Time's Up!

Ooops! I went out to dinner last night with my husband and forgot to close the comments at 10 p.m. Oh well...a few of you may have gotten lucky and snuck a comment under the wire. Good for you!

I will announce the winner later today and be sure to let the lucky girl know! :)

Stationery Giveaway!

Are you all ready for a giveaway?

Now that Halloween is over, I am all about Christmas ideas. I've been working with an amazing stationery company called Minted. Have you heard of it? They were recently featured in Real Simple, and with good reason. Their stuff is adorable! Check out a few of these kids' personal stationery lines that they carry.

Hello, adorable little girl flowers:

Or this dinosaur? Love it!

If Nina didn't already have some stationery, I would be all over this preppy little giraffe:

Do you want to see which one I chose? I picked something for Henry, because, you know, he sends lots of mail. How cute is their packaging?

I could not resist this pale blue and chocolate brown combination. And the little train at the bottom? Precious!

OK, now that I've convinced you of the cuteness of Minted, how about a giveaway?

Just head on over to their website (click here) and check out all the different options for kids' personal stationery. Then tell me in the comments section which design you like the best, and the winner will receive 25 free kids' stationery cards. What better Christmas gift for someone small in your life? (Or, let's be honest, for the mama of someone small...we are all suckers for cute stuff like this for our kids!)

So, go check out the cuteness of Minted and let me know which stationery line tickles your fancy! Wa-hoo! I love free stuff!

I will close the comments on Friday night at 10 p.m. and draw the winner at random. Good luck!

Still Recovering

It's Monday morning and I am still working out the kinks from Halloween weekend. How many of you spent most of trick-or-treat night trying to get just one photo where the kids are actually looking at the camera and smiling?

As you can see, my efforts were only partially successful. And yes, those were spots on Henry's little face. However, by the end of the night he looked more like a dirty hobo than a cute dalmatian puppy. And it was all we could do to convince Nina that elephants don't have whiskers. (Do they?)

This makes me very afraid for the Christmas card photo. Very afraid.

Polka Dot Alphabet

For the longest time, I've been meaning to show you all a little gift idea that I use all the time. I am sure you've seen these wooden letters. I bought mine at Michael's, but I've seen similar ones at Joann's, Hobby Lobby, etc.

I love to get these letters for people as baby gifts. I just spray paint them, and then use a little round sponge brush to make the dots. I staple a grosgrain ribbon to the back.

Nina and Henry both have them hanging on their bedroom doors.

You know, in case they forget where their rooms are. Or for whenever they learn to read.

Next time you are looking for a unique little gift, give one of these a try! Or who says you can't make one for your own kids? :)

Have a great Halloween! I'll be back next week with a fun idea for the holiday season, a giveaway (yippee!) and maybe a few photos from our weekend. We're going to a Halloween party where the whole family gets to dress up. Yep, should be interesting!

I've Got Wreaths in Weird Places

My husband recently pointed out that I have a bit of a wreath obsession. As I looked around my house, I realized he was right. I buy (or make, in most cases) these things, and then I am bound and determined to find a place to put them.

For example, we all know about putting wreaths on our front doors.

And sometimes we put wreaths on the back of the front door, like this apple version I just made.

But then we get tired of it on the back of the door, so we move it to the dining room hutch. I strung a pretty green ribbon and then just attached it to one of those removable plastic hooks on the top of the hutch.

Then I decided that the mirror in the master bathroom was quite large and boring. Just a little grapevine wreath in the center makes me feel better.

I made another wreath a few months ago and would not rest until I found a place for it in my house. (To see how I made this Pottery Barn knockoff, click here!) Windows that are not being constantly opened and closed, or covered by curtains, are great places for a wreath!

This chalkboard in my family room looked a little lonely all by itself, so adding a wreath on top gave it a bit more dimension, and brought some green into the room too. If I ever feel the need to move it and actually write on the chalkboard, the wreath is just tacked to the top of the frame with an upholstery tack.

See? Lots of room for wreaths around the house...not just the front door! They can be cheap to make, can bring lots of color into a room, and just make a space feel more finished. Now you can be all wreath-obsessed like me!

Fall Decorating for the Black Thumbs Among Us

You may or may not remember my problem with plants...keeping them alive, that is. But I will assure you, I have a problem. Whatever creative ability I have is strictly limited to crafts and decorating. The gardening gene has totally eluded me.

So every fall I have this debate in my head: Should I buy some mums for the front porch? I know I will kill them. But they look so pretty! But they'll be dead in a week. But I like them! Seriously with this? Dead. In a week. Bummer!

This year I decided to skip the mums, save the money, and just put pumpkins in the places where plants usually go. So my urns? They are now holding fake grass ($2 at W*lMart) and a cute pumpkin.

My tabletop has a dried gourd that requires no green thumb from me.

And my window boxes have an array of mini-pumpkins and gourds.

This makes me happy because 1) I still get that pop of fall color on my front porch, 2) this stuff can stay on the porch through Thanksgiving, look all cute and autumn-y, but 3) no watering!

Give it a try if you are as "challenged" as I am!

Anniversary Bracelet Cuteness

A few weeks ago, I won something! Did any of you participate in The Nester's Giveaway Day? So fun! I just recently broke down and got a Post Office Box, which excites me to no end, because now I can enter fun giveaways like this. Before, my husband and I had an agreement that I needed to keep this blog anonymous, as much as possible, because I do post photos of my kiddos and real life. So my home address, no matter how many lovely ladies I met (and there have been a lot!), needed to stay private.

But now I have a PO Box and so it's time for some fun! OK, enough about my postal woes. Want to see what I've won?

This beautiful bracelet from Joey and Chase Designs!

She let me choose the date to display on the bracelet, as well as the colors. The date is my wedding anniversary. (I know what you are thinking. I should get one for my husband so that he never forgets. He's just not the bangle bracelet type...what's a girl to do?)

I love wearing it! If you're looking for a unique Christmas gift for a girlfriend, mom or sister, this would be so fun. Or maybe for that forgetful husband, who knows...