So you remember here where I revealed my new look.  Oh wait, I'm not a celeb; by revealed  I mean posted a few photos. Well even though I loved it and Rhonda (my stylist at Milan Hair Studio) is amazing, I needed to go all the way.  I took Rhonda's advice and "lived with it," but I wanted more.  Short hair is addictive!  I swear I want to go shorter every time I go in there (and I have).  Well this was my inspiration this time around:

1. Ornament wreath.  Every year I feel overwhelmed with the thought of Christmas decorating and crafts.  I am not great at decorating for the holidays!  Add Pinterest and the feelings of inadequacy get a little crazy!  So this year I decided to choose just ONE craft, shell out the cash on supplies, and take an after-bedtime-block (or two) to get it done! Ever since I painted my front door yellow, the traditional green and red just didn't work.  I had a hard time getting my wreath to be perfectly round and my hanger is showing a bit but overall I LOVE it and definitely want to make another next year! In case you're interested, I used this tutorial.
2. My little girls in their Christmas PJs.  One of a few photoshoots I tried.  If you have kids you know how hard it is to get those perfect pictures in the moment!  Last Easter was the first time I actually had a little dress rehearsal and took photos of them beforehand and I wondered why I hadn't done that before!  They had lots of "Christmas attire," but I tried to stick to a few outfits and get some cute pictures without the pressure of an event or bedtime, looming.
3. Just a little glimpse into why I'm AWOL.  I'm having fun in the snow.  My mom and I did a winter-y photo shoot. It was so fun and I was totally being inspired by her.  I'll have to share some more of these photos with you because I'm quite proud of the end result.  I got some really great shots of my mama!
4. My napkin wring of a jingle bells ornament and a blue glittery ornament.  I loved and was inspired by this post over on Live the Fancy Life.
5. I love the idea of using all white wrapping with fun embellishments. I had leftover tulle from this project and ribbon from a couple of years ago. So pretty!
6. This modern chevron paper was only $1 at Target!  I got the ribbon for 75% off at Michael's after Christmas last year. And though I had tons of gorgeous free printable gift tags my $@%& printer isn't working (yes I am fake cursing because I'm mad) so I got these pretty snowflake tags from Target.

I'm at it again...Needed a last minute gift for my nana and who came to the rescue?!  Shutterfly!  Check it out:


Right now you can save up to 30% on ornaments with code TREE. But hurry! Today's the last day for standard shipping orders!

Creating gift guides is so fun.  If you need a few ideas for a friend, mom, sister, or say, yourself, take a peek at these.  Here are a few fun gifts I've come across during my online window shopping:

2. knitted bow scarf chunky neck warmer. $28 (from $68!).  I saw this one in the TomKat Gift guide.  I need it in my life.  3. MineDesign Chalkboard Candle. $24.95. I suppose you don't have to be a girly girl to enjoy an adorable chalkboard candle.  Don't want to buy this?  Why not attempt a DIY version.  Looks so easy!
4. Essie Nail Color, Mojito Madness.  $8.  I love the idea of a minty green for Christmas instead of your typical green.  So chic.
5. SEPHORA COLLECTION Smoky Studio 2. $34.00 I have one of Sephora's blockbuster sets and I LOVE it!  
6. Bobbi Brown Makeup Manual: For Everyone from Beginner to Pro.  $20.97.  I am a total girly girl (in case you hadn't guessed by  now) and I love makeup books! I haven't read this one but the reviews are awesome.

So what are you waiting for?! Head on over to Shutterfly and make your Christmas, New Year's, or Holiday card! Oh, by the way, just before checking out, I remembered to check online for a coupon code and found one!  So I was able to save $10 + 30% off of my calendar!  (Did I mention that I love Shutterfly)? It expired today but I'm sure as Christmas nears, there will be more deals!  Make sure to check retailmenot and Shutterfly's "special offers" section for great deals.

I'm SO excited to be a guest over on Live the Fancy Life today.  I've mentioned Jessica many, many times on Taste{full}.  She is an amazing writer, event planner (you MUST check out her son's little man 1st birthday and her client's Curious George themed party.  like now.  wait, finish reading my post first.  then GO.), and photographer.  I love getting inspiration from Jessica on home design, mama stuff, and  parties, of course!  For my guest post I had way too much fun curating a little girl's gift guide.

To read the post, see the sources, and no doubt get sucked into perusing her blog, go here.

This is a little late...My birthday was a couple of weeks ago actually!  But I just wore my present for the first time last night and I wanted to tell you about it.  I have a hard time spending more than $50 on anything.  I've lucked out and gotten some of my nicest boots (that retail for $150+) on sale at TJ Maxx or Marshall's for just under my weird self imposed threshold.  But I've been craving a couple of pairs of nice dark brown boots/shoots.  I happened upon these initially at AE.com.  They were on sale and I had a store credit that would have made them $55.  As luck would have it, when I finally stopped debating and went to purchase them (you know--for my birthday!), they were sold out!  Boo!  I just couldn't justify spending $100 on this pair of shoes (to be clear, I have justified it before...I just couldn't this time ;).  Even though I wanted them.  So bad.  Then I checked Amazon.  My how I love that site.  And they were less there.  In the meantime I'd gotten some birthday money so I decided to go for it.  I wore them last night and I love them! They were so comfortable.

Here's what I wore:

Forever ago, I saw these centerpieces at a corporate event.  I vowed that I would replicate it.  A few years ago, I did.  This is the easiest and least expensive tabletop decor ever.

What you need:
Glass dish--you could get fancy but mine were .97 from Wal-Mart.
Cranberries-- somewhere around $1.50 for a bag.
Water--free ☺
Floating candles/Tea lights--$1.97 for lots at Wal-Mart.

So enough chatting!  I'll be sure to share more pictures and details in the near future.  The details above are as follows:
1. My little Minnie wearing this shirt (it runs super small! She's wearing a 5T).  Her headband was from here.  I was psyched to find this perfect DIY-less headband!  The letter I made after being inspired by this post over on Paige Simple.
2. Minnie Mouse Oreos.  So cute!  And not terribly hard although they did take much longer than I anticipated!
3. My homemade Minnie mobile, made out of a calendar from Target's dollar section and paper fans from here.
4. My favor table backdrop using more of these paper fans.

This post was inspired by my absolute love of the Land of Nod (Remember, I got Nadia's party activities from there?).  And my absolute reality of a budget. One that does not include $44 blocks.  Even on Christmas.  I love "look for less" posts!  And I love writing them; finding similar items in lower price brackets is such a fun challenge.  And pretty much my reality. (And all of our realities at some point right?).  Now of course I love the "look for less" features where one item is $5 and the other is $5000 and they look exactly the same.  I'm going to apologize in advance that this is not one of those posts.  BUT it's super realistic and all the price differences (from $7 to $30) add up--especially at Christmas time.  Not to mention that if you're looking for kids' gift ideas, I think you'll love some of these!





Now in some cases the differences are more obvious.  And they might be worth the extra $15.  But in others, the differences are minute...and while you might notice them, I'm guessing your two year old won't.  

I can't believe this sweet girl is almost 15 months.  It's just a tiny bit sad!  I can't believe she's all grown up.  Talking a TON. Walking.  Running. Growing teeth.  Copying me. Laughing. Cuddling. Even went poo on the potty a couple of times!  Where did my baby go?