Holiday Gift Exchange – BEAUTIFUL GIFTS!

This was the first time I joined the Holiday Gift Exchange hosted by Linda from Craftaholics Anonymous.

Not familiar with the exchange? A quick run down – This is Linda’s 5th year of hosting the Holiday Gift Exchange and it’s a gathering of people from all over the world.  They submit to be apart of the exchange to her, and then she takes the dedication & time to match two people together to do a gift exchange.  You then have about a month to introduce yourself to your “gift pal” and come up with an idea to create for them.  Then you send it off and wait with excitement and anticipation for your very own unique personally made gift for you to arrive! It’s not exclusive to bloggers, anyone is welcome so keep it in mind for next year!

I was paired up with a wonderfully sweet woman named Jacy and she actually has her own creative business too, Embellished Living.   We exchanged a couple of emails back & forth with introductions and a little bit about our families and décor style to help one another come up with an idea of what to create for one another.  Between her great details of what she liked décor wise and her boards on Pinterest I knew exactly what I wanted to make for her.

But FIRST! I’m giddy to show off what she made JUST FOR ME!  You can tell she really listened to what I described about myself, I loveeeee the wreaths she makes in her shop and she knew my color scheme was greys & yellow.  She made this ADORABLE wreath and I just loveeeeee the little hint of yellow in it!







Then as if that wasn’t adorable and perfect enough she added an additional gift… a personalized ornament!  AND it’s a blue bulb which is perfect as that’s my accent color for decorating this year.  So thoughtful.

””

PEEK A BOO in all those pictures – haven’t mastered the art of trip-pod and “Christmas ornament picture taking”

I’m absolutely in love with my gifts & thanking Jacy from the bottom of my heart! Very thoughtful and wonderfully made personally by her!

She was similar with her décor style as I am with the love of grey and yellow and said she wanted something for her master bedroom.  Also pretty much loved anything to do with love.  So I searched hi and low for a perfect quote to make a sign for her to display in her bedroom.  This is what I made up just for her.





Let me know if you joined the Holiday Gift Exchanged this year too and leave a link to your post about your gifts, I’d love to see what you gave and received.
I am linking this post up with the official “link up party” for the Holiday Gift Exchange to be sure to check out what everything is giving and receiving this holiday season.

Also be sure to check out Embellished Living’s Etsy shop and see all her other beautiful creations!

DIY Growth Chart Ruler

DIY Family Growth Chart



Growth charts are pretty much everywhere and they're such a cute way to watch your family {literally} grow.  There's DIY tutorials all over the bloggy world, but I'm here to contribute my own tutorial too because I was so eager to make one for our home.  At my husband's mom's house they have their own growth wall that is JAMMED packed with fun memories of people that have visited their home.  I'm pretty sure it initially started as a "no no" by the kids while they had friends over one day ... but it just grew from there. 



When I first met Billy, it was one of the first times I had been to his house {back when we were 'kids' ya know, 19 years old} and he said I had to be an addition to the wall.  Again, we just met so he didn't even know my last name so as you can see he decided to add me as "Pamela 'hotty' Anderson" ... as cool as it would be to have that as my name... it's not.



I wanted to carry on the tradition of the growth chart wall to our family, but as we're military I knew doing it on a long board would make it transportable for all our homes to come.  We'll be leaving enough memories behind in each home, it's nice to make things that we can take always take with us.

Materials:
10"x7'x3/4" pine board - I used the higher quality boards and not the stock ones as I wanted it to have a nice smooth finish without a lot of knots to deal with.  I also went up to 7' in hopes that our kids will have my family genes and be in the 6' ranges ;)
Paint
Ruler
Cut-Out Numbers from Cricut - If you do not have a Cricut there is still a variety of options to create your numbers such as a stencil, free hand, transfer paper -- endless options



First I sanded the whole board so it'd have a smooth finish.  Unfortunately there was a big gash in the wood at the end but just a quick fill of my wood filler and a sanding and it was all filled in.






Next I painted the entire board white and let it completely dry.



Next I made ruler lines every three inches because I wanted the spacing to be further apart, but you could add lines every inch to closer replicate a ruler.



Then I applied all the numbers that I cut from my Cricut and was ready to hang on our entryway wall.

TIP:  I measured one foot up from the ground and marked it on the wall.  Then when I measured the lines on the board, I started the "zero line" at about 6" so it would properly sit on the wall and measure people correctly. 

Super easy project to do and love that we can take it with us whenever we move! 

Linking up with great parties seen on my party page & these below:

Christmas Tinsel Trees

For the past several years I’ve decorated for Christmas with my staple colors – white, silver, and gold, and then I add whatever accent color fits my mood that year.  Last year it was dark purple, this year I think I’m doing blue accents.  As always though I just love the way white, gold and silver all compliment each other for decorating for the Holidays. 

I wanted a few more fun trees for decoration this year and decided to make a couple new ones to add to my décor.  They took about 5 minutes to make and only cost a few dollars each – quick, cheap & easy… my kind of DIY crafts!

Michael’s had these cone shapes for a couple of dollars each and I grabbed one larger and one smaller size.  I also grabbed some white tinsel ($5 and have about half left), and a fun gold tinsel (two strands $1.50/each). 



I was hesitant about using my hot glue gun.  We do NOT get along.  Last time I used him I vowed to never again pull him out, he has a vegance against me and finds multiple ways of hurting me.  I honestly would rather use a circular saw than a hot glue gun. BUT, I braved my fear and decided to attempt  yet another craft with the hot glue gun.

I secured the beginning of the strand in the inside with ample amount of glue to make sure it had a strong hold.  Then I pulled it around and placed another small spot on the outside to hold it in place so I could easily wrap it around the cone. 
Next, I put a line of glue up the side of the cone and wrapped the tinsel around tightly until I reached the top.  At the top I just wrapped it around twice and made my way back down the cone.  I double wrapped it so the end could be tucked back underneath the cone and I didn’t have to battle trying to glue down the end without making it obvious. 







I did the same thing with the smaller cone and the gold tinsel…





I LOVEEE how it looks with the gold tinsel!  I may make a handful more of those, they’re just so fun and festive!




My house is slowly but surely being smothered in Christmas decorations and I can’t wait to show it all off!
Are you in the Christmas spirit yet?

By the way! The sign you see here is available in PB&Jcreations shop

Linking up with great parties seen on my party page & these below:

MUST h.a.v.e. DEAL! 40% off PB&Jcreations Holiday Sign

It's been a crazy fun filled weekend so far and it doesn't stop yet!  There are thousands of sales going on everywhere and you probably spent most of Black Friday waiting in lines and going from store to store to score some great deals!

I'm happy to announce a BIG sale I'll be doing as I've teamed up with h.a.v.e. for Small Business Saturday that you can take advantage of from the comfort of your own home!

h.a.v.e. is a brand new sale site that will feature a new product daily with major deals up to 80% off!  Buyers will have 24 hours {while quantities last} to make the purchase and save big,
Their doors are schedule to open with the New Year however they're doing a small preview for the holiday weekend and debuting on Small Business Saturday and YOURS TRULY is the first featured product!

{HAPPY DANCE}

I'm happy to bring my "Christmas Cheer" sign at a big discount of 40% off and sale starts Saturday 26th at 5am!  I'd love and appreciate your support for Small Business Saturday by shopping small {yet saving big!}.  Quantities are limited so take the opportunity now before the sale ends!



Purchases are made directly through the h.a.v.e. blog site, but if you have any questions please let me know!

Thank you SO SO much for your support!

Happy Thanksgiving & giving a disount!

Shop here!

Offer valid through Friday November 25th 10pm EST

AffordableLamps.com Discount! My endless light ideas

Out of all the rooms in our house I've been most excited about making the kitchen "ours".  I waited to make any big changes to the kitchen {except for the kitchen pantry redo of course} until my husband returns from his deployment.  I'm willing to do a lot on my own, but I figure I can wait for an extra pair of hands to do our kitchen back splash.  In the mean time I've been window shopping for some new light fixtures.  Our kitchen has a lot of lights in it, which currently are all recessed.  I'd like to change up the two that are above our breakfast bar and have some beautiful pendant lights instead of the recessed ones. 

The first floor of our home is one big open floor plan and the only real divider from our kitchen to the living space is the breakfast bar, and I think visually hanging pendant lights would be a nice break up of the space too.

I've had my eyes on the modern - industrial style for quite some time and I have been swoooooning over so many various styles that AffordableLamps.com has to offer.

Here's what our kitchen looks like still

{on the day we moved in... no changes except now just filled with a lot of "STUFF}

I want to add a white subway tile backs plash and then as you can see where the breakfast bar is where I'd place the hanging pendant lights above it. 

{In an ideal world we'd be painting or changing out the cabinets and counter top for lighter colors but we'll most likely be moving in a few short years so we'll be keeping as is}

Here's my top picks {there's a lot}

I TRIED to limit my top favorites and wanted to share them with you.

Emery Piccolo Mini Pendant

Mini Pendant Light with Orb Shaped Shade

Mini Cargo Solid Low-Voltage Industrial Pendant

Acrolite Rod Pendant Light

Anastasia Modern Mini Pendant Light Fixture

Marion Contemporary Pendant Light

Domus Mini Pendant Light

I honestly cannot pick between all of these!  I love them all for different reasons!

AffordableLamps.com has endless options for lamps, lights {indoor & outdoor}, ceiling fans and even home decor.  They have really competitive prices too so if you haven't taken the chance to check them out yet .. be sure too.

PLUS! I have an added bonus!
Exclusive to PB&J readers they're offering a 12% discount off your order!!!

Coupon code: PBJ {only valid on phone orders}

Since it's easiest to browse online I suggest taking the time and picking out your favorite lights and adding them to your shopping cart.  Then simply all 1-800-MY LAMPS to place your order, everyone is so friendly there they are really pleasant to work with too.

Mention the discount code "PBJ" for your 12% discount and do your {HAPPY DANCE} for some gorgeous lights at a great price.

Let me know your favorite lights I pictured I'd love some feedback!

Also would LOVE to hear if you take advantage of the PB&J discount so be sure to leave a comment if you made a purchase and what you bought :)

Offer valid through January 1st, 2012.
Offer excludes Hubbardton Forge brand fixtures.

Looks like I'll have to be making a choice between all the lights I love because I just have to take advantage of that discount.

{I was not paid for this post and all opinions and statements are my own.  The only compensation provided was the available discount to my readers!}