25 Things

1. I have mounds of laundry waiting for me, but listing random thoughts here is much more important.
2. I really will find any excuse to not do laundry.
3. I don’t like doing laundry at all.
4. I do like when it is all done and put away though
5. I have to remind myself of that feeling to get my butt in gear.
6. I can’t believe we are already a week into February.
7. I can’t believe it’s already Wednesday Thursday.
8. Yes, I started this yesterday.
9. Sometimes I pretend I am on vacation in my own home.
10. One time I even tried to call room service.
11. It didn’t work.
12. I am working hard to get back in my healthy eating and exercise routine.
13. I ALWAYS spell exercise wrong. Why??
14. I love spell check.
15. I don’t love budgeting.  Or doing laundry.
16. I could use Fall/Christmas candles in my all year long.
17. I love the rain.
18. And cobblestone paths.
19. Rain on cobblestone paths is even better.
20. I feel so grateful today.
21. Grateful for the seemingly simple blessings in my life.
22. It’s snowing!!
23. Which is good because that means it is cold outside & I have yet to retrieve the milk delivery from the porch cooler this morning.
24. Well, I better start my ‘to do’ list.
25. Which I am really good at writing by the way. If you need a good list written, I am your gal. It is the execution part I need to work on.;)

Oh, and I really will be posting projects more regularly…soon.  It’s just been busy and weird around here.;)

Have a great day! Linking up with  Shaunna :)

Winter Touches

 

This winter has felt off here due to the lack of snow and the warmer temps.

But…just when I was thinking mother nature should just cut her losses and try again next year, winter came in full force!  Since it finally feels winter-y around here I thought I would share some winter touches we have going on.

 

When it’s cold and stormy outside, I love the lights on the garland above our fireplace…this room is so cozy. I’ve removed anything to much like Christmas, but kept the simple winter touches that reflect what is going on outside.

Because it stays cold and snowy here for a good while, I like to keep the winter vibe going with my decorating usually through February. Come March though,  I’m wanting & ready for SPRING!!

What about you? Do you find it hard to want to decorate this time of year?

all we need is LOVE

I can’t believe how long it has been since my last post….wowza.  I was hoping 2012 would come in easy breezy, but so far it’s trying to compete a little with crazy 2011.  

Still so much good in my life…I feel truly blessed. 

Oh, and I want to say hey to all my new friends!  Thanks for coming along!! Wishing all my friends a Happy New Year! (better late than never, right? ;)

I really enjoy this time of year…a nice refreshing start after the rush of December, my birthday month and then Valentines Day and our wedding anniversary! 

I feel full of LOVE!  So, I am making the jump onto Valentines Day…

 

If you follow me on Twitter or Instagram you may have seen what I was playing around with last night.  I changed up my first Thanksgiving, then Christmas, now Valentines Day vignette.  I am either sharing ideas on how to be really lazy in your decorating, OR how to be really creative and resourceful by using what you already have in every holiday throughout the year. ha! ;)  Either way…I am quite pleased with this LOVE-ly  display.

I changed up my GIVE THANKS sign by removing the sharpie with rubbing alcohol (it did work!) and then adding in this sweet love phrase(which carries so much truth) in the same way…you can get the instructions {HERE}.  I really love the simplicity of this.

      

The iced cherry blossoms transition perfectly into Valentines Day.  I replaced the little Christmas signs with my heart cut outs… made from tracing a heart cookie cutter onto a Starbucks Christmas bag.  The red and white work perfectly.  I just made sure to not get any one part of the design that looked too Christmas-y.

 

I added in a couple more red accents… my garage sale books, a wood heart, and the gorgeous ribbon I used {last year} wrapped around my lamp shade with jute twine. 

Oh, and some love birds of course:)

 

Do you decorate much for Valentines Day?

 

Christmas Touches

As far as Christmas decor this year, I didn’t add very much ‘new’.  If you missed my Christmas House last year you can see it all {HERE}. 

I did add a couple new things though…

My Grandma gave me a box of ornaments and when I found these little guys I remembered I had seen {this} on Pinterest.  I have hung ornaments from my chandelier  before, but love the delicate simplicity of this look.

I also added this vignette.  I kept my Thanksgiving Sign up because I am very thankful at Christmas too…oh, aaaand, I love it;)  I created this little holiday “tree” in under 5 minutes with supplies I had on hand.  A few iced cherry blossom branches stuck in a French bucket and little Christmas signs pinned on with clothespins. A few Santa touches and this spot was finished.

I am feeling like next year I want to change up my Christmas Decorations.  With out losing the special pieces that we love getting out every year, experiencing that warm nostalgic feeling.  

What about you?  Do you change it up each year or keep things the same?

A Winner! …and Wrapping time

 

 

First things first…the winner of the Christmas Giveaway is Shirley!! (comment #9)  Congrats Shirly, I will be emailing you shortly:)

Remember you can all still get 25% of at www.rustikchic.com this week!  Just enter MERRYCHRISTMAS at checkout.

And now that I have a dent in my Christmas shopping, I have some wrapping to do!  Here area  a couple gorgeous packaging ideas from Pinterest…

 

From Beth @ Home Stories A to Z

{source}

From Julia @ Blissfully Content

{source}

I usually start out with great intentions and the first of the gifts are wrapped with extreme care and creativity….then it becomes gift bags and tissue paper;)

Do you go all out in your gift wrapping? I love for you to share your ideas…if you have some link them up in the comments please:)

I hope you are enjoying the season!! xoxo

Christmas {Double} Giveaway!

A Merry Christmas to you!   Spreading some holiday cheer with a couple of handmade gifts for you or for someone else!

A handmade Christmas Kissing Ball from

The Gathering Place Design, Plus….

 

A handmade up-cycled Vintage Leather Cuff any item of your choice from RustikChic.com!

 

7 ways to Enter!!

**please leave a separate comment for each:)**

1. One entry for following The Gathering Place Design

2. One entry for Tweeting, FB-ing or Blogging about this giveaway

3. One entry for liking The Gathering Place Design on Facebook

4. One entry for following The Gathering Place Design on Twitter

5. One entry for liking Rustik Chic on Facebook

6. One entry for following Rustik Chic on Twitter

7. Go to www.RustikChic.com come back here & tell us your favorite piece

One of you fabulous friends will be randomly chosen on Monday Dec. 12th.

P.S. All Christmas is on SALE at The Gathering Place Design…up to 25% off

and use code MERRYCHRISTMAS at www.rustikchic.com for 25% OFF your purchase!!

Merry Christmas!!

Christmas Greens

 

This little Christmas Vignette on our piano turned out to be an eclectic mix of metals, colors and textures.  Staying with a green color palette, I mixed in a lot of different tones to achieve this sort of rustic natural feel with touches of sparkle that gives off a warm cozy vibe.

I gathered pieces from around the house, some that I have used for Christmas decor in other areas of our home to create this subtle Christmas display.

I used my moss trees and place them on random mismatched candle sticks and for more texture and dimension added in some pine sprigs at the bottom of each tree. I filled one of my favorite containers with my fall acorns and more pine.  A Christmas star and also a vintage style Santa for a pop of color & whimsy.

Now, when I started this I had a round clock hanging above, but it just was too cold.  I thought I’d try this wreath from my Etsy Shop and it was just what it needed…I am now working on making myself one similar because it is just too perfect in this spot! {eh, the laundry doesn’t need folding, right? ;)}

So play around with your decorations in different places!  I think a lot of times we get used to having our decor exactly where they have always been or where you initially purchased an item for.  But there are no rules on changing it up and sometimes I think you’ll find you like things better a different way.

 

Oh, and I casually draped lights throughout to give a warm Christmas glow at night…I love it.