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Wednesday, December 13, 2017

Preparing Our Home for the Holidays

We received free product to facilitate this post. No other compensation was received. 
All opinions expressed are our own.

As you know, I'm on a mantle decorating kick. Needless to say, as much as I loved my Thanksgiving mantle, I was super excited when it was time to make the swap for Christmas decor! I'm truly feeling like this is decreasing clutter on my mantle and helping to create a more peaceful space in my living room. I'm so excited at both the simplicity and festivity of this Christmas mantle!


I love the homey, rustic, details of this Holiday Handicraft Wood Tree Set. The trees are beautiful yet simple and the perfect size for my mantle. Combining wood with metal, they are sturdy, and I expect them to be a staple Christmas decoration in our house for years to come.


The Merry Christmas Tabletop Sign adds a pop of festive color to some rustic Christmas charm. It's a sturdy wooden sign and actually has a built-in stand so you could use it as I have on the mantle, or right in the middle of your Christmas dinner table as a free-standing centerpiece.


The Vintage Christmas Tree to the left is a favorite Christmas decoration that I scooped up last year.

Our mantle always seems to be full of little trinkets - they all deserve a spot there, but all of them together is just too much. Switching things out seasonally is making a big difference in simplifying our space and helping us focus on one thing at a time. Right now we're focused on Christmas and I'm loving these new additions to our decor!

You can find these Christmas decorations and more on the Oriental Trading website.

Sunday, December 10, 2017

DIY Christmas Ornaments - Perfect Gifts for Friends and Teachers!

We received free product to facilitate this post. No other compensation was received. 
All opinions expressed are our own.

I've shared before that my oldest daughter is a giver. She can find any occasion to give gifts to her friends. Christmas is one of the more obvious times of year where she starts planning months in advance for the most perfect, thoughtful, true-to-her, gifts for friends and teachers.

This year she chose to make ornaments for gifts. She knew she wanted them to be "winter color" themed ornaments with blue, turquoise, purple, white, and of course, anything sparkly. She loves to be creative and I love to be low-maintence these days, so these DIY winter themed Christmas ornaments were perfect for us both!


We started with some Clear Christmas Ornaments and then simply just filled them up with blue and pink Snowflake Beads, Winter Pony Beads, Silvertone Jingle Bells, Winter Fun Loops, Snowflake Jewels, Tiny Pom Poms, Glitzy Buttons, and Foam Snowflake Craft Shapes.


What we got were some colorful (just like my daughter!), wintery, super cute ornaments that will look great on Christmas trees this year and for years to come!


What a simple and fun way to ring in the holiday season and help us gift a lasting memory to our friends and teachers this year!


We got all the supplies for these super easy DIY Christmas Ornaments online from Oriental Trading.