starbursty & prismatic for the holidays

Don't turn me into the authorities but I have yet to put any Christmas decor out....I did however manage to go with a pretty & witty red headed friend to help craft Anthropologie's next window treatment. We didn't know that was what we would be doing before we got there so it was fun to see the magic of their window displays in action. Anyway they didn't send us home emptied handed. We made glistening starburst things out of drink stirrers. I think they would make great Christmas decorations...

All you have to do is get your hands on some clear plastic prism food stick or drink stirrers and poke a couple different lengths into a styrofoam ball. I was told that the prism sticks are hard to find but if you go here you can get some of your own...the power of googling.

Minted Giveaway Winner

Wizzle...you the winner of the 50 cards and the fabulous journal.

Thank you so much for all that participated in this very generous giveaway from Minted.

A winter moodboard (black, nude, burgundy and cream)

One time I went into the hair salon after I first got married and told my the hairdresser that I needed to color over my highlights. I simply requested an Elizabeth Hurley brown but walked out with a level 2N which is black before blue black...they had somehow made a mistake and it took two years before I had normal hair. Well this past week I have been craving a little should I dare say burgundy and black..gasp. I am also loving the classic nordic snowflake knits...I would even except some of the real snowflake stuff for a little holiday spirit.

I am also loving so much of the styling over at Aubin & Wills found here.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18

Life four years ago and and life today (gratitude)

{The Little America Hotel in Flagstaff, AZ...life 4 years ago}

First of all how was your Thanksgiving?

Our Thanksgiving was great except you can imagine the risks the come along with hauling 5 little kids across the state and beyond.....I must note that going across the states out west isn't anything like trying to cross the state of Rhode Island either.

I am thankful we didn't have to rent a truckers bathroom again so that I could feed 3 six month babies. I couldn't help but reminisce about this little scenario as we passed the Little America hotel exit in Flagstaff on our way to Thanksgiving dinner four years ago. I remember trying to feed my babies in the car while my husband took the girls into the cafe. When it became clear that I needed some assistance I loaded 2 of the babies into the stroller and carried the other as I found my way to the check-in desk at the hotel. I thought after seeing me they would for sure rent a room out to me for an hour. Not so, instead I was directed to the truckers bathrooms that I could rent for $10 an hour. Those were good times and actually the bathrooms weren't too bad. I'm still not too sure as to why I would take babies on a long trip that were not on formula or had not yet reached the ripe old age of 1. Either which way I felt very grateful for all of those who have helped me get to where I am today.

We finally made it home after 10 hours there and then 10 hours back.

A few more notes:

I really do like seeing things from the window of a car.

I thought about how helpful in life it is to replace feelings of inadequacy and insufficiency for acts and thoughts of gratitude.

So grateful that there is a God who knows and loves every single one of us...it's true.

{the above picture is supposed to represent life today...all kicks and giggles}

P.S. - I am thankful for humor..even when I am the only one that finds it...Don't ask me why I just chose to insert the above picture except I love that we were swimming just a mere month and a half ago and that my kid still likes to snuggle. What if life were just kicks & giggles and we never ever got upset when things got damaged and such.

P.S.S. - You have until tonight to enter the awesome Minted giveaway.

{handsome blankets}

I am quite fond of these throws and blankets...they look really handsome and warm..such a nice combo in my opinion.

Imagine finding them here..price isn't the worst ever for what you are getting. Do I dare say a couple of them look a little Missoni-ish.

GiIVEAWAY!!! 50 holiday cards + a journal from Minted (valued at over $100)

I am so excited to offer one of you fine readers a fantastic opportunity to win 50 holiday cards + a journal from Minted...retailed at over $100. If you are like me then one of your favorite parts of the holiday season is to receive Christmas cards from friends and family. I have been known to even save mine for a very long time because I treasure them so. Well I think one of the best go to sites for cards happens to be Minted. Go here and check out some of their products for yourself and then come back and tell me what design is your fave..that way you can have a chance to win those pretty holiday cards as well as that journal.

I can't wait to see who wins this..hopefully I can even be your new friend on your Christmas card list so that I can see your beautiful family and the card you chose. Good luck!!!

The winner will be picked next Monday Nov. 29th (Cyber Monday). Make sure to leave your email address so that I can contact you when you win.

Also thought you all may be interested to know that it will be a win win day for all on Cyber Monday as Minted has many festivities going on...including the following:

• Offering free backers + shipping on all holiday cards for the entire day—an amazing deal!
  

• Randomly picking one holiday card order per hour and make it free for that customer – to qualify, a customer must place a holiday card order on 11/28.
  

• Randomly pick one holiday card order per hour and buy a classroom’s worth of children new Minted notebooks for that customer – to qualify for this, a customer must place a holiday card order on 11/28 and post a link to the

www.minted.com/holiday-photo-cards page on their Facebook wall.

{gold flatware}

With the season of entertaining upon us I have been thinking about things that assist us with eating. For the last year I have actually been thinking about the beautiful brass flatware that I passed up at a thrift store only to go back and see that somebody else scored the set...

Well if you too love the gold toned flatware and do not have the budget to invest in a very expensive set then I would suggest the above over here...it is nice and simple just how I like it. The price is right as well.

***Apparently the above set already has sold out..rats..it was like $60 for an 8 piece set. Refer to the below for a few more sources***

here, here & here

{above picture from D Magazine}

{upgraded from pinterest to the blog}

(above jar and stool from here)

Mark Sikes provides a very good argument as to why someone needs to have a little more blue and white porcelain in their lives. I noticed you can get yourselves some of your own blue & white stuff over here. Also did you see the brain behind Furbish also posted about how one can achieve the above look..it's good so go and have a looksy right here. I spied a couple of items in the above space that are also on my list...

(book/basket)

The below is how I have been doing blue and white lately. Don't you love the swirly painted look on this new old lamp? Now I need to find a spot for this lamp...I really do have a lamp problem. I love them..and not just for their light producing options I'm afraid.

Anyway this overall is such an inspirational space that it got upgraded from just Pinterest to the blog.

Oh and hi, happy week. Please do come back for a wonderful giveaway that is just perfect for this time of year.

xx

P.S. - For a nice beautiful hard copy of the above space you can purchase a copy of House Beautiful Dec/Jan to see the above space amongst other pretty spaces.

YESSS!!! acrylic photo mounting source

You would think it would be fairly easy to find a resource for a large acrylic frame. I have tried to research an affordable option in a large sized acrylic frame for a very long time now. I found places but they were out of the roof expensive. Anyway I love the above look of that huge picture that Lulu deKwiatkowski created by first snapping a picture of her husband with an underwater camera, blowing it up and then mounting it under acrylic. I remember when I saw this picture in Lonny I thought that is so simple, clean, pretty and probably so expensive. Then as I was pursuing acrylic frames on Pinterest I came across somebody who aparently had the same thought process except they actually did find a very very reasonably price source to have a picture mounted on acrylic..like we are talking a 30 x 40 for $399 or a 24 x 36 for $299...folks I am here to say that is a great deal. All you need to do is upload a photo then they print it out an sandwich the print between acrylic and dibond. Go here to see more options and to get the details.

{The above was discovered via Besotted via Pinterest}

documenting a quest to get a picture for a Christmas card

Dearest Readers..my computer has taken on some sort of illness..hence the internet/blog silence. Hopefully we have all of the bugs worked out now. I'll be back with some design centered posts a little later.

For now and in case you were wondering we have been carrying on with activities which have included things that do not fall into the silence category. For example we've been on a couple of roadtrips..one that included a photography friend and her family. We landed in Globe, AZ for the yearly Christmas card pictures. We found the biggest curb and plopped down for a few pictures and then headed over to our tradition of consuming a little authentic Mexican food over at El Rey...which has been there ever since I can remember. It is old and tilted just like many of the other curious establishments around town. Anyway I really really love how Michelle documented the whole experience....bloody noses and all. Apparently kids can get all bouncy and then knock into things and stuff. Not to worry though big huge suckers help in the above scenarios as seen in the bottom photo. If you need some documentation too, then I think you should contact Michelle-y right here....she's REAL nice.