House of Hydrangeas

It seems you can't read a blog without seeing a chalkboard sign somewhere in a post these days.  While these don't fit the style of every home, for many, it is a great way to add a piece of living art to their homes.  This rings true especially around the holidays.  If I ever get around to remembering to buy chalk at the store, I may have one to show you of my own one day!  But for now, here are a few that have inspired me.

We knew we'd be heading out to see little Cohen's debut somewhere around Christmas so we kept the decor at my mom's house pretty simple.  Even though we wouldn't be spending that much time at her home, it was still necessary to add a little Christmas cheer.  Traditional garland, a mini tree adorned plain white lights, and a chandelier and centerpiece full of greenery and crimson accents were the perfect solution.  I hope you're enjoying your home decorations and the last few days before Christmas!

I started feeling a little under the weather last night, but unfortunately, Jon and I still had a list of errands we needed to run starting this morning. I managed to last until about 12:30p and then I was done. Jon was sweet to let me sit in the car at most of the stops while he ran in to take care of things, AND I was able to keep the radio on Christmas music all day. He isn't the biggest fan of repetitive Christmas music, but he knows it makes me happy so he didn't say a word :) All I wanted to do was come home, eat some lunch, snuggle up on the couch in my jammies and watch Prancer (my favorite Christmas movie).  Unfortunately Prancer didn't happen because it's packed up in storage, but I was out in no time anyway.  I'm still feeling achy but am hoping for some progress soon.  At this point the Christmas spirit seems to be the best medicine.  So with that being said, I thought I'd bring you a little Christmas cheer with this party designed by Abby Barnet...

I mentioned on my post last Friday that I would be crafting with friends. Well, now I have the results to show you!  My friend Bekah recently purchased her first house in July and was very excited to decorate for her first Christmas in her new home. Like any smart girl, she took to Pinterest to get some ideas. We girls had a great time making all of the ideas come together, and I have to say, Bekah's holly jolly home looks fabulous!  The fun, festive mantel   Ornament bundles add interest and color to the mantel garland.  Bekah loves zebra print so the chartreuse balls she found were perfect! Tinsel and ornaments make great fillers for apothecaries.  Ribbon added around cabinet doors create for a great place to pin up Christmas cards. Spray paint old wine bottles and add a little dazzle with glitter branches for a festive kitchen table.  Styrofoam cones, glitter and spray adhesive were used to make these stunners. We had a little difficulty...

Here are my other favorite Christmas tree styles-rustic and coastal (since we're moving to Florida).  Enjoy! Use tea stained manila tags to create ornaments.  So simple, yet so cute. This rustic tree has just the right mix of gold, silver and burlap...my faves!  The stockings are adorable too. Christmas at the beach anyone?  Starfish make the perfect adornments for a coastal holiday. Coastal blues bring this tree (and these presents) to life in this traditional home.  This tree is full of more starfish and the hydrangeas and chartreuse color palette remind me of my wedding :) Now to decide which style to use...or perhaps a mix of the styles is in order!  Do you change the theme of your tree every couple of years? Images via 1-Country Living, 2-Southern Living, 3-4 Unknown, 5-Better Homes and Gardens

Seeing all of my friends' Christmas tree photos popping up on my Facebook news feed has me all excited to decorate for the holidays.  Lately, I've been in love with trees and decor that have a bent toward traditional style.  Here are a few traditionally styled trees I've tucked away in my "Remember This Idea" file.  They all make my heart aflutter. Images via 1-Better Homes and Gardens,  2-3 Southern Living, 4-Pottery Barn

Jon and I are on our way to San Antonio to spend Thanksgiving with his parents. We have our fur babies in tow and are all jam packed in my tiny, two-door car. It should make for quite an interesting road trip :) While we're cruising along the interstate, I thought I'd share some of my recent finds at one of my favorite stores-TJ Maxx. TJ Maxx and HomeGoods are my happy place. I could easily spend hours of time and hundreds of dollars at them every time I go.  My favorite thing about them is that they sale designer style items but at budget-friendly prices.   And because they get new shipments in all of the time, you never know what goodies you'll come across!  Can you hear the excitement in my voice?  Seriously.  Kid in a candy shop=Mallory in TJ Maxx. We didn't have either of these stores close to us when we lived in Oklahoma, so I've been trying to not go too crazy with visits while I'm here in Alabama.  However, I have taken a few several ...

I ordered our Christmas cards today!  I can't wait to get them and start sending them out!  It's our first Christmas as a family, and I am beyond excited to celebrate it with my loves.  Here is our first Christmas card, designed by Lily Pad Boutique .  Lily Pad has a ton of adorable stuff and can make you any custom design you can dream of!  You should check them out! I'm sad I didn't have Remington in our photo (he wasn't around yet), but I really wanted to celebrate the fact that it is our first Christmas as husband and wife :) In other Christmas news, I ordered these boxwood mini wreaths for our dining room chairs today.  They were already a little on sale, and I had another coupon.  Victory.  I hope they turn out as cute as they look here!

Remington's stocking has arrived!  I ordered these stockings for Jon and myself last year from etsy.  (The ones on the left and right). I wanted Remi to have his own pet stocking (it's a tradition in my family), but I was having trouble finding something that would match ours.  Then I found Pottery Barn's pet stockings.   They are cream and made of faux-sheepskin.  It was perfect.  I got his name monogrammed in a similar green to match and I can't wait to put them all up together.     Now I just have to figure out where to hang them since we don't have a fireplace.  I'm thinking about hanging them from the standing mirror in the living room, one of the shelves on our ladder bookcase or the floating shelf in our dining room.   I can't wait to decorate for Christmas!  I've been buying stuff for years (I think we have 5 boxes of Christmas stuff) dreaming of the day when I'd have my own home to put it all up in.  And now I do!...