Last minute holiday magic!

If you have been too busy to decorate for the holidays up until now, try a few of these quick, last-minute tricks to give each room in your home instant holiday magic!

I love a mini tree, so cute and easy to do. Stay with one color theme, traditional red and green, or red and white. Do not be afraid to try a new color combination like blue and brown for example. You do not have to have a lot in your home to look festive.

Use your beautiful wrapped gifts as decorations throughout your spaces, small packages down the center of your dining table, or on table tops adds holiday sparkle.

If you have lots of books around your home take stacks of three or four and tie ribbon on them and have some laying down on your bookcases and some standing up.

Fresh flowers always festive and a treat to all the senses, stop by your local florist and bring home a gift for yourself.

Enjoy the season, by not stressing out over your homes holiday decor, simple touches will wow your guests.

Holiday Decorating Tips

Many of you may be decorating your home in the upcoming days for the holiday season. We wanted to give you some decorating tips and share some of our favorite trends that we're seeing! This season, we are seeing brown and bronze everywhere! It's a wonderful mix with traditional red and gold, especially. We are using this in most all of our clients' homes this season. Below are some of our quick, easy to follow decorating tips that anyone can implement into their home this year!

-Use the same color ribbon throughout your home
-Cluster family ornaments on garland and run it on your banister or on top of armoires
-Use fishing line to hang ornaments from chandeliers and over islands with cup holders
-Use greeting cards as part of your decor~run ribbon in an empty frame and tape or glue cards to the ribbon
-Make fun bunches of stick greens and ornaments to decorate your banister instead of the traditional garland
-I love holiday runners and fabric! I use this to drape under village houses or to just add a nice layer effect to a rooms' decor
-Make sure to change out photos in frames throughout your home, you don't want a beach scene in the winter! Find fun, family seasonal photos. Also, add a touch of greens or a bow to frames as well~so cute!

Make plum the star color of your décor

Great article on Cincinnati.com from this weekend. Glad to be a part of it!
Read here: Make plum the star color of your décor

Inspirational Wall Quotes

Today, we posted on Facebook about a book that we are carrying in our Village Gift Shop called "Eat Your Peas For The Cure". It is an inspirational book that we are selling a lot of. Having inspiration in your life is important and one one that people are adding a bit more to their life, is by adding inspirational quotes on to the walls of their homes.

Below are a few images of ways people are using these in their homes, and not over-doing it. Some are serious, some are comical. No matter which direction you choose, if you choose to use quotes on the walls of your home, make sure it means something to you and your family. Let it inspire you on a daily basis.

A Splash of Color - PINK

Are you looking to add a little PINK to your decor, but are concerned about adding too much? Here are some inspiration images to show you how you can add just a little and have it come out looking perfect.

Decorating for Halloween

Halloween can be one of those tricky holiday's to decorate for - it can get out of control and over-the-top very quickly. Here are a few tips & ideas for you when decorating your home for Halloween and a few inspiration images to help.

1. Start by thinking outside-the-box. Look around your home and see what you have, and what you are currently using, that you could "repurpose" for a Halloween decoration. For example, what about taking a small black picture frame and instead of the family photo that is in it, replace it with a picture of a silhouette of a black cat. Dark, but not too scary.

2. Instead of carving a pumpkin this year, what about glittering a few small ones and using them as a centerpiece. You could even do this with the kids.

3. Try using a "white" pumpkin instead of the typical orange one. Paint on it with black paint or leave it as is - this will give a classy, interesting, unique look to your decorations.

4. If you are hosting a party, set up a candy bar - but with a twist. Have a jar of candy corns labeled "Pumpkin Teeth". Fill a bowl with yogurt covered pretzels and label it "Crow Bones". Label another jar with "Dried Bat Wings" and fill it with black licorice sticks. Get creative with the labels and the names.

5. If you really aren't into decorating for Halloween much, try just working on your mantel or table. Use orange and black accents to give the "idea" of the holiday without stretching spider webs across the room. Go for orange and red flowers and try using simple white candles.

The bottom line is do what you are comfortable with and what feels "right" to you. Check out some of the fun, unique ideas below that we found when searching online.

Girl's Night Out Cookies

Here is the recipe for the delicious, chewy and nutty cookies we are serving at our Girl's Night Out Classes.



Ingredients - Cookies:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 large egg
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup dried apricots, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted
2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted

Ingredients - Icing:
1 3/4 cups confectioners' sugar
5 to 7 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:
For the Cookies: In a large bowl, beat the butter, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the egg. Stir in the flour until just blended. Mix in the apricots, almonds, and pine nuts.

Transfer the dough to a sheet of plastic wrap and shape into a log, about 12-inches long and 1 1/2-inches in diameter. Wrap the dough in the plastic and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 heavy baking sheets with parchment paper.

Cut the dough log crosswise into 1/4 to 1/2 inch-thick slices. Transfer the cookies to the prepared baking sheets, spacing evenly apart. Bake until the cookies are golden around the edges, about 15 minutes. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely before icing.

For the Icing: Place the confectioners' sugar in a medium mixing bowl. Gradually whisk in milk and vanilla, until the mixture is of drizzling consistency.

Place the wire rack over a baking sheet. Using a spoon, drizzle the cookies with the icing, allowing any excess icing to drip onto the baking sheet. Allow the icing to set before serving, about 30 minutes.

Leftover Scraps of Fabric

When is the last time you found yourself with left over scraps of fabric and didn't know what to do with it? Did you throw it out? Did you stuff it in a drawer or box never to be seen again? Did you find a new use for it?

Here are 10 ideas that you can do with scraps of fabric. Click on each for simple instructions.

1. Lavender sachets

2. Wall art

3. Book cover

4. Cosy for coffee mug

5. Guitar strap cover

6. Headband

7. Little letter needle book

8. Decorative thumbtacks

9. Handmade napkins

10. Lampshade


Have you tried another project with leftover scraps of fabric? Leave a comment here on our blog and tell us about it. We love to hear your ideas!