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Tricks to Ensure Your Guests Feel Welcome This Holiday Season

Posted on December 23, 2012 by Terry

I am hosting Christmas at my home this year. My husband’s family will be traveling in from Syracuse, NY, and from Hilton Head, SC, to celebrate the season with us here in Virginia. I am so grateful they are willing to travel, as my husband and I simply will not. That probably sounds quite selfish, but we decided that while our children are young we want them to experience Christmas morning at home. I feel we are creating some amazing memories similar to the ones I grew up with, and that is just something I am not willing to compromise on.

Norman Rockwell captures it perfectly!

With that said, I do realize it is a huge sacrifice for our family and friends to travel during the holiday season, and I really want to make them feel welcome. In order to ensure that our guests feel comfortable in my home over the holidays, I try to be sure they have everything they need during their stay. Here are some helpful hints and creative ways to welcome your guests this holiday season.

Bathrooms:

Fresh towels are a must. I try to have at least two towels per person, especially for our female guests. I use two towels daily, so extra towels are just something I wouldn’t want my guests to go without.

I personally love the Better Homes and Gardens Thick and Plush Towels from Walmart (yes, I did say Walmart!). They come in about 10 different colors, they are super inexpensive, and you can easily monogram them to give your bathroom a more custom look. Doesn’t the monogram make all the difference?

I love the pure white with the pale green monogram and stripe.

The white on white is pure luxury but the single letter makes it really down to earth and simple.

I hope to have His and Her guest robes hanging in my guest bathroom someday. Wouldn’t that be such a nice hotel touch?

Pottery Barn robes would be such a lovely touch when welcoming your guests.

I always have Q-tips, cotton balls, soap, a new toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo and conditioner on hand. It is a busy time of year, so guests might forget to pack something.

I re-purposed grandmother’s mason jars to hold cotton balls and q-tips.

Bedrooms:

Fresh Sheets and lots of pillows are a must in my guest room. There is nothing like crawling into a comfy warm bed after a full day of traveling.

Decor Pad

Southern Living- I love the desk area!

I also try to ensure I have photos displayed around the bedroom that reflect their family. It is like bringing a piece of their home into my home. For example, here is an amazing photo of my niece Chloe from her senior picture photo shoot. I have placed that in the bedroom where her parents are going to sleep this holiday. Isn’t she beautiful!?!

My Niece Chloe- As gorgeous as ever!!

Kitchen:

I try to ensure that all dietary needs are met. As most of you know, I have a son who has a rare metabolic disorder, so when we travel we have to pack so much food to ensure he can eat along the way! I would hate for my guests to feel that they have to do the same, so I try to stock my fridge to ensure I have something for everyone. My niece is lactose intolerant so I will have soy and almond milk available for her. My nephew is peanut free so most of my baked goods will be peanut free. This is not always realistic, but I try my best to make sure everyone feels at home.

Lastly, I always set up a coffee station so my guests can brew a cup as soon as they wake up. I hate waiting for my much-needed cup of Joe in the AM! For this reason, I love the Keurig Brewing System. No one has to wait for a hot cup of coffee, cocoa or tea in the morning. You can simply brew the perfect cup of coffee whenever your heart desires.

Terry’s Coffee Station

Christy’s Holiday Coffee Bar

Amy’s Cocoa Bar

May your guests feel warm and welcome this holiday season! Thanks for stopping by and Happy Holidays!

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Posted in Bathrooms, Christmas, Gifts, Home Inspiration, Real Spaces, Uncategorized, Winter | 1 Comment

Fabulous & Easy Last Minute Gift Ideas

Posted on December 14, 2012 by Christy

***I keep forgetting to announce the winner of the $50 Home Goods/TJ Maxx gift card here on the blog. I put it on Facebook, but guess the holidays are making me a little scatterbrained! The lucky winner is comment #80–Kristin R.–and her card is in the mail to her as I type. Thanks so much to everyone who entered!***

Less than two weeks until Christmas! Are you all finished with your shopping? I’ll be done by the end of this weekend, or else!

It seems like every year I get caught needing a small and fast gift for someone. I like to give a little something to our neighbors, Sunday School teachers, Bible Study leaders, the kids’ tutors at their homeschool enrichment program, the mail lady, my decorating clients, friends, ballet/karate teachers, and, wow, the list sometimes seems endless. While I love and appreciate all of them, a $10 gift card for each of them would break my gift budget, and there’s no faster way to ruin the holiday fun!

So, because I love you and I want your holiday to be happy and stress-free, here’s a list of my favorite small~but fabulous~presents. If I include a recipe, I have USED IT repeatedly and can vouch for it:

1. Peppermint Bark, from the recipe on the McCormick Peppermint Extract box (even though I often use Trader Joe’s or Watkins extracts). The recipe is {here}. Here are my changes: I use 12 oz bags of Wilton’s White Candy Melts (buy them in the cake decorating aisle) and microwave them. I then use red food coloring only and stir it in along with the peppermint extract. I spread the mixture into a foil-lined jelly roll pan (1 bag covers 1/2 of the pan) and sprinkle the top with crushed peppermint. Once it’s hardened I package it up–presentation is everything! 1 bag of candy melts equals two finished gift bags, in my world. I make this every. single. year. Enjoy!

2. Homemade liquor–the key to surviving the holiday! See my blog post{here} for recipes for yummy homemade limoncello, raspberry vodka, and kahlua. There’s still time to make them! Plus, there’s a link to cute homemade labels for you to print out and use.

3. Rhinestone Monogrammed Ornaments: This was a Pinterest favorite for me this year, and my go-to gift. I bought the ornaments on 50% sale at Hobby Lobby, along with ribbon, gorgeous silver hangers, and the silver letter stickers (I found mine in the scrapbooking aisle). I made a couple of dozen of these (they were a little simpler than the ones pictured below). Here’s a link to a great tutorial at the Creativity Exchange: {rhinestone monogrammed ornaments}

Rhinestone Monogrammed Ornament by The Creativity Exchange

4. Homemade Bath Salts: My recipe is {here}. Give these with an old silver spoon from the thrift store tied in the ribbon for extra pizazz!

Homemade Lavender and Ginger Bath Salts

5. Homemade Sharp Mustard: My recipe is {here} and it is fast, easy, and GOOD (thanks, Aunt Diane!). Amy made us printable labels to dress up the finished product.

Sharp Mustard Recipe

6. Bath and Body Works Foaming Anti-Bacterial Soap: I buy these in bulk at the beginning of the season (Twisted Peppermint is my favorite). When you buy them 7 for $20 and use a coupon, they’re a great deal. Pair them with a cute guest towel and you’re good to go! Or, buy the candle and use this free printable from our girlfriends at For Chic Sake to monogram it! (They have other gorgeous free printables that would make great gifts, too.)

Customizable Candle Wrap from For Chic Sake

I have a few other go-to ideas, but I’m thinking maybe I should do a Part 2 to this post so I don’t overwhelm you! In the meantime, this should give you a good start on last-minute gift ideas.

Thanks for stopping by!

Posted in Christmas, Crafts, Gifts, Holidays | Tagged Christmas, easy, fast, free printables, gifts, holiday | Leave a comment

Fall Giveaway–Handmade Back-to-School Teacher Note Cards from JuJu Monkee!

Posted on September 17, 2012 by Christy

We haven’t done a giveaway in awhile, and it’s not because we don’t love you, it was just a busy summer! But look what we have for you this week:

This is a set of 12 darling back-to-school note cards from our friend Julie, the creative mind behind JuJu Monkee. If you’re a teacher (or if you have a kid and want to get in good with his or her new teacher ) then you definitely want to enter this giveaway!

Here’s what you do: at the end of this post, leave me a comment if you follow us by email (or if you’re already a follower). The email follower signup is on the right sidebar. Leave me a SECOND comment when you “like” JuJu Monkee on Facebook. Leave me a third comment when you like 11 Magnolia Lane on Facebook, and leave me a FOURTH comment when you follow 11 Magnolia Lane on Twitter (check the right sidebar again). So, if you’re with the program–and I know you are, you can have up to four separate comments and four chances to win. Yes, if you already follow us by email or on Facebook or Twitter, or follow JuJu Monkee on Facebook, just leave me comments saying you’re already down with us and your entry counts, too.

Julie is a military spouse, just like me, plus we went to the same college, even though we didn’t meet until we both lived in Fayetteville, NC. That might be because she’s younger than me!

Check out some of her gorgeous cards–this blue, white, and black combo might be my favorite:

But I ordered the quatrefoil because it’s so trendy right now:

Julie did these cute house cards for a Realtor, but they’d be perfect for a change of address note, too:

The kids aren’t left out, either. This camo pattern lined with orange is great for a boy:

And Julie can work with you to make a customized card with your child’s school mascot on the front (the PTA presidents should bulk order these!):

This pink and green floral combination is one of Julie’s most popular ones:

I’m an Amy Butler fan, and this floral pattern reminds me of her fabrics:

I love how she packages the notecards so they’re ready to give as a gift–presentation is everything, after all. There are lots more to choose from on her Facebook page, and she’s always coming up with new ideas.

The giveaway will run through next Tuesday, September 25th, 2012, at 12noon CDT, and I’ll choose the winning comment number through the random number generator and announce it Wednesday the 26th.

Remember, everyone can enter up to four times!

Thanks for entering (good luck!) and thanks for stopping by!

Posted in Gifts, giveaways | Tagged Apple, back to school, giveaway, note cards, stationery, teacher | 25 Comments

Ballard Designs Hack: Easy to Make Wooden Drink Tags

Posted on May 8, 2012 by Christy

Isn’t this the cutest idea for summer entertaining?!

Last week, Terry emailed the below picture to me and Amy. Within minutes, we both responded with, “We can SO make these!” Pulling out my newest Ballard Designs catalog, I opened it up and took a closer look. Their new Southern Living Collection is awesome (disclosure: I am a Ballard nerd and save their catalogs for years), and at $15 for a set of 6, these SL beverage tags are a pretty reasonable buy if you’re in a hurry, or if you’re a not-so-crafty person:

: source

But Ballard people, please don’t hate me for making these on my own without buying yours. Check my order history and realize that I am really a very devoted customer!! I just couldn’t buy them when I knew that I had every last thing I needed to make a set of these labels in about 15 minutes, and for about $2. A girl’s got to economize where she can, so that she can save for that Henriette chandelier!!

I started with a package of pine wood that I had bought earlier for my we can/can’t play sign (read about that here) and hadn’t used. It was $2, but I’m sure if I went to the hardware store I could have bought ten times as much thin pine for the same price.

I used my miter saw to first rip the pine in half lengthwise, and then to cut it into strips. The tags should be about 1.5″ x 4″, but obviously you can vary that according to your preference (or the size of your wood). I first tried to angle the top two corners, as you can see in the picture below, but it was faster and easier just to cut rectangles. Next time my tags will be a uniform size since I won’t have to cut off my wonky corners and start again!

As an aside, I think that paint stirrers or wooden rulers/yardsticks would be the perfect size to cut up and use for this project, although you might have to paint them first (but wouldn’t that be fun to do them in different colors?).

OK, back to the project: I sanded the rough edges lightly and drilled a hole at one end with a 7/34″ bit. I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut black vinyl letters (I used the font “Noteworthy”), but if you don’t have a Cameo, just use a Sharpie and your nicest handwriting .

By the way, how do you like the new script fabric I put on my kitchen chairs? It was time to update them a bit and I just put this on a few days ago. Got to get the kitchen jazzed up for the BH&G photoshoot in a few weeks!

Because I ended up with eight wooden tags, I made a set of 6 for myself, and another two of the “Under 21″ and “Over 21″ labels to give as a hostess gift. We make a lot of mojitos (my husband has the BEST recipe that I’ll have to share with you all soon), so that was a must-make label. It might be fun to spray paint some tags with chalkboard paint; that way you could use them on pitchers, teapots, baskets, etc.

Finally, I finished off the tags with some jute twine I had in my laundry closet. Then I celebrated by making a pitcher of mojitos. After all, I HAD to put something in the pitcher before I took the picture, right?!

Thanks for stopping by!

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Posted in Crafts, Entertaining, Gifts | Tagged Ballard Designs, beverage, hack, label drink, lemonade, sweet, tag, tea, wood | 9 Comments

Easy, Knock-off Monogrammed Frames

Posted on March 28, 2012 by Amy

I have always loved these frames by Marye Kelley. This one was a special gift and it matches the décor in my house perfectly.

Recently I was organizing my office and I found these craft frames I had tucked away. I knew I could very easily make some more frames similar to the pricier Marye Kelley frames.

The supplies you need to make these frames are:

Plain wood frame

Scrapbook paper

Exacto knife & cutting mat

Craft paint in a coordinating color to your paper (or gold/silver if you prefer)

Embellishment (sticker letter, vinyl monogram) or you can just print a monogram directly on the paper first.

Double-sided tape (optional)

Mod-podge

I started with this (above) wood frame from Michael’s.

I first painted a thin coat of a coordinating color around the edge of the frame and the window of the picture part. This paint will show outside the paper once it’s taped on and give the paper a nice, pretty edge.

Then I cut the frame for the window out of the scrapbook paper. This is the hardest part. I find the easiest way is to trace the inside of the frame on the back and then cut just inside it. Cutting the round corners takes some patience, but they don’t have to be perfect. *Be careful to make sure your monogram (if you have pre-printed one) is placed where you want it on the frame before you trace so everything lines up perfectly once its done.

I love the large 12×12 frames but my printer won’t print on paper that wide so it creates a challenge if I want to add a monogram. I considered making a custom monogram using a vinyl cutter (like a Cri-cut or a Silhouette) to cut the letters, but for this pink frame I went the easy way and just punched out a circle from pink cardstock. Then I added a white “S” sticker for my daughter’s name. For the smaller beige damask frame, I was able to print a monogram in dark brown on the scrapbook paper first.

To do this, I designed the monogram on my computer first. (I use Adobe InDesign but there are many design programs available)

Then I printed it using my regular printer, printing directly on scrapbook paper cut down to 8.5 x 11 to work in my printer.

When the paint on the frame is dry, I taped the scrapbook paper to the frame first with double-sided tape. I am fortunate to have a double-sided tapegun I use my paper/invitation business, but you can use regular double-sided tape, or even glue or modge-podge if you prefer.

Once the paper is on just where you want it. Adhere your embellishment with glue or more tape, then you modge podge over the whole thing. A thin coat should be all you need. Once it dries, insert your picture and you are all set.

With so many scrapbook papers to pick from, the possibilities for these frames are endless. I think this would make a cute personalized mother’s day or graduation gift, wouldn’t it?

This frame has a picture of my daughter last Easter. Notice her basket and her precious sailor dress? I have to capture the fancy “dress-up” moments while I can. The pout with the fairy costume (below) is really more typical.

Thanks for stopping by~

Linking up to~

DIY By Design Swing into Spring

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

Weekend Bloggy Reading at Serenity Now

Celebrations at Home

The Under $10 in Under an Hour Party at 320 Sycamore

Posted in Crafts, DIY, Gifts, Projects & Printables | Tagged Craft, diy, Easter, gift, mother's day, paper, picture frame, Spring | 1 Comment

Homemade Sharp Mustard~The Perfect Easter Hostess Gift & Free Printable Labels

Posted on March 20, 2012 by Christy

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Seriously–doesn’t pretty much everyone eat ham on Easter Sunday? And whether you’re hosting a crowd at your home, or perhaps planning to enjoy the day with friends and family, this mustard recipe is the perfect complement to your Easter ham.

Courtesy of my dear Aunt Diane, who is a fabulous cook, it’s a staple in my refrigerator at all times, and best of all, it makes enough that you’ll have some to keep, and some to share.

This is a great recipe—as stated in the title, this mustard is *sharp* and almost has a horseradish bite to it, which comes from the mustard and vinegar. Yum!

Aunt Diane’s Sharp Mustard

3.5 oz. dry mustard (usually 2 jars/bottles)
1 c. apple cider vinegar
1 egg
1 c. sugar
½ t. salt
1 ½ c. mayonnaise

Combine the dry mustard and vinegar in a bowl and let stand for 8-12 hours (I’ll usually do this before I go to bed). Beat the egg (I do this in a medium saucepan off heat so I make fewer dirty dishes), and then add the sugar, salt, and mustard/vinegar mixture. Cook over medium heat until thickened. Cool and then stir in the mayonnaise. Pour into jars and keep refrigerated. **I use Ball’s half pint, large mouth jars for this recipe; it will fill about 4 of them.**

Here are some gorgeous black and green labels that Amy whipped up for us (thank you, Amy). You can print these out on sticker or full-sheet label paper and stick them on the top of the jar, or try printing them on cardstock and tie them around the jar with a little raffia or decorative ribbon—I think they’d look great either way, and they’ll definitely dress up your mustard to make this the perfect Easter hostess gift. I always have a few jars of this mustard ready-to-gift in my fridge; it’s a nice change to the typical bottle of wine or flowers that we usually take our hostesses.

Now that Google Friend Connect has gone away, please take a minute to follow us through Linky Followers (on the right). Enjoy the mustard, and thanks for stopping by!