You are here: Home / 2011 / Archives for November 2011

Wednesday Inspiration:: Lighting

November 30, 2011 By 2 Comments
I love when people use unique light fixtures in their home.
The type of lighting someone uses says a lot about their style & taste. It also really defines the overall character of a room.
Today, I thought it would be fun to round up some unique light fixtures that I’ve come across.
This light fixture screams glam.
I’ve really been into the industrial look lately. Even though there’s not much to them, I love the shape and look of these lights.
These lamps are definitely a unique addition to this bathroom. I could see them in a bedroom, but would never have thought to use them in a bathroom. I actually really love them in this particular bathroom. It works.

{Source}

Here’s a great example of how light fixtures can really add a lot of character to a room. I love the galvanized metal on these lights.

{Source}

And finally, how fun are these teacup light fixtures. These would be perfect for a kitchen.

{Source}

P.S. I was recently introduced to another online inspiration website. Has anyone heard of Houzz? The concept is the same as Pinterest. You have ‘ideabooks’ (similar to ‘boards’ on Pinterest). The only difference is that it’s mainly centered around home decor and is categorized by room. If you specifically use Pinterest for home decor ideas, Houzz is another great alternative for inspiration.

You May Also Like:

Filed Under: houzz, inspiration, pinterest Tagged With:

Christmas Village & 12 Days of Christmas

November 28, 2011 By 2 Comments
Now that Thanksgiving is over, it’s officially the Christmas season. My mom and I a few weeks ago went to Christmas Villagehere in Nashville. It’s held at the Tennessee Fairgrounds in November every year. There are over 250 vendors set up selling everything you can imagine: Christmas decor, handmade items, home decor, jewelry and baked goods to name a few.I had intended to only look for gifts for other people, but of course ended up buying stuff for myself. Too many cute things!

I took some pictures as we were browsing and thought it would be fun to share some of the super cute stuff I came across.
Image and video hosting by TinyPic
Love the old wooden candlesticks on the left. The frames on the right are all handmade. They were a little pricey, but really really pretty!

Image and video hosting by TinyPic
The wooden signs on the left were all hand carved. I bought one last year that said ‘Merry Christmas’ and bought another one this year that said ‘Amazing Grace.’ All the items on the right are made from 100 year old antique ceiling tiles. They had frames, wall art, and mirrors. So unique!

Image and video hosting by TinyPic
I love the this ruffle tree skirt that was handmade! Reminds me of the one Miss Mustard Seed did for her Christmas tree. And we came across someone selling Annie Sloan Chalk Paint.

Image and video hosting by TinyPic
Both of these pictures were from the same booth. They had a ton of really cool vintage items. I loved the old vintage letters on the left and was trying to find a reason to need them :)

Image and video hosting by TinyPic
I love these wire birdcage frames on the left. They would be perfect to clip pictures to or even Christmas cards. I saw several booths that had these handmade headbands. I loved them, so I of course snagged one for myself. I actually bought the blue one you see in the picture.

There were so many cute things. I think my mom and I will make it a tradition to go every year.

And since the Christmas season is officially upon us, I thought that it would be fun to do a Christmas series here on the blog.  So for the month of December, I’ll be doing the 12 Days of Christmas.
Image and video hosting by TinyPic
For 12 days, I’ll post about all things Christmas including decorating, gift ideas, crafts and more.

I’ll kick off the 12 Days of Christmas on Friday. Until then, hope you have a fabulous Monday!

You May Also Like:

Filed Under: Christmas, shopping Tagged With:

Happy Thanksgiving

November 24, 2011 By Leave a Comment
I’m currently out of town visiting family for Thanksgiving.


{Source}

I’m planning to eat lots and lots of food this afternoon and of course take a nap afterwards :)

I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving and get to spend some special time with your family today.Is anyone planning to hit up the black Friday sales tomorrow (or at midnight tonight)?

You May Also Like:

Filed Under: fall, thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Recipes:: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake

November 23, 2011 By Leave a Comment
I promise that this will be the last pumpkin recipe I share.

Image and video hosting by TinyPic
Each person in our family always contributes either a dessert or side dish for our Thanksgiving meal. I made this pumpkin chocolate chip cake recently for my work Thanksgiving lunch. It’s super yummy so I think I will make it for our Thanksgiving meal tomorrow as well. You can’t have Thanksgiving without something pumpkin right?
Image and video hosting by TinyPic
The recipe is from Satisfy My Sweet Tooth. I’ve included it below in case you want to try and make your own!
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake
Ingredients::
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 tsp. ground ginger (I didn’t have any ginger, so mine was sans ginger and still tasted delicious)
1 cup canned pumpkin (not pie filling)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
2 large eggs
1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions::
  1. Preheat oven to 350 and position rack in center of oven. Grease 9- or 10-inch springform pan. Cut piece of parchment paper to line bottom of pan and grease the parchment.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and ginger.
  3. In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, beat pumpkin, sugar and oil until well combined. Add eggs. Add 2 cups of the chocolate chips.
  4. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.
  5. Cool in pan on wire rack for 20 minutes then remove from pan and cool completely on rack.
  6. Place remaining chocolate chips into a microwave-safe bowl and microwave in one minute increments stirring in between until completely melted. Pour melted chocolate over cooled cake and spread evenly.
  7. Enjoy
Yum!
Image and video hosting by TinyPic

What are you guys having for Thanksgiving tomorrow?!

You May Also Like:

Filed Under: fall, recipes, thanksgiving Tagged With:

DIY Cupcake Liner Garland & Cupcake Stands

November 21, 2011 By 2 Comments
I posted some pictures on Friday from the event I helped put together at work.
One of the things I did was put a little dessert table together. Now, I didn’t have a ton of money to work with nor did I have a ton of extra time. But, I did want to make it a little special.

After we decided to order cupcakes, I thought it would be cute to make some sort of decoration for the table out of cupcake liners.

I had pinned this cupcake liner garland on Pinterest a while back and thought this would be the perfect decoration.
Here are all the supplies I got to make my own::
Image and video hosting by TinyPic
1. Fabric (I chose two different fabrics)
2. Cupcake Liners (I got both gold & white)
3. Hemp string to thread
4. Needle
You start by flattening out all the cupake liners. Then trace and cut circles the same size as the liners with the fabric.
Image and video hosting by TinyPic

Then thread your needle with the string and thread it through the fabric and liners. Since I used a thicker string, I had to make sure to get a needle with a larger eye and one that was sharp enough to go through fabric. Alternate between the different cupcake liners and fabric.
Image and video hosting by TinyPic

Just continue stringing it until you get it as long as you want. I spaced mine out and then added a little hot glue to make sure the fabric and liners stayed spaced out the way I wanted.
Image and video hosting by TinyPic

I also made a few diy cupcake stands to display the cupcakes. I saw this idea online. Liz Marie took plastic plates and plastic martini glasses to create stands.
I found some plastic silver platters and wine and martini glasses at the dollar store and hot glued the bottoms of the glasses to the bottom of the platters.
Image and video hosting by TinyPic

I also used some of the leftover fabric from the garland to put under the cupcakes on the platters. Here’s a look at the table again with the garland and stands.
Image and video hosting by TinyPic
I thought it turned out pretty cute if I do say so myself!

I have this whole week off from work. I’m so excited to get some things done, do a little antique shopping maybe and of course eat lots of food on Thanksgiving. I love the holidays!

You May Also Like:

Filed Under: crafts, DIY, pinterest, set design, tutorials Tagged With: ,