A Golden Night

 Sweater: J.Crew; Top: Etiquette Boutique; Jeans: Loft; Flats: J.Crew; All Jewelry: Stella & Dot

It only seemed appropriate to wear gold sequins when going out for dinner with golden friends for what used to be an annual Friends Thanksgiving dinner. We skipped a year, and we realized that for some of us, it had been a year or longer since we had seen each other. That's completely unacceptable and I told my husband we were going to remedy that next year. My heart was so happy and my soul was full when I got home. My chosen family is a group of people I love! 

 

I hope you have a wonderful and golden Thanksgiving weekend!!

Thanksgiving Tablescapes - Three DIY Ideas

I have loved creating tablescapes ever since I discovered Sandra Lee on the Food Network years ago! I love how she took a holiday, created a theme, took it to the table, and even to the door as guests left with a sweet party favor. And because of her inspiration, I have tried to create simple table settings for our own holiday, and any other party, we've hosted.

So with Thanksgiving just three days away, which I can't even believe, I took some time to get my dinnerware together and created a few test runs in the tablescape department. You don't need a ton of fancy centerpieces to make an elegant or whimsical table. All you need is some festive dinnerware, autumnal colors, and a few small things to place in the center of the table. 

When it comes to centerpieces, or tablescapes, keep it as minimal as possible. You don't want to distract from the gorgeous dinner at hand or the amazing company that has gathered around the table. And, keep everything low. You don't want to block the views of the people in front of you. You want to be able to look across the table and look them in the eye when conversing.

I started with my antique Iroquois dinnerware that my mom and I found several years ago at our favorite antique store. I loved the colors and design within the place settings and the serving pieces are just as cool. We've been able to fill in the gaps with replacement pieces we've found online. I love the idea of taking in someone else's treasures!  It makes our dinner table even more special.

I've added in a couple of different charges, one in a grapevine wreath design and the other in gold. I found the wine glasses and water goblets at Pier 1 last year. I love the rich amber color. 

From there, I scoured my cabinets for some fun and festive fall themed pieces to create a couple of possible centerpieces. I love the idea of playing around with turkeys, it is the main event of the dinner ahead, but I also love the corn cob candles, the bud vase filled with flowers, and the different glass pumpkins. So many great options! 

 

 I set the table first. I placed the grapevine wreath charge below the gold one and then piled on the dinnerware from there. The dinner plate, then the salad plate, then the bowl, and a nicely folded napkin is placed within the bowl. I even have sweet little butter plates for each place setting. There's even a little place setting for McKinley. Don't leave out the little ones. Make them feel like they're part of the "big people table"! He has his own plate and a sweet little turkey ornament as his napkin ring.

For the first tablescape, I set out four sweet bud faces full of gorgeous fall flowers. The flowers are fake and can be picked up at any arts and craft store. I got mine at Michael's. I placed a colorful turkey between each vase and that was it. I love it! I think it's my favorite of the three! 

So simple yet so chic!

Next up is a cute little centerpiece created around a colorful little ceramic turkey. I placed two taper candles on each side of the turkey and one corn cob candle on the end of the tapers. Still low for conversation and it adds a little whimsy within an elegant place setting. 

Lastly, I clumped three different pumpkins pieces together to create a very small cluster within the center of the table. One thing I would love to add is a bouquet of sweet flowers within the orange pumpkin one. A cluster of mums or vivid yellow roses would be amazing! Maybe I will rethink my original version and play around with this one.

 

I definitely think the bouquet would make this really pop! I do like the cluster effect. It keeps the table open for all the food! And a couple of bottles of wine. (Note that the turkey ornament napkin ring is missing. McKinley decided he needed it more than the table did. A sick three year old wins every time.)

One thing I have learned is to never have scented candles at the dinner table. You never want the scent of the candle to interfere with the aromas of all the food being served. Candles do set a gorgeous mood. Just make sure they are unscented.

What is your favorite way to set the table? Do you reach for the china or your every day dishes? Do you have a family piece that you serve from every year? I love incorporating traditions. It keeps it so personal. Please share your Thanksgiving traditions and ways you ready your table! I can't wait to read them!

Home Accents - Thanksgiving Decor

As a blogger things are ever evolving, and if they're not, then I feel you're not growing. For me, I've been going through some growing pains of my own with both the blog and personally. As most of you know, I've been staying at home since April and it's been a major adjustment. I've gone from working outside the home full-time for 17 years to working full time at home in a blink of an eye. McKinley and I have grown together in this process, but I feel like I still need to grow personally and professionally. 

Awhile ago, I tried to add some lifestyle posts to this blog, but at the time it wasn't a good fit. That is until now. My personal style has changed from corporate business looks to heading to the zoo or farmstead looks. Still the same closet of clothes, just a new way of styling them and I think I've made that transition fairly seamlessly. I still provide styling tips, before and after styling ideas, and what's currently on trend and how to add to your wardrobe. It's just on a more relaxed scale than a say January!

As a result of being at home, I've had time to do things around the house that I've always wanted to do. I've been redecorating, doing some DIY projects, becoming a Mompreneur, and I've wanted to share all of this with you. However, I was unsure of how to do it. This has primarily been a personal style blog, but I really want to start adding some lifestyle posts. As I've evolved my style outside of just clothing, I feel that my blog should evolve as well. I want to bring you crafting ideas, DIY projects, share funny stories about McKinley, show you fun things we're doing together, crafting projects for you and your kids, home decor ideas, and of course how to dress to impress while lunching at Chuck E.Cheese or making sugar cookies. 

Today I'm bringing you my first lifestyle post of what I hope is many. I am a huge fan of decorating my home for the holidays. Any holiday! We just transitioned from Halloween to Thanksgiving, a forgotten holiday in my opinion, and I had an overwhelming response to a photo I posted of my favorite nook in our living room. Just a few simple pieces can take an antique washstand to a darling table for giving thanks. 

Here is what you'll need:

1) Table for displaying

2) Wood or glass pedestal

3) Three pillar candles in varying height

4) Beaded grapevine wreath

4) Faux pumpkins or gords

Let's get started! I made this sweet piece several years ago and it's been one of my favorites for fall. I took a black wooden pedestal and added three burnt orange candles to the center. Place two tall candles in the back and the smaller in the front.

I found the small wreath at Michael's and I loved how the berries had a sugared appearance. Little elements like this add texture to the piece. The pumpkins came in a pack. Best way to purchase crafting items is in bulk! You never know how you will use them.

Next up, place the wreath around the candles and place at their base.

Starting adding your pumpkins to fill in the spaces around the sides of the smaller candle. 

Decorating Tip: Always clump or place things in odd numbers. Threes or fives are the best. Anything more starts to look cluttered.

 

This is how mine came together.

Another thing I love to do is frame beautiful cards that I just can't throw away! I've done this Halloween, Valentine's, and Thanksgiving cards and it's so easy and inexpensive. You don't need to get a really fancy frame. Just a simple black frame will do. For this one, I cut the card to fit and placed it on the table. 

Now it's time so decorate the table. Place higher pieces toward the back and decorate around it. I placed my Pilgrim's, some loose pumpkins, and the photo to one side of the table leaving room for one large accent piece at the other.

Here's the final look. I love this little nook. I added a basket weave cornucopia to the empty space to the right of the pedestal. It's all the area needed.

 There is a small space to the left of our front door that sat empty for a long time. I found this antique washstand and it was the perfect fit. For most of the year it houses photos of McKinley, but during the holidays, it's full of sweet treasures.

 

As my faithful readers I want to hear from you. Do you want to read about and see more posts like this? Style is a way of life and I feel like I try to live a stylish life daily! Whether it's putting a look together or currently creating McKinley's playroom, it's all about style. I hope you want more because I have so much to share. Like creating the playroom. I'm having a blast! 

Happy Friday, Fashionista's!

So Thankful

My sweet family on McKinley's second birthday!

This year I am thankful for so many things! I turned 40 and thankful to say that I did. I spent time celebrating over a wonderful weekend with family and friends, just the way I had hoped I would. I was able to take my son to the Happiest Place on Earth. We spent the day with Mickey and all of friends, and few of our favorites as well. It was joy to watch him among the characters he loves and to think for a moment he was standing next to Mater and Lightening! A trip I will never forget.

Is that really Mater?

A Birthday Cheers with my little guy!

How I love to be at the beach!

I am thankful for friends. I have a very small but amazing circle of friends who bring me joy even when they don't they are! I am thankful for their patience while I raise a child instead of performing or socializing. I am thankful for the guidance when sought. I am thankful for memories that get me through rough days and the unheard laugher it brings. You are not just my friends, you are my family.

 

Laura, Julie and I

Me and Curt on our amazing NY adventure!

Me and Kipp after one of the best summer party photo sessions ever!!

I am thankful for my family! Not just Joel and McKinley, but my parents who give and love so unconditionally. Sometimes I feel guilty!

My amazing mother!

My incredible father! (We never seem to be photographed together!)

I have an amazing aunt who took vacation, and then some, to travel to the other end of the country just because I wanted her to! (She also sat with me and watched the sun come up on summer morning for a boy that never showed.) For a grandmother who is spitfire and makes me jealous of her unending energy. And, for family across the miles that I don't see often, but are always in my heart!

My mom, me, and my awesome aunt!

The Fleenor Family

The Lawson/Helton Family

I have a husband who, to put it mildly, endures entirely too much from his wife. I am a wife who is constantly changing her mind. I make requests for gardens, a new patio, paint schemes, remodeled bathrooms, playroom designs, and so much more! And, he does it all. I help of course, but he is always there with a shovel, paint brush, or tape measure. Thankful!

Hard at working building the vegetable garden!

Lastly, I am simply thankful for a baby boy who brings such joy to my life. He is a love I have never known and a love that I will treasure forever. He brings light when my day is dark. He brings imagination to a world that can seem too real. He gives pats and hugs at just the right time. And smiles a smile that melts my heart. He is everything and more!

My and the sweetest baby boy I've ever met! I love him!!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you! I am thankful for your constant support of this little blog! Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving - The Forgotten Holiday

For those of you who know me, you know how I love to decorate for the holidays! Starting with Halloween, my house changes almost monthly until Easter! As I started taking down my Halloween decor this weekend, I updated my Facebook status informing all that I was moving on to Thanksgiving. Afterward, I received a request to blog about holiday decorating so I took some photos the other night.

I refuse to decorate for Christmas before Thanksgiving. Sandwiched between Halloween and Christmas, Thanksgiving is the forgotten holiday. It's the day in which my husband proposed to me, so it's an even more meaningful holiday in my house! I don't go overboard, I leave that for Christmas and Hanukkah, but I do put a few things out here and there. 

This my dining room table display. Our dining room table that never gets used unless it's for decorations or desserts at parties. We dine at my parents for Thanksgiving and Christmas, but we don't use their dining room table either. I guess you could say we are pretty informal people! Anyway, I usually go the same route every year. I add a mix of gourds to my Cornucopia, and when I can find it, dried corn. I love my little Pilgrims, purchased by my hubs, and corn cob candles. A sweet little display for giving thanks!

This little table is by our front door. It is constantly evolving from season to season or just month to month. The wheat sheave was made by my dad for my wedding. We had wheat sheaves placed on several tables such as our gift table and our well wishes table. We didn't have a guest book. We asked our guests to write wishes or sentiments instead of signing a book. Each had such meaning. This sheath moves around my living but generally lives here.

 

This stand is unbelievably useful. It also has a glass hurricane lid. I use it for DIY displays such as this one below. I simply placed three candles in the center of the stand and put the fall garland around the grouping. I added several plastic acorns through out. The acorns and fall garland were purchased at Michael's and they were super inexpensive. With just a few little pieces, you too can have a small display for your table! 

 

Below are just tiny clay pumpkins. A set of three that I think my mom gave me. They too travel from room to room every fall. Sometimes they sit on the window in my kitchen. But this year I decided to scatter them among photos in our living room. Little touches make such a difference!

 Side note: What I have learned about decorating is that when grouping things together, do so in odd numbers. And, every room should have something black whether it be a table, a pillow or a throw.

Lastly, this is our kitchen table. A brand new table as of March. We updated our kitchen back in the spring and this was the final piece purchased. It is a pretty large table, larger than our old one, so I needed something to help break up the space. I stole the canister idea from Khloe Kardashian's kitchen. She has large glass crocks on her kitchen counters and they are filled with cookies and other treats. I purchased the two in the back from Home Goods and had the front canister in the basement. I fill them with candy and other goodies based on the season.

Fall colored M&M's, Brach's Pumpkins and leftover Halloween candy make pretty fall accents. The candles were purchased from Williams Sonoma several years ago. I think they bring out the color of the candies!

I'm not an interior decorator. I know this! But, I try to make my house feel homey by adding pieces that mean something to us which in turn makes a house a home. And, you don't have to spend a lot of money when decorating seasonally. Shop the sales at the end of the season. You can get things from 50-70 percent off. Browse through magazines for ideas. Martha Stewart, Real Simple, Better Homes and Gardens, and Celebrate Magazine are all good resources for easy ideas. 

So, reader's poll. Do you guys like reading about stuff like this? Boring, useful or just a plain waste of blogging? Let me know! If you like it, well then bring on December! My house explodes with Christmas and Hanukkah! Until then....