Oh, Deer

This post has been a long time coming, but I held off until I could give you the most bang for your buck (pun intended), so to speak. I noticed that Taylor Sterling was styling her home office/nursery with one of these precious ceramic deers (seen here and here), and didn't think much else of it. Until Christmas. 

My wonderful aunt, Mary Jane, had been paying attention to how much I loved Glitter Guide and Taylor, and she did her homework for a perfect Christmas gift: the coveted deer head. 

Now, the story goes that she "accidentally clicked the 'order' button twice" but either way, we all got deer heads for the holidays -- guys included. This seemed like it might be tricky, since not everyone was quite sure how to use theirs, but it turned out to be a lesson in creativity. A "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" type thing. 

If you follow me on instagram, you might have noticed that my Aunt used hers as part of her Christmas decor, complete with Peabody the Elf perched atop its antlers for optimal "watching" capabilities.

I use mine to hold and display my jewelry, instead of leaving it in a giant mess on my counter. It's proven to be very handy and quite cute, in my opinion. 

JT has his standing guard atop his china cabinet to add a bit of modern/fun manliness to an otherwise semi-girly piece of furniture (in that it holds fine china, but one look at the bar cart full of whiskey and you know, without a doubt, it's a man's dining room). And Emily plans to use hers in a book shelf for Bebe T's nursery incorporating hues of blue, cream and white. Adorable!

I love these little things so much, I'm contemplating reasons/places I could put these fun friends (click here, here, here, here or here for the fun friends I'm talking about). And bonus, these cuties are on sale currently. So pick up one (or three) of these stellar stags and unleash your creativity of where and how you can use yours.

Deck the Halls

 

This is how I like to imagine I look as I decorate... the reality is me in sweats and a top knot covered in ornament glitter and garland watching Christmas classics and dragging boxes down our pull-down attic stairs. Either way, I'll take it. It's decorating time, folks!

In honor of tomorrow's festivities (hanging tinsel on anything that stands still long enough), I painted my nails bright Christmas red. The jolly color is technically Essie's "Really Red," but hey, who am I to get caught up in technicalities. They'll no doubt be chipped and broken after lugging boxes and stringing lights outside, but I couldn't be more excited. 

In normal tradition, my family decks our halls the Saturday after Thanksgiving, but since Thanksgiving is late this year... we wanted ample time to enjoy the trimmings and trappings before 2014 forces us to take them down. 

This year, I even have two houses to decorate! My family's house, which Lulu and I try to make the North Pole, and JT's house, which will be just enough to make neighborhood kids not think he's a  Scrooge (he's been very generous and allowed me to do as I please, but I'm trying to limit myself to areas of the house including the mantle, a tree, and the front porch). I cannot wait. I'll share the finished product with y'all soon!

Is it tomorrow yet?!

DIY Explosion

Yep. This happened. Last week I went DIY crazy and did not one but two projects. To say I feel accomplished is an understatement. In case you're curious, here's how they went:

For me, I finally got around to painting my wooden monogram I bought at a craft festival last fall (yes, I've been re-doing my old high school room for that long-- but a before and after post is coming soon).

 

  

[top left: what I started with-- sad, unpainted monogram on trash bag,

top right: what I used to make the sad monogram happy

bottom left: letting it dry after spray paint mania

bottom right: finished product on my dark gray bedroom wall]

 For JT, since he finally got around to having a housewarming party, I figured he needed a "manly" front door hanger that made his already adorable house perfect. I enlisted the aid of experienced DIYer, my cousin, Ashleigh.

  

 

  

[top row: start off with a plain wooden letter from Hobby Lobby 

and paint a light coat of "avocado" green on both sides

middle rows: once the paint has dried (10 ish minutes), spray small areas of the green letter and quickly stick handfuls of Spanish moss on it, pressing it down as you go. 

last row: once the letter is covered, use scissors to trim the moss to ensure the letter actually looks like a letter. Doesn't have to be perfect, just readable. Then spray a final coat of avocado green over the top; let dry. Last, hot glue burlap ribbon to the backside of letter to hang]

Happy DIYing!