12 Days of Christmas Tour of Homes Kick Off

Happy December, friends!

Are you ready for the fun to begin? I'm prepping for my annual girlfriend Christmas

 party tomorrow and still decking the halls of our little cottage. Today kicks off the

 Second Annual 12 Days of Christmas Tour of Homes!

 I'm so excited to be participating again, it's sure to get you in the spirit and inspire some

 new decorating ideas! 

Thank you to the talented Jenny @ Evolution of Style for organizing these these lovely

 ladies again, and to the fabulous Lisa @ Shine Your Light for the hard work she put into

 creating our beautiful graphics!   

I can't wait to see what all of my stylish friends have to share with us! 

Our tour starts at Jenny's home today at Evolution of Style here.   

Here's a snippet from her tour last year - is this festive or what?

You can check it out here. 

12 Days of Christmas Tour of Homes Schedule:

December 1 - Jenny @ Evolution of Style

December 2 - Amanda @ Amanda Carol Interiors

December 3 - Amanda @ Dixie Delights

December 4 - Pam @ Simple Details

December 5 - Lisa @ Shine Your Light

December 8 - Kris @ Driven by Decor

December 9 - Jennifer @ Dimples & Tangles

December 10 - Cyndy @ The Creativity Exchange

December 11 - Elizabeth @ Little Black Door

December 12 - Stacey @ Steward of Design

December 13 - Andrea @ Oak Ridge Revival

AND

December 16 - YOU - Link up your Christmas Home Tour

Go get inspired!

best of the nest link party ~ november

  We enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving Day hanging out with our extended

 family and completely indulging and giving in to way too much delicious food! I

 hope you all relaxed and did much of the same! I'm anxious to see what you talented

 friends have to share this month ~ here's what we were up to...

I shared a Master bedroom makeover filled with Craigslist finds. I had so much fun

 helping a friend pull this room together, it could be my favorite project I've done this year! 

 Pam @ Simple Details

Pinterest | Facebook | Instagram | Bloglovin' | Twitter

Lisa spiffed up an Ikea desk and transformed it into this charming vanity table!

A clever tray displaying jewelry fits perfectly on the open shelf beneath the glass.

Lisa @ Shine your Light

Blog | Pinterest | Facebook | Instagram | Bloglovin' | Twitter

Kris' stunning bathroom makeover on a budget included this amazing stenciled

 wall! You must see the before!

 

 Kris @ Driven by Décor

Blog | Pinterest | Facebook | Instagram | Bloglovin' | Twitter | Google+

Jennifer shared her gorgeous Thanksgiving table setting bursting with a great mix 

of lively colors and patterns! 

Jennifer @ Dimples & Tangles

Blog | Pinterest | Facebook | Instagram | Bloglovin' | Twitter

Now it's your turn:

Bring your Best of November

Anyone can enter - not just bloggers!

Enter through Instagram by using hashtag #bestofthenestparty and tagging at least one of your hosts.

Only ONE link per person to show your best work from November 2014
Additional links will be deleted.
Only those with a link back will be considered for features.

If you're linking up with a blog, link back with a text link or grab the party button.

We'd love you stop back next Friday
 when Lisa, Kris, Jennifer and I will feature our favorite links.

our $139 walmart christmas tree

We decided to get a new Christmas tree this year, our old artificial tree is big,

a beast to put together, some of the lights were out last year and we weren't up for

 messing with it anymore, the base is about five feet wide which interferes with tv

watching in our family room and you can guess who cares about that!

 We decided the perfect one needed to be tall and narrow, and we'd make it a fun 

outing and go cut our own since we hadn't ever done it. 

Thank goodness, we came to our senses - as quintessential as it sounds, we are so not

 that family. We were happy as clams to pop open the new box and have it up in

 ten minutes with the lights on! :)

  We chose this convenient, reasonable, pretty, artificial tree from Walmart,

 with a perfect dusting of snow. :)  

I love it and wanted to share in case you find yourselves needing a new tree.

Our store had a large selection of several different tree styles and sizes,

 I saw many of the same at other retail stores priced much higher.  

Close up of the opposite side:

     

Walmart - here

Holiday Time 7.5' Pre Lit Winter Frost Pine Tree 

1000 Tips 450 Clear Lights

Width at Base 48" 

$149

 or $139 

if you have a savvy teenager with you that notices their price matching sign and 

in a flash finds it on Amazon for $139.  

Here's the link:

http://www.amazon.com/Artificial-Christmas-Flocked-Prelit-Lights/dp/B00P10D4UC 

Wishing all of you the

 Happiest Thanksgiving with your loved ones!

Don't forget to stop back on Friday to share your November project at Best of the Nest. 

on my thrifting list...small foot stool

I have been a bad blogger! I completely forgot about this series I said I was going
 to do, the debut of 'on my thrifting list' was last December, and then I apparently
 remembered again in August! The concept was to show items you commonly pass
 up when thrifting in a setting that inspires you to think of them in a new way.
I'm back on track, and this is a good one.
How many times have you seen those little old dated foot stools for a steal?

Betsey Burnham & Max Humphrey

 homedit.com

 crazylifelittlemonkeybitch.tumblr.com

 Victoria at Home

  achicaliving.com

forme-foryou.com

Ballard Designs

They're the perfect piece to inject a little personality into your room with
a fun patterned fabric, and would be an easy DIY upholstery project. If you're
 not the DIY type, it would be super reasonable to have done professionally.

on my thrifting list...bamboo accent table

on my thrifting list...candles en masse

a few of my favorite things...

Every year I look forward to the Favorite Things series that Melissa @ 320 Sycamore hosts
 For the past three days our favorite bloggers have shared their favorite items,
 you can get all the scoop here!
I always love finding new products, gifts and ideas from her series, I'm much more likely
 to try something if it's come recommended by a stylish blogger friend. :)
Today I'm sharing a few of my favorites...  

      Beauty

NARS Dolce Vita Lip Pencil, Lipstick, Lip Gloss

nothing more to say than...the PERFECT dusty rose color!

The lipstick is sheer, so if you like a little more color the lip pencil is great.

A bit pricey but a nice if you want to treat yourself.

Home

I LOVE this starch from Dollar Tree!!

It smells SO good, if I had a gazillion $$ and sent my linens out to be laundered and

ironed, I imagine it would come back smelling like this. :)

Since I don't I just use it to iron my pillow cases, and it makes me happy! 

Guy Gift

This is my go-to gift for every hard to buy for guy! 

Monogrammed Beer Mugs, Pilsner Glasses or Martini Glasses

Williams-Sonoma has a great selection of styles and the prices are reasonable at

$40-$50 for a set of four.

Fashion

Target Katherine Boots aka Frye Knock Offs

I can't even tell you how many compliments I get on these boots, everyone

thinks they are the real deal Frye boots. SO comfortable, and reasonable for leather

 $70 at our favorite, Target! Free Shipping through the holidays.

732 Reviews 4.5 Stars

Decor

Busts and planter heads are all the rage and I'd be happy with one in every 

room, but for now I'm stopping at these two. I found both of mine at Homegoods,
in the spring in the garden section for around $25 - $30.  

Pillows

Ikea Sanela Velvet Pillow Covers with Zippers

20 x 20 - $7

26 x 26 - $10

Pink, White, Gray, Brown, Light Turquoise

I used the gray covers for our bedroom, and trimmed them with Greek key trim from

 Hobby Lobby. They're nice quality and the price can't be beat for the generous size!

Food

Do Ahead Molten Chocolate Cake here

is a favorite dessert to serve during the holidays when I'm entertaining.

 It's SUPER easy, but looks and tastes like you went to a lot of trouble. 

I love that I can make it the day before and then pop it in the oven for 20 minutes

 and serve warm - soooo decadent.

Join me over at Melissa's Favorite Things Link Party for lots of fun lists,

gift ideas, tips and inspiration!