...One More Thing: holiday

Showing posts with label holiday. Show all posts

11.21.2011

Free Christmas Printables from JDC

I've shared this amazing blog with you before but I just couldn't resist telling you about what's going on over at Jones Design Company. Emily, the blog's creator, has been offering some great free Christmas printables and I couldn't wait to share them with you.

Christmas gift tags

Christmas art print

Christmas Party Invitations

Christmas Gift List

Click on the links in each title to find out how to print these fun Christmas pages. You've got to check out the rest of this great blog. It's SO inspiring! I think I have a bit of a soft spot because Emily is from the Pacific Northwest and I always love to see what's happening over in my old neck of the woods!

Happy printing!

...one more thing...you've got to check out Emily's "What I wore" section.

11.15.2011

Holiday Decorating - Christmas table centerpiece

It's official! The boxes have been brought into the house and ornaments unpacked. That's when I discovered how dreadfully old and tacky some of my decorations are. Yikes! What was I thinking? I bought most of them when I had my first place right out of college. I didn't have much money so they did the job. I was also the only one making the decisions on which ornaments to pick and what look I was going for. Much has changed since then and now Mr. D has ideas and opinions to add to the mix. Since we have been together our colour scheme has evolved to include apple green. I would never have picked that colour myself but I wanted to make sure to honor Mr. D's request so apple green it was.

The time I have for decorating and all of that fun stuff is pretty limited and things just work best during little D's nap time or bedtime. I started by shopping in my closet picking any container that might hold ornaments or other decorative items. Here's what I came up with.

Before

These are the supplies I gathered. I'm sure I won't use all of them but it's helpful to try different pieces as I go. The majority of glass containers are the same height so I'll show you a little trick I learned to help add some dimension.

I found little bowls in my cupboard that I turned upside down, covered with white fabric (fabric napkins) and placed the glass containers on top which added dimension to the height.

This year I chose to keep the colour scheme pretty tight so I picked my apple green and silver ornaments. I tried to add interest by picking different sized ornaments but that was only in the silver coloured ones. I think I'll work on adding to the apple green collection with some patterned ornaments and also trying to find different sizes.

I tried to make sure that I did not put containers next to each other that were the same height so the bowls under the napkins came in really handy. I also tried to make sure I put the green ornaments in spots throughout the arrangement. That helps the eye to move all around the arrangement without getting stuck in one place. I also tried to remember to use odd numbers and ended up using three candles, three containers with green ornaments and three containers with silver ornaments. I would like to add some fake snow to some of the containers but I think I got rid of what I had so I'll need to pick some up. Until then have some fun shopping in your own closet and decorating your own tables.

Happy closet shopping!

11.10.2011

Friday Fabulous - It's Beginning to Look Alot Like Christmas...

Well, here we are. At the end of another week. I continue to marvel at how quickly each week seems to fly right on by. This post is not really related to decorating my home but it's too fun to resist! I can't wait for Christmas! It's my favourite holiday by FAR! Today marks day 1 of my holiday baking. I'm not sure if there will be more than day 1 but it's fun to plan.

First up - sugar cookies

the recipe - I'm not gonna lie, it's from a kid's cookbook, super easy and totally yummy

my favourite part - decorating and totally trying something new this year

Here is my favourite sugar cookie recipe (from Company's Coming - kids cooking)

Ingredients

12 tbsp. butter
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla

21/2 cups all-purpose flour
11/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt

Directions

1. place the first 4 ingredients into the bowl. Beat on medium speed until smooth.

2. add flour, baking powder and salt. Beat on lowest speed just until moistened.

3. wrap dough in plastic wrap, place in refrigerator for 2 hours or overnight. **this step is critical as this dough is VERY sticky**

4. turn oven to 350'F, roll dough out on parchment paper and bake for 7-8 minutes or until edges begin to turn golden brown. Cool cookies completely and decorate.

Here are some of my current inspirations from none other than Martha Stewart

- love the simplicity of this beautiful snowflake

These were some of my first inspirations

so pretty

colour is always fun

I just can't resist... Happy Holidays! (ok, so it's a little early but this only comes once a year so I'm going to make the most of it!)

ciao!

10.24.2011

Phew...2 weeks already?!

I'm back after an impromptu two week break. Boy, life just keeps marching right along and it's crazy how quickly two weeks went by. I hadn't intended to put posting on hold for that long but life took over and, well, here we are. I've been going back and forth in my mind...keep going with fall decor or start on some fun Christmas projects. Back and forth I tell you! I actually didn't get my fall boxes out of the garage this year because, well, I'm not sure where they are. The garage isn't that big but all of the "stored" items are over in a huge pile and not that easy to access. Luckily, I had my husband put the Christmas boxes on the outside so we are ok there. PHEW! Crisis averted! I think I've moved on to working on Christmas projects actually because I know as the most wonderful season of all approaches I'll be just too busy. Here are a few things I'm thinking about working on.

This super fun wreath was part of Starbuck's holiday 2008 display and I fell in LOVE with it then. I think I'd like to try to recreate it but with a little twist to make it work for my home. I'm not sure if I'll get to it this year but it is definitely on the list of things to do!

These Potterybarn stockings are darling and I really love the velvet fabric.

These Potterybarn knitted stockings are so adorable too! How to decide?!

This Potterybarn Kids advent calendar is one of the sweetest I've seen and would be so fun for little dude to use to count down the days.

It looks like I've got my work cut out for me! Maybe I should have started back in July! We'll see how much I can get done and perhaps some will have to wait for next year.

...one more thing... Are you working on anything for Christmas yet or am I the only one jumping the gun?

10.05.2011

Fall Decorating - front door dreaming

There's just something fun about decorating for the seasons and holidays. I guess the appeal is a carry over from when I was teaching and we marked many milestones by special events. I must admit that my fall decorating has taken a bit of a back seat this year but that hasn't stopped me from checking out some fun ideas. In an ideal world my front door would be dressed right up. Since this is not ideal, I thought I'd show you a sweet idea I came across last year.

source

I saw this picture on a blog last fall and thought it was quite darling. I'm always a sucker for black urns and pair those with a black door and I'm in a little bit of heaven. The monogrammed door mat is a great finishing touch. Click here for instructions on how to put together these great pumpkin topiaries.

How is your fall decorating coming?

9.28.2011

Fall Crafts - pumpkins everywhere

There are so many fun crafts for fall out there. I scoured the internet to find some really great craft ideas and came up with these three.

Here's a cute but really simple craft from Tatertots & Jello. The glitter is such an unexpected twist and the ribbon adds a sweet touch.

These yarn-wrapped pumpkins are darling from Two Shades of Pink! I think I've definitely got to try these!

These Missoni-inspired pumpkins are so chic. Check them out here.

These cuties are so inspiring...now to find the time! Happy crafting everyone!

7.01.2011

Friday Fabulous

Happy 4th of July weekend everyone!

My weekend officially started today and I'm so looking forward to my days off. It seems fitting that today is Canada Day as well as my first day off. What makes this such a great weekend is that I get to celebrate Independence Day as well! I'm working on a little crafty project to use on Monday which will add a little fun to our festivities. It's actually something I learned in grade-school then saw in a Martha Stewart magazine some time ago. Here's a little sneak peak! Happy celebrating everyone!

How-To here

photo courtesy of MarthaStewart.com

** update... ok so I had the best of intentions but it didn't happen. Instead Mr. D and I played with little dude and spent much needed family time together. I'm still learning to juggle working full time, spending quality time with my family and doing the other things I love. It was a joy to spend the whole weekend doing nothing but making memories as a family. Maybe I'll get to it next year.

6.17.2011

Friday Fabulous - Father's Day Ideas

It's that special time of year when fathers everywhere are honored. Here are a few last minute ideas in case you're still lookin'. Have a wonderful weekend!