12 days of christmas link party

A huge thanks to the best readers around for your wonderful comments on my house tour. That was the best Christmas present a girl could ask for. And since it is the season for sharing, now is your chance to get in on the fun.

Head over to Evolution of Style and share your holiday home. And if you missed any of the 11 tours, click on the images below for the full monty.

You can never have too many parties at this time of year, so head over to join the fun now.

I'm heading off the grid for the next few days for some quality fun time. So enjoy these next few days, no matter what you celebrate, and know that I will be toasting each and every one of you.

Cheers and Merry Merry to you!

2013 christmas tour - 12 days of christmas

Today is the day my friends. I'm thrilled to be able to play with 11 other great bloggers for the 12 Days of Christmas Holiday Tour and today is my turn to show you around.

But it's too cold to stand outside yapping, let's go inside and get warm with some gin hot chocolate.

Everyone in my family has a Christmas collection and mine is snowflakes. So you will see them all over the house, on lamps, doorknobs, wreaths and of course, the tree. Keep an eye out for them. It's kind of like a holiday where's waldo.

Each year the mantel gets something different (check out 2012 and 2011) and this year it told me it was feeling pink. So pink it is, with a little red and white thrown in. Can one ever get enough of ribbon at Christmas? (the answer to that question is no by the way)

My girls and I decorate a gingerbread house every year and this year's estate was extra sweet.

Herbie loves the holidays as much as the next guy so he pulls out his festive antlers for the season.

Amelia has already started her Christmas collection - nutcrackers - and she's off to a good start. Santa just might have a few other in store for her this year as well.

I can't wait for Christmas dinner this year so that I can put my fab new plates from B by Brandie to use. They really are beautiful plates and their colors pop right off the table. The patterns reminded me of snowflakes and you know I'm a sucker for mixing patterns, so these plates fit right in.

We spend just as much time feasting in the dining room as we do tearing into presents in the living room on Christmas, so we like to have the tree right where we can see them from both spots.

Christmas is about the lights, right? And what better time to appreciate the lights than at night. I know, I'm a regular Sherlock. So I give you... nighttime pictures.

Thanks so much for coming over. Anyone over the age of 12 knows what a crazy time of year this is, and I really appreciate you taking time out of your busy day to stop over and say hi. Be sure to check out all the other great homes that have been featured so far on the tour.

Day 1 - Evolution of Style
Day 2 - Shine Your Light
Day 3 - Dixie Delights
Day 4 - The Creativity Exchange
Day 5 - Dimples and Tangles
Day 6 - My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Day 7 -  Driven By Decor
Day 8 - Simple Details

And tomorrow Oak Ridge Revival is hosting!

Now who's ready for more hot chocolate?

repeat performance or keeping it fresh

I've been slowly working on getting my house Christmas ready and one of the things that keeps a pep in my step for this yearly ritual is the idea of mixing it up. What will I do with the mantel this year? What type of tree should we get? Lights outside or not?

Sneak peak of my mantel from Instagram

I don't find it stressful, I find it comforting. It is almost as if I'm adding another layer of warmth just as it gets extra frigid outside. It gets me in the spirit and sparks special memories and traditions. (Cue the Hallmark movie cheese ball music)

What about you? Do you put everything in the same place every year? Do you clear the decks and start fresh each year? Do you have any weird traditions or items that you must do/pull out before it feels like the holidays have started?

And don't forget to catch today's feature on the 12 Days of Christmas Tour of Homes. I've listed the first three homes below.

Day 1 - Evolution of Style
Day 2 - Shine Your Light
Day 3 - Dixie Delights

Happy Wednesday!

12 days of christmas tour of homes

Hope y'all had a great weekend. We are all fighting some phantom flu/cold bug that just won't leave our house and it took all the energy the hubs and I could muster to go out with the girls and get a tree. We managed to get it in the house, but now I need a burst of health to get it decorated. But, I know where I'll go for some holiday inspiration.

Today is the first day of The 12 Days of Christmas Tour of Homes. My tour won't be until next week (thank god) but today please do head over to Evolution of Style and see what a beautiful job Jenny has done with her home.

Follow along for the next 12 days for great inspiration and eye candy galore!

Have you finished your holiday decorations? Do you get a real tree or fake? Do you want to come over and help me with my tree? Happy Monday.

fess up friday - mimosa lane

Today for Fess Up Friday we have the beautiful and talented Albertina from Mimosa Lane. My friend Albertina really needs no introduction, but in case you've been living under a rock, Albertina has more style in her pinkie than most of us have put together. She's a painter, photographer and designs her own fabric which she sells in the form of pillows and pouches on her Etsy shop. And our mutual love of color has made this fellow blogger a friend. Now let's see what she has to fess up...

I'm so happy Elizabeth asked me to participate in this fun 'Fess Up' series.  I love following The Little Black Door because I think Elizabeth is so talented and creative.  There is always something new and exciting happening here.  As I look around my house I wonder how much the blogs I read have influenced my decor and even my home accessory purchases.  There has been plenty of influence for sure. But, at the same time, I want my home to be original and don't want to compromise my aesthetic in order to stay true to what I love and feel represents 'me'.  I mean really, how many times have you seen something on the Internet that you don't like, but after the 100th time you see it you start warming up to it.  So, is your true taste that first impression of something where you love it or hate it right away? or is it that which you have learned to love or hate through time?  This is what I'm trying to come to terms with lately.  So, for today, I'm presenting you with unscripted, unstyled, and impromptu iPhotos of different vignettes around my house that scream "she is a blogger.....and she has been influenced". Here is the tour-

I got this poster when I started reading blogs.  It was my first 'blog influenced' purchase.  I didn't even have a blog back then or even knew I wanted to write one!

I also got my brass pencil holder before I knew I wanted to blog.  You see it in all the blogger's desks...I know....but I really love this one.  Boy do I need to sharpen those pencils.

I adore this marblelized tray.  My sweet friend gave it to me because she saw it on my blog so she knew I would love it.  This is a nice perk of having a blog- friends who read it will always give you the perfect gift!  And, of course, added to this vignette is the Nate Berkus for Target sea urchin (sold out, exactly, because who doesn't have it?).

The infamous Ikea sheepskin.  This is one trend I didn't like. At all. The Nordic decorating style is not much to my taste.  But it kept growing on me after seeing it over, and over, and over again. And now....I adore it.  We fight for this chair because it is so cozy to have breakfast in with that nice wool warming your back.

More Nate Berkus for Target (the brass bowl and the snake box).  I wasn't into snakes before and now I can't get enough of them.  They were too edgy for me....but I have started embracing that darker side.  The box is just so good and for the price it was a no-brainer.  And of course there are hundreds of DIYs now around my house...like those faux malachite boxes inspired by The Aestate.  Love them as if they were real.  Being inspired by a blog usually ends up with me DYing something or cooking something.  So, yes more blog influence here.

What blogger does not have some sort of gallery wall?  I think we all do.  This one above is on a bookshelf and the one below is in my daughter's room. It's rare we see a home nowadays in magazines and decor blogs that does not have a gallery wall.  It's almost a requirement.

Through my blog reading I am constantly being to introduced wonderful artists, a positive thing for sure.   As a result, there are many 'blogger' pieces in my home so you can say these are blog influenced as well.  Above you will see an example with prints from The Aestate and the Pink Pagoda.

Here is another DIY inspired by Jamie from Furbish.  Cute for a kid's playroom.  It's so great to be inspired by others.  You take an idea and then make-it your own.  I have some friends who saw my little creation and went off to do theirs.  This is exciting stuff.

See? more marblelized things....I bet you all have seen these boxes....well I was obsessed with them so my husband surprised me with them for Valentine's.  I love the color, the texture...EVERYTHING about them.

And can you believe I never knew what Staffordshire dogs were before I started blogging?  I had no idea.  The more I saw them the more in love I would fall.  So I asked for these for my last birthday.  They look like my husband which makes me so happy.  They are perfect.

I'm so happy to be introduced to so many wonderful and beautiful new things, fabulous trends and genius ideas and solutions through my blog reading, but at the same time, I don't want to fall prey to the lemming syndrome. It's quite a balance we need to strike- being 'of the time' without losing our identity. So, fess up- Are you influenced by what you see on blogs and pinterest?  Or do you hold your own strongly and whistle your own tune?  or is it a mix like me?