A Last Little Bit of Fall..

Well, Thanksgiving is about 48 hours away, which means I still have time to share some fall decor before we go full-on Christmas up in here.



This year I pared things back quite a bit.
I'd like to think I was making a conscious, intelligent commentary about simplifying for the season, but the truth was, I was busy.  And, I didn't really want to haul a bunch of stuff out of the storage room, so we went fairly minimal this year. 
And I've kind of loved it.

Adding a $2 mum from Lowe's gave me some sunshiney color on my kitchen table, and I didn't have to dig through a single box.  WIN. :)

This time of year is when things start to get cozy and I love that.
You don't have to use fall colors to get across a warm feeling.
I love pairing different textures for an overall snuggly feel.

Whoooooo are you lookin' at?

(sorry, I'll show myself out. :) )

 
Whew!
Fall decor shared, and it's still November.
Made it under the buzzer. ;)

Have a lovely Thanksgiving!

Cheers,

Holiday Hosting: Making it Personal

The holidays are here, and it’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Right?

If you’re hosting, it might be the most Stressful time of the year.

Everybody wants to create the perfect holiday for family and friends.  And it’s so easy to cruise online to look for ideas… only to end up having a minor heart attack seeing all the beautiful, lavish ideas—picture-perfect holiday dinners with every perfect detail in place…it’s overwhelming!

But I’ll let you in on a little secret: you don’t have to have a Gwenyth Paltrow-styled table and a feast that looks like it leapt off the pages of Food & Wine magazine in order to have a lovely, memorable celebration.

The easiest way to make your holiday meaningful?

Make it PERSONAL.

 Here are a couple super-simple, inexpensive and super-EASY little touches to your holiday table that will leave your guests feeling the love (perfect turkey or not!).

Photos are a no-brainer way to personalize pretty much anything.

For these projects, I just uploaded all my photos to Shutterfly and had them printed in one chunk.  (They always seem to have about a hundred sweet promotions going on, and delivery right to my door was another no-brainer—it saved me a trip to pick them up at the drugstore. Because ain’t nobody got time for that! ;) )

 I picked up these inexpensive clear glass ornaments at the craft store.

 

From there, this project took about 14 seconds, so pay attention:

Simply cut or crop your photo to size, then use Modge Podge to adhere the photo flush to the back of the ornament (it will dry clear and invisible).

Add a name tag and some ribbon, and voila!  For some added pizzazz, I poured some every day table salt inside the ornament to create “snow.”

Winter Wonderland! :)

These make the perfect place cards for your holiday meal, and your guests will love to take them home and hang on their own trees!

Here’s another way to use your photos to make a memorable, personal holiday:

A Photo Table Runner

Again, going back to your stack o’photos from Shutterfly, choose your favorites and arrange the pictures in a collage – use a glue stick to lightly adhere the overlapping portions. 

 

Once you have it arranged how you want, I strongly recommend having it laminated to protect it from stains and spills, and so you can re-use it in the future. 

You can buy laminating sheets from an office supply store, OR you can make friends with a teacher—they have access to all the good stuff. ;)

These projects are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to making your holiday celebration special and adding personal touches, and using photos is such an easy way to do that! Remember, you don’t need to break the bank this holiday season. Keep it simple and sweet.

Make custom picture gift tags!

Blow up photos into placemats! 

Make your own personalized gift wrap!

See what I mean? :)

Happy Holidays!

 

 Cheers,