Holiday Home Decorating Inspo

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Thanksgiving is just around the corner and we’ve just bid farewell to Halloween and turned the clocks back. Yay for extra sleep and brighter mornings, but I cannot stand how early it gets dark! I ran some errands this weekend and of course it’s next to impossible to get out of Target for under $50 when I only needed a few household items. My self control is never good there!

I was giddy like a child to see the holiday section filled with so many decorations. I took a walk through to get some inspo. I couldn’t help but pickup a few little pieces to get me set on holiday decorating. I’m going to try and get a head start on it this year since we’ll be traveling for both Thanksgiving and Christmas and have a friend coming to visit next weekend. November is sure to fly by!

How adorable is this little ceramic house and tree?! It comes in white, silver, gold, and a variety of sizes. I love candle light and the houses will glow with some tea lights in them. Sugar Paper always has dainty details for entertaining and these gold ribbon napkin holders are perfect to go with our gold chargers. I couldn’t find them on their website but I did see them in store. I stopped into Bath & Body and they were having a $4 a candle sale so grabbed one to save for December. They would also make great gifts too! The deal is only on for today so if you want one of their single wick candles for gifting now is the time or Black Friday.

I’m looking forward to finding some new ways to decorate our new place and enjoy it before it’s time to travel and holiday shop. This way I can share some of my favorite finds with all of you before they sell out (and I can persuade my husband to help me with the tree before he travels again for work.) I mean if Starbucks has started with their holiday cups then it’s not too early to deck the halls right?

Since our place already has accents of gold throughout I’m going to keep with that and then add some pops of red and ivory. Many of our decorations we’ve had for a quite some time and some of it has really lasted if I invested in it and other pieces I’m ready to toss and refresh. And I can’t handle the mess of glitter so anything with that has got to go! I’m thinking of finding a piece of garland for our window sill that I usually place some decorations on.

We usually purchase a real tree and have cut it down ourselves upstate near our parents homes and drive it back down to NYC (really, we’re crazy!) But we always loved getting to grab our tree as a family after Thanksgiving just in time to head back to the city. Though last year it didn’t happen and we decided to opt for the artificial for sake of easier setup and clean up. So as much as I miss the fresh smell and experience I’ll supplement for a real wreath instead. Tree isn’t up quite yet, still debating which space to set it up in but I’ll probably move on that after next weekend.

I’ve listed some of my favorite holiday finds for decorating below and linked out to the ceramic pieces from Target. I’ve also spotted some great items at Homegoods, Pier 1, Nordstrom Rack, and Michaels. Michael’s always has so many great deals so I placed an order with a coupon code for some sprigs for the tree and ordered some ribbon from another great retailer on ebay.

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Ceramic Houses White version and Gold Version

Ceramic Tree White version I swear I got the little green one in my photo from Target. It’s $3, but I just can’t locate it on their site. It’s in the Wondershop section by Birchwood Bay Decor if you check in store.

Sugar Paper Napkin Rings (having trouble finding on site but are in store)

Happy Holidays Napkins

Marble Gold Trim Coasters (Homegoods old) similar here and holiday version

Balsam Candle

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Here’s a little wish list of items I’m thinking of for inspiration. Be sure to click on each image in the widget to see the full details on the product’s website. Looking forward to sharing more soon. Let me know where your go to spots are for holiday decoration shopping!

Spooktacular Apartment Styling

This weekend we hosted a spooky housewarming in our new place. We had so much fun decorating for Halloween and I had been planning different ideas since it turned fall. We looked forward to transitioning the space with some fall decor. Of course I always go a little over board with my obsession with Halloween, but so does Kevin so it works out ! We had spider webs, fake eye balls, bones, spiders, and so many yummy snacks and treats.

Kevin’s favorite part was turning our bathroom into a gory scene filling up the bathtub with some gross colored water. At first I thought his idea was crazy but once he showed me what he meant I went with it !  He even changes our our light bulbs to set the mood and we covered each of our doors from mummies to “do not enter tape” Kevin loves entertaining and organizing games that gets everyone mingling so that’s what he had worked on and it was a good laugh. We had a costume contest for best Halloween look and a scavenger hunt for some scary skulls throughout our building. 

We loved catching up with everyone and seeing everyone’s creative costumes! I am tired from hosting and spent most of the weekend cleaning up and getting everything back in order but it was worth it! We are still itching to do this in a house one day but loved having a new space to play with. 

This year I picked up some new pieces but a lot I save year after year since we host this one regularly. I’ve linked some of my favorite items for home in my shop my Instagram tab. I’ll be doing a post on furnishes in our new place comming soon!

Hope this inspires you for hosting your own Hallows eve gathering !  

Valentine's Love for Entertaining

Happy February friends! If you’re someone who loves the over indulgence of chocolate and candy galore and ready to treat yourself or share your love with friends this February I have some hostess and gifting ideas for you! 

So taking a few steps back I can’t help but get nostalgic over the little metal mail boxes in the dollar section at Target that caught my eye. Now I wish when I was a kid I had that adorable box on my desk when it was time to exchange Valentine’s and treats with everyone! And working in a school definitely makes me constantly think of those moments and smile when I see students exchanging their valentines. So if we exchanged with our friends as kids to share love why not keep the tradition going ?! Whether single or taken I’ve rounded up some fun and creative ways to show your appreciation for good friends and loved ones - and to treat yourself. I personally just enjoy a night in and pampering myself with spa products. My husband and me usually do something low key like cooking in together then seeing a movie. However, I think this year he may be working so I have a "galentine's" night planned with one of my best friends. 

A lot of these items I'm sharing are great for a hostess, a teacher, or a friend.