My Creative Blog:
christmas

Hi there and sorry for not blogging since forever! Christmas has taken all my energy and also, after posting uncountable Christmas posts I got a bit fed up. So now I'm about done with that. Spring is coming, you know (!) although it's half a meter of snow here. I'm being optimistic.

I sincerely hope that you all have had a very happy Christmas!

/Back soon. ;)

^{This is our Christmas tree this year. In fact, it's our first tree together what so ever and we love it! There's no gifts underneath it yet, but that will change this morning. We were a bit afraid that the cats would go nuts about them, not to mention the tree itself. I actually notice in the photo that one of the decorations already has landed on the floor. But other than that they have been surprisingly well behaved. I catch Maja now and the boxing on them and she looks at me with irritation when I tell her no. Cute.}

I wish you all a merry, merry Christmas and thank you so much for following my blog this year, and for all the nice comments!

'Chestnuts roasting on an open fire,
Jack Frost nipping on your nose,
Yuletide carols being sung by a choir,
And folks dressed up like Eskimos. 

Everybody knows a turkey and some mistletoe,
Help to make the season bright.
Tiny tots with their eyes all aglow,
Will find it hard to sleep tonight. 

They know that Santa's on his way;
He's loaded lots of toys and goodies on his sleigh.
And every mother's child is going to spy,
To see if reindeer really know how to fly.

And so I'm offering this simple phrase,
To kids from one to ninety-two,
Although its been said many times, many ways,
A very Merry Christmas to you '

Greetings, Bettina.

Only 11 days until Christmas, everyone! Start panicking! Just kidding- I absolutely love this holiday season (September through December is my FAVORITE time of year!) and have been tweaking, arranging and rearranging my Christmas decor for the last few weeks. And guess what? I probably won't stop until I take the stuff down on January 1st. I'm so excited to show you around on my first official home tour. Come on in and make yourself comfortable! (Warming: LOTS of pictures to follow, and hopefully, I'll be able to keep my mouth shut and let you enjoy it!: )

I'm still in love with my blue front door, and decided to forgo the traditonal holiday colors in favor of a rustic, woodsy color scheme. Browns, creams, copper and a few wood tree trunks!

Welcome to my foyer! This is what greets you as you come in the front door.


Isn't that houndstooth wrapping paper fabulous? Monica has great taste in (and an obsession with!) wrapping paper, so I have her to thank for it.: )

I tried my hand at making a wrapping paper leaf garland this year. It's pretty cute, but took a long time!

Living Room

I had fun decking out my mantel- again going with the rustic,woodsy theme.

I had to include my wood slice wreath, threw in some cut greens leftover from our tree, wrapped a few little presents with cute wrapping and added those charming. brightly colored reindeer from Target.


I love the Pottery Barn stockings that were a gift to us from my mom, and think they look great against the stenciled fireplace.

On the other side of the room, the moss monogram made it's appearance again this year.
 

I can't wait to show you how I made this faux-console table for behind the couch. So easy and makes a world of a difference!

Dining Room

I'm so close to a full reveal of my dining room (coming January 2013!), but couldn't resist sharing a few little glimpses. It's beautiful and I often think,"This can't be my house."

Family Room/Basement

I recycled the Nate Show ornaments that Monica made for me last year (why buy new when the old stuff is so cute?!), and bought two adorable plaid pillows on clearance from Target to stick on top of my old thift store trunk. And of course, what makes the space is the reindeer sillouette art.

I totally dig this space!

And see that little red pillow with the zipper? Monica and I made that last year for our fourth Nate Show episode. So cool, right? Kitchen

I kept it clean and simple in this room, folks.

I made that felt garland and let me tell you, it was a bear to make. Worth it, but oh-so-time-consuming.

We broke out the framed Advent calendar again since it was such a big hit last year.

Hall Bathroom

I had to show you this fab plaid rug I got from Target (yes, Target again, and no they don't pay me). It's so cozy, but doesn't scream Christmas. Love it. 

Thank you, Jones Design Company, for the pretty (and meaningful!) printable! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
But nothing in my home beats watching these two enjoy the holiday season. Celebrating Christmas with kids is so.much.fun.

And not to be outdone by the fun, crazy Mangin picture, here's a greeting from my cuties!: )

I hope you enjoyed my Christmas home tour! Let's play the favorite thing game. Ready, set, go! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- And oh yeah, if you missed Monica's tour earlier this week, check it out HERE. There's some good stuff in there, folks!

Kind of pretty but I wouldn't have the heart to let my gold and red stay in their boxes.

It's Friday. I should do all sorts of things in the house to 'make it ready' for the weekend. The only thing I've done is vacuum the stairs and hallway and started the washing machine.  And now, instead, I'm sitting here, planning for Christmas candy and what food to make.

I'm sort of like the cats. They should be out hunting for all the mice around here. Instead they're lying flat in front of the fire place. They're bad influence, that's what they are.

And by the way, I should blog a little too, I've done that too little the past days. So that's what I'll do. For a little while. And also play Farmville on Facebook. Yes.

I love this drawing. It reminds me of Astrid Lindgren's Christmas. No mobiles, no TV, no stress, just Christmas and what it's all about. Cosy.

Pippi celebrates Christmas (in Swedish).

A joyful Friday to you!

This tree is just about the perfect tree for me. The only thing I would definitely change are the lights. I would want the old fashioned ones, not the small bulbs, like these. Other than that, it's simply adorable, don't you think?

Oh, and yesterday my long wanted iron for Danish ''bleskiver' came. So now, my fathers tradition can be carried on, with 'bleskiver on Christmas morning, with raspberry jam and icing sugar. And of course, mulled wine with almonds and raisins.

Well, I was moving the cat food sack and accidentally lost it. Cat food all over and all three cats thought they'd died and gone to heaven. After that; vacuum cleaning. Cat food decoration isn't really my thing.

Adorable Gingerbread tree:

We love a good DIY project so, of course, it comes as no big surprise that we automatically think DIY when it comes to gift-giving, as well. It's so fun to see a resurgence of all things handmade, and trust me, your friends and family won't miss that scarf and mitten set from one of those big box stores. I've rounded up 11 fun gift ideas for everyone on your list- most of them are easy to do and under $20. Let's get started!



1. DIY Color Pop Cord Lamp from Vintage Revivals. Leave it to Mandi to come up with something totally awesome. And get this, she made the lamp base out of a vase!

2. Marbled Paper Box from Centsational Girl. This project is what inspired me to hang marbled paper art in my dining room. The possibilities are endless with these boxes and could be customized for every recipient.

3. Sharpie Art Gift Mugs from Whipperberry. Super cute and easy. Love. Enough said.

4. DIY Washer Necklace from By Wilma. I'll be honest, I know nothing about making jewelry, but this tutorial makes me think I could tackle this one! I might just have to make one for myself… as a sample, of course. Ahem.

5. DIY Recipe book from 36th Avenue. This is a really simple upcycle of a cheap notebook using paint, paper clips and cute scrapbook paper. Totally doable, and cheap, to boot!

6. Double Wine Gift Bag from Infarrantly Creative. We always pick up a few bottles of wine for hostess gifts and this bag would be a perfect addition!

7. DIY Rope-Wrapped Hurricane Vase from us! (hehe.) I wasn't joking when I said I wanted to make one of these for all my friends. The cost for all of the materials is around $10, and that will make several of these vases!

8. Chalkboard Art Ornaments from Clean & Scentsible. We've been seeing chalkboards are all over the place, (for good reason- they're awesome!), and I love this version as ornaments! Aren't they cute?

9. Christmas Potpourri Neighbor Gift from Landee See, Landee Do. Nothing makes me happier than a house filled with Christmasy smells, so this gift is right up my alley. Comes with cute printable tags, too.

10. DIY Farmhouse Doll Bed by Ana White. My daughter is getting an American Girl doll from my mom this year, and you better believe I'm having my hubs make this adorable bed to go with it.

11. DIY Wooden Matchbox Car Race Track from Pretty Handy Girl. I can't forget all the little boys out there, and so this gift is for them! I love that this race track can be completely customized with their favorite colors and name.

I hope this round-up of awesome gift ideas gets you inspired to give something handmade this year! What's your favorite, easy DIY Christmas gift? Please share!

Country by Mail has simply amazing products for a raw, relaxed, country inspired home. I love this site! Also, have a look at their Christmas products. You'll find them here.

Enjoy!

Many blogs today. There's so much adorable things out there. I have to share everything I find!

A few weeks ago Beckie from Infarrantly Creative asked us to share a gift under $10 for her Pennywise Present series. Of course, we immediately thought of this:

But then it dawned on us…oh, she wants a handmade gift for under $10! Silly us. (Now you know what WE want for Christmas!) Anyway, last year we tried our hand at lots of different DIY ornaments and thought it would be fun to try something new this year. You can easily make a set of six or eight of these wood tag ornaments for well under $10. Customize them with monograms, favorite phrases or fun Christmas images, and you'll have a unique, one-of-a-kind gift for everyone on your list (ok, not your dad. He probably won't appreciate these.)

What is liquid gilding, you ask? Well, according to Martha, Liquid Gilding is a one-step leafing paint that gives a rich, metallic luster to projects. We don't really care what is is, we just love the look of it! Gilding gives your projects a high-end look and will make your friends think you spent tons of money on them (shhhh- we won't tell)! Here's what you need to do to make your own:

1. Gather your materials. We used cute mini alphabet stamps, holiday stencils, metallic silver cording, silver liquid gilding, wood tags and various spraypaints and acrylic paints that we had on hand.


You can find the wood tags at Michaels in the wood supplies section, as well as the liquid gilding which can be found with the Martha Stewart supplies. The alphabet stamps came from the Target dollar bins (LOVE those things!).

Step 2: Paint (or gild) the surfaces of your wood tags. Some of ours were spraypainted (the red and green) and others were painted with acrylic paint, and the rest were gilded.

Isn't the gilding awesome?

Step 3: Create your designs! We had fun coming up with lots of different tags that complemented each other. Be creative!

When working on a small surface, make sure you use painters tape to prevent paint from your stencil brush getting where you don't want it. Also, good stencil brushes make a HUGE difference, especially when stenciling with liquid gilding. It's very runny, and you'll need a brush with stiff bristles to distribute it without it bleeding.

Step 4: Attach your cording or ribbon. Some of our wood tags already had holes at the top. We wanted our ornaments to look uniform, so we hot glued the cording to the backs of the tags without holes, and threaded the cording through the holes on the others and hot glued it in place.

You'll be left with lots of ridiculously cute ornaments and money in your pocket!

Hoard a few for your own tree Package them as a set and you have a gift that will wow the receiver!

Merry {Early} Christmas!

For the first time ever, I made a personal Advent decoration, and I actually think it's kind of pretty. And it certainly was easier than I thought. And fun. The first candle will be lit later today, when it gets darker and we will have warm chocolate with whipped cream and 'lussebullar'.

I wish you all a happy first Sunday in Advent!

Oh, and have a look at our veranda. Cat invasion.

I couldn't wait any longer. Christmas has arrived to our house. Stars hang in the windows and early gifts are wrapped. I'm not usually a very Christmassy person but this year I thought I'd give it a go. And here are a few photos of my early start.

We're still in Europe for a few more days (you can follow along through my pics on Instagram @EastCoastCreative), but I'll be honest that I'm itching to transform my house for Christmas!

Usually, we're a Saturday-after-Thanksgiving kind of family, but this year we'll decorate as soon as we're back from our trip. Last month I started perusing Pinterest for holiday inspiration and tons of bright ideas kept jumping out at me. I thought I'd share a collection of awesomely merry & bright Christmas inspiration for you… so all the way from Paris- Enjoy!

Merry & Bright #1- I've done the present thing before. Just wrap some picture frames in bright colored paper, add some ribbon and voila! I also love the super cheery and bright ornaments on this mantle.

Merry & Bright # 2- These felt trees would be really fun to make with the kiddos. They're simply felt, wrapped around a cone shape, and blinged out with some sequins.

Merry & Bright #3- Jess and I LOVE pine cone placeholders, but add a little paint dip in hot pink and man, it doesn't get much cooler than this!

Merry & Bright # 4- Umm, Hello Whoville…this sock vase and painted branches is insanely awesome! How fun would this be to make and then put in my kids' playroom? I think it's officially on the TO DO list (when we're back from vacation of course!)

Merry & Bright # 5- You all know I'm an anti-wreath kind of gal, and this is a super fun, non-traditional wreath. It's a ceiling medallion (which are really inexpensive at Lowe's or HD) and some holiday ribbon.

Merry & Bright #6- Moo & Puppy has come out with an awesome Christmas line of digital papers. I love using these papers because I can print out as many as I need. I'm loving up these patterns and am planning to use these as part of my Christmas Countdown Calendar (tutorial coming soon!) Check out all of Moo's awesome holiday papers!

Merry & Bright # 7- We've all seen some felt garlands, but this one takes the cake! Check out her post and you'll see that she used a combo of store bought felt poms and she also MADE some of them too! I'm not sure I'm going that far, but it definitely turned out amazingly!

Merry & Bright # 8- I could almost turn from my wreath-hating ways because of this wreath. I love the combo of shiny, matte, and glitter balls.

You've got to see the whole room…

Yup, that's pure Merry & Bright Awesomeness people!
Who knows, this year I just might decorate my kids's playroom for Christmas! Usually, they just get a little faux greenery, but after all this Merry & Bright Inspiration, I might go the extra mile and use some of these ideas! How about you? Are what do you think of Bright, non-traditional colors at Christmas?

From Panduro Hobby.