16
Hey friends, happy Friday! Before it's too late, I wanted to share a few pics of our living room with some simple updates I made for the holidays. Living in a small space (which feels even smaller with the addition of baby stuff), we don't like to buy too many seasonally specific things since we don't have room to store them during the rest of the year. So my "winter decor" is really simple--mostly stuff from nature that I can throw away guilt-free after the season is over, plus a few small things that are easy to store. I also added a new blue and ivory wool rug that's perfect for winter, but will also work year-round. Wanna see? Come on in.
When you enter our house, you pass through the "snowball" curtains that I made for our Friendsmas party.
We keep our keys on the bannister, on this ring stand that I originally bought as Halloween decor.
We don't do a Christmas tree, but I foraged some greenery for the mantel and added twinkling fairy lights around the mirror.
I kept the felt ball garland that I put up this fall, and the cable-knit vase too (but I swapped out the wheat for pine boughs). And I still love my little family of deer and the ceramic tea light houses that I got last winter!
Our new rug is from Dynamic Rugs. We've had a fluffy ivory rug in our living room for years, and I still love the way that style looks...but we figured it would be good to get something that's less shaggy and doesn't shed as much, since Ian will be crawling soon. I like the soft blue color and the pretty pattern on this one, and it's a great price for a 100% wool rug too. Look for the "Milan" rug on Wayfair, Rugs Direct, and other retailers.
I added some of our family photos to the gallery wall, to make it feel a bit more personal.
And I made some 3d accordion snowflakes just for fun...like the one propped against the mirror there.
I love my new basket from IKEA. I've been trying restrict the amount of Ian's toys and books that we keep in the living room to it...but more and more keep creeping out. Oh well, it actually makes me kind of happy to see his cute little baby things all over.
That's it! Not nearly as decked out for the holidays as a lot of homes I've seen on social media and the blogosphere, but at least I made a little effort, right? Hope you guys like the new rug too! It felt like such a dramatic change to me at first, but I'm used to it now and feel like it totally belongs. My favorite part is that it's low-pile but still soft...and it's so much easier to vaccuum than our old rug!
What are your favorite simple, low-key ways to update your home for the holidays?
Thanks to Dynamic Rugs for partnering with me on this post!
14
It's officially crunch time for holiday cards! I cannot believe we're already halfway through December...this year has absolutely flown by. The holiday season is always busy and I knew it would be even more of a blur for us this year, so I partnered with Minted to give me the help (and motivation) I needed to get our cards out the door. And we're giving away TWO $125 gift cards so you can get that extra help too! Enter here.
I think my favorite thing about ordering through Minted is their free Address Assistant which makes the process sooo easy--just upload your address book, select recipients, and they print the envelopes for you in beautiful designs that match your holiday card! I also used their find it fast option, which was super helpful for us to select the perfect holiday card. You upload your photo once, then watch as it appears on hundreds of different designs. So much easier than individually uploading photos!
Minted has so many beautiful options for holiday cards, they're honestly the best place I've found. I wanted to find a card that also doubled a birth announcement, had slots for multiple photos, and wasn't super "Christmas-y." I thought it would be a tough combo, but I actually found multiple options that fit those criteria! We ended up choosing the "Much to Celebrate" card, which was perfect because it's so true.
This is the photo I used in the center of the card. It's just a quick snap I took of Ian in our living room, nothing fancy or professional. I loved the photos that Corlana shot of our family, but I also wanted to include one of Ian smiling since he's already changed so much since September. I like collage cards for that reason--there's less pressure to find "the perfect" photo that sums up the whole year, and you can include photos you took yourself along with professional ones. Another tip since we're getting down to the wire: a New Year's theme buys you a little more time than a card that says "Merry Christmas." Something I've learned since I feel like I am always running behind. ;)
Minted has a few great promos going on right now, and what's cool is that you can "buy now, personalize later" to take advantage of a promo before it expires, then come back and finish your cards when you have time.
Happy holidays, you guys! Wish I could send each and every one of you a card. And don't forget to enter my giveaway--you have two chances to win $125 to Minted! Even if you already have your cards done (go you), they sell a bunch of other cute things, like art prints, wrapping paper, pillows, and more.
Thanks to Minted for partnering with me on this post!
13
This past Sunday, we hosted a bunch of our friends for a "Friendsmas" dinner & cookie exchange. It's basically the same idea as Friendsgiving, except in December...which is even better because you get all the same good food plus Christmas cookies! We made a ham, deviled eggs, crescent rolls, and brussel sprouts, plus chocolate crinkles, candy cane cookies, and eggnog cookies. I partnered with Kendall-Jackson, who provided delicious wine, and our friends each brought a side dish and their favorite holiday cookie. I took a few photos before everyone arrived, and believe it or not this is the dessert spread before I added our guests' contributions. We still have a ton left, so I've been super tempted to eat cookies for breakfast this week!
In addition to a plethora of cookies, we had this gorgeous dulce de leche cake that my sister-in-law made.
For decor, I got a vintage-style letter board from Lowell & Co, then added some bottle brush trees and ornaments.
I also made some mini trees out of wine corks and paper triangles, and used them to label the different options. If you want to add some competition to your cookie exchange/bake-off, it would be fun to number the cookies, then have people vote on their favorites!
The cork trees also served as place cards and I strung them with baker's twine so they can double as ornaments. Basically, these are some awesome little multi-tasking trees, so you should probably go ahead and make some for yourself! Get the easy DIY instructions on the Kendall-Jackson blog today.
The table runner was a garland made out of foraged greenery (yay, free decor!) and I hung some strings with felt balls from the doorway as "falling snow." You could also use marshmallows instead of felt balls to get the same effect!
A self-serve bar cart is the easiest way to make sure everyone gets the wine of their choice, and can go back for more throughout the evening.
And candles are the easiest way to make a table feel festive!
We had a blast hosting this cookie exchange, and I think we might need to make it a tradition as well...Friendsgiving AND Friendsmas next year?!?
Thanks to Kendall-Jackson for partnering with me on this post.
09
Last but not least, my gift guide for baby (aka Ian!). Ok, I'll be honest, mostly these are things that I want for Ian...after all, it's not like he's actually wishing for any material things at his stage in life. So I guess you could call this a gift guide for new parents? Either way, here are a bunch of baby things that you can't go wrong with. Happy Friday!
1. Stokke Tripp Trapp: The big-ticket item that I've been debating: to get a cute high chair that can grow with him and look good at the table, or just a cheap one that'll do the job? Give me your thoughts.
2. His first Christmas jammies: Because sooo stinking cute.
3. Letter board: For cute sayings and quotes, celebrating milestone and birthdays, and more. Seems like everyone I follow on Instagram has one, and I want one too! Just for a photo prop and decor, not for Ian to play with (the letters are totally swallowable).
4. Knit hat: To keep him warm on winter walks and outings. You can get a kit to knit the hat yourself, or just buy it ready-made.
5. A special stuffed animal: Ian already has several stuffed animals, but knit ones are just the sweetest. I'm really tempted to get him one of these, but I can't decide which animal I like best...opinions welcome!
6. Sophie teether: As a stocking stuffer, one of these would be perfect. He's starting to get super drooly and bite-y so I think teething is just around the corner...and he doesn't have a Sophie yet! I know, it's shocking.
In case you missed them, I posted my gift guide "for her" yesterday, and "for him" on Wednesday. Yes, I blogged three days in a row! Yay, productivity! :)
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