I have been pining over NYE decorations and party ideas this year. Salivating is more like it. What great NYE inspirations, blog friends! Now it's NYE tomorrow and I have no plans. At. All. I decided that I would have my own online "party" of what I would include if I could. I hope you enjoyed it.

One glittery item that I did complete this week was my gold, glittery nails. They probably won't last long on my fingernails, but I'll love them while they last!

I had intended to post more this week. Unfortunately, this is what happened.

The red line is where my spine should be.

How did I do this? Rolling over to turn off my alarm clock. Laaaaame.

On top of this, I got that terrible cold that's been going around.

How have you been doing?

I couldn't wait to share my excitement over this with you all but I had to wait until the gift actually reached its destination. I am still not 100% sure it is there, but I could not wait any longer!
Remember when I posted about turmeric dye? Well, this is that original, long-sleeved onesie that I dyed. Next, I wanted to add some fabric "scales" to the front. I upcycled a couple of well-loved clothing items to use as the scales.
At first, there was just the gray scales but I wanted something more and added in the blue scales as well. I really like how it turned out; it looks like it has more depth.

I wanted to share with you all what I have been working on for the shop. If you have been following me on Instagram, you may have seen some shots of these already. These photos I took with my real, normal-size camera! These luminaries have been a long time in the making, from choosing what to shoot, to shooting the images, to choosing which ones to use and then finally making them. I love how they turned out. The lines are clean. I love the contrast in each photo and that they are black and white (or clear, rather, in this case). I have made similar ones for wedding centerpieces, but these are even better (in my opinion). You can buy them at the shop here. Check out more close-ups below!






**I also wanted to clarify that these are tea light luminaries, meaning they are about two inches tall and fit a tea light candle in them to light up the image. I realized that my photos do not depict size or purpose---sorry about that! **

We finally decorated our office for the holidays. We have been swamped with paperwork and neglected our decorations for a few months. Neglect no more! The last photo is of me getting ready for our agency's holiday party.

How lovely are thy (thine?) branches. Tonight I decorated my little 2 foot Christmas tree. I know last year I splurged and got a lovely real, 6 foot Christmas tree but this year I decided to hold back. If I can find the right tree that doesn't cost me an arm and a leg that I will get a real one, but otherwise, this little fakie is it. It's kind of charming in its own way, isn't it? I covered it in my large, regular-sized tree ornaments, but it still looks pretty good.

Oh, what's the rest of the stuff in the picture, you may ask? Well, gifts that I've been working on. And a couple of orders I received. And other things I've made, inspired (Pinspired?) from Pinterest. I'll do a larger post about that at some point, but I need to wait until my recipients have their gifts!

When it snowed this weekend, I really got in the mood for Christmas. Sure, it's in the 50s now, but this weekend was magical. Christmas, here I come!

Well, November's crochet-along project was a complete and utter fail for me. Although I was looking forward to learning how to crochet a granny square...well, I just didn't get around to trying it. Instead of trying to scramble something together this weekend, I decided to forget it and give it a try around Christmas. I'm going to have a week off and I should have some moments to try some granny squares.

This month's (holy crap, it's December already) crochet-along is a hat. I've always wanted to try a hat pattern! Hopefully this doesn't go the way of the granny square this month. Stay tuned to see if I can stick with this month's challenge. Thanks, Alycia, for hosting!

The lovely Danni from Oh Hello, Friend hosted a shop swap this fall. I was lucky enough to be partnered with Christal from Bohemian Atelier. Yesterday I received my package. I love it!

Hi Folks!

It's the last day to enter the ornament exchange! You have until midnight EST to enter (if you're within a couple hours of it, I'm okay with that too). To read more about it, click here. The info you need to email me or comment below is pasted in for your convenience.

::QUESTIONNAIRE::

Name: 

Email Address: 

Country in which you live: (as well as if you are willing to have an international partner or not)

Your interests in ornament type: (share some of your preferences to help your partner choose or make an ornament for you - i.e. colors, styles, specific item(s) you would like inside of the ornament, texture, a link or two to other ornaments you are interested in, etc.)

5 words to describe you or your style: 

Link to your blog/shop if you have one:

Anything else you'd like to ask/share:

So many fabulous ornaments are out there, aren't they? Last time, I posted about DIY inspiration for ornaments this year and today's post is about store bought. Of course, store bought doesn't just mean mass produced...I included some Etsy stores featuring handmade items as well. Take a look and I hope these photos inspire you for your holiday season.

Thats Vintage Baby on Etsy

Farm Sack Threads on Etsy

the Heads Creation on Etsy

iHartFelt on Etsy

AM Radio on Etsy

West Elm

Crate and Barrel

If you haven't had a chance yet, sign up here to participate in the first annual ornament exchange. There are only a couple of more days to do so and I don't want you to miss out! For those of you who have already signed up, thank you!

field roast!

my ryan, eating his t-giving meal

post meal walk

mmmm...cinnamon rolls

waiting desperately for treats while we drank hot cider and coffee

how i know he's home...camera and law books

on our walk

apple pie

It was so good to have Ryan home for the long weekend. I am looking forward to seeing him for Christmas break too. Tater played so much that after Ryan left, she slept all day. Had to make up for the naps she missed, I guess.

Now that Thanksgiving is past, don't forget to sign up for my ornament exchange! I will be assigning partners this coming weekend and I don't want anyone to lose out. Click here to read more about it and sign up. Thanks!

I wanted to share with all of you some ornament inspiration that I have come across while dreaming up this ornament exchange. Thank you, Pinterest, for making this so easy.

So far I have made the himmeli ornaments shown in the second pin. It was harder than I originally thought but the more of them that I made, the easier it got. I also experimented with different lengths and widths as well.

I cannot wait to make the rest of these for my tree, or perhaps use one of the DIYs for my exchange. If you have not signed up for the ornament exchange yet, please do so here! We are happy to have ya!

Today is the day, my friends. The day to use the code below, that is. Click on over to our shop at TurtandElephant and use the code below to check out and save 20% off of your order.