High Five For Friday

Happy Friday-before-Christmas everyone!  A high five for Friday post from me has been long overdue - eeek!  Here's (kinda) what's  been going on around these parts....

1. We sold the sweet little heifers that we've raised since late winter last year.  It was kind of sad to see them go, but I trust they went to good 4-H families that will enjoying showing them at their county fairs.

2. I participated in two local vendor fairs with my handmade greeting cards this month.  It was pretty fun but wow, vendor fairs are a lot of work to get ready for!  If you are interested in them, here is a link to my etsy shop.

3. I love getting picture messages from my little family wondering when I am going to be home...

4. I finally decorated our home for Christmas.  Read more about it here.

5. We have the best neighbors!  Cindy has a cupcake business so she and her husband brought us over these cupcakes for Christmas.  It took us all of 3 days to eat them... yum!

I like decorating, but not for holidays...

It's true. I'm an aspiring interior stylist who loves to decorate homes but could care less when it comes to decorating for the holidays... any of them. Have you ever heard of such a thing?!  This doesn't mean I don't love the season or the reason for the season because I truly do.  I love everything about it - the meaning of Christmas, the joy, and excitement, and extra time with family. But, I could do without the decorating.

Growing up it was SO exciting to get home from school and see that mom had decorated the house for Christmas! It was like Christmas morning!! I still wish I could walk into my home one day after work and have it be decorated for me. :)

This may be because we live in a relatively small house (poor excuse), or the fact that it's a lot of work to clean, decorate, store your every day stuff, and re-clean (I sound lazy) but more than likely  its because we don't have kids and are gone through nearly the whole holiday season.  I know that when we do have kids, I will turn decorating the house into a huge deal for them just like my mom did for us!

Last Saturday I finally gave in and brought the holiday spirit into our house for Adam and I. I must admit its kind of fun to turn on all of our Christmas lights at the end of the day.  If one of us gets home before the other, we make sure to turn on our Christmas lights so it's "Surprise! Your home" every time we walk through the door!

Here is a little taste of my simple Christmas decorating....

These bells on our front door handle double as a door bell since we forgot to install one when we added on our entryway.  Ooops! :)

I made use of a lot of free printables from other bloggers this year - I love them! Just do a Pinterest search for "free Christmas printables!"

So, who wants to come over on January 1 to take down Christmas decorations for me? I'll have drinks!

Client Design + Before & After

Is it seriously December already - eeekkk! This month always seems so jam-packed but in the end we survive!  This month I am participating in two local vendor fairs and hoping to wrap up a couple of client designs before Christmas.  The good news is that this is all stuff I enjoy!! (Did I tell you that I haven't started Christmas shopping yet either?!)

Anyhow... I month or two back I had the opportunity to work with a great gal, Neda, to re-decorate her living room.  She has such a great space so of course my mind started to go in a million different directions because the possibilities were endless.

Here is a "before" look at her living room.

Isn't her space awesome?! I love the high ceilings and the open floor plan!  Based on the client profile she sent me, I pulled together this living room design for her.

Neda did such a great job pulling the space together.  I sort of want to live here. :)  Not to mention this quick picture from her phone looks like it came from a magazine!  It's so clean, fresh, and modern!!  This is easily one of my favorite spaces that I've had the opportunity to decorate!

What do you think?!

If you are looking for help with any room in your home, let me know, I'd be happy to help!  Hop on over to my e-design services page for more information or email me designyourdwellingblog (at) gmail.com to get started!

Where Your Thanksgiving Meal (really) Comes From

Photo courtesy of Creature Comforts.

Have you ever thought about where your Thanksgiving meal comes from?  I mean really comes from?  I'm not talking about mom or grandma's house or even the grocery store.

Last night I was watching "Alaska: The Last Frontier" a Discovery Channel reality show of sorts.  (It's true, I get into weird shows, not to mention it was a boring Sunday night of cable tv.)  The Kilcher's, who are the homesteading family, were celebrating Thanksgiving.  As they sat around the Thanksgiving table with their family they told the story of where each of their dishes came from. They knew where exactly where each ingredient came from because they either raised it or hunted for it. Not many of us can have that same discussion.  When someone asks for our recipe we generally give solid directions to the exact location we found the ingredient in a specific grocery store.

For just a moment think beyond the grocery store, and the brand name label that packaged it. Think about the hands that raised each ingredient in your famous Thanksgiving recipe.  It was a farmer that spent hours on end caring for the produce and animals that they raised for you to enjoy during this holiday meal.

Let me connect the dots for you and bring this to life.

My blogging friend Katie who writes over at On The Banks of Squaw Creek raises Turkey's with her family. She and her husband spend countless hours caring for these birds no matter the blazing heat or the bitter cold.

The cranberries in your cranberry sauce were more than likely raised by a farmer in 1 of only 5 cranberry producing states in the United States. Did you know the cranberry is native to North America?

The corn meal in your cornbread may have been raised by my husband. He spent the last two months harvesting a corn crop, and preparing for next years crop, working from the time the sun came up until long after dark. (It's nice to spend time with him again.)

When I was in high school I worked for our family friends who are dairy farmers. The milk on your table could be from their dairy farm. Their cows come first, they know each one by name or number and spend countless hours with them caring for the health and well-being of their herd.

Let's not forget about dessert! I have a friend who used to raise pumpkins in college - many of those pumpkins more than likely made their way into a pumpkin pie.

So you see, there is a name and a face behind the deliciousness we are filling our bellies with this holiday. These people, known as farmers, care tremendously.  On Thursday take a step back, if only for a brief instant, to think about the hands that raised this incredible food you are so blessed to have on your table.  

While I love sharing decorating and fashion ideas with you all, my mission is to also inspire you to lead a beautiful life. Thus the reason for this post - there is more to life than beautiful homes and the perfect outfit. It's about being thankful for all that we are provided and being thankful to those who have done so much for us.

Happy Thanksgiving my friends!

High Five For Friday!

Have you ever had one of those weeks that seems to have drug on and flown by all at the same time? That's where I'm at this week but as always I'm thankful that it's Friday! :)

One. Axe is growing like a weed. In fact, she is out hunting for pheasants this morning.
Two. Victoria's Secret sent me a $10 birthday gift in the mail. They are way ahead of schedule since my birthday isn't actually until May but that's ok.  I'll take it! :)
Three. I am working on tons a lot of greeting cards this week for both my etsy shop and two vendor fairs that I have coming up in December.
Four. Last Saturday I made a pumpkin pie for absolutely no reason other than it sounded good. It was!
Five. Yesterday we got our first snow here in Iowa.  Even though that means winter is pretty much here, which is kind of a bummer, the first snow is always kind of exciting.

How was your week?

Don't forget to register for this $200 Target Giveaway!
My awesome sponsors have also compiled a giveaway that includes a pillow cover, earrings, and virtual room consult!
And, if you are thinking of growing out your bangs, here are 3 ways to hide your bangs.

November Sponsor Giveaway

I love days like today! They make me happy because I love being able to treat you all to goodies with the help of some awesome sponsors!

Megan, an independent stylist with Stella & Dot is giving away a pair of Nancy Stud Earrings. I don't know about you all but I would love to have a this pair of earrings that go with anything, especially when I think about getting dressed up for the holidays!

Lindsay from Moxie Design Studio is also giving away a pillow cover of your choice! I love her designs and how they be easily mixed and matched.  You may want more than one! :)

I'm also adding to the giveaway! I'll be giving the lucky winner a virtual room consult for one of the rooms in their home!

The winner will be contacted by email!  Now - enter to win below!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

3 Ways To Hide Your Bangs

Going on two months ago I had a hair appointment and wanted something "different" to, you know, jazz up my style.  Against my better judgement I decided on bangs.  I've been growing them out ever since I left the salon.

It's at this point that I must let you know that I have a fantastic hair stylist and the issue I have with my bangs has nothing to do with the haircut she gave me. She gives one of the best hair cuts I've ever had. Thanks Lore! (If you are from Western Iowa and looking for a stylist, check out Lore's Hair Salon!)

Like I said, I've been growing out these bangs ever since I walked out of the salon.  They are taking for-ev-er to grow out so I've figured out three ways I can hide them.  Here they are...

Style One| Work them in with the rest of your hair.  This takes a little extra curling, teasing, and hairspray but it's effective.  You can hardly tell they are there! :)

Style Two| Twist and pin. Starting at your part twist your bangs back and secure them with a bobby pin.  This is my go-to style. 

Style Three| Wear a headband. It doesn't get any easier than this!

By the way, I make this decision every couple of years even though I know I'm going to regret it.  If you ever hear me say anything about getting bangs again... please stop me. :)

Any other simple solutions?! Please share!

Turn on the Twinkle - A Holiday Design Board

I am shocking myself by the fact that I am already thinking about Christmas and decorating for the holidays!  This year I found my decorating inspiration from this Glitzy Greeting card by Tiny Prints.  I love the combination of gold and jewel tones and by adding just a few holiday decorations, a room can easily be transformed into a beautiful space to live and entertain guests during the holidays!

How about this for a holiday space?!

Inspiration

Glityz Greeting: Black Ornament Card

For more Tiny Prints holiday cards go here.

Start With The Basics

sofa | side table | rug | lighting

Add Pillows

happy holidays pillow | purple & gold pillow | polka dot lumbar pillow

Finish With Holiday Cheer

pine cone garland | Mistletoe print | wreath

For more items to go with this "Turn on the Twinkle" look visit my Pinterest board: Christmas Decorating 2

One more thing!  If you are planning to order holiday cards Tiny Prints has a site-wide sale of 25% of your purchase with the code SW1117!  No minimum purchase required. Offer ends November 17, 2013.

If you would like a custom design board created just for you, I would love to help! Visit my e-design page for more information.

High Five For Friday

One. This last weekend I headed to Portland for a girls weekend with an old friend and a new friend! It was so fun.

Two. While we were there my blogging friend, Libby, came over to have brunch with us.  It was so good to meet her!

Three. Dark chocolate sea salt covered hazelnuts.  Yum.

Four. One of the perks of working from home a couple of days a week is that I make my self a really good breakfast!

Five. My husband and 'Axe' got their first pheasant as a team. I couldn't tell who was more excited! :) 

Don't forget about the $200 Target gift card giveaway!

Meet my sponsor - Deluxe Mirrors...

Deluxe Mirrors is an online retailer providing competitive prices on a variety of mirrors for your home. We provide a memorable experience when you shop our online store by offering quality products with top notch customer service.

We feature premium brand mirrors and have custom colors available exactly to your liking. With a great team in place, we aim to grow our business more and more by offering our customers the best mirrors available.

Facebook | Pinterest 

Warm the Holidays Giveaway - $200 Target Giftcard!

It's hard to believe that the holiday season is already here - I still feel like it's summer and I should be planning our wedding!  Eeek!  My youngest sister has already asked for my Christmas list, which I haven't thought much about yet but this giveaway would sure help out my Christmas gift-giving and decorating budget!  Enjoy!


One winner will be lucky enough to get a $200 Target gift card for them to spend on whatever they desire through Target stores or online. Who couldn't use the extra cash during this time of year? With the Warm The Holidays Giftcard Giveaway, a group of amazing bloggers came together to make this possible & are making someone's holiday just a bit more cheerful and bright. Meet the lovely ladies below!

Rebecca @ xoxo Rebecca  |  Rekita @ Her&Nicole  |  Aubrey @ Dreaming About Someday  |

Beth @ Design Your Dwelling  |  Lisa @ The Joneses Blog  |  Niki @ Glossy Blonde  |

Ce Ce @ A Chi Mom  |  Erin @ Simply Just Lovely  |  Angie @ My So-Called Chaos  |

Ang @ Juggling Act Mama  |  Gayle @ Grace for Gayle  |  Courtney @ Chase All Your Dreams  |

Ashley @ Momma On A Mission  |  Kerrie @ Family Food And Travel  |  Georgia @ The Hunt Life

That's right! $200 dollar gift card mailed out to one lucky winner! Entering the contest is easy. Just use the Rafflecopter widget below and you may be the lucky one chosen at random for this amazing prize. The giveaway runs from November 11th through the 25th. The gift card will be mailed out to the winner the week of the 25th. Please see the terms & conditions below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Terms & Conditions: Contest is open to anyone. Please be aware this is for the store Target and there must be one in your area or available to ship to you online to use your prize money. Winner will be chosen at random by Rafflecopter at the end of the contest. Winner has 24 hours to respond via email before another winner is chosen. A physical gift card will be mailed out that week of the contest ending. I am not responsible for loss of gift card through the mail or wrong address information. Please make sure that the address and name are correct when submitting all info if you are the winner.

My Favorite Interior Design Bloggers

There is no doubt that I love interior styling, decorating, DIY projects and inspiration in general.  In case you were curious where some of my inspiration comes from, I want to introduce you to my favorite interior decoration bloggers!

I make a stop at 6th street design school every day to see if Kristen has anything new - she is seriously awesome!

Sarah's blog is full of DIY projects and her home makes you leave feeling envious of her fresh and modern style!

I've had the opportunity to meet Jackie of Teal and Lime and she is one of the nicest, most helpful people I've met.  I truly admire how she is making her blog work for her.  Not to mention she has a beautiful home and creativity that I could only wish I had!

 Nicole's blog, Making it Lovely, is a regular stop for me too! Her style is so different from mine that I leave feeling completely inspired to give a few new ideas a try and to step out of my comfort zone.

Lay Baby Lay is a blog focused on nursery design but her designs are so awesome. You can see the room come to life.  Plus she shares all of her sources.  This has definitely added to my "go-to" files for design clients - adults and kids!

There you have it - an idea of where some of my inspiration comes from! What are your favorites?  Let me know in the comments because I would LOVE to check them out!  Cheers!

Master Bedroom Update - Reveal

Last week I shared my plans to update our master bedroom.  Well, it didn't take me long bring my plan to life! When I am on a mission, there is no stopping me from making it happen.

Here is a quick reminder of my master plan. (Click on the link for the resources!)

And here is how my plan came to life...

I love this duvet cover from Pottery Barn!  Even though it is called the Pearson Snowflake duvet I don't think it looks too winter-y! I also decided against the floral pillow - that ended up in my living room. 

I found the frame for this "Love Never Fails" print for $5.00 at Target.  It had to have been a fluke but it worked out in my favor!

Today I am also excited to introduce you to one of my awesome sponsors, Moxie Design Studio!

Lindsay makes some of the coolest pillow cover on etsy.  Definitely check out her shop and add it to your favorites list!  Thanks so much for being a sponsor Lindsay - I am thrilled to have you here!

I am a fellow Iowa Blogger passionate about graphic design and decorating my home. Follow me for home DIY projects, repurposed furniture, room re-dos and a little bit about my life as a mom of 2 and wife of a farmer. Don't miss my Etsy Shop that is always filled with stylish pillows and printables.

Etsy Shop | Blog

High Five For Friday!

Happy Friday!

I hope you all had a "spooktacular" Halloween. (That's about as halloween-ey I get!)

One| I've been into cucumbers with a little ranch dressing as a snack. Yum.

Two| One of the design clients whose living room I helped decorate sent me this picture of her progress. I absolutely love it!

Three| 'Axe' went hunting for the first time last weekend. Adam brought home a pheasant wing to practice training her with.  She knows right where it is and she wants is Oh-So-Bad!

Four| I made this sweet little Halloween card for my husband. Clever, huh?!

Five| This fabric from Kate Spain came in the mail - I can't wait to make a pillow cover out of it! :)

One the blog this week...

I am updating my master bedroom - here is the design board.

Our wedding review, professional pictures, and vendor Facebook pages.

Have a super weekend my friends!

Wedding Wednesday: Our Wedding Day Details

We're Married!!

Wow - it's been a long time since I wrote a Wedding Wednesday post.  I guess since we're married now, there really isn't much more to write about.  However, I thought I would share one last post with the details of our wedding day. The details include vendors I worked with and a few memories of the day...

Please do me a favor by visiting, and liking the Facebook pages I share with you.  These people are awesome!

All of these pictures are courtesy of our photographer, Andrea, from Adorn Photography.  If you are from Nebraska, you should hire her.  You wont be disappointed with her work. :)

THE CHURCH

We joined Holy Spirit in the midst of going through our wedding preparations.  We wanted to do it as a "couple" and found our church home here.  Fr. Tim, who married us, gave us the best marriage experience anyone could have asked for. 

THE DRESS & ACCESSORIES

My dress was an Alfred Angelo dress.  It was the very last one I tried on during the first dress (and only) appointment.  I tried on a dress that was 2x the size I needed but still loved it. I added the sash which I found on etsy.

My sister's sister-in-law (got that?) made my veil for me.  She is so sweet. She had me look online at what I liked and put it together for me in a matter of a few days. I loved it. 

I love gold and new I wanted accents to be gold rather than silver.  I found these great shoes at ALDO.  The bracelet was from Banana Republic (with coupons, I only paid $1!) The earrings were from Francesca's and the garter was from this shop on etsy.  The garter came with a throw garter too!

HAIR & MAKEUP

My hair and makeup was done by Lore from Lore's Hair Salon. She made me feel like a million bucks!

FLOWERS

My flowers were designed by Design's By Bernie in Carroll, Iowa.  This lady is 100% fantastic! She had me come to look at my bridal bouquet 3 times before the day of the wedding to make sure it was perfect.  The bridesmaids bouquets were solid white hydrangeas.  They are hard to keep alive so Bernie was kind enough to make us an extra bridesmaids bouquet "just in case." 

BRIDESMAIDS

I asked each of my bridesmaids to pick out their own pink or coral dress.  I didn't have any say in the matter - they coordinated this perfectly on their own! OMG! I did this for a couple of reasons; First, I wanted everyone to be able to pick a dress that they could rock.  If you look good, you have a lot more fun! Second, I wanted them to purchase a dress within their price range.  They were not meant to "go broke" for our wedding.  We already asked a lot of them!

GROOM + GROOMSMEN

My husband and the groomsmen are not "tux" guys.  My husband made that clear before we were even engaged. Instead, we went to a nice men's store where Adam picked out a nice pair of dress pants and nice white shirt that they were able to purchase.  They were 100 times more comfortable.  Adam and I gave them these ties from Ties.com.

PROGRAMS & GUESTBOOK

For our guestbook, I created an album on Shutterfly which was a reflection of our dating life and engagement. I wanted it to be something we opened again from time to time. I designed the programs myself (with a little help from a friend) and had them professionally printed. I knew exactly what I wanted and brought the vision to life!

CAKE & DECORATIONS

I had our wedding cake made locally by Sweet Things.  It was meant to be simple and it was. I love what she did with the frosting. 

I kept the decorations simple too. I made these glitter vases and filled them with fake peonys I found at Walmart. We borrowed the mirrors and added tea lights.

SOME OF MY FAVORITES FROM THE DAY

I will always remember this moment when I met Adam in the church before pictures started.  It was the most perfect, honest, and true moment I have ever experienced.

 

We had to most fun wedding party anyone could have asked for! We brought together two completely different groups of friends that meshed perfectly. It was so fun to spend a whole entire day with our best friends!

Since we got married in a small Iowa town it was only necessary to go to another small town down the road to kick off our celebration after the ceremony.  Little did these ladies know what they were in for...

(I love this picture!)

This bar's name may be the "Angry Beaver" but we know it as the "Animal Bar." Yes, those animals were once alive and have been in this bar for years... If you are ever traveling in western, Iowa on highway 30, stop in at the Angry Beaver in Maple River Junction, Iowa. It's an experience!

The reception was super fun.  Our DJ was outstanding so I credit some of the fun had that night to him. Confetti and all! The floor was packed all night long, until about 1:00am!

Well friends, our wedding journey was really fun. Thanks for letting me share it with you.  If you are interested in the rest of my Wedding Wednesday posts that include planning tips visit my wedding page.

I can't wait for what's to come next!