Hostess Gift Ideas

Now that Halloween is behind us I can start talking about my favourite holiday, Christmas! I love these next couple months when you're spending lots of time with family and friends, cozy near the fireplace and shopping for loved ones.

Being that it's our first Christmas in our new house, we were in Europe last Christmas for our honeymoon, I cannot wait to decorate our house. I am heading to the Holiday Home Tour in Stouffville this weekend to fill my head with too many decor ideas!

I stumbled across these and thought they'd be perfect house warming or hostess gifts for the holidays.

Via

These would look lovely in your home or a great idea for a hostess gift. You can get the jars for cheap and fill with your favourite holiday candy. 

Via

 

I love this idea and would cost next to nothing. I have one too many mason jar laying around my house. Just fill with some yummy candy, add a ribbon and voila!

 

 

What do you think, something you'd consider doing this season?

 



An Easy DIY

Admittedly I'm not the craftiest person around. I'd love to be, I really would but it's just isn't in my genes. I helped out one afternoon at a craft-er-noon for my best friends wedding in the summer and was amazed at all the goodness these ladies had thought of!

Side note, if you want to check out how that wedding turned out click here.

When I saw this DIY on Pinterest I new I had to share it so people less crafty like me could jump on this.

Right now we have a big pretty bowl that houses all of our to-do papers for our house but I'd love something more organized and unique. When I saw this I new it was something I'd be able to do and I'm pretty sure my mom or grandmothers have trays just like these that I could borrow steal.

Via

We have a stainless steel fridge that I'm constantly wiping finger prints off so I don't want to clutter it with stuff only to have to take it down every few days to clean it. This is a much better alternative if you ask me.

 

What do you think? Something you'd try in your house?

Storage Solutions For Your Home

Are you like me and have a place in your home that houses things you don't know where to put?  We live in a new home and one of the tasks I've yet to tackle is the guest room. I currently have my party supplies (mason jars, beverage holders, champagne flutes, etc) just sitting in the guest room. It's not ideal but with an unfinished basement it's hard to find storage for everything. I've been thinking about ways to minimize the clutter, something I hate.

Here are a few options I'm considering.

Via

I'm seriously considering this. It's a great way to store extra glassware and it's super stylish.

 

 

Via



 

This would be perfect and solve my problem 100% but being that we're not sure how we're going to finish the basement or the extra bedrooms I don't want to invest in a piece like this, set it up and then have to move it all around the house.

 

 

Via

 

This is another fabulous idea and something I could do now. Our coffee table is a mini trunk that I bought at the Christie Antique Show last year. I could definitely fill it up.

 

 

So tell me, how have you maximized the storage space in your home? Any tricks you'd like to share?

 

Be sure to check back tomorrow for a great give-away!

 



Decorating Your Walls

Art is something I know very little about and don't really think I have a certain style or preference for. I see something I like, I buy it want it!

Art on our walls isn't something we've really tackled yet but something I certainly want to tackle in the future.

I came across these and could totally picture them in our house.



Rain Tree

Cotton Picking



Invincible

Do you have a certain art style? Which of these are you most drawn to?



What To Do With Our Front Entrance

Our front entrance has potential. The only problem, I have no idea what to do....that and moula! We have very high ceilings, a double front door, and some decent space if you ask me.

I like the idea of adding a big burst of colour to this area. We're in a linked townhome which means only our garage wall is attached to our neighbour. When you walk into the house you still have to go up a couple steps to get to the main floor. That said, I see colour, bold, beautiful colour.

Via

 This chalk board is amazing. I LOVE chalk boards and think this is genious!

Via

 These aren't colours I'd use but I love this idea.

Via

 I love this colour. I'm not sure it would suit my house but I love it nonetheless.



Via



I love the shelving here and the area for shoes.

Tell me, what have you done with your entry way? Do you have a separate mud room? What would you do?

Window Treatments

We've been in our house since November, 2011 and still have these gorgeous hideous paper blinds. At the beginning they did the trick but now they're just driving me nuts. We don't have a big house (1970 sq ft) so we don't have many windows to worry about. We need to tackle our bedroom window, window in walk-in closet, kitchen window, great room window and slidding door.

Here's what things currently look like... It's not pretty!

Slidding door to backyard. As you can see, there's still lots of construction going on around us.



This is the kitchen window at the front of our house. Yes, I need to take down the ugly builders house number too!

I'm not a big fan of shutters so that's out of the question.

I really like these Serenity Shades from Blinds To Go for the kitchen, great room, bedroom & closet.  

Would you do the same for the slidding door? What do you think of these serenity shades? What do you have in your house?





Plate / Gallery Wall In My Kitchen

I have a big, empty wall in my kitchen that is dying to be loved. I'd love to find some fabulous plates and create a big plate / gallery wall. I think it will add character and flare to that half of the kitchen.

Here are some ideas of what I'm thinking about.

Via

Via

I think this is too small for the size of wall I have but I love the plates and how they're placed.

Via

Via

 This is what I think I'm leaning towards. The walls in our kitchen are yellow, not this yellow, but yellow. I think a couple splashes of red would look good in the kitchen.

Via

 This is amazing but I don't think I'll have the patience to wait until I have this many plates.

Via

Too formal for my space but I love it!

So, are you a plate person? Do you have a plate wall in your house? Would you do something like this?

Have a great weekend!!

More Seating Required

We've been in our house for a month now and I'm loving everything about it but wish I could fast forward a year or two when it's all furnished and done. We have all the staples, kitchen suite, couch, bedroom suite, etc but we're still missing the pieces that complete the rooms.

Our greatroom is the next room on my to complete list. Over the weekend I bought a gorgeous piece from Crate and Barrel that I'll share with your next week after it's delivered.

The next thing I want, a gorgeous chair for extra seating. Take a look at these and let me know what you like best.

VIA Pinterest

VIA Pinterest

VIA The Glam Lamb

VIA Martha Stewart

VIA Pier 1

To give you an idea of our greatroom: Yellow walls, brown leather couch, gas fireplace, big windows....

New House Love

Our house closed on Friday and I am just head over heels in love with it. My body is sore and I'm exhausted from all the moving but I would do it again in a heartbeat. We're still missing a few key pieces like a mattress and sofa but other than that it's coming together very nicely.

I think this poster is a great description of our love for our new and first home.

VIA Etsy

I hope everyone had a lovely weekend!

Multipurpose Cake Stand

I don't have a lot of time so this post will be short and sweet. Check out this cake stand used to hold soap and such at the kitchen sink. You better believe I'll be finding myself a cute little cake stand to create this in my house.

VIA The Wright House

 

Enjoy the Party,

Nicole :)

Frame it!

I have a big love for gorgeous, unique and wonderful frames. I think they add a certain flare and warmth to a wall / space. The frame I bought at the Christie Antique Show for our Wedding DIY will be used in our home post December 10, 2011!

Here are some fabulous frames I found on Pinterest I thought I'd share with you. Let me know what you think!

I love them all but the first one is what I plan on doing with the wedding DIY frame!

Enjoy the Party,

Nicole :)

Three and a Half Months

Everything is starting to come together... finally! Michael and I are having a two year engagement which makes this whole process painfully long. Almost every person I know who has got engaged after us is getting married before us. It's really not fair!

Four months yesterday is our wedding day and in three and a half months yesterday our house closes! Watching our house go up is making everything seem very real and exciting.

Check out the progress:

As long as the portable toilet is gone when we move in I'll be a happy camper.

Enjoy the Party,

Nicole :)

Bathroom Lovin'

On Sunday Michael and I ventured out to finish our wedding registry. While it was all fun and good I was super indecisive it was embarrassing. I kept on asking Michael to scan something and then delete, scan delete scan delete - it was a weird game.

My big indecisiveness came when picking our bathroom accessories. I can't figure out what to do or what I want them to look like. I'm having an extra hard time because all 3 of our bathrooms are currently nails and wood which makes it hard to envision.

I've found these pictures to draw inspiration from. Let me know your thoughts on them.

Via 6th street design school

Via Everything LEB

Via HGTV

Via Houzz

Via Smallrooms

So what is your favourite and why?

Enjoy the Party,

Nicole

Bedding Options

My eyes are always peeled for fabulous bedding. I want something warm and fun for our bed but haven't found the right comforter or duvet yet. Here are a few that I really love!

Alhambra Quilt from Anthropologie

Rosette Bedding from Anthropologie

Cirrus Bedding from Anthropologie

Fern Organic Duvert from Pottery Barn

Francoise Stripe Organix Duvet from Pottery Barn

So, which is your favourite??

Enjoy the Party,

Nicole :)

The House

I hope you all had a fabulous weekend! I thought today I'd share something very excited, OUR HOUSE! The construction began a couple weeks ago and we're thrilled. It is schedule to be ready 2 weeks before our wedding which is just under 6 months away!

Here are some pictures of the construction thus far. I know it's not much of anything but it's exciting to us.

I know, I know, a pile of dirt, but it excites me!

Enjoy the Party,

Nicole

Entrance Ways

I have a big love for entrance ways and am constantly pondering what to do with mine. Side note, construction of our house has BEGUN! The hole is dug and the forming began yesterday! I'll be sure to give a picture update shortly. Ok, back to entrance ways.... I thought I'd show you some pictures from House and Home that I think are gorgeous.



Are these all not fabulous. Which is your favourite and why?

Enjoy the Party,

Nicole :)