Search Results for: holiday christmas

November 28, 2018 / Lifestyle

2018 Holiday Decor-Christmas Decorating Ideas for Your Home

I love to decorate the whole house for the holidays! I’ve been at is since shortly after Halloween! It’s a lot of work – but so worth it! I love the warmth and coziness of our trees, tiny string lights aglow and fire going in the fireplace.

I’m a HUGE fan of finding decorations for the holidays at places like TJmaxx, Marshalls and Home Goods! They have SO much to choose from! Most of the items in these photos are from there! The key is to shop early in the season before it gets too picked over! I was just there today and they’re still putting out carts and carts of holiday stuff so it’s the perfect time!

I wanted to get this post published because I know so many of you will first start your Christmas decorations this weekend. I love when we have that extra week of November after Thanksgiving! Makes the holidays so much less stressful.

Here are some of my tips for making your home holiday ready and cozy for Christmas: I jumped on the flocked tree bandwagon 3 years ago and will likely never go back! Flocked trees are not as messy as many believe and they add such a gorgeous glow to your interior decorating! I know some people who have young children don’t even bother decorating them with ornaments. Seriously, you can get by with no or very minimal decorating because their beauty can really stand alone! It just brings the outdoors in and everyone who comes over comments on how pretty our flocked trees look!

I’m also a huge fan of those tiny, battery operated string lights on timers! I get a ton of them and decorate my shelves, my bar cart as well as the mini table top trees I have all around! I set them for about 5:30 each evening and they go off 4 hours later! Each day they pop back on! Makes things so easy and it’s so cozy to sit and watch tv with nothing but the glow of these lights and the Christmas tree!

Another favorite decoration is the glass trees in all shapes and sizes that are everywhere. Many of them can light up! I have a mix of both! Home Goods sells a ton of them. I also listed some great ones on sale down below. I have them in gold, silver and red in my living room.

Also, don’t forget about textiles! An oversized and super soft throw along with velvet or textured pillows make a home so ready for company! I get my throw pillows at TJ or Home Goods! They have the best prices on pillows and there are SO many to choose from. I listed a bunch of great pillow and throw ideas below as well.

And finally, I love to use a lot of fabulous ribbon in my trees. I love solids mixed with stripes, polka dots and different textures to add nice dimension and interest to the tree. You’ll notice those HUGE matte finished ornaments in red on my foyer tree and in matte silver on our family room tree. I love the dramatic look they give the tree and guess where I found them? Dollar Tree!!! They have had them two years in a row now. They don’t always have a lot of the matte ones so I go from store to store around our area to get enough. they are just cheap plastic but you would never know!

I put together an extensive list below of the items I use to decorate our home. I hope this inspires you a bit and helps you if you’re looking for Christmas decorating ideas for your own living space this holiday season

9′ King of Christmas Flocked Tree (family room) Similar foyer tree here | Family Room Area Rug here | Bar Cart 40% off here | Mini Decorative Flocked Tree ideas: here, here and here | Mini Timer Lights here , here and love these star ones here | Stems and Picks for tree decorating: here and here | Ribbon ideas: here, here, and here | Glass Trees: here, here, here here, here and here | Throws: here, here and here | Pillows ideas: here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here | Stocking ideas: here, here and here | Stocking Holder ideas: here, here, here and here | Tree Skirt ideas: here and here | General Decor ideas I love: here, here, here, here, here, here , here and here

December 25, 2017 / Lifestyle

Christmas Holiday Home Tour

Merry Christmas friends! It’s finally here and it’s a white one! It’s been snowing all day here in Michigan! Perfect timing! Step inside and let me show you around my Christmas Holiday Home Tour!

I’ve only been decorating since before Halloween! LOL! I’m not kidding when I say I started decorating early! Some of my best “finds” are out in stores alongside pumpkins and ghost figurines and I find that, THAT is the time to snag the good stuff! You’ll see that it will be hard for me to source the exact items here because a HUGE amount of my Christmas decor is from TJmaxx, Marshalls and my favorite of all, Homegoods!

I’ll start first with my trees. Those, I don’t get at these stores. A couple of years ago I fell in LOVE with Rachel Parcell’s (of the blog Pink Peonies) Flocked Christmas Tree. Before then, I had always shied away from flocked trees thinking they were too messy! They are — but that’s what vacuums are for! They are also SO rich and beautiful. And here is the kicker that’s taken me a bit of time to learn — They look beautiful even when you don’t decorate them…plug them in and voila- instant beauty! You don’t need a lot of anything to make these trees come alive and look so cozy and inviting in your home.

I got my foyer tree last year at Tai Pan Trading here. Tai Pan is located out west and I contacted the Salt Lake City store via Facebook message and they had read my messages but never returned them. It wasn’t until the owner saw my messages that the ball finally got rolling. He offered to not only send me a tree but give me 20% off for my persistence and the unanswered messages. SCORE! The result is this long needle, flocked, 9 feet tree of pure gorgeousness! Everybody loves this tree and as much as I do.

So this year I needed a new tree for our family room. I decided I wanted another flocked tree and heard so many great things about the King of Christmas trees. I got this one here for the family room and love it. It is simple to put together and it has a power pole so you don’t have to connect the plugs which are often a pain to find among all the branches. I decided on a blush and grey theme. I piled on the ornaments I found at Homegoods AND the huge matte grey ornaments are from all places…the dollar store!

I found so many great accessories this year! Some of my favorites include this feathered garland here and an assortment of glass trees. Similar here. (Again, all mine came from the Homegoods and the like) My other super handy decorating tool are these tiny battery operated lights you can find here. They are on a timer so every evening around 6pm I set them to come on and they go off around 10pm. You don’t need an outlet so you can put them anywhere! They use 3 AA batteries that last the whole season and then some!

And lastly my formal living room. I don’t do too much in here. I grabbed some fun and festive pillows at Tj like this one here and and here which added some color to my mostly white room. I love, love, love these read velvet pillows and they were only about 20 bucks! Here are more of those glass trees I mentioned above. I placed them on the coffee table for a subtle, yet sophisticated holiday touch. The led trees are from West Elm a couple of years ago. They have these this season and I love them. And finally, I threw up the faux boxwood wreaths on the window using these handy hooks here.

So as I wrap up, I hope you’ve found at least a little holiday decorating inspiration for future Christmases! I was just at Homegoods and Tjmaxx yesterday and they have a TON of gorgeous holiday stuff left. (This is not a sponsored post btw. I just really love shopping there lol!) I was told it will all be half off on Tuesday! So now is the perfect time to grab some great deals, stick them in a labeled bin and get ready to have fun decorating next holiday season. I always find it fun to open up a bin and see something in there I forgot about!

With that, I wish you had yours a Holy and blessed Christmas!

December 16, 2019 / Fashion, Lifestyle

Favorite Holiday Traditions & A Party Appetizer

Happy Monday Friends! We’re down to our final full week before Christmas! How could that be!??? I knew with Thanksgiving falling so late this year, Christmas and New Year’s would be here in a flash! With all the hustle and bustle of the holidays, it’s nice to just stop and take a deep breath or two…or three or four right!?

Today, I want to give you a peek at some of our family’s holiday traditions as we approach Christmas in just over a week! I’m also sharing my super easy and oh so yummy, party appetizer.

And… if you’re still wondering what to wear to the company party, to that New Year’s Eve celebration or just a cozy night out with friends, I’m partnering with Chico’s to give you a bunch of great outfit options. Doing a gift exchange? We’ve got you covered there too!

You already know from reading the blog or following me on Instagram, I love to jazz up the house with holiday decor both inside and out! This year, I kept the outdoors to a minimum due to time constraints but I didn’t sacrifice on style. I bought these balsam potted trees, put them in our summertime planters and just dressed them up with red berries, curly branches, pine cones and some inexpensive matte red ornaments. Then, we simply stuck a staked spotlight in the yard – It illuminates the porch in the evenings for a simple, yet elegant look!

I love the simplicity of a pine wreath on the house doors or windows. Every year, I pull out our artificial wreath adorned with a big, festive, red velvet bow.

We also love the the beauty of a natural wreath and you can never beat the scent of fresh pine in the air!

We really enjoy entertaining and hosting our friends and family for the holidays! The house is all decorated and it really makes the work that went into it worthwhile by sharing it with everyone.

When looking for an outfit for these occasions, I aim for versatility. The goal is to find pieces that look holiday festive, yet can be worn in different ways and/or at different times of year. This reversible black to red velvet jacket is just that piece! I’m wearing it a bit dressed down with these faux-suede 5-pocket pants (runs big, size down). The jacket can also be dressed down even further with a pair of girlfriend jeans. OR, even dress it up with a pair of velvet no tummy pants. (Style tip: I’m 5’5″ but ordered these in “tall” and wear them with high heel booties – It makes me look taller – plus it’s more slenderizing!) These velvet ankle pants also offer a nice slimming effect and at this time of year, we can use all the help we can get, right!? lol!

Remember how I said I aim for versatility? This jacket reverses to all black!!! Simply, change up the accessories for a completely new look:

Ok, Now to that appetizer I mentioned earlier.

I always make this party appetizer for our guests during the holidays.

It’s so easy to throw together and everybody LOVES it! *Warning: There is a lot of garlic in it, so don’t forget your Listerine the next day 🙂

My Mom’s recipe: Audrey’s Easy Bruschetta:

1/2 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

3 Cloves of Garlic

2 Diced Roma Tomatoes

1 Can of Petite Diced Tomatoes (well drained)

Fresh Basil Leaves

Salt and Pepper to Taste

1 French Baguette

In a bowl, add the minced garlic to the olive oil, add diced romas and the drained can of tomatoes, chopped basil, S & P and blend.

Slice the Baguette on the bias and place face up on a cookie sheet. Place in a 350 oven until it toasts to a light golden color. The goal is to toast lightly and not make it too crispy.

I like to display the bread around the bowl of bruschetta and let the guest spoon it on themselves.

What I’m wearing:

Reversible Black To Red Velvet Jacket c/o | Convertible Velvet Tank c/o ( This tank is reversible with 2 neckline options!) | Faux-Suede Pants c/o

Long Black Lumi Necklace c/o | Black Lumi Drop Earrings c/o| Red and Gold Ring | Art Deco Ring | Animal Print Tote

You can also shop my Chico’s looks here:

Doing a gift exchange or need a hostess gift?- Here are some great ideas:

**This Post Contains Affiliate Links**

A big thanks to Chico’s for sponsoring this post!

November 24, 2019 / Holiday Decor, Lifestyle

Easy & Affordable Ways To Decorate For Christmas

If your tree is up (or maybe not) but you want to make your home feel just a bit more festive and cozy this holiday season, I’m offering some super easy & affordable ways to decorate for Christmas.

Think about filling in the smaller spaces of your home with things like candles, twinkle lights, tabletop trees, stockings and miscellaneous winter themed decor. I like to add a little pizzaz to our mantles and a bar cart in the great room. In the living room, (where I don’t have a Christmas tree) I add lots glass LED trees on the coffee table and the sofa table. I also love to add chunky knit throws and pretty pillows to the couches.

Below, I’ve linked an array of pieces I use to help make our house feel like home; A space that is warm and inviting.

**Tip: I love the use a LOT of battery operated twinkle lights on things that don’t light up. They operate on timers so that way they illuminate and go on and off on their own each night!**

Mercury Glass Candles – Balsam Cedar – smells AMAZING – I was in the store yesterday and they had this burning!

Prism Mercury Candle Holder

Pillows

Beaded Peace Pillow

White Textured Tassel Pillow

Sequin Velvet Tree Pillow

Merry Plaid Pillow

Merry & Bright Pillow

Most Wonderful Time 2 Pack Pillows

Truckin Pillow

Throw Blankets

Pop Pom Throw

Chunky Knit Throw

Oversized Handknit Throw

White Chunky Knit Blanket

Holiday Signs

Merry and Bright Light Up Sign

Framed Merry Sign

Merry and Bright Sign

Misc. Festive Holiday Decor

Brass Deer Snow Globe

Christmas Tree Drink Dispenser

Galvanized LED Lantern

Gold Star Tree Topper

Merry Reindeer

Christmas Candy Jar

Pom Pom Garland

Don’t miss my blog post on finding the best artificial Christmas tree here

Shop This Post Below:

**This Post Contains Affiliate Links**

November 21, 2019 / Holiday Decor, Lifestyle

A Guide To Finding The Best Christmas Tree

Hey friends! Thanksgiving is just a week away and I know for many of you, Thanksgiving weekend is a popular time to put up the Christmas trees and decorations! I wanted to publish this post in advance – in the event you’re searching for a new artificial Christmas tree this season. This weekend is the perfect time to get it.

A Guide To Finding The Best Christmas Tree

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

I’m all about holiday decorating! I’ve got it down to a science! If you’ve been reading the blog long, you know I’m a huge fan of TJMaxx and Homegoods! We just landed a Homegoods a few years ago and I’m always there! LOL! I love the thrill of the hunt and there are so many unique treasures to be had at these stores. Over the years, I have amassed an amazing amount of really beautiful Christmas and holiday decor. (I’ll be doing a holiday decor post here in a few days so if you’re looking for some festive ideas, I’ll have a bunch of options)

A few years ago, I bought our first flocked tree. It was the best move ever – I love flocked trees. Granted, they can be messy – but that’s only when you’re assembling and decorating them. Just sweep up the mess and you’re good to go! Aside from being very pretty and extra cozy, a flocked tree can easily stand on its own! It’s such an added bonus! I have seen people with toddlers and young kids put up a lighted flock tree and not decorate it. Even without ornaments, it looks inviting and beautiful (not to mention kid friendly!)

The Flocked Long Needle Pine Christmas Tree (My Absolute Fave!)

My all time FAVORITE flocked tree (pictured above in our foyer) is not the easiest to find! It’s a long needle pine flocked tree. The ends of the heavily flocked branches almost look like BIG white pom poms! It’s very majestic and looks like you just cut it down and brought it in after a big snowfall! I bought mine in 2017 from a company in Utah called TaiPan Trading and it was no small feat. After several FB messages to Tai Pan, I finally got the owner to answer back and he graciously agreed to ship the tree to me. TaiPan Trading is a brick and mortar store and they unfortunately, don’t sell online. That said, there is HOPE! I found very similar trees (perhaps the exact tree) right here – here – here – here and here

Our second flocked tree is pictured above in our hearth room. It’s such a nice quality tree made by King of Christmas. One thing I love about our tree is its ease of assembly. Unlike those where you have to connect the light cords as you add each section, this tree has a power pole. You just simply insert each section into the pole and as you do, it just automatically lights up without connecting wires! LOVE this feature! Again, these trees are VERY high quality and well made – you can’t go wrong with this investment.

Budget Friendly Flocked Trees

If you’re looking for a similar look but don’t want to make as big of an investment or simply don’t have the space for such large trees, there are some really nice options out there. (BEWARE: These trees sell out VERY fast.) I asked an associate at Michaels 2 weeks ago if she expected to restock and she said they were not restocking – so don’t wait if you want to get your hands on one of these trees

This pencil flocked tree is simply gorgeous for under $100.00.

This slim 7′ flocked tree is also a nice tree for the money!

I spotted this one while shopping at Lowes and it’s super pretty! I adore the unique globe lights on this one!

So, if you’re in the market for an new artificial tree or have been on the fence about getting a flocked tree, I hope this post helped push you over the edge. You won’t regret it.

Don’t forget to check back tomorrow for my Friday Favorites post. And..In a few days, I’ll link a bunch of festive and affordable holiday decor – So stay tuned (and sign up for emails. Each time I publish a post, you’ll get an email notification.)

You can shop this post here:

**This post contains affiliate links**

January 2, 2019 / Fashion

Best of After Holidays Sales with Shopbop

Hope you all enjoyed a fabulous Holiday and received all the goodies on your list!

If not, don’t despair! There are some incredible after holiday sales underway with a lot more winter to go!

If you’re like me, I always appreciate the gift of cash for Christmas. That way, I not only get exactly what I want but it’s also a great opportunity to get it significantly discounted.

I LOVE when a sale is on sale! Shopbop currently has an ADDITIONAL 25% off select sale items starting today with code HELLO2019 – Shop early to get the best stuff!

I searched for the best deals to help you get the biggest bang for your buck and rounded up a bunch of my favorite sale picks from Shopbop here today:

I just added this sweater to my cart! I LOVE this color paired with red denim or trousers like these here.

This sweater is amazing with all the ruffle detail and the flared sleeve cuffs!

Talk about unique! I love styles that is different! What a great “twist” on your typical turtleneck. This top is awesome and striped too!

The color of this long sleeve ruffle top is beautiful! I love the contrast striped ruffle sleeves!

Puff sleeve tops are so popular now! This one is adorable and the port wine color is gorgeous for winter!

This striped crew neck is a bargain and can be worn year round! In my cart it just went

This beautiful cable knit pullover comes in two colors! The sleeves are to die for!

STOCK up alert! These T-Shirts are the BEST! Buy a bunch. Your closet need them! (*Style Tip* I love wearing them under sweaters to keep them fresh so you don’t have to launder them as much!)

This eyelet top is so feminine and gorgeous.

I love everything BB Dakota. This cardigan looks so comfy!

This reversible plaid/denim jacket gives you two fabulous looks in one! Love unique pieces like this!

Every closet needs a nice camo military jacket. This one is gorgeous! I have a very similar one from this blog post and I get a ton of use out of it!

If you haven’t pulled the trigger on the teddy bear coat/jacket yet this season, don’t wait! This one is perfect at this price!

This cocoon coat is so good! Love the length and the big pockets!

Everyone needs a great pair of black boots! These boots are perfect and what a bargain!

These suede boots are a great deal. I love the western flare.

I’ve been looking for a good pair of slouchy boots. These are beauties and love they are fabric!

I waited the longest time to pull the trigger on my Stuart Weitzman over the knee boots pictured. Don’t wait! These in black are so comfortable and well made! In this shoot today, I’m wearing them in bridle here.

I’m a sucker for big, fun, statement rings! I have this one and love it! (You can see me wearing it in this blog post here ) I think I might need this tortoise one too!

A lot of great bargains on jewelry too! I love this star pendant already marked half off!

These pearl hoops are stunning! What a great deal!

These earrings are stunners and under $20!!

Aviators are my go to sunglasses. These in black are a great deal!

These wine glasses are the coolest! Makes a great house warming gift too!

I love these frosted on the rocks glasses! Need a hostess gift? Perfect!

My look today is almost entirely from Shopbop. You can shop it at the bottom of this post.

Sweater | Belt | Boots | Clutch | Sunglasses

Thank you to Shopbop for sponsoring this post!

Search Results for: holiday christmas

Favorite Holiday Traditions & A Party Appetizer

My Mom’s recipe: Audrey’s Easy Bruschetta:

What I’m wearing:

You can also shop my Chico’s looks here:

Doing a gift exchange or need a hostess gift?- Here are some great ideas:

Tabletop Trees

Stockings and Stocking Holders

Tree Skirts

String Lights

Glass Trees

Candles

Pillows

Throw Blankets

Holiday Signs

Misc. Festive Holiday Decor

A Guide To Finding The Best Christmas Tree

The Flocked Long Needle Pine Christmas Tree (My Absolute Fave!)

Budget Friendly Flocked Trees

I searched for the best deals to help you get the biggest bang for your buck and rounded up a bunch of my favorite sale picks from Shopbop here today:

My look today is almost entirely from Shopbop. You can shop it at the bottom of this post.