A Christmas Shopping Party

I recently hosted a party for two very talented ladies.  Teressa Lane Jewelry & Colleen from Outside The Bloom are both super creative entrepreneurs with such beautiful work.  A few weeks before Christmas I invited everyone I knew for a little shopping at my house to support shopping local!  

First up, a little wine and sweets were on hand to accompany our shopping.  I used a plaid blanket that I found at a thrift store as the tablecloth.

 

 I loved Colleen's pillows and beautiful signs.  Each piece was available for custom design, so people could swap out what their signs said and the finishes.  The signs with the string lights were sold first.  Adorable!

 

This was my custom order from Colleen.  Loved how my mantle looked!

                               

Here are two of my favorite bracelets that I got from Teressa.  My double bracelet with my kid's birth dates and a beautiful stone bracelet that goes great with jeans! 

When you have a moment, check out both their sites, as well as Instagram and Facebook! 

Christmas Cards from Minted

The red cups are back.  Uh oh.  That means it is that time of year again!  I know people out there get annoyed that Christmas is in stores the literal second Halloween is over, but I love it.  I love everything about Christmas, so if I can enjoy it a bit longer, I will! 

With this season means annual photos with your family photographer or getting your Christmas cards ready.  I love getting actual mail (you know, the good ole days) and seeing all the beautiful cards our friends & family pick out.  We are taking our family photos next week, so I always start to scout out the perfect Christmas cards.

One of my go-to places for beautiful cards is Minted.com!  One of the things I love about Minted is that they have so many individual designers to fit all tastes and the quality is superb.  Plus I love that you can completely customize your favorite design. I used Minted for Drew's 3rd birthday last year...

I thought I'd take a moment to share some of my favorite Christmas cards that I have my eye on!

I have to admit, I'm a total sucker for handwriting or any type of scripted font.  That is where my eye goes every time.  My style generally tends to be pretty simple when it comes to the card, as I like our photo to stand out. 

I love the simplicity of both of these designs!  I prefer cards that say Merry Christmas instead of Happy Holidays.

 

I am also completely biased to any Christmas card that says "Joy".  It's my middle name, and my mom had started an ornament collection for me from a young age of all "Joy" ornaments, so I'm a bit partial.  Here are my favorites:

 

I do like Noel too....

And here are my other favorites that I am keeping in my "Favorites" folder!

 

 

 

 

When making my decision, I am so visual, so I end up uploading my favorite family photos and trying them out in my favorite designs to see which one looks the best.  A big part has to do with the color schemes in our pictures and what options each card has. 

If photo cards aren't your thing, they have beautiful non-photo options as well.  Head on over to Minted today and check out all their beautiful designs and check back soon to see which one I chose!

Easter

Happy Easter!  We had a wonderful weekend full of Easter activities!  First up was French Toast Bites....thanks Pinterest!  Check out the recipe on my Breakfast board! Follow Me here!

 

Last year was the first time we "planted" jelly beans and woke up the next morning to see if the lollipops had grown.  Well, Micah distinctly remembered that, so we did it again.  They were just as excited the second time around!

I love doing the kid's baskets.  I focused less on candy and more on books this year.  However, the books were looked over quickly as Micah went immediately for his Power Ranger toy and Drew snagged her Jellycat Doggie.  They were two happy kiddos! 

No pictures of my Easter dinner table (darn it!).  Check out this post to see last year's table.  I used my new Threshold gold & cream feather placemats that I got on clearance at Target.  We had ham, au gratin potatoes, baked beans, and for dessert, I made chocolate eclairs....heaven!   Hope you all had a wonderful day too!

St. Patrick's Day Party

Happy St. Paddy's Day!  We're having a green party this weekend, complete with beer tasting, Naughty Leprechauns, Shamrock Shakes, and much, much more!    Be sure to check out all the details on my Instagram!

Have a fabulous weekend!

Thanksgiving

I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving!  We had such a great time and I especially had fun setting our table for our big feast!  Take a look!

 My cute banner I got from the Queen Bee Market last weekend!

 

Pumpkin Pie Almonds...thanks Pinterest!  They were delish! 

Those are my stuffin' muffins!  Favorite part of the meal!  Have a great weekend and I hope you are all scoring on some black Friday deals!