Holidays |

Christmas Shelves

Posted on December 17, 2012 by Amy

I have to be honest, it doesn’t feel exactly right to write about holiday decor and other lighter topics yet. My heart still just hurts from the events of Friday, I expect it will for awhile.

I was reminded in church yesterday that Jesus was born into a dark, dark world. The spirit of the holiday is to find Joy in Him despite the darkness, and not let evil overwhelm the celebration of the miracle that is truly Christmas.

We were already attempting a simpler Christmas even before the recent events in Connecticut. We’ll be traveling for the holiday, and this year I already felt that I needed to focus more on our family and less on striving for perfection in the decorations, the food, the perfectly wrapped gifts, etc. I also wanted to take time to enjoy it and be less overwhelmed then I admittedly have been in years prior when I owned a custom Christmas Card business and it was CRAZY at this time of year. I actually cut things like Christmas cards off my “To-Do” list, I am thinking in this era of Facebook and being a blogger most friends hear enough from me! It’s been easier then I thought to actually do less, and I am finding I am enjoying doing the small things more this season.

I have decorated a few “statement” parts of the house rather then trying for perfection everywhere. The first thing I did was decorate the open shelving in my kitchen, we built them in January so this was my first chance to inflict some holiday spirit on them!

The advantage of having a white kitchen is I can swap out my seasonal decor. The pops of red in honor of this time of year definitely stand out in the otherwise mostly plain white room.

On the lower desk area {which I don’t really use as a desk for whatever reason} I added the hot chocolate fixings per Terry’s inspiration HERE. The kids had a great time making their “To Go” hot drinks Saturday night before we surprised them with a trek to see the Holiday Light festival at our local oceanfront.

Note: we apparently picked the busiest night of the year and after an hour and a half of waiting in line in our car the kids voted on a Christmas movie at home in favor of returning on a less busy night, Oh well!

So, no fancy holiday mantels or Christmas trees here this year, my kids decorated both spaces and I am just leaving them just as they are {OK, maybe I have tweaked an ornament here or there }. In the meantime, its been just a blessing to be home, be with family and know that the best part of the season is still to come.

We’ll be joining in the Blogger Day of Silence tomorrow in honor of the events at Sandy Hook Elementary.

XO,

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Posted in Christmas, Holidays, Kitchens, Winter | Tagged holidays, hot chocolate, kitchen, open shelving, Red | 1 Comment

Magnolia Lane Girl’s Favorite Things

Posted on December 12, 2012 by admin

OK, so don’t you love reading these “favorite things” posts and finding out what great things that you might be missing on your christmas list this year? We decided to pull all our ideas together in hopes that some our our “favorites” for gifts and for ourselves will brighten your day in some way or another this holiday season.

Here are Amy’s top favorites to share:

Bath & Body Works Wallflower Fragrances

The “Winter” scent is divine, as is “Warm Vanilla Sugar” They make the house smell delicious!

These mugs are from Crate & Barrel’s Holiday Line, perfect for hot cocoa or just sitting prettily on a shelf!

{source}

These creamer/sugar dispensers are adorable as well.

{source}

Here are Terry’s top favorites:

{source}

Isotoner I Phone Gloves

IPhone friendly gloves are a necessity in the winter! How frustrating is it to forget you are wearing gloves and try swiping at your phone in vain?

Thymes Frasier Fir Fragrances

This amazing fragrance makes your whole house smell like Christmas. They have sprays and cleaners too, you can find it online or order it from one of our favorite stores, like Carter & Spence in Warrenton, VA.

Christy’s favorites include the decadent Lollia handcreams, they are great for hostess presents or stocking stuffers.

Lollia

{We are in good company, these were on Oprah’s list last year too and are available on Amazon and lots of other retailers. }

And, a great kids treat:

Crayon Wallets

Every child needs a crayon wallet, they are so cute and go anywhere with you. Perfect for times when some entertainment on-the-go is needed! These are available from a variety of sellers on ETSY.

Another GREAT source we’ve found for gifts {or just little goodies for ourselves} in case you haven’t caught the buzz is www.VeryJane.com

Just enter your email and you can see their awesome and ever-changing supply of goodies like these coffee holders or scarves.

very jane

There you have it! If you would like to share your favorite things in the comments, we would love to hear them!

And we’d also love to hear how is your season of giving is coming along? {Our updates are on facebook}

{sharing at the Favorite Things Party at 320 Sycamore and The Nesting Place}

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Posted in Christmas, General & About Us, Holidays, Winter | Tagged about us, Christmas, favorite things, gifts, holidays | 10 Comments

Christmas Organizing {Printables}

Posted on December 5, 2012 by Amy

First…ENTER OUR GIVEAWAY FOR A $50 HOMEGOODS/TJMAXX GIFTCARD HERE! That would be a great way to help organize Christmas and the holidays wouldn’t it?

By now everyone is in full Holiday “mode” right? Today we’re sharing some of our favorite printables to help get you organized for the season.

To start with…A printable “Gifts to Buy” list.

{click image for printable PDF}

And a holiday “Things To Do” List.

{click image for printable PDF}

And a holiday Menu Planner to help avoid a last-minute meal crisis!

{click here for printable pdf}

And last but not least…perhaps the most important of all, a printable “Letter to Santa”!

{click for printable pdf}

Enjoy!

XO,

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Posted in Christmas, Holidays, Organization, Projects & Printables | Tagged Christmas, dear santa, holidays, organizing, Printables, santa | 1 Comment

2012 A Season of Giving

Posted on December 4, 2012 by Amy

While this series has been on our hearts and minds for the last few weeks, with all the excitement with kicking off holiday decorating, Christy’s magazine feature and my daughter’s birthday party December 1st snuck up on us.

We started this series last year, {read HERE} the concept being that each of the three of us –and we were thrilled some of our readers participated as well– made a commitment to give back and brighten someone’s day with a small kindness each day during the holiday season.

Terry originated this series for us. Her giving ‘quest’ last year led her from just small daily acts of kindness to discovering a local needy family desperate for household goods and christmas gifts for their children. Her effort resulted in her collecting donations, purchasing gifts and delivering to them to Social Services for 75 children in foster care who otherwise wouldn’t have received anything.

Now, that is the SPIRIT of the SEASON isn’t it?!?

Terry is already on the ball this year {despite being pregnant!}. She has already filled her truck with donations from kind friends, family and her church members for the children in her local Social Services foster program. She was thrilled to share with me two generous people had donated bikes this year! How awesome is that?

So, we officially started this on December 1st. I spent that morning at church making gifts with the children. It was so heartwarming to hear their excited chatter as they made each gift, telling each other that this one is for “my mom” or “my friend”. It really made me SO excited about starting our “Acts of Giving” initiative again this year.

So…here we go! This year we’ll be posting our efforts on Facebook so make sure you “like” us if you are interested in keeping up {and of course, keep tabs on all sorts of other juicy Magnolia Lane details we share there}. We would LOVE to hear your Random Acts of Kindness, so let us know if you are joining in by commenting away!

And, if we might request a first act of kindness… please make your first effort to share this quest. After all, can you imagine how much good could be done if the thousands {millions?} of blog readers joined with us this month?

Hope your holidays are off to a wonderful start!

{PS don’t forget to enter our giveaway while you are here for a $50 HOMEGOODS/TJ MAXX gift certificate. It’s our small way of thanking you all for your continued readership and support!}

XO,

We are sharing this post at Saavy Southern Style, A Shabby Nest, Imparting Grace

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Posted in Christmas, Holidays, Random Kindness | Tagged charity, Christmas, holidays, random acts of kindness, Season of Giving | 2 Comments

Advent Calendars: Let the Countdown Begin

Posted on November 30, 2012 by Terry

It’s almost December 1st do you have your Advent Calendar ready?

A couple years ago I created this advent calendar inspiration board. It was such a fun project and gave me tons of ideas for some holiday DIY projects. Unfortunately, I created it mid-holiday season which was a bit too late to really put to any good use. This year I decided to showcase it again since December first is right around the corner. If you don’t already have an advent calendar in place, there are some wonderful DIY ideas above.

If you don’t have time to do all 25 days why not just the last 12?

This year I actually have two advent calendars in place to help me and my family count down the day till Christmas.

I love the red and white string as well as the tiny clothespins.

Happy Birthday Gama!

The first calendar was a gift from my mother-in-law (aka: Gama). It is a simple design but I absolutely love the cardboard numbers and the clothes line design. The red and white “bakery” string reminds me of the NYC Italian cookies my cousin would bring to Christmas Eve dinner. I have hung this advent countdown from my mantel in our family room. I feel it is the perfect location as this is where Santa will magically sneak into our house on Christmas morn. It keeps things in perspective for my anxious and impatient little boys. Sitting above the advent countdown is my beloved Norman Rockwell print of Santa mapping out where all the “good boys” live on the globe. This is another good reminder for my children that Santa is checking his naughty and nice list. The overall feel of both the advent calendar and print gives an old fashion and nostalgic vibe which I personally love.

My second advent calendar is a small wooden house that I purchased 5 years ago. At the time, it was so difficult to find an advent calendar that would last. Most of the advent calendars were cardboard and hid little chocolates. I paid over $80 for this little house and it was money well spent. It is hand made, each little woodland animal is hand painted and there are 25 adorable doors. It is still one on my most treasured holiday finds. One of the reasons why it is so dear to my heart is because my boys love this holiday decoration. Each year, when we begin to decorate the house, it is the first thing they ask about. They cannot wait to get their hands on it and when they do, they carefully review each animal and strategically place them behind each numbered door. This year, my youngest son Lincoln hid his favorite animal the Bald Eagle behind the number 5 which also happens to be his age. He is so cute! It is those little memories that make this one of my favorite holiday things.

Check out #5!

Happy December!!

How are you counting down to the big day?

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Posted in Children's Activities, Christmas, DIY, Holidays, Inspiration Boards, Seasons, Winter | Tagged advent, Calendars, Christmas, decorations, holidays, santa, Woodland | 1 Comment

Easy DIY Magnolia Wreath for the Holidays

Posted on November 27, 2012 by Amy

I am running behind in holiday mode this year thanks to my daughter’s birthday celebration this weekend {I hope to show my party preparations at the end of the week} but I did get as far as my front door wreath–which I will show you at the end of the post. First, I wanted to jump back in time and share how easy it was to make this DIY magnolia wreath.

When Christy lived in this gorgeous home a few years ago, I left from a visit with an armload of magnolia leaves from the beautiful tree {that you can just barely see!} in the corner of this picture.

Having seen this article in Southern Living featuring these gorgeous wreaths I wanted to try to make one for myself, and it was really SO easy!

{click here for article/source}

Here is the stash of Magnolia’s that came home with us wrapped in wet paper towels stuck plastic bags in the back of the car. {No, my husband doesn’t even ask “why?” anymore!}

To create the wreath, I used a very simple foam wreath form and stuck the stems of the leaves directly in it. So, so easy…

Here is the end result. For basically a few minutes time, the cost of a wreath form and the bounty of a prolific magnolia tree shared by a friend, I got a beautiful door decoration for the holidays.

Sadly, I don’t have access to that lovely tree this year, but here is what I have on my door now. I found these boxwood wreaths at Home Depot for $15, added some burlap and one of my favorite chalkboards.

So what’s on your door this year?

XO,

sharing at~

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Posted in Christmas, Crafts, DIY, Holidays, Projects & Printables, Winter | Tagged Christmas, diy, holidays, magnolia wreath, wreath | 3 Comments

Magnolia Lane’s Best Holiday Home Tour EVER!

Posted on December 18, 2011 by Christy

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I can say what I did in the title because it’s not my house, so it’s not bragging! This house belongs to my good friend, Andrea. She’s one of my favorite flea market and yard sale buddies and she’s also a proud military wife, like I am. She has an absolutely incredible sense of style and everything she touches turns to decorating gold. She owns her own shop, Mildred & Mable’s, in historic downtown Clarksville, and we’ll be hosting a giveaway for her soon. Take a peek because there’s still time to have stuff shipped before Christmas!

Seriously--don't you love this tree?!

Andrea and her family live in on-post housing, which I think makes her home doubly amazing, because it can be hard to personalize a house that you don’t get to keep after putting in tons of hard work. Even the paint colors on the walls have to be approved by the incoming tenants or you have to prime them before you move out. So it’s understandable that lots of military families live with plain vanilla walls–and decor. Not so Andrea’s family! Her gorgeous home is the high point of Ft. Campbell’s annual holiday tour of homes. To prove my point, I took over 150 pictures when I was there last week–not sure how I’m going to get them all in this post (just kidding)! I’m going to start with the downstairs and hopefully do a part 2 in a few days. The whole house is truly to die for, and you’ll want to see every inch of it.

The dining room in shades of gray and silver.

Be sure to note all the chandeliers she’s installed throughout the house–most of them are antiques. Those will come down when they move and be replaced with the contractor-grade lighting that came with the house. This is why most of the military wives I know can hang their own light fixtures! She’s also removed doors to closets (and rooms) to create the illusion of more space and hidden them in the garage.

Gorgeous silver and white tablescape

Just two shelves of her fabulous milk glass collection.

Sorry about the glare in the picture below. I had to get a shot of this 6′ tall feather tree in the dining room, but there’s a window on either side and I’m the worst photographer on Magnolia Lane!

Silvery gray feather tree

One of the things that Andrea does best is arrange large groupings in a way that’s just pure eye candy. I have a hard time bringing in a lot of items without making things look cluttered, but just take a look at her bookshelves below–lots of cool stuff to look at, and it’s all so visually pleasing.

Even the top of the bookshelves in the living room are full of Christmasy touches.

Even Santa needs a stiff drink sometimes!

The back entryway, shown below, is where the dogs have their own space to rest and eat–and their own chandelier.

The family room tree

Now I’ll show you a few vignette shots from the kitchen…

Hanging pot rack holds everything!

I “borrowed” the kitchen Christmas tree idea from Andrea in this post from last year, but I did give her credit! Andrea’s done amazing things in her laundry room. She’s got a lot more room in hers than I do in mine, and she’s decorated it in such a great retro style.

What a great collection of vintage enamelware!

I borrowed my chip rack idea from her, too. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Andrea!

When she found this shopping cart at the Nashville flea market, we thought it was going to go in the shop as a display. It was a great way to transport our flea market purchases home, though!

Vintage shopping cart holds drinks in the laundry room.

My other shots of her desk nook didn’t come out well, but I had to show this chandy medallion painted black. I think it really pops against the ceiling color this way. That’s all for the downstairs…there’s more but I know I’m very photo-heavy on this post already. I’ll do the front of the house and the upstairs rooms in Part 2. Let me leave you with a sneak peak from her office/closet area, which is probably my favorite room in her house.

Yes, there's an Audrey Hepburn picture in this room!

Dre, thanks so much for letting me take pictures of your house AND post them on the internet for all eternity–you’re a dear friend! Merry Christmas, y’all, and thanks for stopping by!

Linking up to the Holiday House Tours

at The Nesting Place

and The Inspired Room

and the Christmas Tree Party at Thrifty Decor Chick

Posted in Holidays, Home Inspiration, Home Tours, Real Spaces | Tagged Christmas, decorI enc, holidays, Home Tour | 11 Comments

PEACE Garland (Thanks to my Mother-in-law)

Posted on December 11, 2011 by Terry

PEACE Garland

I wanted to post this adorable craft that my mother-in-law created. She recently moved to VA so I guess she wanted to explore the new flora and fauna of the VA countryside . She has a huge yard with an abundance of natural elements to choose from. As you can see in the photo above, she found lots of Christmas berries, evergreens and holly. She shaped and glued each item into the shape of a letter to create the word PEACE. It was such an adorable craft, I just had to share it with you all. Lucky for me, she gave me this set and I immediately put them to good use. I had this existing garland hanging from a mirror in my dinning room but I think the tags take it to the next level. I am loving my new and improved “back to nature” PEACE garland!

“P”

“E”

“A”

“C”

“E”

Linking up to the Holiday Craft Party at Censtational Girl

Posted in DIY, Holidays, Projects & Printables | Tagged Craft, Garland, holidays, Natural | 2 Comments

Holiday Decorating Contest-Bring it On!

Posted on December 1, 2011 by Amy

So about a week ago, I was beyond excited to get a flyer in my mailbox that announced a “neighborhood holiday decorating contest”, with a grand prize of $500 (!) for the best decorated home! Would you say this type of thing is right up my (or any other home decor blog lover’s alley?). Game On!

All the homes around our lake are invited to participate, and its going to be gorgeous to see the homes across the water all lit up on the other side.

: The view across the lake during the day

This neighborhood is full of porches and traditional details (part of what led us to purchase here) so beautiful outside decorations come with the territory.

Unfortunately, in considering the contest, I knew right away we would have some major disadvantages. First off, while my kids love the “Clark Griswald” style houses with lights everywhere and inflatables throughout the yard, my taste runs to the much simpler side. At the holidays I typically use a lot of natural elements mixed with all white lights. And, spending hours on our roof in the gusting coastal winds we have been having here to hang lights is just not going to happen in our family.

Here we are, getting started...

But, we have to give it a good try after all. Since the judging is being done at night obviously lights are going to be HUGE. However the judging is being done by the neighborhood “ladies” who are being taken by limousine to vote on our favorite houses (after Ladies Happy Hour, courtesy of our Builder–isn’t that nice?) so its going to be really interesting to see who gets the winning votes. Already, some houses are definitely throwing their hats in the ring!

(You know what’s funny? I have noticed now once it dark there are more and more cars creeping by outside, the neighbors seem to be “stalking” out the competition– and I just might be one of them, of course with a camera in hand!)

This pretty home was the former model in our neighborhood, and you can tell they are "in it to win it!"

I do really love to decorate for Christmas, but I usually spend more time on the inside then the outside. We put up a few outside icicle lights, and I always do the traditional wreaths on the outside and candles inside my windows. It is obvious we are going to have to step it up a bit this year, just to fit in here . If you follow me on Pinterest (you can HERE), you will see that I have been pinning outdoor decoration pics like crazy for inspiration!

So, stay tuned. I will be sure to show what we wind up with in the end, and hopefully reveal images of the home that wins on December 7th.

Yes, we have a lot more to do!

Don’t forget to enter our current giveaway for a custom PSA Essentials Stamp, you can do so HERE!

Posted in Holidays, Home Inspiration, Real Spaces | Tagged holiday contest, holiday decorating, holiday lighting, holidays, lights, outside decor, wreaths | 2 Comments

Letters to Santa

Posted on November 23, 2011 by Amy

My kids have already written (and rewritten) their Christmas lists, but this weekend I will make them sit down and write their official “letter” to Santa Claus. This is a great tradition in our house, as my husband won’t stand for the standard “list” of toy requests, but instead expects a full recap of their behavior written for the year first. These make treasured collectibles, we have some pretty funny letters in our collection–we make a copy, of course, before they are posted to the North Pole!

So, this year I made up a cute letter to use. It would have been great to have done this years ago but we’ll start now. Please feel free to download and use for yourself, and your kids.

Just click below to download this letter to print!

dear santa letter

What is on your wish list this year?

Don’t forget to enter our giveaway going on this week for a set of green & red polka dot Christmas Pillows. They are a great decor accent to any home! (and a $50 value!).