Friday, December 20, 2013

for you last minute gift wrappers | FREE PRINTABLE



Download the free printable here and print on 8.5" x 11" white cardstock! Enjoy my friends!
This art is for personal use only. If you want to get one for a friend, that's cool, just please don't distribute my art without checking with me first. This art cannot be sold or altered without permission from the artist. xo, courtney

Thursday, December 19, 2013

my 6 FAVORITE winter drinks from Pinterest!


a / A mulled apple pear cider that warms you from the inside out. This recipe can be found on Honeysuckle Life and she suggests that you add a bit of rum or bourbon to really warm you up. I second that suggestion.

b / Anything that runs down the side of the mug and still looks delicious is a winner in my book. Seriously, that photo is like food porn. Sorry, had to go there. Find the delicious recipe at Back to Her Roots and you'll want to make this salted caramel mocha every day of your life.

c / Nothing sounds more like Christmas than a Gingerbread Hot Chocolate. Honestly, I can't really understand the translated version of the recipe on Cioccolato Gatto (original is in Polish I believe) but I figured it out ok. It's yummy and ginger-y and perfect for an afternoon snack after playing in the snow.

d / Four words for you Godiva. White. Chocolate. Liqueur. Yup. The easy-peasy yet delightful recipe can be found on Will Cook for Smiles. Share this with your favorite girlfriend on New Years Eve.

e / I'm one of those people that eats ice cream all year round, especially a great milkshake. Sometimes when I'm cozy in my house wrapping presents and rockin Mariah Carey's Christmas album, I like to make myself a milkshake. Frozen hot chocolate is perfect for winter. Get the recipe on Chef This Up.

f / The Organic Momma shared a cider recipe several years ago that I still use in the fall and winter. My skin seems to go a bit cray at the turn of the season, so I like to make this drink to help clear it up. Legitimately, I don't know if it actually helps but it is delicious.

What are your favorite winter drinks?

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

House Tour | Den

The den is the room we worked on the most - and it's still not completely finished. Our first "big" project on the house will be replacing the floor in this room. But this is the room that made us fall for this house head over heals. Just look at that ceiling!


I wanted to lighten the room up a lot, so we painted the wood paneling white. Each little groove was painted with a brush and the planks were rolled over three times to completely cover. The white walls really makes the ceiling stand out. It's the focal point of the room.


I added a crafting table in the corner as well as an old sorting box to hold our mail. Patterned curtains gives the room a playful vibe. The fireplace was stunning as is, so it just got dressed up for the holidays. Remember Erik, our shelf door? He's feeling at home in the den as well.

Eventually I would love to get a cozy loveseat to sit in front of the fireplace, but for now I'm happy with these lounge chairs. The open legs help the room feel large.


Lounge chairs - Ikea, here
Desk - Ikea, here
Desk chair - Ikea, here
Mail box - salvaged
Curtains - Ikea, here
Coffee table - salvaged
Bookcase - salvaged
Joy sign - Target, here

With the fireplace and the joy sign, this is my favorite room to decorate for Christmas. What room in your home is your favorite to decorate?

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

House Tour | Living Room


The room has great bones and architecture, so I didn't want to do much to mess that up. I painted the dark brown wall to match the rest of the walls then got to decorating.


Coffee table - salvaged and painted
End table - salvaged
Ruffle curtains - Here
Lamps - TJ Maxx
Entertainment center and sofa table - Ikea, here
Ladder - salvaged
Moss letters - I make and sell, here

You remember my hutch, right? I've blogged about him here and here. He's loving his new home in the living room, holding my Ball jar collection and a few wedding mementos. 

A collage wall of prints is in the works but until I figure out exactly how I want them laid out on the wall, I'm using pieces of washi tape to hold them up. Our coffee table didn't photograph quite how I had hoped, but the top is a piece of glass that I sprayed with looking glass paint and made look like mercury glass. (The tutorial can be found here.)

Arm chair - Ikea, here
Rug - Ikea, here
Lamp - Ikea, here 
Gold leaf platter - Target, here
Gray curtains - Ikea, here

As you can tell, our home is made up of salvaged pieces, Target, and Ikea. Where do you buy most of your furnishings?

Friday, December 13, 2013

House Tour | Bathroom remodel

Moving right along on our house tour, the next room up is the bathroom. Or one of them at least. Each bathroom received the same treatment, so there's really no point in sharing them both. We didn't do a ton in these bathrooms but I'm really pleased with the way they turned out. 



Both bathrooms were painted a bright, lime green which really wasn't our taste. It affected the lighting in the room and really made them seem small... which they are but I knew I could make them feel larger.

You can see in the before photo that I divided the wall with painters tape just above the white tile backsplash. I really wanted a sophisticated black bathroom but because there was so much white in the room with the vanity, stool and wall tile, it seemed like a better idea to paint the walls white. To get the best of both worlds, I painted the top black and the bottom white. A piece of chair rail divides the two colors and keeps it really clean looking.

There's not much storage in the room itself, so I added a glass shelf to keep toiletries and washcloths for guests. A small bowl holds a few of my favorite Lush soaps.


It didn't photograph well in the room but we changed out the light fixture above the sink with this one from Lowes. It's more contemporary than the former one and goes better with the look of the room.

Shower curtain - Target, similar here
Shelf - Ikea, here
Bowl - World Market


I'm still looking for a decorative piece to hang above the shelf. Something gold would be gorgeous. We haven't settled on a floor yet but I'm thinking a dark gray tile like this one. What do you think?

Thursday, December 12, 2013

2014 Calendar!

Let's get ready for 2014, shall we? I'm feeling like 2014 should be a full year of celebration. So to give nod to the celebration, a calendar full of confetti.



Download your copy of the calendar here. Not in to printing it yourself? Pick it up from my shop, right here and I'll send you a copy!

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

KJB turns 28!


Happy birthday to my husband! A few pictures of us from our very first date to our honeymoon... and apparently we don't get out much now because I couldn't find a recent photo of us. I better get on that. Anyway, we are going to have his favorite dinner tonight and a yummy chocolatey cake.

KJB, I hope your day is easy peasy and full of laughter. I love you times a million!

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

House Tour | Dressing Room

GOOD MORNING FRIENDS! It's Tuesday, it's pretty outside and warm inside and I'm hyped up on coffee. So what better day to start sharing our house tour! I want to start with my FAVORITE room in the house, which is my dressing room. The closets in our house are pretty small so I decided to use one of our spare rooms to house my clothes, my vanity, and accessories.


The room was in decent shape but there were a few things I wanted to do. The wall I wanted my vanity on had green chalkboard paint and it wasn't really necessary to have a chalkboard in my dressing room. But if it becomes a child's room in the future, I may want the chalkboard wall back. So I just used a piece of paneling to cover it up.

I also knew I wanted to take down the window treatments. They were young looking and didn't let in any light. The room looked so much bigger by changing out the heavy curtains with sheers.


My scarves are the only thing left that I need to figure out how to store. You can see in the photo that I just have them in a clear bag right now but I want a better way to store them. I have too many a lot and I don't want to hang them because I think it will look bulky. Before we moved, I had them on a scarf hanger and I just really didn't like it. Share your ideas with me in the comments!

Vanity - salvaged
Mirror - salvaged
Chair - TJ Maxx
Vanity lamps - Ikea, here
Drawers - Ikea, here
Nail polish holder - rummage
Shelves - Target, here
Miniature rocking chair - made for me years ago
Rug - Ikea, here
Sheers - Ikea, here
Small necklace stand - Target, here

My sunglasses are hung on a tiered hanger like this one, and my large necklaces are on coat hooks like this one.

How do you store your accessories?

Friday, December 6, 2013

P O S S I B L E



If an extraordinary dream has been placed on your heart, remember that God doesn't do that without reason. He will help you through all the things that is His will.

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Gift Wrap Style | Pillow Boxes

 Today my dear friend Megan is sharing a fun way to wrap gifts with supplies you most likely already have in your house. I love this idea for those little trinket gifts that you don't want to get lost under the tree. For more from Megan, see this gift she wrapped for us last year



cost: $0

craft time: 5 minutes

supplies & process:
a // wrapping paper scraps, a cereal box, a pillow box template, tape, scissors, a pen or pencil, glue, and a marker

b // cut the template out of the paper. cut open your cereal box so that it lays flat.

c // pattern side up, trace the template onto the box then cut it out. mark the areas that you are going to need to fold the box.

d // use the scissors to score along the edges that will need folded. this will ensure that you get a clean edge. use a bit of glue to fold the box into the pillow shape. we tried this with the tape first but it did not want to hold. glue is the way to go.

e // once the glue is dry, fold in the bottom flaps.

f // use a bit of scrap wrapping paper to decorate the box. this is the perfect way to use up some of those oddly sized pieces of paper.