four-dollar pine cone garland

 I was so excited to find these tiny gold pine cone ornaments at the dollar store last weekend.  I scooped up three packs (four cones on each) and a spool of twine from the kitchen section.  This little garland is the first of my holiday decorations so far this year but it is starting to get me in the spirit for more...

sneak peak: gifts

I have the best family and this year they really outdid themselves on gift giving. About half of the gifts given and received at my parents house this year were handmade and that really made my heart smile. I'll share some of the diy gifts I did later this week but for now here is a little peak at some of the goodies I got to take home.
1. an amazing set of packaging and crafting supplies from my mr. that I mentioned here, 2. handmade feather arrows by my lovely older sister, 3. handmade amazing nc art by my lovely little sister and parents, 4. a cookbook that I can't wait to use- it follows the best local foods by season!

Thank you so much to my family for the sweet gifts, but even more for the time we got to share this Christmas!!

happy holidays from the jacksons

Happy Holidays! Merry {day after} Christmas! Seasons Greetings!

It has been a hectic, busy, frantic, crazy, overwhelming, and insane holiday season for us. We packed in more with orders, shows, work, and school than ever before and now know that we will have to do a little better with time management next year if we want to be so involved in so many things! Lesson learned! That said, it's been a great time with family, friends, projects, and products, and our FIRST Christmas as a married couple was awesome!

Here is the card we sent out to some of our nearest and dearest:
Now that the busiest days are over I am looking forward to a few days off to do some major cleaning and organizing around our house (which is a wreck), relax a bit, and clear our minds and agendas in preparation for big plans for 2012. Cheers!

winter white: diy holiday round up

Here a some of my absolute favorite holiday inspired, winter-white themed craft tutorials from around the blog world this week. I am finding constant inspiration these days and I hope you are getting psyched for holiday decorating too! We are hanging icicle lights, crafting a glitter wreath, and getting started on some diy gifts this weekend. Have a good one!
Above: shimmery swizzle sticks from Odessa May.
Modern Perforated Trees from Babble.
Festive topped jars from You Are My Fave.
Paper whites from A Subtle Revelry.A gold dipped bowl on Curbly.

heart & craft holiday in a box

Friends, I am so excited to share with you the handmade gift I put together for the Handmade Gift Swap hosted by FreshlyPicked and ArdorBlog that I participated in this month. Besides getting wonderfully handmade gifts from five other bloggers, I got to put together and send out my own little creations.

For my handmade gift I put together the "holiday in a box" full of little treats for holiday decorating. I included a small glittery garland for wrapping around gifts, a large garland for decorating your walls or tree, shimmery cake flags for adding some sparkle to desserts, our 'this if for you' gift tags, a set of holiday banner greeting cards, and a golden-painted little deer figurine just for fun. In addition to designing the cards, inserts, packaging, and contents I had SO much fun packing and sending of these little gifts! I hope they brought a smile to someone's face and I can't wait until next year's gift swap!Find my greeting cards, gift tags, garlands, and flags all in my shop.

thankful for

After a wonderfully family filled, relaxing yet productive, long holiday weekend it was a particularly trying day back at work. Let's just say teachers are not always appreciated.

But, this evening I am looking to the positive and counting my blessings. Tonight I am thankful for...my sweet husband who keeps me grounded and focused on our goals. That and our Christmas tree with decorations that remind us of home,
glittery holiday decorations,
and my sister who knows exactly when I could really use a glass of wine.

I am thankful.

give thanks

Happy Thanksgiving all! Today's post is short and sweet because we are off to two thanksgiving celebrations and are sure to be full, happy, and feeling blessed all day. I hope yours is sweeter thank pumpkin pie (my favorite part of the day) and full of good food, good friends, and good cheer!

wreath doliy via martha.

ban.do holiday 11

Chances are you have seen these beauties floating around on the web this week but I had to share some of the greatest picks from ban.do's latest holiday collection. From the designs to the styling and photography, these girls always get it right. And I am pretty sure I could happily rock that top outfit to every holiday party this year.see it all here.

Love notes

Happy Valentine's Day! We don't make a big fuss about the day, I guess because we make an effort to treat each other well and enjoy each others company on a regular basis. We have gotten into a routine over the past few years, however, of making fettuccine alfredo and homemade cards for one another. Cards have been exchanged and as I am writing this I am sipping wine and dinner is being prepared for me. I feel very lucky. Extremely lucky to know this guys is my valentine for the rest of my life.

I also will reveal a bit of the nerd in me by sharing my excitement for these NPR valentines I stumbled across today. Each one is better than the last. Enjoy.

k+j christmas

It's beginning to look festive around these parts, folks. Merry Christmas!

giving thanks

This week I am saying thank you to friends and family with some holiday treats. There is nothing like starting the holiday weekend off with some baking and crafting. Wednesday I spent the morning making peppermint chocolate bark, chocolate dipped pretzels, and some shimmery card stock gift tags to pull it all together. Easy, inexpensive, and festive- my favorite.

saturday thoughts

Just a couple of things I have been thinking about rather than being productive today::

1. How I cannot wait to be at the beach. I don't know if I will even make it to the end of the month for our family trip, may have to escape to the shore for a day before that. photo by Margaret Durow.
2. Inspired by this girl, I want to do some tie dye. I am thinking of organizing a little tie dye party for me and my girlfriends but I don't want to end up with some hippie bright apparel, so I may need to do a little research first. I want some nice soft colors and swirlie texture, any tips?
3. I can't wait to see this movie.
That's all, happy holiday weekend!

happy long weekend!

Here's hoping your long weekend is relaxing, laughing, crafting, and loving!
Ours started out with thunderstorms but will hopefully clear up today for girls day activities and possibly a pool or cookout tomorrow. Enjoy!

my make-believe picnic from here.

christmas!

Merry Christmas! I hope it is the best day ever!

I will most likely be taking the next week off for visiting family in other parts of NC and in Georgia. See you next week, muah!

sisters

It does not get much better than this (unless the little brother was here). Merry Christmas Eve!!

flickr:: handmade christmas

Some of my favorite finds on flickr this past week: handmade Christmas decorations::



Can't wait for Christmas to be here!

Links:

• saidos da concha (one and two)
• dottieangel
  
• domesticali
  

ready..

FOR A VACATION!!! Two more days of work before a long overdue break.

Holiday party this weekend, so excited! I will post some pictures up on Sunday (if not too hungover). Photography from here.

blah

Been feeling a bit uninspired lately. What is the trick to balancing work, personal life, and your desire to create??? Felt a twinge of jealousy, inspiration, and excitement when I spotted this handmade wooden wreath on design*sponge. Susie's husband made it as a surprise out of scrap wood!

Can't forget to mention those great paper ornaments as well!

UPDATE: I realized I didn't leave a link for this post- you can see the wreath on d*s here and the original here at Susie's Make Something Happy Blog. I also have to give a shout out to Susie for all of the helpful tips and advice she has been sending my way!

christmas 09

I have really enjoyed decorating the house for the first time ever for Christmas. Just having space for your decorations without everything feeling cluttered makes such a difference.
I am very picky about my decorations, though, and have been getting some slack from friends and family for not putting up mine and the mister's childhood ornaments and decorations. Is that awful? I just want everything to match my color scheme!! Ok, that does sound pretty awful. I'll let you be the judge...
The white tree!

A very special wire ornament my love made for me.


The garland I made from unbleached coffee filters (and a little bit of tissue).

The coffee table.

The gifts- with my handmade NC ceramic ornaments.


I am so excited for Christmas to be here, to actually hand out all of the gifts and to have everyone over to enjoy our new home with us. Speaking of home, I have a special handmade project to show you tomorrow!