frame it!

i got this idea from pottery barn earlier this winter season. immediately i knew i would be copy catting the idea, but did not save the picture on my computer. when i went last night to the pb website i could not find the picture. so i improvised.

yep. a picture of a picture.


i know. lame. but i wanted to show you where i got the idea. give credit where credit is due.

this is my version. i found some white gloves and hats on clearance at target {$6 for it all!}. i also waited until shadow boxes were half off at hobby lobby. armed with a gift card i bought two for $20. i added a little "bling" with the snowflake ornaments from my mom and some pinecones found on family walks.




to complete the winter entry i left out a pair of birchwood skis and my semi homemade garland {added more snowflakes and took out the red ornaments}. i wanted to find a way to incorporate my white skates but was a bit fearful of their sharp edges with my little girls in the house.

so there you have it. unoriginal. copy cat strikes again!

a very snowy Christmas

not so much here in omaha. but very much so in my friend liz's house.

she has the kind of house that the moment you step into it you feel cozy and at home. she has an amazing knack for using paper to create wonderful pieces for decorating her home and for entertaining. i wish i had her patience and skills for working with paper.

so, this Christmas, liz once again set forth to use paper and other crafty objects to make a cozy, snowy Christmas.

don't you just adore this blue yarn wreath? so simple, yet elegant. i love the snowflake embellishment too! i see a red one in my future...



don't you just adore this ornament filled bowl? so simple. yet, a wonderful pop of color.


don't you just adore her beautiful branches. all decked out for the holidays. i do. in fact, i am going to put this away in my file to copy cat some day. don't you just adore how she changed her photo display for her Christmas color scheme too. it pulls everything together so nicely. she used the same color of paper and printed out the words to some of her favorite CHristmas carols. what a simple and wonderful idea! {another one to file away for next year}.


don't you just adore the red mittens. i do. maybe because they are red. maybe because it is wintery. i don't know. they just say Christmas cheer to me!


liz is a faithful {the most faithful!} follower of this blog, and would appreciate any comments you might leave.

don't you just adore her cozy blue Christmas?

a very vintage Christmas

i drool everytime i visit my friend melissa's creative cottage.

drool.

melissa is a pro at finding vintage items and making them look gorgeous in her home. she makes me consider changing everything in my home to make it vintage like hers.

once a copy cat, always a copy cat.

so, recently i went to visit her at her home and saw all of her beautiful vintage Christmas decor and asked her if i could share some of her ideas with you guys.

enjoy.


enjoy this chippy painted chair with a beautifully wrapped present. love the gift tag. just printed off of her computer!



enjoy her nature inspired Christmas tree. love the birds. love the butterflies. love the nests.



enjoy her homemade stockings. made from old sweaters. Christmas cozy. love it. don't you just love the charcoal painted wall?



enjoy her vintage mantle, complete with an old crate for the stable.


enjoy her chandelier. everything homemade. stars cut out of old music. garland made from muslin gathered at the stitch. greenery found outside.


if you enjoyed her vintage cottage, leave her a comment on this post. i know she will check it and see it.

don't you just love it?

a Christmas collection

i love collecting items to decorate my house for the Christmas season.

people know i love it too.

so most years i get gifts of Christmas decor for Christmas or for my birthday, which is in november. i love it. i usually spend my birthday money on guess what? Christmas decorations. i love going after Christmas and getting items 75 - 90% off at target.

like i said. i love decorating for Christmas!

so here is a quick tour of my Christmas collection.


the reindeer, a birthday gift to myself. the mercury glass tree in cloche, a birthday gift from my sister. the reindeer painting, a gift from my super talented sister in law.



the skates, my sister's growing up.



the fake mercury glass trees, $1 each at walmart after Christmas. the lanterns, from my brother's wedding 12 years ago.


the reindeer, a gift from my sister in law. the tree, a white elephant gift this year {i got lucky on that one. some people ended up with used wrestling singlets as their gift!}.


the ribbon, from a gift from my sister. the greenery, i buy more and more each year.


the picture, one of my favorites of me and my dad. the glass stars, a gift card and coupon spent at bed bath and beyond. the pine cones, collected on walks with my daughters.


the birchwood skis, on clearance at tjmaxx.



the fake tree, found on the side of the road with a sign saying "free". the ornaments, greens, golds, reds and whites collected slowly through the years.



the real tree, decorated with ornaments bought throughout the years as well as snowflakes from my daughter's first birthday party.



the stockings, a big birthday money splurge. even though i only need 4, i got 6. just in case. the letters, $.50 each at hobby lobby



the table runner, another birthday splurge. the candle, balsam and cedar from yankee candle. a staple at our house all winter long.


the presents, wrapped with love. i buy one new roll of wrapping paper each year. i also collect ribbons throughout the year and save them from year to year. my attempt to be green {thrifty too}.

step by step guide on giving merry this holiday season

step 1: have a family baking day and bake some of your favorite cookies and candies of the season.


step 2: have a cookie exchange with your girlfriends. this is such a genious idea. kudos for the first woman who thought of it. you bake lots of one or two kinds of holiday cookies or candies, then you take them and exchange with your girlfriends with the different kinds of cookies and candies that they brought. lots of variety. a small amount of work.


step 3: wrap these cookies and candies in pretty packages. Tie them with a bow. {i got my boxes half off at hobby lobby!}


step 4: give merry little gifts of yummy goodness to your neighbors, coworkers, baby sitters or friends!

a christmas tour of the copy cat cottage

welcome to my house! not really a cottage, but i can pretend right? after seeing my sister give her tour at everything that is nice and nestor having a linky party {which i am not attending} i've decided to give the tour a chance. enjoy!

here are some examples of how i've decorated for the season.

first off are my photo ledges made lovingly by my hubby our first month of marriage. i spruced them up for the season with some fake greenery, some reindeer ornaments, red balls and my favorite mirrored stars. the stars were my biggest holiday splurge for my house. $20 at bed bath and beyond for the 3 stars.




here is a thrifty example. my sister's old skates with some greenery and a few wintery ornaments. the winter wonderland sign was a christmas gift from my sister two years ago {you will notice a lot of my decor are gifts. my sis and sis in law know me well! plus my bday is a month before the holiday season and so many times i ask for decor.}




speaking of gifts, this was my birthday gift from my sister this year. just put it on a cake stand with some greenery as my christmas table center piece.



more from the dining room. christmas greenery, white berries {i have SO many of these picks. like maybe 60 of them? they were part of the centerpieces at my december wedding!} and a few ornaments decorate the top of my craigslist hutch. i took a bunch of branches and painted them silver to add height and texture.



the chandelier.. garland "acquired" from my mom.


i love reindeer. i have some reindeer candle holders i got from my sis in law a few years ago for christmas... {which go a long side some fake mercury glass trees i bought at walmart for 90% off - $1 each!}


and an addition to my reindeer collection this year: two glittery reindeer bought for 50% off at hobby lobby with my birthday money. i also got some candles that look kind of like birch at hl for 50% off - that was how i spent my mom's birthday money this year!



the tree. a splurge every year for a real frasier fir {our other tree was a freeby we picked up by the side of the road. it is fake and was lacking a base, which my hubby fixed}. decorated with silvery white ornaments, a few fake pine cones and some beaded icicles. christmas to me means red, so a few glass red balls.

DIY: terrarium ornaments

not my idea. found it. love it. gonna save it in the file for next year! click here for the DIY instructions!

DIY: nativity hurricanes

this isn't my DIY, although i wish it was. there are two steps to this project that i absolutely loved.


the first step is making your own hurricane glasses by buying vases and candle sticks from the dollar store (even cheaper will be garage sales. i'll start looking for them this summer!)


just as simple as taking a vase and hot gluing it to the top of a candle stick. brilliant! click here to see how.

being that we are all a bunch of copy catters, searching the web for ideas to make "our own" another person found the homemade hurricanes and took it a step further to make her own hurricane nativity.


click here to find out how!

simple wooden village

love this idea i found this morning on one pretty thing. too late to use this for this year. definately keeping it in mind for next year though. check out here to see how this wooden village was made.

more thoughts on wrapping gifts

i love wrapping gifts. do you? even when i can combine two smaller gifts into one box, i still wrap them separately. that is how much i love it.


here are a few of my tricks.


i usually buy one new roll of wrapping paper each year - usually at hobby lobby 1/2 price. 100 feet of heavy duty paper for $4 is way better than anything at target or walmart. i keep with simple colors. all white. brown kraft paper. red with white dots. this year i used some of my fancy scissors and cut out a second type of wrapping paper to layer.


for ribbon i use real ribbon - not the paper kind you just throw a way. every year after my family opens gifts i scavenge all of the ribbons and reuse them. year after year after year. it is cheap and it is green. plus my sister and sis in law all use the same color scheme. this year one thing i bought for embellishing gifts was some yarn. again, on sale at hl and you get like 100 yards of it {or something... it goes a long way.} this year i also found some random lace in my house to use with my gift wrap.



for gift tags in previous years i've used different basic tags from hl and embellished them with letter stamps {chocolate brown usually}. again my super creative sis and sis in law have done some cute monogrammed gift tags. my sister printed stickers on her computer and my sis in law cut out letters and glued them to the top of the gift. {from my sis's blog.}


this year i bought a pack of little snowflakes for $1 to add to the gift wrap and to continue with my wintery theme. other ideas? bells. pinecones. candy. greenery.

i hope this encourages you and excites you about wrapping presents. it doesn't have to be complicated. you don't have to be martha stewert. just collect a few things {including ideas!} and wrapping presents can be enjoyable!

i gave in...

to temptation. i started decorating for christmas tonight.


i am even hosting a thanksgiving meal. oh well.


this is what i decided. i am ready. this is our house so i can decorate for christmas when i want to (as long as hubby is ok with it, which he is). that is the beauty of having your own home. you get to make it look how you want - WHEN you want.


so the reindeer have made their appearance at the copy cat cottage. are there reindeer or nativity's at your house that are ready to be brought out? these items are some of my favorite possessions, so why only used them for a month?


if you are ready - i say go ahead! decorate!