Holiday Decorating Inspiration

Happy Happy Friday All! Are you as excited about the weekend as I am? Holiday decorating is in full swing at our house and I can't wait to have some time this weekend to get some DIY projects accomplished!

I have both (yes both, don't judge) trees decorated and that is it! I need some decorating inspiration while heading into the weekend. Hopefully it will give me a good kick in the pants to get the rest of the holiday decorations up!

Enjoy!

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So...have you started your holiday decorating? If not, aren't you inspired to get in gear!?

Have a wonderful weekend!

SOLD!!

So.... we are officially "Under Contract" with this bad boy.

Can you believe that we got an offer on this home only after 3 days on the market!? And...we had like 18 showings the first week! Crazy I tell ya! We are feeling very blessed that is sold so quickly. Now we are on to another project!

If you missed the completed pictures of our Investment/Flip home click here.

{DIY} Ruffled Tree Skirt

A few months ago I found this tutorial on HGTV. I knew that since I wanted my holiday decor to be simple and a bit rustic this year, I decided to try my hand at the Ruffled Tree Skirt that is floating all over Pinterest!

Most of the tutorials are for "No Sew" Ruffled Tree Skirts, but mine is a "kinda sew" tree skirt. I called one of my elves for help...AKA my mother-in law. I knew I wanted the skirt to look like burlap or linen, but decided that burlap would fray and linen would get too wrinkly in storage. So we decided to use Osnaburg which looks just like linen without the hassle of ironing! 

My mother-in law cut 6" strips and folded them in half. She then used her ruffle foot for the sewing machine and set it on every 4th stitch to ruffle. She pretty much did the hard part! Once all the ruffles were made, we got to work putting the skirt together.

We used a white canvas fabric for the base. You can see this tutorial here on how to fold the fabric to cut a perfect (or close to perfect) circle. Mom and I used a different tree skirt and just traced the pattern from there.

We also zig zagged the edge of the base so it wouldn't unravel.

NOW...the "NO SEW" Part!!

We started at the bottom of the skirt and worked our way up. Using a hot glue gun we placed a small line of glue where we wanted the top of the ruffle to be. We slowly worked our way around the first row of ruffles.

We then started the second row of ruffles just above the first. We just eyeballed where we wanted the ruffle to stop. We wanted the bottom of the second ruffle just to cover the seam of the first row.


On and one we went....round and around! Until we got the look we wanted!

I am very curious to know how many glue sticks we used! It really did take us a couple of hours. But I think it was totally worth it! Don't you?

Here she is in all her glory around our Christmas Tree!.....

Linked up at: Hi Sugarplum

What I'm diggin Lately

Of course most of my work is done on the internet and sometimes I may or may not get distracted by Pinterest, Blogs, Decorating sites, etc. I find so many inspiring things on the internet. It is truly amazing all the talent there is out on the web! Seriously!


Here some items that I have been keeping my eyes on lately:

Aren't these faux birch straws amazing!? They would be so fun for a winter party.

You can order some here.

I am really loving this double X bench by Ballard Design. You could use this is so many spaces around the house. It could be an entryway bench like above or if you needed more seating in the dining room you could pull it up to the table for dinner! 

Ummm....Hello! Have you seen these? Corkcicle's?! I came across these in Hilton Head, SC last week. They would be the talk of the party! You seriously just place them in the freezer and when it is time to keep your wine cool, you pop it in! Check out their site. It was also voted one of Oprah's Favorite Things this year! They would be fabulous hostess gifts at only $24.95!

Fairy Gardens have intrigued me lately! I think they are so darn cute! I would think they are also very easy to manage and keep alive. There are so many to pick from on pinterest! I did find a great post on how to make 5 minute Tiny Gardens. Check out Melissa's post here. 

I couldn't seem to find the source behind this great idea, but how about adding a pop of color to your room by painting the edge of a door?! Maybe you really love color, but don't want to make a large leap into the color wheel. This would be a perfect "pop" in any room. Subtle, but fabulous! I might seriously have to try this one out.

Oh..Bangles! A Girls best friend! These beauties are from a new company called Stowe Street. One of my sister-in law's good friends is the designer of these beauties. They are also reasonably priced. I am definitely going to have to grab me some of these. There are so many colors and designs. You can even pair many of the designs together for an evening look or day look. 

Well those are some products and ideas I am diggin lately. What have you found around the web that has inspired you? Do tell!

Our SC Vacation {Charleston & Savannah}

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We are back in action today after a wonderful week in Hilton Head, SC. What a beautiful place! This was the first Thanksgiving since we have been married (2005) that we haven't cooked Thanksgiving Dinner in our own home.
We stayed at a condo with my in-laws which was right on the golf course and close to all sorts of bike trails. My mother-in law and I enjoyed some thrifting at the local shops and the boys played golf each day. The beach was also only a couple minutes away. So we got to enjoy a little sunshine too!

Hilton Head is about 2 hours from Charleston, so we were able to enjoy a day in the old historic town. 

There is so much history and beautiful architecture there. I could spend weeks just walking up and down the streets and peeking through the windows! Too bad no one invited me into these beauties!

We ate at one of the most delicious places: Amen Street 

Fabulous Calamari, White beet salad and...... Pumpkin Pie Creme brulee!! 

We also got to enjoy a day in Savannah which is only about a 40 minute drive from Hilton Head. This was my first time experiencing the magnificent Live Oaks and walking the streets of the old haunted city. 

My Sister-in law even got to join us for the day!

I wouldn't have minded if someone offered me a tour of their fabulous home! Sadly they did not.

Another city of amazing iron work and architecture!

It was such a wonderful trip with my in-laws. We enjoyed the relaxation, sight seeing, shopping and of course the eating! How did you all spend your Thanksgiving this year?