love the quality of the ornaments, and the variety of styles added to the whimsy of my tree.

My Favorite Colors: Hot Pink & Red

In addition to ornaments, I used a red and pink striped deco mesh instead of ribbon and love the wow factor it gave the tree.

decor mesh

And for even more WOW, check out these paper honeycomb balls that are nestled at the top and throughout the tree. How fun!

med & large paper honeycomb balls // small honeycomb ball from Ikea

red mercury glass trees from HomeGoods

Now let’s move over to the fireplace. Since we haven’t had our mantel installed yet, I draped my garland around the fireplace using Command Hooks to hold it in place. I hug a small wreath in the center and added clusters of ornaments to each corner of the garland. holiday decorating tip: clustering ornaments in groups of three is a great way to add impact on a tree or garland.

I also embellished the corners with bows made of pink and red ribbon from PaperMart.

1 1/2″ wide red ribbon // 7/8″ wide pink ribbon

I didn’t do much decorating on the bookshelves that flank the fireplace. I filled a couple of vintage bowls with ornaments and added a small mercury glass tree to one shelf.

You can learn how I made my rolling holiday giftwrap crate here.

blush pink ornaments from Amara

I absolutely love my Christmas decor and wish I could keep it up year round. It’s definitely beginning to look a lot like Christmas at my house but there’s still more to see. Come back next Wednesday, 12/6 for part 2 of the Merry & Bright Holiday Home tour. I’ll be sharing my dining room along with more of my holiday decor throughout the house.

Next on the tour is Love Your Abode. I had the pleasure of finally meeting Yuni a few weeks ago and she is such a doll. You all are going to love her holiday home…it so fun and festive. Hop over to Love Your Abode and show Yuni some love.

And be sure to stop by the other bloggers in the tour for more holiday decor and inspiration.

Merry & Bright Holiday Home Tour Participants:

Yuni @ Love Your Abode

Kate @ Chic On A Shoestring Decorating

Melanie @ Rover At Home

Tamyra @ Positively Southern

Meg @ Green With Decor

Marsha @ M. Jones Style

disclosure: I received products from Amara to use in my Christmas Decor. I am a big fan of the company and only share products and brands that I love. All opinions are my own.

Free Printable Merry & Bright Gift Tags

November 27, 2017

Happy Holidays friends! Did you have a great Thanksgiving and first official weekend of the Christmas season? We sure did.

I know many of you were out and about this weekend, taking advantage of the Black Friday deals. I was right there with you and I’m happy to say I now have most of my gift list checked off. Now it is time to start thinking about gift wrapping. . . one of my favorite things!

If you have wrapping gifts on your to-do list, I’ve got a special gift just for you. I created a fun gift tag collection that I’m calling Merry & Bright for you to download and print for FREE. The set of tags includes classic and bright colors in a variety of designs to work with just about any holiday decor theme. These can be printed onto a white card stock and trimmed. Add narrow ribbon or twine to the holes and use that to tie them onto my gifts. Click here to download FREE Printable Merry & Bright Christmas Gift Tags. Enjoy!

Click here to download FREE Printable Merry & Bright Christmas Gift Tags

♦♦♦

For those of you living in the Atlanta area and needing some gift wrap inspiration, be sure to join me this Saturday, Dec. 2nd from 10:00-11:00 am at Steve McKenzie’s for my holiday gift wrap workshop. It’s going to be a fun morning and there will be giveaways too! All workshop attendees are invited to bring 1 small boxed gift to wrap in a creative way. Paper and wrapping supplies will be provided.

Click the Eventbrite link to register and reserve your spot today. I hope to see you there.

Be sure to stop by tomorrow for another holiday gift guide. This weeks gift guide includes some really awesome items for the men in your life. Shopping for men’s gifts can be challenging but my gift guide will make it a little easier this year. You can view my previous gift guides here:

Gift Guide: For The Fashionista

Gift Guide: Hostess Gifts

Holiday Gift Guide | Hostess Gifts

November 21, 2017

This time of year is super busy with holiday gatherings and parties, and chances are you’ve got a party or two to attend. I don’t want you to show up empty handed so check out my Hostess Gift Guide. I’ve searched high and low to round-up twelve awesome gifts to bring the hostess as a little thank you!

P.S. Some of these gifts are also perfect to wrap up and put under the tree for family or friends to open on Christmas morning.

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Read the Post

Holiday Gift Wrapping Workshop with Steve McKenzie’s

November 10, 2017

It’s no secret that one of my passions is gift wrapping. What you may not know is that I also love to share my passion by teaching others how to wrap gifts with style and flair!

Creative Holiday Gift Wrapping–Beyond The Basics!

I’m excited to be partnering with Steve McKenzie’s for another holiday workshop on Saturday, Dec. 2nd. Creative Gift Wrapping–Beyond The Basics is back by popular demand and is going to be bigger and better than ever. Join me where you’ll learn new ways to give your holiday gifts a little extra pizzazz. In addition to sharing essential gift wrapping tips, I’ll demonstrate some fun ideas you can incorporate into all your holiday gift giving. Workshop attendees are invited to bring 1 small boxed gift to wrap in a fun and creative way.

I hope to see you at Steve McKenzie’s for a morning of holiday cheer and inspiration. Click the Eventbrite link to register and reserve your spot today!

Personalized Stationery–Holiday Gift Guide

November 7, 2017

Have you heard the news…Christmas is coming!

To usher in the holiday season, I’m kicking off my holiday gift guide series with an item that is on the top of my gift giving list–Personalized Stationery.

Stationery makes a great gift anytime of the year but it’s one of my favorite gifts to give at Christmas.

I’ve reached that age where I want to give gifts that have lasting value and personalized stationery fits that bill. One of my favorite companies for personalized stationery is WH Hostess. I’ve rounded up my top picks from their amazing selection to help you with your holiday gift giving.

Notecard sets can be purchased in quantities of 20, 50 or 100 and come with coordinating envelopes. For an added charge, you can also have a return address printed on the envelope flap in a coordinating color. Envelope liners in the coordinating pattern of the notecards, or a solid color, are also available.

Monogram Ginger Jar Flat Notecards // Striped Letters Personalized Flat Notecards

Buffalo Check Personalized Flat Notecards // Bamboo Monogram Personalized Notecards

Notepads are sold in three different sizes and each notepad has 100 sheets. Many of the designs are available in multiple colors and can be personalized with a name, initial or a monogram.

Tassel Fretwork Personalized Notepad // Palmetto Palms Personalized Notepad // Bicycle Personalized Notepad

Monogrammed Elephant Personalized Notepad // Citrus Monogram Personalized Notepad // Ginger Jar Personalized Notepad

Gift tags are perfect for tying onto birthday gifts, hostess gifts or a bottle of wine. All of the gift tags are printed only on one side and can be personalized to suit your needs. And many of the tags shown come in more than one color. Gift Tags are available in quantities of 24 or 48.

Ginger Jar Monogram Gift Tags // Happiness Chinoiserie Personalized Gift Tags //Monogrammed Pagoda Personalized Gift Tags

Buffalo Check Monogram Personalized Gift Tags //Colorful Stripe Personalized Gift Tags //Floral Ikat Monogrammed Gift Tags

Don’t you just love all of these items? I sure do and have a couple of them on my own Christmas list.

There are lots more items available from WH Hostess including party invitations, gift packing and holiday paper goods. Head over to WH Hostess to shop their full collection of personalize products and party goods.

P.S. I’ll have another HolidayGift Guide to share with you next Tuesday and every Tuesday between now and Christmas!

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