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Gift Ideas

Cool Watches for Men & Women and A Giveaway – JORD Wood Watches

Thank you to JORD Wood Watches for Sponsoring this post. All opinions of this product are 100% my own. See more of my disclosure policy here.

I love receiving gifts from my hubby. Don’t we all love it when our husbands shower us with gifts? In the past, I used to expect my hubby to give me a gift for every occasion and maybe non-occasion, too. There were times I would even jokingly tried to make up an occasionย to receive a gift. Such as if I needed something new, I’d say something like this: “Well, I just spent the entire day cleaning; how about a little appreciation gift for all that labor?” And then I’ll hint at something I wanted to buy. Not that I couldn’t just buy it myself but it’s always more fun receiving a gift from the hubs, right? Wrong, not when I tried to make up an occasion for one. I always got “the look” from him and then it became a laughing matter afterwards. While this may have been funny to us, I have to admit that when it comes to buying me gifts my husband does a good job with his choices. I Especially loves it when he rolls out the jewelry and diamonds (hello upgraded wedding band for our anniversary a few years ago) and even other practical gifts that I can use around the home.

JORD Wood Watch Reece Series Golden Camphor & Khai - At Home with Zan

Although my husband buys me great gifts, I sometimesย find it difficult to know what kinds of gifts to give to him.ย After all, it’s not always easy figuring what type of gift(s) a man would like and what types of good gifts are out there for men! I even feel like some of the gifts I give to my hubby recurs over and over. Often times, when I am stumped for gift ideas for himย I would throw out sneaky (and even not so sneaky) little hints to get him to give ideas. At timesย I’d get the “I don’t really need anything reply” and other times I’d get a few ideas. Despite it all, I know he appreciates good gifts from me just like I appreciate the awesome gifts he gives to me. But for our anniversary back in December I couldn’t decide what to get him. I know he loves a good watch and was out of one for a while. It’s pretty much the only extra piece of jewelry besides his wedding band he’ll wear. So it was truly convenient (and I was delighted) when JORDย Wood Watchย offered to send me one of their beautiful timepieces. I knew exactly what I was going to put it towards – a lovely gift to hubby, of course.

JORD All-Natural Wood Watch

JORD Wood Watch carries an incredible selection of modern high quality wood watches for both men and women. I’d first become aware of these unique watches when I saw a few of them floating around on Instagram. I didn’t think I had seen a wood watch before so I was a bit curious and clicked over to Wood Watch. Once I hopped over, I couldn’t stop clicking around and checking out all the wonderful collection of watches. The colors, the faces, the quality, everything was just so eye-catching! They are 100% natural andย are made from the best types of wood such as bamboo, sandalwood and maple to name a few. They are not going to chip away easily.ย Choosing a men’s watch was not an easy choice when there are so many competing options. Each one is so unique. I love this statement from JORD’s story:

“We are focused on creating timepieces that are modeled after a modern lifestyle. We value sustainability, efficiency, and experiential living. We make our watches for people who don’t just have somewhere to be, they have somewhere to go”.

Judging by the quality of the watch that my husband has I can tell that they truly hold up to their mission. We chose the Golden Camphor & Khaki watch. It’s well-made and has that two toned effect from Dark Sandal and Camphor Wood that were used for creating it. Just look at that finish!! We also love that it is splash proof and while it may not be wise to fully immerse it in water, it certainly will hold up to everyday general use. Another feature that we love about the watch is that it is mechanical so does not need battery. It truly is a cool watch and such a beautiful piece for any lifestyle.

JORD Wood Watch Eco-Friendly

Even the packaging it arrived in was well put together. It was securely packaged in this little wooden box and nestled between a tiny pillow. There was no way it was going to be damaged via shipping. There was also a cleaning rag and full instructions for using and taking care of the watch in a separate drawer at the bottom of the box. If that isn’t caring about a product you make then I don’t know what is!

JORD Wood Watch - Wooden Box

JORD on Pillow

Jord Wood Watches

JORD Watch

When the watch arrived it was a tad too big and my husband needed to remove one link. JORD had already resized it but we left an extra link to ensure that the watch did not arrive too small. When my husband went around trying to find a watch repair shop or jeweler to remove the link, no one wanted to do it. One jeweler claimed that it was “a special” watch so he did notย want to ruin it. He eventually took the link out without any problems and the watch is a perfect fit. It is really is an awesome timepiece that we love!

It’s been a while since my husband has been on the blog but you can see him checking out and wearing his new watch. He is super conscious of what he wears and this watch looks really great with any of his outfits, casual, formal, or informal. And as a college Vice President and Dean of Students, he kinda needs something to make him look awesome when he goes to work. Especially in the busy city of Chicago, keeping up with the “time” is important. It’s great to have something that is well-made, all-natural, and Eco-friendly all at the same time.ย Think I need one – maybe I’ll throw in a few sneaky hints to hubby?

JORD Wood Watch for Any Lifestyle

JORD Wood Watch as a Cool Gift

If you are looking for a coolย watch to gift to a man or a woman or even for yourself you’ll definitely want to check out JORD’s line of watches. One look at their site andย you’ll be in awe with all the gorgeous watches. They are nothing short of incredible and are great for any type of occasion, anniversary, birthdays, holidays, you name it and even ‘just because’. Valentines is just around the corner. I’m sure a special someone will love to have one of these cool watches as a gift. Don’t you think? You can even customize any watch with personalizedย engraving. Pop on over toย Wood Watchย and you’ll probably want to buy not one but two or three watches! But first, don’t miss the giveaway below.

JORD Cool Wood Watch

The lovely folks at JORD Wood Watch are offering $100 gift code to one reader toward their purchase. All you need to do is enter your name and email address and you will be added to the contest. Only one person will win, but everyone who enters will be given a $25 code at the end of the contest. How amazing is that! Contest closes on 2/5 at 11:59pm.

ENTER HEREย to win a $100 gift code toward your purchase of one JORD Wood watch.

What do you think? Have you checked out JORD’s line of awesome wood watches yet? Which one is your favorite?

Luxury Wooden Watch

 

Home

5 Areas to Declutter & Bring Simplicity to Your Home

I’ve been consistently trying to find ways to cut clutter and bring simplicity at home. When I use the phrase ‘simplicity at home’, I’m not referring to a boring home that is not warm and welcoming. Neither I’m I referring to a home that has been stripped off all its necessary items that make it a home. Too many times ‘simplicity at home’ can come across as boring and having nothing. When I use this phrase, I’m simply referring to cutting out the excess. It means getting rid of the stuff that make your home a place of chaos and confusion and only keeping the things that bring you and your family joy. It means having less (stuff) so you can have more (home) and ultimately less chaos.

clutter free living room

I am totally aware that this may not be an easy concept for some. I too have my struggles. It is not natural to always think “have less so I can have more”. My natural tendency is to want more – such is the human nature. The eye is definitely not tired of seeing… But we can be disciplined and ‘simplicity at home” can only be done through discipline. While I don’t consider myself disciplined in this area, I do love it when parts of the home feel simplified and clutter-free. It means:

  • less chaos (mentally and physically)
  • less organizing
  • less cleaning
  • more home
  • more freedom
  • etc.

If you’ve been wanting to bring some simplicity to your home, have less (stuff) so you could have more (home), and have less chaos, here are some things to try.

5 Areas to Declutter and Bring Simplicity to Your Home

1.Declutter Your Stuff: Ever find yourself having too much stuff at home that do not make you or your family happy? Are your closets overflowing with clothes that you’ve not worn in years because you just have too much.. or outgrew them… or do not love them anymore? Do you spend too much time trying to find something to wear in the midst of the chaos? Why not do something about it to simplify your space and cut the frustration? 

  • Sell or donate what you do not need anymore. If decluttering is a new thing to you take it slowly and evaluate what are needs and what are excess (clutter). But try it and over time you’ll begin to embrace the freedom that comes with it.
  • Cut out impulsive and excess spending: There is no need to have 5 of one item just for the sake of having it. I used to own about 4 different slow cookers, 1 large, 1 medium, 1 tiny, and one with 3 sections. I always thought I needed each one for different sizes of meals. If I was making a regular everyday dinner I used the medium (my favorite) one and if I was making a holiday meal I used the large one (once a year maybe?). That three sectional slower cooker may have only been used one or two times within a period of 2 years. But I need to have it. After all, it was a housewarming gift plus what if friends came over and I needed to make a few different side dishes? It will save time, wouldn’t it? After years of keeping all these sizes of slow cookers I realized that I did NOT need them all. They were sources of clutter. I ended up donating a couple of them. I kept the large one and eventually had no idea what happened to the medium one. I used the larger slow cooker until it stopped working and did without one for a while  until Fall when the weather got cooler. Having just one frees up our physical space and works well. If you’ve got a cooking business at home then more than one may be necessary.
  • Don’t make spending money a therapy. I used to do this when my hubby traveled for business. I’d take the kids and go to some of my favorite stores and buy home decor items on sale. Truth be told, we probably did not need most of them. They did not bring joy as I was constantly trying to make room and find some ways to use them. Many ended up in various donate piles. Here is the thing, I am finding that our location to stores play a big part in how I spend. Previously, we lived closer to various favorite stores so it was easy to pop in often (even just to look or so I told myself). In this area though those same stores are a tad further away so we’ve been staying home. Plus I just don’t always have the desire to load the kids and drive 10 -15 minutes (not far) to the stores. We’ve been doing without what we don’t see in the stores, bringing in less clutter, and saving money!! So cutting out excess spending will definitely help free up your home from all the un-necessaries and help you find some joy in your space again. As a bonus, if you have less stuff cleaning and taking care of your home will seem like a breeze. Less things mean less home to clean. 

Note: This photo is from when I gave our bedroom a tiny makeover. It is not a fancy designed room but it’s pretty much being staying simple and clean and beautiful (at least in my mind). Not too may things in the room to complicate it and make it unwelcoming. As a bonus, cleaning is definitely a breeze with this one.

master-bedroom-dresser-top

3. Declutter Your Social Media: What???? Social media is one of the things that can definitely add clutter to our minds and in return rob us from the joys of home. It becomes a time-waster if it is not balanced. We spend too much time searching and watching what others are doing all the while neglecting our own. What’s worse is that it makes us compare ourselves and our homes to what others have and what we don’t have. Too many times I hear others saying, “I wish I had a room like this” or “I wish I was relaxing in a space like that” or “that person’s home is the best”, etc. While I admire nice homes and love to see how others create their homes, I have to constantly remind myself that each home is different. How many times have you fallen into a trap of MUST having a certain decorative item because it looks awesome in someone else’s home? After all, if it’s trending and looks good in so many homes it’s got to look great in mine too! Well that is an avenue for homemaking fail. We may realize after purchasing and setting up that the stuff do not suit our homestyle after all. We don’t really love it as we thought we would and therefore, only wasted money and added to the clutter. 

I’ve had to set some goals and try to cut back on the amount of time wasted on social media. Instagram for example is a favorite (gotta love Insta) but I just cannot keep up with the daily posting, keeping up with everyone else’s photos, trying to make my photos look perfect and modelling my home after everyone else’s. I feel like it has become more of a chore rather than a ‘fun thing’. Don’t get me wrong, not saying that our feed should look uncoordinated and not appealing (I love seeing great photography). All I’m saying is that on my part, it was taking a bit too much time to keep up with on a daily basis. I had to find balance and cut back some for the sake of my home (working on this).

4. Declutter Your Email Inbox(es): Too many emails in your inbox? You can definitely unsubscribe! I don’t mean to sound harsh but so many companies offer so many ‘sign-up to receive rewards and special discounts’ type of sign-up forms. I feel like some of those rewards never really work. When I go to a store and present my rewards card (which they ask for) all they do is scan and give back. Signing up for everything that’s offered will only crowd our minds and inboxes and cause us to waste time caring for home. I know there were times when I had to wade through my inboxes to find just one email. Or miss important emails because I had so many non-important ones crowding my way. Unscribing from un-necessary emails will give us more freedom, clear the clutter, and allow us to spend less time checking through emails. 

5. Declutter Your Mind: Don’t try to “do it all”. If you try to do too many things at once, you may find yourself not having any direction. Your mind and space become cluttered. I found this to be true when I decided to organize some of the areas in our home. I took everything from the cupboards and closets and laid them out. This created a huge mess and clutter-filled rooms. There was clutter all around and I did not know which area to work on first. Once I put everything back and started focusing on one area at a time, I did not feel as stressed and our home was not in a state of disarray. My mind was not cluttered and the tasks were easier to handle and even more enjoyable. 

6. Declutter Your Schedule: If you don’t add a few minutes to your schedule to unwind you will only be burdened with chores, tasks, with the 5 other areas mention above, etc. Block out a few minutes just to do nothing or do something that makes you feel relaxed. Here are a few ideas to try:

  • flip through a magazine
  • catch a favorite show
  • eat a favorite snack
  • drink from your favorite mug
  • mini mani or pedicure
  • read a good book
  • bake something special
  • take a nap?

The list could go on. . . The idea is to block out time from the daily mundane so you would find time to clear your mind, re-fuel, and re-energize. Like I mentioned above, these are areas that I too have been working on and have seen a bit of a difference in some areas already. 

5 Areas to Declutter & Bring Simplicity to Your Home - At Home with Zan

How are you simplifying and having less (stuff) so you could have more (home) and less chaos? Please share your ideas in the comments!!

Decor & DIY

Around the House Organizing – 5 Areas to Tackle

I’m one of those who tends to thrive in organized spaces. When spaces are chaotic it’s hard to find and accomplish anything in them. I find myself walking around in circles not knowing what task to tackle first. As an example, if I get behind on the dishes, even making breakfast seems like trying to get over some great hurdle of pots and pans and dirty dishes. Then there is the question of should I wash all the dishes or throw them in the dishwasher or clear the counters first? Or should I try to find something clean, make breakfast, and create an even bigger mess?! If the kitchen is clean and organized there is no wasting time trying to figure out what to do first. Especially if we are in a hurry, breakfast it is! (old photo of the kitchen).

new home tour appliances

Chaos does not help anyone accomplish anything beneficial. I have a few areas at home that often remind me of chaos; basically, some rooms that could be better organized. On a general scale, I like to keep our home organized but how to go about organizing the areas in this house is my biggest struggle for a few reasons: 1. we are renting so no rooms can be customized. 2. I don’t want to put too many holes in the walls. 3. I don’t want to use a bunch of baskets for organizing just for the sake of using them. I love using baskets for organizing and have a ton of them already. Too much though can make a space look cluttered. Albeit, that will probably be the solution for most of these spaces. In fact, I have started on some of these projects already. Here is a look at some areas I am working on. 

Around the House Organizing – 5 Areas to Tackle

Front Entryway – Our entryway is just a regular designed entryway split with a front room on the other side. Our shoes need to be better organized for sure. Too many times we find ourselves digging through a pile to find our shoes. I have added baskets at the top shelf and will need to label them because they are so high up and we cannot really see what is in them. Even I forget, most times, which basket has what. I’ve already found a solution for the kids jackets. In the past they put them down on something low such as a storage ottoman (shown here) or a chair or where ever I told them to put it until a parent hung them up. But I found something that they are using and it is so much better. 

Disorg entryway

Laundry room/Mudroom: The laundry room is tiny and there is a measure of storage cabinets and even some storage at the bottom of the machines. But it needs to be organized. My hubby likes to use this entrance from the garage whenever he comes home especially if he parks inside the garage. The kids and I prefer the front entrance but we use this mudroom when we go out and about with my husband.

Disorg Laundry RoomKitchen: On a general scale, the kitchen is pretty much put together except for the pantry, a few top cupboards that hold food items, and some storage drawers. I’m not a huge fan of pantries with shelving like these. The food never stay well on them. Here is a shot from a time when we had just bought groceries. Since there is no real system of organization other than the shelves, everything was thrown in there until I found a temporary solution. Two minutes later and things went back to being chaotic. 

Disorganized pantry These are the cupboards that need organizing. I have already started on them and they look much better (not shown here).

Disorganized Cupboards

Disorganized Cupboard

This is the other side of the kitchen where we have a tiny office/command center. Hmmm….. see the situation for yourself. I do clean the top of the counter frequently but it seems to be the place to collect all. 

Disorganized drawers and desk

Don’t even ask about the drawers. Gasp! Talk about all paper work, mail, art, chords, shattered ipad, you name it all in one hot mess!! This does not sit too well with me and has been driving me absolutely crazy!! Well I guess I sort of created it. I just need a spot to dump everything (and not find what I need right) until I figure out a better system. Sigh.

Disorg desk drawer

Disorganized drawers

Garage: This is one tiny spot of the garage where I have some spray paints, nails, screws, glue, etc…. It could use some help. The rest of the garage is not that terrible but it could look better. Way too cold to tackle garage organization during the winter.

Disorg Garage

So as you can see, we’re not all put together as we’d like to be. There are a couple other areas that are not terrible but could be better and other areas that need to be prioritized such as the entryway. We’ve made some overall progress though and that is always good. 

Around the House Organizing - 5 Areas to Tackle

How are you with home organization? Do you have it all figured out or are you still trying to find ways to make it work?

Home

3 Easy Homemade Winter Skin Moisturizer

During the winter months, dry skin seems to be very common in our household. I’ve especially seen this in the kids once the weather starts to change. Taking a few consistent steps have helped reduce some of that dryness. We’ve been using some homemade skin care that tends to do the trick. If you experience dry skin during the winter, you might consider trying a few simple natural ideas too. They’ll be less harsh on your skin and will definitely help save a few dollars.

winter-skin-care-for-dry-skin

Disclaimer: I’m not a medical doctor or anything related. I’m only sharing the ideas that seem to work for our family in hopes that they might work for someone else too. And just to clarify, we do use other skin products but we love trying natural ideas. That being said, if you are needing some natural dry skin care ideas, here are three ‘supa dupa’ easy ones that we enjoy

All that is needed to create these products are Epsom salts, sugar, cooking oils, and essential oils. Each ingredient has its own benefits. I chose the oils (both cooking and essential) that are healthy and mild on the skin and that are popular for healing and moisturizing dry skin. Please note that this is NOT an essential oils promotion for any particular brand. The oils used here were just a bit more budget friendly and are what I had on hand.

1.Bath Salts Soak (weekly): Epsom salts when used in moderation are a good way to help exfoliate, detoxify, and soften the skin and relax tired muscles. Add some of your favorite relaxing-good smelling essential oils for a special treat. I embrace the opportunity to soak in the tub anytime I can get to. It really does make for a good night’s sleep. I don’t always use this on the kids but when I do, I only use a small amount in a huge tub of water (like 1/4 t0 1/2 cup) and let it dilute. Not sure how much of an impact it has with just a tiny amount but the kids love it!!

Epsom salt for winter skin care

To make Tea Tree bath salts: 

  • Measure 2 cups of Epsom salts into a bowl.
  • Stir in 10-15 drops of Tea Tree (or favorite) essential oils
  • Store in a tightly covered glass jar. 
  • Dilute 1-2 cups of bath salts under running water into a tub. Fill tub to desired amount of water. Enjoy a good soak. 

Note: A 1/2 cup of baking soda could also be mixed in with the Epsom salts such as in this other recipe here.

Tea tree bath salt

2. Body Butter with Coconut Oil (daily): We use an easy homemade all natural skin conditioner to attack those dry spots. It’s made with a few tablespoons of coconut oil and drops of essential oils. It’s something I started using when (our now four year daughter) second daughter was a tiny baby. She was born during the winter months and had some seriously dry skin. This treatment really helped. Coconut oil is a master of all trades and is just so very good for many different uses. 

Coconut butter

To make the body butter: 

  • Melt 1/4 cup coconut oil over very low heat. Do not boil – just until melted. 
  • Stir in 10 – 15 drops of lavender essential oils. 
  • Pour into a storage jar. The oil will firm up if stored under 75 degrees. Either way, it works well. 
  • Rub onto dry skin areas as often as needed.

Natural skin care

3. DIY Sugar scrub (as needed): Sugar scrubs are easy to make and are a natural way to help exfoliate the skin and keep it moisturized. When it comes to using food ingredients on the skin, I think all-natural (organic, no processed) is always the best. But in this case, I used what I had on hand. I first made brown sugar scrub with brown sugar, olive oil, and orange essential oil. I tried it out on myself and on the kiddos. Our eldest kept saying how soft and smooth her skin felt, even days after.

lavender-sugar-scrub-for-face-and-skin

Once we used up the brown sugar scrub, I tried it out with white sugar, olive oil, and lavender essential oil. Both versions of scrubs work fine but I prefer the coarse brown sugar grains to really get a good scrub. I want to try it out using some kind of all natural raw sugar. 

To make this sugar scrub: 

  • Pour 3/4 cup sugar in a bowl. 
  • Stir in 1/4 cup of pure olive oil
  • Add 8-10 drops of favorite essential oil (I used lavender)
  • Mix well. Store in a tightly covered glass jar (I used a Mason jar).
  • Wet face or skin. Scoop out about a tablespoon of sugar scrub and apply over face and neck or other area. Scrub well. Rise and dry. The skin will feel so smooth!!

sugar-scrub-with-lavender

These three quick homemade skin care products would leave your skin soft, moisturized, less dry and feeling fresh. And they are not harsh products on the skin either. Spray some lavender spray (water and a few drops lavender essential oil) for instant room refresh. The area around you would smell wonderful, too. 

Lavender spray

skin-care-in-a-basket

This could make a good little DIY basket for a friend or someone who is into trying these homemade ideas for their dry skin… or just for a spa day at home for a mom or anyone. Before gifting, add in the oils used in each moisturizer so the recipient could create their own once they use up what is in the basket. Don’t forget to add some pretty labels and some instructions.

3 Easy Homemade Winter Skin Moisturizer

If your skin gets a bit dried out during the winter months, how do you keep it moisturized? I would love to know in the comments.

Decor & DIY

Top 10 Posts and Favorites of 2016 And a Reader Survey

Last year, I threw out the idea about discussing more home decor topics here on the blog. You, my readers, loved the idea just as much as I did. Not that I had never done any home decorating posts on the blog. I’ve always shared home tours decor and organizing projects from around the home. But I wanted to do more and you gave me motivation from your encouraging words. As I opened up our home some more, I realized four things:

  • they seemed to be well received (keep in mind that my decor posts are just regular everday normal home – not perfectly designed and staged)
  • they really helped me to narrow my niche some
  • I got more exposure and greater opportunities to work with brands
  • I love these types of posts!!

With these in mind, I thought it would be fun to have a look back at the top posts and personal favorites of the past year. 

top-10-posts

For the top posts, I have to admit that some of them were rather surprising! Meaning, there are a few of them on the list that I did not think would amount to anything. The photos are terrible and the posts themselves look like they need editing. That first one for example has more views this year than any other ones. Not really sure how it made it to the top of the list with more views but I guess it did. Anyway, here are the ones with the top views for 2016. I wrote them in the order of most views to least views (not by month). Hope you find a post that interests you.

  1. Resin Plastic Chairs Makeover 

DIY Kids Table & Chair Set Makeover2. Bathroom Makeover (ORC series)towel rack

3. Fall Home Tour 

fall-tour-cutting-boards4. Summer Dinning Room Summer Dinning Room - Table5. Coastal Master Bedroommaster bedroom makeover 29 6. Simply Seasonal: Five Simple Christmas Decorating Ideas simply-seasonal-gift-wrapped-plant-holder7. Painted Terra Cotta Clay Pots Terr cotta pots8. Merry and Bright Holiday Home Tourholiday-home-tour-christmas-tree9. Holiday Entertaining Made Easy holiday-entertaining-extra-storage-rack10. 8 Weeks to a Decluttered Home Checklist

Here are a few of my personal favorites (there were so many to choose from): 

Summer Backyard

Summer Dinning Room

Fall Table Setting

Fall Home Tour Hop

Mini Bedroom Makeover

Floating Candle Holiday Centerpiece

Christmas Dinner Tablescape

If you are a blogger, have you looked back at which of your posts did well this year?  Were you surprised by the ones that made it to the top.

Also, I would love it if you took a minute to answer a few questions from the survey below. This is a way to help me know what posts you are still interested in and to help me improve this blog. Thanks.

 Click Here to take the Survey

Christmas

Christmas Dinner Tablescape

I love doing a pretty table setting during Christmas. In the past, I have not shared about some I’ve done because we used our everyday tables for the occasion. It’s not practical to setup a formal everyday table weeks or days before an event because we need a place to eat in the meantime. We have a separate dinning room this year so setting it up in advance is possible. I must admit though that I had to remove this setting because our everyday table needs a replacement.

christmas-dinning-room-with-treescape

Those two farmhouse looking chairs are from our old breakfast table. Everything I used to set the table are either items I had on hand or from recent purchases during the Fall (for other uses). I like to bring out all the fancy for the Christmas dinner table. And it usually looks differently each year based on what I have or what color scheme I’m using. Here is a breakdown of what I used to set this year’s table:

  • Tablecloth (Ross Dress Stores early this Fall)
  • Golden Chargers (Dollar Tree early this Fall)
  • White plates with gold rims (Dollar Tree a few years ago)
  • Decorative salad plates (Walmart collection a few years ago)
  • Gold candle votives (Dollar Tree early this Fall)
  • Clear Votives (Walmart recent holiday)
  • Candles in votives (Walmart early this Fall)
  • Gold Tapper Candles (Home Goods early this Fall)
  • Drinking Glasses (Wedding Gifts)
  • Utensils (owned)
  • Ribbon (At Home Stores holiday purchase
  • Faux greenery (Target recent Holiday)
  • Fabric napkins (At Home Stores summer purchase)
  • Ornaments (On hand)

Our plan is to host our own dinner on Christmas Eve. We usually do this on Christmas day but this year, some of our friends would love to have us as their guests. We don’t have family close by anymore so dinning with friends is always fun. But this is what I thought the table might look like this year. I used faux greenery here in the original set up. We have an evergreen tree (white cedar) out front but it was covered in snow when I was setting up the table. I may snip a few branches from the outside and switch out the faux for some fresh if the snow melts off the branches.

christmas-dinning-room-with-light

 

christmas-dinning-room-with-ornaments

 

christmas-dinning-room-ornaments

The salad plates have different patterns. I wanted them all in deer print back when I saw them a few years ago but I could not find them all at the one location. Iย noticed I had one large plate in this collection and only five salad plates for the table setting. Hubby recently picked up another salad plate for me but it has a Christmas tree print. It is beautiful, too.

christmas-table-and-christmas-trees

 

christmas-dinning-room-storage-cabinet

christmas-table-plates

 

christmas-table-deer-print-plates

 

christmas-table-utensils

Notice the champagne glasses are of twoย different styles. Here is the plain one next to the wine glass. We don’t really do wine so these glasses are there for juice, water, or champagne.

christmas-table-tall-glass

And here is the other design of the champagne glasses.ย These were all gifted as wedding presents and I like to bring them out during the holidays.

drinking-glass-with-design

 

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This is another angle of the room.ย Free artwork decor is the best. This fa la la printable is free for downloading here.

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The view at night is stunning with the lights from the trees and from the candles. I think we would probably have a candlelight dinner. One of the little votives needs replacing so it didn’t light up but the overall scene in the room is just a beauty at night. The trees were brought over from the family room. I love them here next to the window.

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That’s the table setting in a nutshell. I hope you enjoyed it and I hope you have a Happy Holidays. Here is a look at last year’s table in our previous home.

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Do you go all out and set up a formal table for Christmas if you are hosting dinner? Or do you have a buffet style because you have way too many mouths to feed?

Decor & DIY

DIY Gold and White Polka Dot Coasters

It’s being a little while since we’ve owned some coasters. I bought some last year from IKEA and they were on the cheaper side. They were neutral and made of cork so of course, they broke apart after a little while. We have not had any since, in part because I am kind of picky about coasters. I have this thing about wanting our coasters to match with our kitchen decor. Maybe weird? But whatever the reason, whenever I come across a set, I always ask myself whether I would really like them and whether they would go with our kitchen decor. Which by the way, I have not really figured out what our kitchen decor should look like. Do I want white with pops of blue, red, or some other color? Not sure. That’s probably why I have not figured out the coaster thing yet. But anyway, I decided to DIY some in a fun pattern using some paint I had on had. Keep in mind, that I still had no idea what I wanted to do with them when I first bought them. This leads back to the undecided kitchen decor color scheme. 

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I bought some unfinished wooden coasters from Michaels craft stores way back in the summer to customize them but it did’t happen. During the fall, I gave them a first coat of paint on one side and then decided I was to busy to get back to them. Then I wanted to do work on them while I was doing some holiday projects, a few weeks ago, but could not find the stickers in the stores we checked. Then Christmas decor and what-nots too over and I had no desire to do the coasters anymore. The other day though, the kids were making ornaments for the tree and I while I was getting their craft stuff ready I saw the coasters and decided to work on them while the kids crafted. It turned out to be such a fun little project.

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Why polka dots? I figured I’d try something new and something fun. Not sure if polka dots are ‘in style’ but I do love the pops of circles that appear on some patterns. Paint is always an easy fix. They say your fashion sense inspires your decor or is it the other way around? Either way, might be so because this little pair of leggings from one of our kids is totally similar to the coasters (except the dots are in gold). When we saw it at Target, we both loved it instantly and this was after I had already decided on the polka dot coasters. So I’m guessing this fashion and decor go hand in hand after all.

diy-coaster-and-fashion

Anyway, here are the materials needed to make these coasters (be sure to use two different colors of paints):

  • Unfinished wooden coasters
  • Gold Spray Paint (or color of choice)
  • White Paint (or contrasting color of choice)
  • Clear Acrylic Sealer
  • All Purpose Labels (1/4 inch round)
  • Small Paint brushes
  • Scrap paper
  • Sand paper (optional)

Don’t let the amount of steps scare you – this is really a simple project. The drying time between the paint coats is what makes this little DIY seem long. The technique I used is one I’ve shared before such as How to Write on Canvas.

diy-coasters

Step 1: Paint the back of the coasters in the desired color in the direction of the lines on the coasters (I used white paint). Let it dry, then add another coat of that same color. Allow it to dry fully. I had a photo of the unfinished coasters as purchased but cannot find it. I took it way back then so just imagine them in normal unfinished wood condition. (Do sand them and clean off the dust before painting if you find some uneven spots).

Note: Generally, I would use better paint but this is the only white I had on hand (regular acrylic paint that the kids use for their crafts). Supposedly, it is all purpose and would not wash off.

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Step 2: Once the backs are dried, paint the front in desired color. Be sure to paint in the direction of the lines on the coasters. The front color does not necessarily have to match the color on the back but the first coat needs to be the color of the dots

I wanted the dots to be white so I painted the entire top of each coaster with white paint. To be honest, I was not sure if I wanted the dots to be white or gold but I ended up with white. 

Step 3: Add stickers randomly on the top of each coaster. Don’t cluster them all in one place – leave some room between each one. Add some at the ends too, creating half circles. The stickers will cover the white spots and protect them from the contrasting second coat of paint.

diy-coaster-stickers

Step 4: Shake the gold spray paint well then spray over the stickers making sure that the entire tops of the coasters are covered in gold paint. Let them dry about 5 minutes before removing the stickers. 

Note: Try not to let them dry too long because the longer they dry the harder it will be to remove the stickers. You want to be able to remove the stickers while they are still somewhat wet.

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The dots should look something like this when the stickers are removed. Some of them came out perfect while the others got smeared. Don’t worry about the little smears on the dots; they are an easy fix.

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Step 5: Take some paint (same color as the dots) and use a thin brush to polish them up a bit. They do not have to be super perfect either, but they do need to be polished.

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Step 6: I painted the sides of the coasters last just in case there were any paint runs from the top. Choose a paint color and carefully apply. I could not decide between the gold and the white but I ended up using the white to match the dots and the bottom. 

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Step 7: Once I felt everything was good to go, I applied some clear acrylic sealer over each coaster. You can see how the color got a bit darker but once dried, it brightened up again.

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Look how lovely the coasters turned out! They are cute and will go with anything. I think they will make a great DIY for parities – keeping the polka dot theme real. 

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We tested them out on our dinning table and my hubby commented on how lovely they were. Don’t you love it when your husband likes your projects?

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I mean, these coasters would work in any space, think dinning room, office desk, coffee table, etc. And because they are fairly neutral (gold and whites are neutrals), I think they will go well with any plain color.

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And let’s not forget that these could make some serious cute little holiday homemade gifts. Who wouldn’t want these? They’re just too cute. The thing is I’m still not sure what exactly I had in mind for the coasters and I’m still not sure if we are gifting them. But they look pretty good on a table and so bold and fun!!

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What do you think? Are you digging the polka dot idea? Would love to know what you think in the comments!!

 

Christmas

Floating Candle Holiday Centerpiece

I’ve always loved the look of Christmas centerpieces with cranberries and greenery. There is just something about the traditional rich red and green mix that catches the eye. I usually mix up some kind of concoction like this during the holidays. I have made snow globes to set on a coffee table using cranberries and I have made a similar centerpiece for our Christmas breakfast table last year. I imagine this is probably not the first time you’re seeing jars with cranberries and candles during Christmas. In fact, you may have already seen this one in our simply seasonal holiday hop. I thought it would be fun to share my take and tutorial on how I made it.

DIY-Floating Cranberry-Centerpiece-athomewithzan.com

 

The combination of the rich red and green is just stunning and will make a lovely holiday centerpiece. It works really well on a kitchen island, breakfast, or dinning table. This centerpiece is it’s own kind of decor and does not necessarily need to ‘match’ a different holiday home color scheme. It’s just simply beautiful and does not cost much. I spent about $3 between the cranberries and the floating candles. I have some floating candles on hand but they are in orange and red. I chose notย to use the red because I wanted them to contrast with the cranberries. A pack of white costed around $1. The ribbon I had for other projects. I really don’t know much about fake cans of snow but I bought a can earlier just in case I found a reason to use it. In total, it may cost about $5 – $6 if the materials including the optional ribbon and snow has to be all new purchases but still not bad for a DIY centerpiece. It’s beautiful, cheap, and will only take a couple minutes. Have you seen the price of ready-made centerpieces lately? They are so pricey and most are of the same style. Not very appealing to me. Here is what you need to make this one:

  • Food jars (Mason/Ball/or empty glass bottles)
  • Fresh whole cranberries
  • Greenery
  • Tea Light candles
  • Decorative ribbon (optional)
  • Fake snow (optional)
  • A food charger/plate/tray

diy-holiday-centerpiece-greenery-materials

Step1.ย Make sure the jars are clean then add a bit of greenery to each one. snipped off some branches from a White Cedar (I think) tree out front. I got them just in time before the heavy snow covered them!! Don’t just put one little piece of greenery. Use enough to go all around the jar so it won’t look scanty. If you don’t have a tree like this in your yard, use something similar and that won’t go bad quickly or change the color of the water in the jars.

diy-holiday-centerpiece-greenery

Step 2:ย Add a handful of cranberries to each jar. Add enough so that the candle (when added) could be cradledย tightly between them.

 

Step 3:ย Fill the jars with water, leaving about an inch room from the top. The water will cause the berries to float to the top and the branches to float somewhere in the middle of the jars. The cranberries and greenery are not heavy enough to sink. I just love how everything floats right up once the water goes into the jars.

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Step 4: Set a tea light or floating candle on top of the cranberries. It will float on the water and be cradled between the cranberries. It’s a simple science but so stunning!ย At this point, the jars are basically done. But to make them prettier, check out optional step 5.

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Step 5 (optional): Tie decorative ribbon around the mouth of each jar. It is not necessary, but the ribbons make the jars prettier especially ribbon that contrasts against the red and green. Aren’t they gorgeous?!!

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They are even more beautiful once the candles are lit! Nothing like a soft luminary on a cozy day while eating a delicious meal. Or just relaxing with a good book.

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To make the centerpiece, I set a wood slice charger in the middle of the table. Then I added greenery around it. Next, I placed each jar on top of the charger then lightly sprayed around them with fake snow for a wintryย effect. It was like the icing on top of the cake once the snow was added. Snow on trees are always look great together.

Note: A plate or tray could be used in place of the wood slice. But the wood paired with the snow, cranberries and fresh greens make it feel like a piece of nature on the table. I guess it is actually. Gotta love nature.

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How easy was this centerpiece? Christmas centerpieces really do not have to be pricey to be beautiful. There are so many variations and creative ideas out there; anything could be made into something lovely for a table. For more DIY holiday centerpieces, see my roundup of some creative onesย here.

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What do you think of this centerpiece? Do you make your own? I’d love to hear about them in the comments!

Decor & DIY

Merry and Bright Holiday Home Tour

Welcome to our Holiday Home Tour. This year, I decided to add a little sparkle to my decor so this title fits perfectly. Actually, every year I tend to add a little sparkle!! I just love all things sparkly and twinkly around this time. Don’t you? Our family enjoys the lights and the warmth of the season so it’s always great to add some decor to our home for the holidays.

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As an inspiration team member for At Home stores, I’ve received some of their products to use in our holiday home. The main item being our new Christmas tree with a few other items sprinkled throughout. You’ll want to check out At Home’s wide selection of affordable holiday decor. I mean, they basically have a something for every style imaginable! I was so happy to discover it when my husband heard about their opening in our area a few years ago. I’ve been hooked since. If you have a store in your area it’s worth the trip!! I have also linked to all the ladies participating in the Sparkle tour. Be sure to check out how they have brought a little sparkle to their homes this Christmas. Now come on in and have some hot cocoa and a few cookies as I show you around!! 

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Our porch is not fully decorated. As we were outside on the first snow day a few days ago, one neighbor asked me if I was not decorating the outside of the house. Well, I guess now I must. You know those neighborhoods where everyone is particular about how their homes look during the holidays? Yep, that’s the one! After all, who wants to be known as the boring neighbor who don’t decorate their front porch for Christmas? Not I!! (Kidding). But seriously though, we really had good intentions to decorate it early. Things are moving slow over here and it does not help that Basketball season has opened back up and my hubby’s schedule got busier since he coaches after work and on the weekends. His plan is to add some lights outdoors. Hopefully, he could get to it soon.

holiday-home-porch 

I went with a gold and soft pink color pallet. Well, at least that was the plan. I think I ended up with more gold than anything else since I had some from last year. It was my color pallet with green in one room. And somehow, my red ended up in another room even thought I was not trying to add red. The struggle was real and the classical colors took over. But this year, I was excited to try a little soft pink since the girls love all things pink and are inspiring me to use it more and more in our home. I’ve got to say thought that I think I’m naturally drawn to a finished look rather than the other way around. I tried it for a few months and while I like seeing it in other homes, it did not work out too well with us. Anyway, back to this holiday’s color scheme. I did not add as much soft pinks to our holiday decor – just a few touches to enhance the main tree decor. And speaking of trees, that seemed to be my ‘theme’ this year. I just can’t seem to have enough tiny ones. They are all over and come in all different shapes and sizes. I also have a few deer throughout the house. There is something about deer decor during the holidays that I love. So overall, I guess you could call it a sparkly rustic type of thing. 

Last year, we lived in a smaller home with some storage but not enough on the inside to hold our Christmas stash. I decided that the garage was a great place to store all the extras. My husband never really got around to putting them in the attic. Certain little animals made their way through our garage and into most of my decor. Not I or my hubby wanted to dig through any of it. At first, I thought of getting a big hose and lots of soap and disinfectant and spraying them all down then letting them dry. Once I looked through some half opened bins that plan quickly changed. Well, by now you may imagine the end of the story. Into the trash most of it went. We were only able to keep a few unopened bins.  

I was a bit sad for my new Christmas tree. After years of having scrawny looking $20 – $40 trees, we decided to invest in a sensible tree and some other decor. The tree and decor altogether weren’t too bad but they just needed an upgrade. That too was gotten rid off as my hubby thought it was best not to take it with us when we moved. I was happy to find a replacement from At Home. The exact color but only bigger. 

Our home is really not full decorated neither is it designed catchy (as far as furniture and placement of things). In fact, you may spot lots of empty spaces throughout the house. When we first moved in, I imagined going all out with decorating. That all quickly changed once we got back into a routine and life got busy. Nope, ain’t happening. If you followed our summer move story, you know that this is our rental home. Our previous home turned out to be more problematic with underlying issues than we imagined and the market was right for selling. This one turned out bigger than we really planned and since we don’t really own it, customizing is not an option. But we do what we can to make it feel like home. And did I mention that the paint colors are really something? I know I keep singing the song about it but hey, it’s helpful to have paint that actually enhances the decor right? You’ve seen the orange and yellow rooms but you’ll see more of the green room today. 

Anyhow, be ready for loads of pictures as I took wide shots and close ups. You are getting some views of spaces that I have not showed before (more so because they are really unfinished). I admit that I do feel a bit vulnerable putting this out there. Not like I have done this in our previous homes. I always show our homes decorated for Christmas. But this one is much bigger with so much more areas and wider shots that I’ve been holding back from sharing. But anyway, hope you enjoy the tour. When I was done taking photos for this tour, I decided that I no longer wanted to be the aspiring photographer that I dreamed about becoming:) Way too many photos and way too tiring!! 

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The stairs got a tiny bit of decor. Nothing much on the steps since we have little hands and feet running around here. I placed a garland and added some bows. The tree holds some of our ornaments. Most of them are what we each chose to hang on our tree (something we started last year). Some are also handmade salt dough handprinted ornaments from the kids. We’ve been making them each year and it’s always fun for the kids to see how bigger their handprints are now as opposed to the other years. We’ve also made sparkly salt dough ornaments using cookie cutters in the past to hang on their tree.

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Now that you’ve made your way through the entry, let’s head to the kitchen to warm up with some hot cocoa, coffee, or tea (whatever you prefer) and cookies. Shall we? It’s not the most glamorous, but it will definitely keep you warm. I love this little mug holder I picked up from At Home. I’ve always wanted one and was happy to spot it while I was shopping.
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I added a few holiday touches to the kitchen. Just things I had around the home from previous buys (including some from At Home). Not too much to overwhelm because I love free spaces in the kitchen (notice that all big appliances are not on the counter). The two photo stands holding plates are new finds from At Home.

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Our food jars got a bit of a sprucing up with DIY printable labels. No need to put them away. You’ll also notice my small display of cookie globes. They are fun to make and are easy holiday kitchen decor.

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The kids made these reindeer while crafting out a few Saturdays ago. I filled them with candy and are displaying them over the sink. I’ve been sneaking and eating them and hoping the kiddos don’t catch me!! Anyone?! I’ve also added tiny bottlebrush trees.

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This corner of the kitchen leading to the dinning room got a fun ‘O Holy Night’ chalkboard art. I made this easy no paint chalkboard menu wall a few months ago and love having this song and a tiny manger displayed there. I made a printable with the words that I wanted to enlarge but didn’t. This wall worked out great! No special handwriting to go with it at all.

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Our dinning room is simple. Just a few little trees on the table and we’re good for now. I thought of dressing it up just because but I may just keep it this way since our everyday breakfast table got thrown out. It badly needed an upgrade. 

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Back into the hallway, I keep a photo display of each kid at 6 months old. It was nice to capture them when they were able to sit up long enough for a professional shot around that age. I used that wall to display some Christmas photos too.

 

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Enter our holiday family room. I shuffled furniture around so it looks quite spacey. At first, our bigger tree was placed on the left of the fireplace but things looked too cluttered. Christmas trees next to fireplaces look great but I was not feeling the clutter. Moving it to another location is a more functional option for us. 

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The mantle was created from glittered cone trees I already had, new candle stands and a few smaller ornaments both old and new. The standing reindeer are ornaments I had from last year. There is just something about standing reindeer holiday decor that I adore. Both garlands are from At Home. Because the mantle is yellow, I really needed that pop of green to tone it down a bit. The white garland ties everything together. Last year’s mantle had a garland too but certain little people got hold of it after Christmas and that was the end of the white garland. 

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The coffee table is it’s own special attraction with lots of tiny trees including a candle-shaped one. My lovely gold tray corral them well. I added a touch of decorative silver flowers (or whatever those things are called) to the hydrangeas for a holiday look. 

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Those cute little trees of all different shapes and sizes and styles, are all from At Home. A little rustic, a little glam, a little fancy and a little plain. Seriously, I just can’t get enough of little Christmas trees. They are so fun! Who knew?

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My ‘Merry & Bright’ sign is a printable I made, downloaded, and printed out. It took bout a minute or two! I love creating free printables to use in my decor and have about 6 or 7 of them that I created for this holiday.

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We are in love with our mini wonderland! Those white trees came in a pack of three. I snagged them form At Home on Black Friday weekend. My hubby loves them even more than I do!! A few pieces of ribbon later and that is all they needed.

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The other side of the room is not visually appealing by any stretch of the imagination. A couple bookshelves and TV and that about sums it up. Nothing special and my bookshelves could use some more decor and books. 

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The family room and the front room is one big opened space. I’m taking you back to the front room (green room) where I have the bigger tree. Naturally when you come in you’d see the front of course but because this is virtual tour, I chose to do it the other way around.

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I created a manger scene on the entry table. The wooden tree is the kids Advent calendar with numbered ornaments. They’ll put on ornament on the tree each day. You can read more of that here. The deer and manger are At Home finds and so is the large glass jar earlier this summer. Everything else I had on hand. And my kids and I made the glittered stars. 

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The other side of the room holds the star of the show. Our new tree from At Home is such a statement in the room. They have a wide selection of all different shapes and sizes. I chose a 7 ft. Bradford Spruce tree pre-lit with 500 lights I shuffled the furniture around in here to create the look. The tree was so easy to set up. The branches literally dropped into place once I connected the three large pieces. Of course, I still had to fluff it out a bit not too much. But as I mentioned earlier, I think the tree works well here rather than next to the fireplace. 

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For the tree decor, we chose soft pink, gold, and silver ornaments. I also love the ribbon around the tree look – it’s easier for me to do than those complicated yet beautiful designs. The topper is ribbon too. I don’t know that the ribbon topper and the ribbon around the tree is a “thing” but I loved them both and did not know which one to use. So I decided to use them both and kept the topper from draping down the sides of the tree.
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There is nothing like cozy-ing up a room with lots of pillows and blankets during the winter. Most of these pillows are from At Home earlier this Fall but I love that sparkly snowflake holiday one that I found there. The soft blanket is another new find there, too. And so is the gold mirror on the wall.

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I made this DIY wooden tree using paint sticks and a piece of ply (a tad smaller than 16×20 or so) and added gold glitter to match the rest of the Merry and Bright sparkly theme. I really can’t take credit for it. I looked at a similar example online using pallet wood and then threw something together one evening. I had that other ‘Merry & Bright’ printable in the space but it looked a bit tacky. This looks better in the space, at least in my opinion. My family seems to really love it too. Must be the glitter!!

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Here is the close up of it!! What do you think? Of course, mine looks nothing like the original but I like mine better for a customized look. And it’s more sparkly!!

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That’s basically the decorated downstairs. We don’t have much upstairs. I started to do my room but decorating got too much too handle. But the girls shared room got a small tree and color banners. Something pretty and kid-friendly to look at! I have not showed you this room before. There is really nothing much to see anyway except their new bunk bed. And they have a walk in closet. I’m in the process of collecting items to make it better with organization and decor (in my mind’s process, that is).
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We love having their yearly tree in their bedroom. They added some new colorful ornaments and a DIY pom pom banner to the tree. They decided that they wanted this year’s chosen ornaments on their tree. They each did a salt dough hand print ornament too but it’s on the smaller tree on the stairs. And don’t you just love their tree skirt (AKA) one of their tutus. It’s called coming up with a new idea after I accidentally threw away their glittered purple one. I had it in a small bag along with some of our holiday pom pom banners and thought the bag was trash. Oops!!

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That’s all the holiday touches upstairs. Really!! I was going to put a tree in our little son’s room but I don’t think it is necessary. Plus the kids have a Jack and Jill room situation going on here so it’s easy for the tree to be seen from his room anyway (as if he cares – he’s only 23 months old). I consider the tree in the girl’s room his too despite the colors!! He loves it and all their special chosen ornaments are on or around it. This guys wants to take down all the ornaments. So far, he’s done well by keep them up.

Here is a ‘skyscraper’ view of the front room from upstairs. It is a cozy little spot and we enjoy sitting over there and gazing at that beautiful tree.holiday-home-top

And at night – nothing like the sparkly lights of a Christmas tree at night. I love that it is by the front window, too!! It’s nice to see others Christmas tree lights from their window view.
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Well, I hope you enjoy the tour with all things gold and glittery and sparkly!! It took me a while to get it up but I’m finally glad to have it done. Once our home looked holiday ready, I felt so free to just be me again. I mean, don’t get me wrong. I love ‘all things’ Christmas decor, but a bigger home is more work for this mom who is constantly chasing after little ones:)merry-bright-holiday-home-tour

Do you decorate for the holidays and do you go all out or just sprinkle in a few touches here and there? I’d love to hear about it in the comments.

Also, I’m linking this post to the Sparkle Holiday Home tours. These other ladies are sharing their holiday homes and would love a visit! I love touring homes during the Christmas time. It’s so much fun to see what others come up with for their homes and to hear their reason behind the decor. 

Open House Begins Dec 8th at:

Of Faeries and Fauna Christmas Tour

Momma Can shares a Christmas Home Tour
Red Shutter Cottage shares her Christmas Fantasy Land

Dragonfly and Lilypads invites you to tour her home

Open House Begins Dec 9th at

Chatham Hill on the Lake shares Christmas Trees in her home www.chathamhillonthelake.com

Life on Pearl Street invites you to tour her Beautiful Christmas Home

From her home to yours, The Domestic Realist shares her Christmas

My Family Thyme at Christmas!

Open House Begins Dec 10th at

Sledgehammer Queen at Christmas!

Around the Firepit, a Christmas Home Tour

Raggedy Bits at Christmas!

At Home with Zan, come in to the wonderland of Joy!

Open House begins Dec 11th at

Our Homestead Where My Heart is Christmas Tour

Eccentricities by JVG invites you to see her Christmas Home

Fiona Loves Organising and Christmas too!

Crafty Lily Pad has a Christmas Tour

 

Home

Holiday Tea Party & A Movie

This post is sponsored by At Home stores. All opinions of their products are 100% my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that help keep this blog running.

I have a fun post for you today! I’m teaming up with some favorite friends to share our Christmas traditions with you. It is no secret that Christmas and traditions go hand in hand. It’s the time of year when families gather together to do activities that they generally wouldn’t do other times of the year. This year, I’m showing you how At Home stores is helping me to create these fun traditions. Be sure to check out how the other ladies use products from At Home to create their traditions. We also have a fun surprise so you too could make your traditions happen with wonderful products from At Home stores. 

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One of the things we love most is tea parties. After all, I grew up in a home where tea was a thing all the time. Our little tropical island was once owned by the British so I’m guessing that we’ve acquired many of their traditions. My husband and I started having tea parties with our first little one when she was around one year old. She just turned six (oh my) and still loves tea parties just as much. Her sister and little brother are the same. What kid doesn’t? When you have younger kids, you create activities that they too could enjoy during the holidays and not just what we parents enjoy. It’s one of the reasons I love keeping this tradition. #myreason It makes sense that this time of year, when it’s cold outside, to stay indoors and do fun activities with the kids. 

I have hinted about it in various posts in the past and even shared one on my Instagram page with their dad. There are so many other traditions we enjoy this time of year such as loading up the van with hot cocoa and blankets and heading out to watch Christmas lights. But I had to narrow it down to share just one. So of course, we picked tea parties and added a movie to it. I know the movie Frozen is so last year (or soooo years ago). We pull it out every once in a while especially around the holidays when it is snowing outside and we have a tea party while watching it. It’s really is a fun time for the kids especially on cold wintry days. My husband was at work for this one but when he’s home he loves joining the kids for tea.

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We decided to bake some Christmas cookies, a cake, finger foods, and drink hot tea. My girls love helping me bake and we typically do some cookies each holiday. It gets a bit harder to have bake sessions with more than one kid. Having all of them standing on chairs or small stools helping is not the most practical. My strategy is to take them all to the table and have them sit and help. On occasion, I would pre-make the cookies and have them help cut it out if I want to avoid the mess. That is my easier solution to have them involved because they really do enjoy it whenever I let them.

I was delighted to find everything I needed from At Home to create a small tea party for the kids on a snowy afternoon this past week. I’ve linked them below. At Home does not have e-commerce at this time but it is always helpful to search the store online. Their products are fabulous and so affordable! You could basically find all your home decor needs just by shopping with them.

I  picked up some serving dishes as I have been slacking on buy them and more baking pans too. I don’t know what happened to my previous serving plates and such but I had like zero or really just one that I use all the time. And then when I needed to serve more than one dishes, I used wide plates. They are OK but not as fun. I loved finding this 3 tiered pedestal serving set. I’ve wanting to buy one but never could find the right one at the time – for the right price:) They will be great for hosting all kinds of parties. Oh how I love them already!! 

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I also picked up some bar stools from At Home was such a big help to us during the baking sesh! I love the kitchen island but we had no bar stools for it so when we baked, we’d use the breakfast table. But our breakfast table needed an upgrade. We ended up throwing it out a few days ago because it was time to go! Did not even bother to resell it. After all, we got it used anyway. We do have a separate dinning room with a table but taking all the baking to that room is just a process. We did that earlier this month and it got a bit messy in there with the carpeted flooring and all. These bar stools  are helping a bunch to keep everything in the kitchen. And the counter top is just so huge, too! 

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They are a tad high but they are tall enough for little bodies. At home has so many sizes and variations to choose from. The girls sit comfortably on these. One of them was fascinated with the gingerbread countdown and had a time playing with it before she started baking. And since our breakfast table gave way, this has really become a fun spot!! All the messes will stay right in the kitchen. 

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We baked and frosted one day and then when everything was ready, we got dressed up and had our party on the next afternoon. My husband was at work for this one. But having what we need now will help us create more tea parties. I I set everything up for the kids right there on the kitchen island. This side of the kitchen is a bit tricky for pictures as you may notice.

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They had fun helping as they told me. And they definitely had fun eating all the goodies things and drinking tea! I threw in some veges and crackers to help off set all the sweet (if that’s a thing). 

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Even our tiny son enjoyed trying a frosted cookie – he generally does not like sweet. I guess it was fun for him too. He also ‘helped’ decorate some cookies and tried frosting then too. I love his little expression here!!

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Here is peek into my holiday home which I’ll be sharing this evening. Would appreciate you popping in for this one too (also using a bit of holiday decor from At Home). You can see the empty spot where the breakfast table used to be in the background leading to the family room.

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I hope you enjoyed reading about one of our Christmas traditions. Find all the products from At Home listed here. Be sure to join us in the fun by also sharing your finds from At Home and using the hashtag #myreason for celebrating holiday traditions and tagging At Home when you share. They’d love to see what you found!

Bar Stools

5 Piece Baking Set

Serving Trays

Tiered Pedestal Serving Plates

Gingerbread Pot Holder

Gingerbread Countdown

And don’t forget to stop by the other ladies participating to see how they too are using products from At Home to make their Christmas traditions this year.

At Home with Zan

Sunshine and Munchkins

My Life from Home

An Alli Event

Restyle it Wright

Craftivity Designs

Blue i Style

Loveland Lodge

Making Joy and Pretty Things

Remember that fun surprise I mentioned earlier? Our friends from At Home is giving away $100 in gift cards to one winner, will it be you? I know you’ll love their fabulous products just as we do to help with your Christmas traditions. To enter the giveaway, simply follow the instructions below for a chance to win a fun little Christmas shopping spree to At Home stores. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks for stopping by. What are some of the traditions you do each holiday? I would love to hear about them in the comments below!!

 

Christmas

Simply Seasonal: Five Simple Christmas Decorating Ideas

Welcome to the Simply Seasonal holiday hop! I’m excited to have teamed up with a group of ladiesย to bring you this season’s Holiday Edition hosted by the wonderful Caroline fromย Organize Nashvilleย . If you are coming over from Creatively Homespunย welcome. So glad to have you.

If the stress of decorating for the holidays weigh you down, then this series is for you. I love decorating for the holidays but last year, I did so much decorating that I got a bit burnt out. This year, I was determined to find simpler ways to decorate for the season without going overboard. I’m sticking to one ‘fully’ decorated room with a few pops of simple holiday decorย in other areas. While I don’t consider our home holiday ready, I will give you some ideas and sneak peeks of what I’m using to make decorating simple. At the end of this post, you will find the links to the other ladies participating in this series. You definitely will want to check them out to see how they are getting their homes holiday ready without the overload.

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Simply Seasonal: Five Simple Christmas Decorating Ideas

1.Shop your home. This may not be a new statement but it is such a practicalย one when it comes to decorating. Instead of thinking about taking a trip to the store, first sort through a stash or simply look around the home to see how things could reused and re-purposed. Don’t put away everything that is not related to the holiday season.ย Instead, look for ways to incorporate them into your decor. Just because an item doesn’t ‘say’ Christmasย does not mean it cannot be displayed during the holidays. Here is an example of one of our bookshelves. Not all the items on it areย ‘holiday’ per say but mixing them with holiday decor seemed to work well.

simply-seasonal-bookshelf

2. Elements of Nature –ย When it comes to holiday decorating, who doesn’t like something free? And one of the best places to find that ‘free’ is outside. Use natural elements such as fresh greenery, sticks, pinecones, etc. in your holiday decor. I have this large evergreen tree out front that has become one of my sources for decorating this season. I’ve been snipping off branches to add to various places around the home.

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3. Make easy centerpieces – I loveย creating my own centerpieces. They are easy and save me a ton of money. Plus, Iย get a customized look by making my own.ย A couple days ago, I shared a roundup of 8 decorative elements to include in holiday decor. There are so many great ideas out there.ย I made this easy beautiful one and plan to share the oh so easy tutorial soon.

diy-holiday-centerpiece-with-cranberries-and-greenery

 

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4. Create vignettes – ย Along with making my own centerpieces, I also love creating little vignettes because they are simple yet visually appealing. Mix and match items of varying sizes, shapes, and heights to create a focal point. Ornaments are not just for hanging on trees. They are great for creating vignettes in areas such as a coffee table. Place them in a basket, add two to three other decorative pieces such as candles and reindeer to create something beautiful.

simply-seasonal-ornaments

 

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5. Embellish – Do you have decorative items that could be embellished to match your holiday home? Use holiday ribbon, gift wrapping paper, and things of that nature to embellish them. I took this simple white candle (for example) and tied a piece of glittered ribbon around it. I did not make a bow because I did not want one but seriously, it was like instant holiday decor!!

simply-seasonal-candles

 

Also, I started to look for a flower pot to change out my not so pretty one for the holidays. Then it occurred to me that gift wrapping wasย my solution. While a new flower pot would have costed me at least $10, the gift wrap costed around $2. And now I have extra for other other uses including wrapping gifts.

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You might also find it helpful to embellish already made holiday decor such as adding ribbon to a wreath. The possibilities are endless.

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So these are some of the simple ways I am getting our home holiday ready. I hope you found an idea to inspire you and get you off to a good start.

simply-seasonal-holiday-edition-hosted-by-organize-nashville

There are so many more ways to get to get your home holiday ready without the additional overboard. Be sure to hop on over to Uncookie Cutterย to hear how she readies her home for the holidays. Iโ€™ve added a link to everyone else participating {and the day they post} so you can be sure to check out all the amazing blogs in this series.
myholidayhome

Monday, December 5

Organize Nashville

Creatively Homespun

At Home with Zan

Uncookie Cutter

Tuesday, December 6

Timeless Creations

Craftivity Designs

Green with Decor

My Life from Home

Two Purple Couches

Old House to New Home

Wednesday, December 7

Our Crafty Mom

A Purdy Little House

Roots North & South

Pender & Peony

Organize & Decorate Everything

Thursday, December 8

Flourish & Knot

Rocky Mountain Bliss

Pocketful of Posies

Recreated Designs

Knock it Off Kim

The Interior Maven

Little Bits of Home

Friday, December 9

Love My Simple Home

Simple Nature Decor

2 Bees in a Pod

Country Design Style

Finding Your Joy in The Journey

How do you plan to make your home holiday ready this season? I’d love to know in the comments!!ย Thanks for stopping by and happy holiday decorating!!

Decor & DIY

8 Decorative Elements for Holiday Centerpieces

I’m always looking for easy ways to create holiday centerpieces. There are so many ways to make a table beautiful without breaking the bank. In fact, I don’t remember the last time I bought a pre-made centerpiece. Actually, I did earlier this Fall but returned it to the store (just couldn’t do it). Pre-made centerpieces are just too high priced. There are so many easy creative ideas with simple things in and around the house (both real and fake). Check out my roundup of ideas from others below. I hope you find something to inspire you.

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8 Decorative Elements to Include in a Holiday Centerpiece

1. Candles 

Homebnc

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2. Cranberries

BHG

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3. Ornaments

Midwest Living 

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She Leaves a Little Sparkle 

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 4. Trees 

An Alli Event

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Dear Lillie 

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5. Wood

Jenna Burger

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6. Pine Cones

Stone Gable

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7. Lanterns

Midwest Living

lanterns

Worthington Court

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 8. Greenery

Julie Blanner

greenery

Weren’t these so beautiful yet creatively simple? I hope you found some ideas to help you create easy beautiful centerpieces this holiday. Which element is your favorite to incorporate in your decor?