Wishes for the New Year

I stumbled upon these two iconic sculptures in New York City and I thought they were fitting to start the New Year.

May our 2016 be filled with these!

Macy's Holiday Windows

Hi there! I hope you all had a beautiful Christmas celebration.

Today, I'm sharing a few photos from my romp to Macy's in Herald Square. 

 I absolutely love their theme this year...The Peanuts Gang is front and center!

Sweet, sweet Linus.

         
Are they not adorable?!

Even the USPS came out with these forever stamps...perfect for Christmas correspondence.

And attaching to those letters to Santa Claus!

Please savor the remaining days of 2015.
I wish you all a spectacular New Year!

Inspiration from the Food52 Holiday Market

Hello! How is your week coming along? Are you in a mad scramble in preparation for Christmas? We're all caught up in the holiday rush but I have a few photos to share from my visit to the Food52 pop-up shop over the weekend.

Maybe these photos will spark some holiday creativity:

No fire place? No problem! Use a faux mantle and an electric fire.

The wooden pegboard reminds me of Julia Child -- a great idea for
organizing the kitchen or craftroom.

Projecting a movie on a white wall plus a string of lights
for a fun outdoor party.

A simple table setting and gift packaging on brown paper bags.

Incorporating nature (dried leaves) in gift giving.

I think these ideas turn blah to TADA!

Wishing you a spectacular week. Happy Holidays!

Origami Ornaments

Hey guys! How was your weekend? I'm so into the holiday spirit and I'm seeing a lot of inspiring decorations like this one:

It's a Christmas tree with a Japanese theme. The ornaments are origami.

Look at these kimonos! Aren't they adorable?

And the tree topper is a paper crane. TADA!

If you'd like to make some kimono ornaments, you can check out the tutorial right here.
And the crane has easy to follow instructions here.

Happy decorating!

A Handmade Wreath

I am on Christmas decorating mode! I've put up pine wreaths and garlands, decked them out with ribbon and lights and handmade ornaments. 

Here's a wreath I saw at a home decorating shop:

It would be a nice holiday craft, don't you think?

It's made of pages from an old book. Each one is rolled up like a scroll and tied with twine. The edges of the scrolls are dipped in glue and finished off with silver glitter. Then the scrolls are attached to a wire wreath with hot glue. A pretty bow can be used to hang the wreath to a door or window. TADA!

Have a great week, folks!

Advent Calendar Ideas

I hope all of you had a nice Thanksgiving weekend. Now, Chirstmas is upon us.

A friend of mine and I were talking about advent calendars and how she wanted to make one for her two year old.

And that's all I've been thinking about. Advent calendars.

The idea is to make a countdown to Christmas day. It's exciting because a small gift is opened each day (day 1 to day 24). But I do like the idea of an activity that the whole family can enjoy, or performing a random act of kindness, or reading a new book leading up to Christmas.

Here are a few cool ideas:

via everyday miracles

Using matchboxes

via lapin blu

Gifts hanging from an embroidery ring (or wreath)

via gotlandsliv

Lunch bags

via oh happy day

Trees and tiny boxes

via la petite cuisine

Using a tree branch

via the fox and star

Origami paper and washi tape

via hometalk

A shoe organizer

via parents

A baking pan and colorful paper

I hope you're feeling inspired to make your own using everyday materials that turn blah to TADA!

Thanksgiving Thoughts

This Thursday, we celebrate Thanksgiving Day. I guess like Christmas, it can get muddled with all the dinner preparations and shopping deals. 

Before things got busy, I took time over the weekend to take a walk in Central Park and think about everything I'm thankful for, expecially for good health and new opportunities.

  

I also wrote a few thank you notes to some dear friends.

And later this week, I'll bake some pie.

I hope we don't forget that it's about togetherness and being grateful for all that we have.

Have a good week, everyone!