Monday, November 18, 2013

Shopping Spree // $400 VISA GIVEAWAY!



To celebrate the upcoming holidays and as a way to say THANK YOU for reading and supporting my blog, I'm teaming up with some wonderful bloggers to give away a $400 Black Friday shopping spree!  The winner will be announced this Friday.
























One winner will receive a $400 Visa gift card to spend wherever they want.  Fun, right?!  







You can get 10 additional entries by sharing the giveaway on Facebook with the blog link.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Friday, November 15, 2013

Popular Pins // November Winter Edition



Happy Friday friends!  I rounded up a few of my favorite and most popular pins for the winter/holiday season and they are fun!  If you want to follow me on Pinterest, you can do so HERE.  I'm nearing 10,000 pins.  Clearly, I spend too much time on Pinterest.  Have a great weekend!






Navy with Silver Sparkles Manicure via Deb Shops- 101 repins


An accent nail is about as adventurous as I go with my nails.  I'll definitely be trying this.







Black & White Tribal Cardigan via Zulily - 93 repins


An open cardigan is so easy to wear this time of year and the pattern on this one is interesting.  I'm finally realizing you can mix brown and black. 







Tutorials for the Naked Eye Palette via You Put It On- 131 repins


This is pretty cool because it's video tutorials.  I got this palette for Christmas a couple years ago from my sister-in-law and I'm still using it. Great gift.










50 Thanksgiving Treats via Kids Kubby - 67 repins


How adorable are these?!










Christmas Crate via The Idea Room - 88 repins


She gives a detailed tutorial for how to build this crate and stencil the letters.







DIY Ornament Garland via EdiTORIal - 116 repins


I didn't know Tori Spelling had a blog, did you? This ornament garland was a guest post by Jenny Dixon of Craft That Party.  Adore those colors! It takes a lot of balls though ;)- 75 for 4 feet!







Designing a Sweedish Christmas via Karin Kidbeck- 129 repins


This is cool because Karin has been designing holiday Christmas stories for Good Housekeeping for over 17 years and she gives a little peek of the behind the scenes here.  So beautiful.







Elf on the Shelf Ideas via Pretty Providence- 112 repins


Something for the kiddos.  We'll be doing this for the first time this year- do you?  I've already let my son play with the Elf, which I hear is against the rules.  oops.  










How to Wear Red Jeans via Small Shop Studio - 72 repins


Erika is so chic and stylish, I'll take fashion advice from her any day.  Guess I need to invest in a pair of red jeans first!










Thanksgiving Countdown Sheet Sheet via Lulu Powers- 113 repins


I have her entertaining book, Food To Flowersand return to it over and over.  This cheat sheet is helpful if you're hosting Thanksgiving or any holiday dinner party.
















Thursday, November 14, 2013

Thankful Tree


Creating a "thankful tree" this time of year is really popular because it's such a good visual reminder of how blessed we all are and so simple to do.













For ours, I created hand-written blessings with chalk label tags and a gold marker.  I asked everyone what they were thankful for and recorded the responses. My 3-year-old is thankful for, "Darth Maul lightsaber, Christmas trees, and friends."  He also drew something, but I'm not sure what it is.









I hung the labels on faux branches inside a Pottery Barn Urn. To keep the branches upright where I wanted them, I stuck them inside a floral foam block.




















The little fox I spray painted gold is still around. I'm sure he'll show up in the Christmas decor too. :)










Are y'all doing a thankful tree in your house?  In addition to the first things that come to mind when I count my blessings - health, family, friends, and my home - I thought it would be fun to continue adding to the tree until Thanksgiving.  I'll be adding things like a cozy bed, my morning coffee, the steam room at my gym, and sleeping in.  












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You can enter the Gilded Mint Giveaway HERE.





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On Honey We're Healthy:  My Top 3 "Eat Clean" Meals










Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Cork + Washi Bookshelf


My goal of keeping things neat and organized in my home isn't only for the adult spaces, but also for my toddler's things too.  In his room, we've got a great Pottery Barn Kids bookshelf that is very well built and the perfect size for his room.  (I just checked and it's on sale right now too).  We use it to store books and toys, and some decorative frames and photos on top.










To protect the shelves from getting scratched and dirty, I lined them with cork contact paper. Then I added red and blue decorative trim in the form of washi tape. 









The contact paper is really easy to use because it's lined on the back so you can cut it to fit your space perfectly.  It's got an adhesive backing that you can peel off so the paper sticks to the shelf, but it's not so sticky that I couldn't pull it up when I needed to readjust it. You can find cork contact paper at Amazon. I've got it on my pantry shelves too. 












I have a big collection of washi tape and used the red and blue patterns that coordinated with the colors in my son's room.  










Washi tape pulls up very easily without damaging the surface.






I think it adds a nice personal touch to the bookshelf, perfect for a child. 










The Dalmatian bookend is also from Pottery Barn Kids.










I could easily go crazy with this tape, so I restrained myself with just a couple of strips.















I also dressed up a plain, white frame with the tape. 















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You can enter the Gilded Mint Giveaway HERE.





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On Honey We're Healthy:  My Top 3 "Eat Clean" Meals





Tuesday, November 12, 2013

$100 Gilded Mint Art Giveaway


I was introduced to Jennifer Latimer's original art Etsy shop, Gilded Mint, when I was looking for art for my home office.  I have her gold foil lips print framed and love it.   After seeing the art I purchased on my blog, Jennifer has generously offered a $100 giveaway and a 20% discount using code GILDED20









Here is a peek at some of the Gilded Mint original abstract art. 


























Aren't those amazing?!  Do you have the perfect place in your home for one of these pieces? She does commissioned work as well.





Jennifer's art has also been sold on One King's Lane. 















a Rafflecopter giveaway





Good Luck!


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The winner of the Minted giveaway is Dakota! I will be emailing you with instructions for how to redeem your prize!



Monday, November 11, 2013

Home Office Update // Ikea Doksta Table


Hi friends and happy Monday!  I'm particularly happy today to share with you an update to my home office that has made my life much easier.  I added the Ikea Doksta table to my office and I love it!  Isn't she pretty?!  










I was worried about the sturdiness of the table and whether it would wobble, but I haven't had any problems with it.  It's not getting high-traffic use like a breakfast table so I hope it lasts a long time.  










The table is 41 inches in diameter- perfect for my room.  I wanted this table to serve two purposes: 1) a spot for my son to play, draw, and color while I'm at my desk so we can be together in the same room, and 2) an area for me to spread out on when I'm coming up with blog ideas or doing a craft project.  





I chose a round table because most of the other furniture in the room has hard angles, so I thought this would soften the room and fit well in the corner. 









Although I get a lot of inspiration and ideas from Pinterest, I still like browsing through my magazines and catalogs, tearing out pages and making handwritten notes. I like to use my pretty pens and fun paper and just having it around makes me happy.  But if I have it, I want to actually use it- not just look at it. 









The "J" cup and orange candles are recent Target finds.  Why not keep your pens in an interesting holder?  The colorful chevron pen is Jonathan Adler.  Isn't it funny how even a pen can be happy?













Along with fresh flowers, I'd normally also have a cup of something to drink beside me.  Water or tea probably.  And I love to have some good music playing too. I often just use our music channels on the TV in the living room (which I can hear upstairs) and I'm going to try listening to Pandora radio on my computer.  Do you use it?  What stations do you like?  










My son does love using this table too and when he's at it, I typically put a tablecloth over the table so that I'm not paranoid about marks or scratches.  I have one of those heavy vinyl ones with a soft underside that works great.  










I hope you have a great week!





If you missed it, over the weekend I wrote about a great new white coat I ordered and shared a couple of my favorite hair tools. :)





I've also got some fun GIVEAWAYS in the works this month, one from Gilded Mint original art launching tomorrow. And the winner of the MINTED giveaway will be announced tomorrow. 





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On Honey We're Healthy, grilled shrimp tacos!