(Clear ornament, above, can be found here. But I plan to make my own with sparkly, colorful things inside.)
Do you guys have other great ideas for simple, inexpensive holiday decorating and crafts?
I remember seeing these charming fabric flower garlands in a wedding magazine or post on a bridal blog several months ago, though unfortunately, I can't remember where. I loved the idea, and was so thrilled to find a tutorial for them on Once Wed this week, after being reminded of the fantastic idea by this post at Blue Moss. I think that they would make wonderful holiday decorations, and could be done in any color combination you choose. My tree is packed with vintage glass ornaments, and my home full of lots of bright colors at the holidays, so I think I'd choose to include blues, aquas, yellows, and of course pinks, in addition to traditional red and green. See photos of the originals here, and then feast your eyes on the garlands created for the tutorial. (Full instructions here.)
Oh, if only there were enough time before Christmas to fill every room with strands and strands of them. I think I'll start on that in January, so that at least I can make it a reality by next year.
These pretty lace-patterned heart ornaments would look charming hung just like this, on bare birch branches for a simple centerpiece. By Prince Design UK.
La Pomme makes "fairy tales for grown-ups", in the form of charming plushies, whimsically-embroidered pillows and wonderful little "imagined history books."
And somehow all of the clean naturals and winter whites make me feel cozier already. Hope you're all staying warm wherever you are.
-- My wonderful husband, who makes me happier than I ever thought possible.
Livy of A Field Journal is yet again the author of today's DIY Thursday craft project. Check out these amazing and beautiful handmade embellished headbands she made for the Project Wedding tutorial. These would be perfect not only for bridesmaid gifts, but for stocking stuffers and little sister presents. I don't have a little sister, so I'll have to make mine for me.
Get the full materials list and set of instructions here.
I, like you, I assume, will be spending my day with family tomorrow, eating lots of lovely things and also celebrating Nate's birthday again with my family and his. We will get to have Thanksgiving at my parents' new house at their vineyard for the first time this year, and I expect my dad will have a cozy fire burning, and my mom's beautiful kitchen will be bustling with people working to prepare all of the lovely things we're going to eat. I hope your holiday is as warm and cozy, whatever your traditions may be. I do have a DIY Thursday post planned for you here, but will probablytake Friday off, as I think my mom and I are going to start on some Christmas crafting and decorating at her house. Yay for holidays!
I've been a fan of Parsimony's lovely tunic-style dresses for quite a long time, even before I got to see some of them in person last April at the Funky Finds Spring Fling in Fort Worth. They had some gorgeous dresses in lustrous silks and soft cottons there -- original designs, hand-sewn -- that I really wanted to take home with me. But instead, I content myself with occasionally drooling over the charming offerings in the Parsimony Etsy shop. And the bonus: they're from Austin; hooray for Texas artists!
I think my favorite of all is the Team Spirit dress in that beautiful sea green. And with a cute belt, oh dear.
(you can't quite tell it in the photo, but there's a lace pattern on the left one, and a cute little repeating bow pattern on the right.)
I was so excited that naturally, I spent the entire evening playing with my new pretties, and I came up with these, which I'll send out (starting today) with every pink street order, both in my shop and given to Art Trail customers. Aren't they the most fantastic little discount coupons you've ever seen! (I don't mean that in a braggy type of way, just in a "I'm really pleased overall with how they turned out" type of way.)
I found those terrific wood veneer business cards at Lee Valley Tool Supply Co., and purchased enough to last for a while. I rounded the corners on mine for more of a custom look, then added the tape strips and stamps in white, gold, and brown, plus a handwritten discount line and drawn-in stitch marks with my trusty pink pen.
So what wonderful things would you do with them?
And a frilly, shimmering tunic 
... which would be beautiful accompanied by the