christmas stockings

A couple weeks ago I read about this amazing little Christmas stocking idea over on Kyla Roma's blog. The idea is that you and your special someone hang your Christmas stockings and set a limit for how much you're going to spend filling them. As you buy things, you wrap them up and add them to the stocking and watch it grow! No peeking! ;) I fell in love with this idea because going through my Christmas stocking has always been one of my favorite traditions since I was little. I just love finding all of the tiny little treasures that can be stuffed inside.

I decided I wanted this to be a part of mine and Charlie's developing traditions so I presented the idea to him and he agreed to go for it! We set the limit at 20 just as Kyla did because we always end up overspending on each others Christmas gifts so we didn't want to add an extra 50+ with the stockings. I was a little nervous about the limit at first but now I'm excited about the challenge of finding super cool things for super cheap. They're obviously going to be silly little gifts but those are the best kind!

I really want to make our stockings so that they are something special we can use for years to come so here is some inspiration I have been looking at!

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I really like the ones that look like Christmas sweaters so maybe I'll go in that direction. I also really like the simple linen and burlap ones with the lace or ruffled tops!

What do your Christmas stockings looks like? Will you be doing a similar challenge? I'll post a photo of my childhood stocking when we dig them out because it's definitely my favorite. :)

**tape strip from Pugly Pixel**

family things

That's why I have been a little absent lately. My brother leaves for boot camp in about two weeks and we had his going away party last night. I haven't ever mentioned it on here before pretty much because I felt like if I didn't think about it, it wasn't going to happen. Around the same time I was deciding to go to grad school, he was researching the Navy's special forces. He finally got his SWCC contract a few months ago and can't wait to get started.

I'm excited for him since he is excited and it's what he really wants to do, but I'm obviously a little sad too. It only started hitting me this past month as we started preparing for the party and talking about our early Christmas since he leaves two weeks before the 25th. I think if I wasn't living at home right now it would seem a little easier because right now I see him pretty much everyday.

He's four years younger than me and we definitely fought a lot growing up. But when I want away to college something changed. I think it was a combination of us both getting a little older and having time apart that suddenly made us closer than ever. I feel like we're finally on the same team and get along really well and now he's leaving. It just sucks a little.

But anyway, enough sad stuff. The party was a lot of fun and we had sooo much food. I got to pulverize cookies in my food robot for dirt and sand - my brother's very specific dessert requests. :) We capped off the night with Christmas movies and wine.


Today we put up the Christmas tree and we'll decorate later. Unfortunately, because of all the prepping and thinking and spending time, I didn't reach my goal of finishing Christmas cards when I wanted to. There's definitely not enough time to get everything together now and make it worthwhile but I do have one design done for our own cards so I'll share that one with you later!


So that's a little update on my life and a quick instagram dump. ;) Hope your Christmas season is starting off well! What have you been doing to kick it off?

crafty holiday

I've been collecting holiday craft ideas for a while and today I wanted to share some of my favorites! Some of these are things I'm holding to until I have my own home (such as the gorgeous tree skirt) and others are things I might whip up this year! It was totally unintentional, but after selecting ten items to show you, I realized they all have a sort of a natural or earthy feel, either in color scheme or materials. Crazy how your brain just does that sometimes without you really noticing until after the fact. :)

First, this stunning handmade tree skirt. Such non-typical colors for Christmas but I think that gives it a lot of class and style. Plus I love the ruffles.

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And it would go great with these gorgeous ornaments!

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Keeping with the ornament thing, these ornaments would be perfect for a bookworm's Christmas tree. Love. They remind me of ornaments my art class made in high school but we painted Christmas scenes over the paper. I'll have to post them when we dig em out. It was a fun craft!

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And these, believe it or not, were made with spray paint and a stencil!

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I've always wanted a fun advent calendar and this one is like a little seasonal work of art. It's actually from Pottery Barn but the blog I spotted it on made an excellent point that it could be easily duplicated with a little craftiness!

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By now you probably know how much I like seasonal terrariums. ;) And these are no exception!

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And here's a mini terrarium for your Christmas tree!

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These snowflake inspired ornaments from Martha are amazing. I kind of would want to display them in these boxes just like the photo! The whole set up is stunning.

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I think I have enough etching cream leftover from this project to attempt some pretty Christmas candle holders!

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That's my little crafty roundup. Are you making any decorations this year?

cozy style

30 Days Hath November
Day 18: What I wore today

I think this should probably go under the category of one of those what I really wore today posts that people do. Not that I don't love it but it's far from glamorous or styled. The focus today was comfy and warm. And I am. So I win. ;)

hoodie // american apparel
cammie // american eagle
leggings // newport news
slipper boots // urban

Today I am hiding out at Charlie's place because there's a major siding and window overhaul going on back home and it is loud. Yesterday I decided to hide out in my room with a giant cup of coffee and some Christmas movies while I watched the photo frames shake off my walls. After taking the remaining ones down, I got back to work on sketching designs for Christmas cards. It was pretty productive and I had a lot of fun doing some hand lettering which I haven't done since college days.

It's amazing how quickly you can fall behind in the blog world though, amiright? I just wanted to stop by here and give this little update but now I'm off to try and catch up on all the reading and commenting I've fallen behind on!

Have a great weekend! :)

What's your cozy style?

wordless wednesday

 

 
The beach is so different in the fall. Everything seems so freshly abandoned. The overcast sky kind of emphasized the fall feeling.

Okay so it was a nearly wordless Wednesday. ;)

Have a great week.