My Favorite Things To Do With Burlap (Right Now)

Hello and happy Monday! This weekend went by like a blur and was filled with mall shopping, whiskey tasting, football watching, and errand running. While everything was great, the football game could have gone a little better (darn you, FSU!) 

So...if you've read any of my recent blogs...you already know what my first Christmas craft of the season was. Without being redundant, I just wanted to share a few quick tips on how this little burlap wreath was created. 

After scouring Pinterest for craft ideas in November, I quickly decided a festive burlap wreath for the front door would be perfect! There were so many tutorials on Pinterest that I thought for sure it would be a breeze. Wrong! 

Luckily, I first tackled this craft at my friend Rachel's house. I say luckily because we all know two heads are better than one! On top of that, Rachel is a master crafter, so we figured it out pretty quickly together! We found that the best way to figure out how to put together a burlap wreath is to use a combination of directions from various websites. There are 2089357483942 different blog posts that can be found via Pinterest already, so I really don't see the need for me to spell it out one more time. 

Basically, all you need is a wire wreath, burlap ribbon (about 60 ft.), some accent ribbon, and either floral wire or pipe cleaners. I got all of my supplies at A.C. Moore for $8! These wreaths sell for $45+ on etsy! 

Just some extra tips: 

• Start your burlap weaving on the outermost wire ring and weave over, under, over, under toward the inside of the ring. 
• Weave the burlap through four times in each section so that the wreath is fuller. 
• I really wanted to add an accent ribbon in to bring a pop of color to the neutral burlap. I found it best that the accent ribbon be wired. I weaved the accent ribbon through each section two times, trying my best to space them out evenly. 

That's it! I enjoyed this craft (and the end result) so much, that I made another one for my mom in Virginia! 

Another way I'm loving burlap this holiday season is as a Christmas card holder! I had some extra burlap ribbon from the wreath craft that I wasn't sure what to do with. Then one day while I was perusing the isles at Marshalls, I came across a couple packs of festive mini clothespins and immediately knew what to do! 

I didn't end up using the washi tape back there for this craft...but you will be seeing that again in a few days! 

Off of our makeshift pantry in the kitchen, I rolled down the burlap ribbon. I am currently using the clothespins to hold all of our beautiful Christmas cards we've already received (Seriously people... some of ya'll are on TOP of your game this year!). I LOVE the way it turned out and that I get to admire everyone's cards every time I walk into the kitchen! 

Alright, I am off to a Christmas cookie swap! The Christmas festivities have officially begun for this little Smith family! Have a great night, everyone! 

We Decked the Halls

I have been waiting patiently for weeks now to finally share my Christmas decorations with the world (or whoever actually reads this thing...). Today is the day! 

Ryan and I actually decked our halls two or so weeks ago after much begging and pleading on my part. I realize some people may frown upon the whole "decorate for Christmas before Thanksgiving" thing, but seasonal decorations make me giddy. So why should I have to wait until December 1st to put our tree up and only get to enjoy everything for a few short weeks?? Anybody? That's what I thought! 

I take pictures of our Christmas decorations every year (last years set up), so that I can remember where I put things the year before, making re-decorating the next year that much easier. Plus, I just like to give my friends and family out there a little glimpse into our home sweet home we've made for ourselves in Boston. So...without further ado, I present to you my views this season. 

Let's start at the entrance. Welcome in! 

This burlap wreath is my first Christmas craft of the season! It was also one of my November goals! I'm so happy with how it turned out. One of these days I plan on actually documenting the burlap wreath making process on here. One of these days. 

This is our entry table and one of my most favorite spots to decorate seasonally. The banner is new and glittery and came from Etsy. My favorite decorations on the table are the chef Santa, given to us by Mama Kathy, and the bowl of ornaments, which were handed down to us by Ryan's Granny and Papa. These are definitely decorations we will cherish forever.

 Once you walk past our entry, you see this:

Our tree for the season! Our DIY stocking holder can be seen closer up here! 

Our newest addition to the Christmas tree- a little leprechaun ornament straight from Ireland. 

 Our newest piece of furniture (Thanks Brad, Susan, Rick, and Jane!) decorated for it's first Christmas:

For our first anniversary, my god-father and uncle Dave and aunt Carolyn gave us a nativity scene. On a note that he wrote, Uncle Dave told us that my grandfather gave him and aunt Carolyn a similar nativity set for their first anniversary. I think that is so special and will also cherish displaying this set year after year.

To round this post out, here are a couple other odds and ends around the apartment.

I love coming home to our very own Christmas oasis after work in the evenings. Happy Holidays, ya'll!

December Goals

Holy Cow! I know we're two days in, but I still just can't believe it's already December!

November was a great month. I mean any month that we get to see our families is pretty great in my book!

Today, I'm here to wrap up my November goals and move on to my December goals!

First things first, let's take a quick look back at my November goals!

1. Take 3 fitness classes.
I am SO glad I made this a goal because it really motivated me to get my butt up off the couch when it started getting dark earlier and earlier every night this month. I am happy to say that I completed this goal! Every week I went to two body pump classes and a zumba class.

2. Read a book not related to grad school.
Check! This month I chose to read Dark Places by Gillian Flynn. Gillian also wrote Gone Girl, which I really enjoyed reading. Although it was a very dark book, I found it very hard to put down at times, which is always a sign of a good book to me. I would recommend it but maybe don't start reading it late at night when you're husband is out of town.

3. Finish my Christmas shopping.
I realize this was a pretty crazy goal to set for myself in NOVEMBER, but since we're flying home for Christmas, I really wanted to be able to bring all of our wrapped Christmas presents for family in the car with us so that our parents could bring them down to Georgia after Thanksgiving. I am very happy to report that our Christmas shopping for everyone back in Georgia is d-o-n-e! What a relief!

4. Complete a Christmas DIY.
The DIY I chose to complete this month was a holiday burlap wreath for the front door! I loved how it turned out SO much, that I made another one for my mom while staying at the cabin! Stay tuned for a little post on my new front door decoration!

Phew, I was busy this past month! Now on to my new goals for December!

December Goals

 

1. Read a new book.

Taking the time to read a book for pleasure last month reminded me just how much I love to read. You can pretty much bet this is going to be a recurring goal every month.

 

2. Take 15 fitness classes.

Along with the above goal, you can pretty much count on seeing some sort of fitness goal every month. I've tweaked the wording in this goal a little bit because I know I'll be traveling and away from the gym for part of the month. Instead of going three times a week, I want to try to get to 15 total fitness classes this month.

 

3. Complete another Christmas DIY.

I have a lot of burlap ribbon and some other goodies left over from the last craft. Now I just need some inspiration and motivation to do something with it!

 

4. Finally go ice skating in Frog Pond.

I really wanted to do this last holiday season, but it just didn't work out for some reason. Maybe if I make it a goal (and put it in writing), I'll finally convince Ryan to go brave the cold with me and skate the night away in Boston Common?!

 

There you have it. Another month, another set of goals to accomplish!

 

 

Thanksgiving 2014

How's that for a creative title??

Well...it's officially Christmas season!! I can't lie.. I've been in Christmas mode for weeks now, but I can finally share my obsessions with all things Christmas publicly now! Before I dive headfirst in the plethora of blog posts I've been waiting to publish, I need to wrap up Thanksgiving first!

 

Last Wednesday morning around 5 a.m., Ryan and I hit the road to begin our drive to Stanley, Virginia. Both sets of parents left around that same time from Georgia, and my brother and his girlfriend, Colee, left a couple hours later from Bowling Green, Kentucky. The spot we picked conveniently was about a 9 1/2 hour drive from each location! After a very VERY snowy drive, we pulled into the cabin driveway around mid-afternoon, about 20 minutes after our parents. We quickly got unpacked and loaded back into the car to head to the grocery store to stock the fridge and cabinets! Jake and Colee joined us later in the evening, after getting stuck in a bit of traffic, and we sat down at the table for our first meal together of the trip. Susan brought with her two trays of her world famous lasagna, which tasted just as good as you would expect it to with that title! Since it had been a pretty long day for all eight of us, we spent a little time lounging in the living room by the fire and catching up before heading to bed fairly early to get some sleep.

Our driving conditions for the day!

 

 





EVERY bedroom had a fireplace!!



Our frosty firepit

Thanksgiving morning, we woke up and enjoyed some coffee while watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. The Schoeff family took of breakfast for the morning, making two bacon, egg, and cheese crescent rings.

 

We didn't have any set plans for the day until our dinner reservation at 3:30 in Luray, so we casually lounged around, staggering our showers throughout the morning and early afternoon. At 3, we loaded into the car and made the short drive into town to the Mimslyn Inn. We didn't end up sitting down at our table until closer to 4, and we skipped lunch, so we were all pretty hungry by the time the waiter came to take our orders. Everyone got the traditional turkey dinner with mashed potatoes, stuffing, and cranberry except for me and Ryan, who had had our fill of turkey for a little while. Ryan got the seafood plate and I got the prime rib. Everything was delicious though! We finished dinner with dessert of course. There were a couple pumpkin pies, a bunch of crème brûlée cheesecakes, and one chocolate bread pudding. They also brought out a chocolate pecan pie on accident, but left it at the table for us. Win!

Props galore..

 

With full bellies, we rolled ourselves back to the cabin and spent the rest of the night playing dominos.

On Friday, Jake needed to get a swim practice in and the closest pool was about an hour away in Harrisonburg, VA. Since there were tons of stores and a mall in that area, we decided to all pile into the car and drive into town together. While Jake swam and my dad coached, the rest of us walked around Old Navy and a couple other stores at the mall nearby. Once Jake was done, we all went to CHICK-FIL-A for lunch. And yes. Chick-Fil-A deserves to be in all caps. It's that good. We did a little more shopping at Best Buy, Ross, and Michaels before heading back to the cabin for the night. For dinner tonight, we had grilled steaks, roasted potatoes, asparagus, salad, and rolls. Talk about a feast!

Beautiful sunset on our drive home from town!

On our last full day in Virginia, Brad, Susan, Ryan, my dad, and I  went on a "hike" in the morning. Hike is in quotation marks because we didn't hike in the traditional way you may be picturing. We mostly spent an hour or so walking around, taking pictures, throwing snowballs at things and each other, and building a mini snowman.

We rushed back to the cabin around noon to watch the Georgia Tech/ UGA football game. (Fun fact, the Saturday after Thanksgiving will always be remembered in my family as the day Ryan proposed!! Three years ago already!) While watching the game, Colee and I made burlap wreaths.. which really helped take my mind off of the craziness that took place on our TV screen. While the game wasn't super pretty, I am happy to report that GT won!! In overtime, too! On top of our big victory, Indiana and Western Kentucky both squeaked out wins also! Turned out to be a pretty great day for everyone at the cabin! We finished our vacation by eating pretty much everything left in the fridge for dinner, along with a crock-pot full of chili, and playing dominos again!

Hot Tub Celebration!

Sunset on our last night!

Early Sunday morning, everyone loaded up their cars and parted ways. But... only for three weeks! Christmas is right around the corner!! Yipee!

Happy Holiday season, ya'll!