This post is sponsored by Bona. All opinions are my own. Every year at this time I tell myself I'm not going to stress when getting the house ready for guests. A few tips - five to be exact - help me keep my sanity when getting everything ready. Today I'm joining four other creative bloggers to bring you tips to prepare your home for holiday guests. That makes 25 simple tips to help you breeze through the upcoming holidays. My five tips that … [Read more...]
Christmas Shopping Fun with Llamas
November 1, 2017 By 2 Comments
This post is sponsored by Cost Plus World Market. All opinions are my own. Yes, you read that right. I'm here to tell you how to have a little Christmas shopping fun with llamas. No, I don't mean riding a llama to the store or starting a llama farm. I'm talking about all of the fun "No Drama Llama" items available at Cost Plus World Market this holiday season. During a recent trip to the store for my Thanksgiving dinnerware, I noticed tons of … [Read more...]
Homemade Valentine’s Day Cards
January 10, 2017 By 34 Comments
Do you remember when you were a kid and used to make homemade Valentine's Day cards to pass out at school? Such care was taken to glue little heart-shaped doilies, buttons, and ribbons in place to make beautiful cards for your friends. It was a proud moment to share these original works of art and have the teacher praise you! Keep this nostalgic feeling alive by making your own Valentine's Day cards today. You can make them with or without … [Read more...]
Christmas Village: Free Printable to Make Your Own
November 9, 2016 By 15 Comments
Are you ready for Christmas creativity overload? I sure hope so because I'm joining a slew of bloggers with free printables ... all just for you! A special shout out to Kristen at Ella Claire for organizing this whirlwind event. I always enjoy our printable hops because it's fun to see what my blogging friends have created. I thought and thought about what to share and finally settled on a Christmas Village, with a free house pattern template … [Read more...]
Gilded Tablescape for Fall Holiday Entertaining
October 25, 2016 By 20 Comments
Hello Friends! Welcome to a special week of holiday entertaining organized by the very talented Lory who blogs at Designthusiasm. She invited me to participate in Styled and Set, a Holiday Entertaining Blog Tour. All week you'll enjoy creative inspiration from a variety of amazing bloggers. I hope you'll find ideas for your own plans for fall holiday entertaining. I gave careful consideration when deciding what to share with you ... and after … [Read more...]
13 Easy Valentine’s Day Projects
January 27, 2016 By 2 Comments
Do you miss the days of youth when you'd make your own Valentine's Day cards and hand them out at school? I remember in Girl Scouts one of our holiday projects was to create a unique Valentine. I glued buttons on mine and was quite proud ... but Jennifer Mitchell ended up winning our contest because she had a red cardinal glued to hers. Clearly her mother helped her make it. I thought she should be disqualified. Dejected and heartbroken, I … [Read more...]
My Christmas Home Tour 2015
December 2, 2015 By 28 Comments
Welcome to my Christmas Home Tour! I'm so happy to have you here for a bit of holiday cheer! Every year I look forward to Jennifer Rizzo's Holiday House Walk and I'm so honored my Christmas home is part of it. Each day this week there are several stunning homes on virtual display. Rusty Hinge is on the schedule just before me so if you're visiting from Maria's ... welcome to my humble home! The Holiday House Walk is partnering with … [Read more...]
Halloween Gift Ideas
October 16, 2015 By 6 Comments
This post is sponsored and inspired by Gifts for You Now, but all opinions are my own. When I was a kid I looked forward to Halloween almost as much as I anticipated Christmas! I couldn't fall asleep the night before Halloween, and if it fell on a school day I fidgeted in my desk until the bell rang. Now that my grand kids are of trick or treating age, I invite myself to tag along on their door-to-door excursion. I also like getting something … [Read more...]
Valentine’s Day Decor in the Living Room
January 28, 2015 By 7 Comments
Do you decorate for Valentine's Day at your house? I don't do a whole lot but I like to bring in touches of pink and red. It's like a decorating transition period between Christmas and spring time. I hauled my Paris Poster back out and added red and white pillows to the love seat. You might remember the penmanship poster that used to be on this shelf at Christmas. I had simply taped it onto another piece of artwork. It makes … [Read more...]
How to Make a Paper Heart Banner
January 15, 2015 By 2 Comments
Valentine's Day is just a month away and I created my first decoration for the holiday of love. It's a very simple paper heart banner that you can make in less than an hour. I'm using it in a Valentine's Day vignette that I'm sharing in a blog hop this Saturday. You don't need a lot of supplies to make this paper heart banner. Decorative scrapbook paper, a piece of colored twine, scissors, pencil, and glue. Cut out a heart to trace; … [Read more...]
Christmas in Galena, Illinois
December 24, 2014 By 27 Comments
One of my dreams is to take my family to spend Christmas in Galena, Illinois for the Christmas holiday. It's a quaint, historic tourist spot just 2 hours away and probably has more Bed and Breakfast homes than any other place in the U.S. It's popular for antiques shopping and was home to Ulysses S. Grant. I've visited idyllic Galena numerous times in my life, but have yet to spend the holidays there. (Photos are not mine but links to photo … [Read more...]
Christmas Wreath Ideas
December 23, 2014 By 10 Comments
Are you having company for Christmas and still don't have a wreath for your front door or fireplace mantel? I've rounded up a wide variety of Christmas wreath ideas for you ... some are mine, some are from friends, and a few are from the interior design pros. Links to the source of each wreath are included so you can see more inspiration and pin from the original source. A frosted pine cone wreath hangs on my back door. Wreaths can be … [Read more...]
My Favorite Christmas Vignettes
December 18, 2014 By 26 Comments
Christmas is just one week away! Although I've been busy decorating and shopping, I never forget the true meaning of Christmas and the celebration of Christ's birth ... God's greatest gift to the world! I like to think the creative expression of decorating is a reflection of God's creative nature. After all, if we're made in God's image and God is creative, it follows that each one of us is creative in some way, shape or form. In celebration of … [Read more...]
Hi! I'm Jennifer and I'm happy to have you here! I live where the suburbs meet the country, which affords me the best of both worlds. Come along on my journey where I share decorating, cooking, gardening and more as it relates to both city and rural life. 
