In all my days, it never occurred to me that I would want a special china set to use during the holiday season.
UNTIL, I saw this one at Dillard’s last weekend.
I can’t stop thinking about it!!
Click to be taken to the set
Although the song that inspired this set is one of the most annoying Christmas songs of all time, THIS SET achieves the impossible task of being elegant and whimsical at the same time! I absolutely adore it!
Evidently it is a Dillard’s exclusive. Will this be available next year or is it a now-or-never deal? Wonder if the price will drop on Dec. 26th??? Anybody know the answers to these questions? If I called Dillard’s, would they know? (None of these questions are rhetorical. Answers/opinions appreciated).
…tied up in string, this is one of my favorite things!!
I have totally been into brown kraft paper for a while now and am super excited that it is the big trend this season. Not convinced that it’s a trend? Check out Christmas decoration from West Elm, Etsy, and Target. Okay, so the Target collection isn’t really kraft paper, but it’s all about brown colors and natural elements. Additionally, at a few stores I shopped at, I was presented with a decorative kraft paper bag, making my job easier because all the gift needed was some attractive tissue paper to fill the bag.
You probably don’t know this about me, but I love themes. Decorating with a theme, cooking with a theme, etc. Well, my Christmas theme this year is, well you guessed it. Using paper grocery bags I’ve saved made gift wrapping a free endeavor (except for the one roll of super adorable Scotch-brand wrapping paper we bought, but it also fits with the theme). My tree is decorated with paper and the gifts stored underneath it (until we distribute them to our friends & family members) are dressed to match.
Spoiler alert. No, you can't see who it's for.
I thank my good friend and former roommate for the abundance of twine, which I’ve used for everything from my wedding, to home decor, to actually tying stuff together, and now to wrapping presents. Also, how cute are those mini clothespins?? SO CUTE!
Stay tuned for Christmas tree photos at a later date. Yes, you’ll see stuff made out of brown paper bags. You have lots to look forward to :)
This is our first year sending out Christmas cards together. Yes, I contemplated getting a friend of ours to take a nice photo of us and getting one of those seasonal borders added to it at Target and calling it a day. But, of course, being me, I decided I wanted to do something more exciting and unique.
Some of my favorite wedding pictures are the ones from the photobooth, a great way for attendees to get caught on film acting ridiculous. So I thought I’d try a photobooth-type setup for the first annual card. Took a few shots of me & the man, and sent it off to our friends at Atelier to print them up (they also did our wedding invites and programs!)
This was harder than anticipated. The first obstacle was trying to find a time during daylight hours (for the natural light) when both of us were home at the same time. Days are getting shorter and usually by the time Doug gets home from work it’s already dusk. Saturdays are too crazy for both of us so finally I roped him into Sunday after the Chiefs game. Which explains the wardrobe choice. The second hard part was setting up the booth. Putting the tripod on the floor made it way too close to where we’d be sitting. So I ended up shortening the legs and putting it on the bed, which means every time I set the self timer and pushed the shutter, I had to run around the bed, try not to slip on the wood floor, sit and strike a pose in less than 10 seconds.
All in all, I’m pleased with the results but I think it was way too much work. Next time I’m roping a friend into helping no matter how lame they think we are for being all couple-y.
After all of that, who wants to see some outtakes? Outtakes, test shots, call them what you like, these two photos did NOT make the cut onto the final product. Note my eager assistant.
My Friend Staci 