this week's clicks.

get your week off to a colorful start...

Good morning! How was your weekend? Last week was weird because Mr. Q was sick and we had three snow days off from school, so it felt like my weekend started on Wednesday. When Josh recovered enough to leave the house, we started our baby registry, which was a pretty exhausting experience, and I spent a large portion of today doing even more research about all the options for everything from bottles to playpens (too many decisions!). I'll be glad to get back into my regular routine today.

eye candy.

Gina and Ryan Photography via Ruffled

• A bohemian wedding with on-trend agate accents.
• Love Jack's creative and crafty Peter Pan nursery.
• A modern, earthy boy's nursery from Bre Purposed.
• At SMP, a stylish Washington, D.C. wedding.

made me smile.

• Audrey posted a review of so many maternity clothes!
• Thinking about taking on the Classics Club challenge.
• From Lia Griffith, a dreamy DIY copper leaf wreath.
• Emily Ley's been sharing little steps to simplify life.

flashback.

• 2017: January favorites (post needs editing)
• 2016: winter entertainment, Literary Junkies and late to the game TV discoveries.
• 2015: ideas for a living room makeover and my January in Instagram.
• 2014: entertainment favorites and my beauty routine.
• 2013: deep thinking and my classic style staples.

What's coloring your life this week? Share your favorites or link to 

your most recent blog post, Pinterest board, or Insta in the comments!

DIY Elegant Woodland Wreath

After seeing how similar my Christmas trees and decor choices have been over the past several years (short version: lots of red), I decided to take my Christmas decorations in a new direction this year. First, I decided to challenge myself to decorate for Christmas without red this year. Then, I zeroed in on the idea that I wanted to guide my spirit this holiday season: world peace. Along the way, my vision of a peaceful, natural Christmas evolved into a glamorous woodland mishmash, and I'm happy with the final result.

Every year when we decorate our tree on the day after Thanksgiving, I decorate our wreath to match the same theme. I think it really gives our home a sense of continuity, and hopefully, the way our visitors are welcomed into our holiday home gives them an idea of the warmth and beauty that they will find inside. I'll be sharing our tree and other decorations in the days to come, but today I wanted to welcome you all to the country townhouse, Christmas style.

As always, I began with a simple wreath form from the craft store. This year I took out everything from last year and started from scratch! The first thing to go on was layered gold and burlap ribbon followed by white poinsettias (artificial, of course - I'm pretty sure I got these from the dollar store!). Three flowers in a triangle shape help to anchor the design. I just stick the poinsettia stems right into the wreath and wrap the wires around the faux pine branches for stability.

We loved adding a dollar-store garland and a simple strand of lights to our front porch decor last year, and I think the white lights look really awesome paired with this year's wreath. After adding the poinsettias to the wreath, I wired on some glittered pine cone ornaments (I found them at KMart) and some shatterproof gold and green mini ornaments found last year at Big Lots.

Linking Up:

Flaunt It Friday at Chic on a Shoestring

The Party Bunch at Whipperberry

Share It at The Winthrop Chronicles

DIY Cardinal Christmas Wreath

Every winter, one of my favorite projects is decorating our Christmas tree and a wreath to match.  Mr. Q and I decorate on the day after Thanksgiving so we can enjoy our decorations for a long time, and I like to have a theme to work around.  This year I picked my Christmas decorating theme in July - yes, I have become one of those people.  On our vacation in Williamsburg, I decided that our Christmas theme should be Virginia: lots of Colonial-inspired plaid and gingham, gold and pewter decorations inspired by the two ornaments I bought on our trip (sneak peeks here and here), and our beautiful state bird, the cardinal.  I hope that my cardinal Christmas wreath puts a smile on your face today!

I've been using the same wreath form for years - you can see last year's wreath here.  I took everything out but the red poinsettias and pewter berries (which are stuck directly into the wreath using their picks), wrapped my plaid ribbon around the form and clipped on the cute feather cardinals I found at JoAnn Fabrics.  It was a super easy, quick craft that makes a big impact on our front door!

I got a little holiday decorating envy when one of our neighbors added a lit garland around her door.  Mr. Q got his Clark Griswold on with a dollar-store garland, a strand of lights, and some of the new Command hooks, and now I'm as happy as can be!

Linking Up:

Catch As Catch Can at My Repurposed Life

Categorically Crafting at Someday Crafts

Flaunt It Friday at Chic on a Shoestring

The Party Bunch at Whipperberry

Saturday Sparks at Pieced Pastimes

Share It at The Winthrop Chronicles

Nesting Place

Spring Craft: Decoupage Easter Egg Wreath

There are a few craft ideas I always come back to.  Making wreaths is one of my favorite crafty activities, and book pages are one of my favorite materials to use in creative projects.  Last Easter, I decoupaged some plastic Easter eggs from the dollar store with pages from a Shakespeare book I picked up at Goodwill.   This year, I got the idea to jazz up those book page eggs with some glitter and turn them into a wreath!

First, let's make some decoupage eggs.  Craft stores sell papier-mâché eggs, which I am sure would make this project a bit more manageable, but you can't beat 24 eggs for a dollar.  Our local Dollar Tree had both regular sized and mini eggs, so I picked up a package of each.  You'll also need gloss Mod Podge, a sponge brush, and a book or other interesting paper (scrapbooking paper, a map, etc.) you don't mind ripping up.

Use your sponge brush to coat the surface of the egg with Mod Podge and start applying your paper scraps.  It's helpful to cover the egg's "seam" first so that it doesn't pop apart while you're working.

Keep going...

a little christmas spirit: DIY silk floral wreath

I'm gradually decorating for Christmas, and the first completed piece of decor is this wreath, made with a stem of silk florals from A.C. Moore that inspired my whole decorating vision for this year.  I used the same technique I described last year to make this wreath, but this years' is packed a little fuller with red poinsettias and holly from last year, new white poinsettias, burgundy hydrangeas, and pinecones, and silver berries from Jo-Ann Fabrics.  I want things to be a little less "country" this year and a little more sophisticated.

This is such a simple, affordable craft than can be completed while watching television, and the possibilities for customization are really endless with the wide range of floral picks that fill the aisles of craft stores at Christmas time!

Linking Up:

  
  

36th Avenue

Hookin' Up with House of Hepworths
Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style
Christmas Linky Parade at Songbird and Cottage Magpie
Super Sweet Saturday at Sweet Boutique
All Star Block Party at Full Circle Creations

Will you DIY any of your holiday decor this season?

celebrate: 2012 london olympics closing ceremony party decor

DINNER PARTY.

U.S. Women's Gymnastics Team via I Smell That

If you're having a few close friends over for dinner and Closing Ceremonies viewing, flowers inspired by the London 2012 Victory Bouquet - the ones given to athletes on the medal podium - would be the perfect accent.  The original bouquet was designed by UK florist Jane Packer's creative director Susan Lapworth and contains British sustainably grown pink Aqua, yellow Illios, orange Marie Claire, and green Wimbledon roses, apple mint, rosemary, lavender and wheat.

Here's a helpful overhead shot of the bouquet if you're interested in recreating it- most of the floral and herbal ingredients can be found in nicer grocery store floral departments and produce sections.  If you can't find lavender, purple limonium (also called statice) is a good substitute.

Jane Packer via Playing with Flowers

Serve: Mini Beef Wellingtons from Our Krazy Kitchen

COCKTAIL PARTY.

Photo of U.S. Men's 4x100 M Medley Relay team by Al Bello via Zimbio

If you like your celebrations a little more upscale, make your decorations an elegant tribute to the gold, silver, and bronze medals with white and metallic decor.

Coastal Living via Inspired Living Spaces

Add some green if you'd like with laurel wreaths in a nod to the ancient Greek Olympics.  This boxwood wreath DIY from Love of Family and Home would definitely get the point across...

SheKnows

or go totally modern with The Nester's laurel wreath made from plastic spoons!

Nesting Place

Serve:  Go for the Gold Pineapple Truffles from Kitchen Meets Girl

Additional Sources: 2luxury2, Flowerona

Come back later today for Brazilian-inspired party ideas!

independence day craft: 4th of july rag wreath

I usually don't post on Saturdays, but I was so excited about this craft that I had to share it with y'all!  It's totally a lazy-person craft, too - my favorite kind - that I completed while watching an episode of Dirty Jobs where Mike Rowe worked on a farm.  What could be more all-American than that?