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Holiday Gift Guide for the Homebody

December 12, 2016 by CORINNA HENDERSON

Gift giving is probably on the forefront of most of our minds right now. Most of us are at least mostly done with the decorating portion. And even those who start Christmas present buying early still have a few things left. Since I find it helpful to browse gift guides, I thought it’d be fun to throw together my own gift guide. It’s also my hint to my friends and family on what they can gift to me. There’s no shame in my game. So if you’re a bohemian homebody, or maybe you know one, you’ll enjoy this guide!

Gift Guide for the Bohemian Homebody

Door Knob Hanger – BellsAndBaskets | Desert Wall Art – TheCozyCasita

Selenite Tower | Disco Ball | Cozy Artisan Box – GlobeIn

Macrame Wall Hanging – The Apophyllite | Necklace – Petite Jewel

Carved Wooden Box

My Tree Style: Colorful, Global, Bohemian

December 9, 2016 by CORINNA HENDERSON

If you’ve ever wanted your Christmas tree to embody a colorful, global, bohemian style. I’m going to do my best to share with you how I created that vibe with my own Christmas tree. I don’t really deviate much from my “norm” when decorating the tree each year. Yes, seeing other people choose a theme and go wild with it is interesting to watch. But the idea of that doesn’t sound fun for me. I know what I like and that’s handmade ornaments from around the world, colorful jewel toned ornaments you can buy in bulk, and whimsical, unexpected ornaments that speak to my brand of bohemian.

My Tree Style: Colorful, Global, Bohemian

Tree Topper | Pom Pom Garland | Felt Heart Ornaments | Elephant Ornaments

Glass Mexico Ornaments | Dark Blue Christmas Tree Skirt | Colorful Ornament Set

I think the key to making such an eclectic mix up of styles and themes work cohesively is by sticking with a color story. The basis of the tree is very jewel toned. With different packs of shatter resistant ornaments in similar bright greens, pinks, reds and blues. Then filling the rest of the tree in with “flavor” makes it interesting.

The main color story of my tree is obviously pink and blue. The colors are beautiful together every time. The bright pink is fun and whimsical and the blues are classic. No tree is complete unless it sparkles, so lots of glitter and mirror finish ornaments complete the look of my tree.

I hope you’ve found an idea or two here that inspires you to have some fun with your tree. If you have any questions, please use the comment form below to let me know! Don’t forget to visit each one of my friends below to see how they describe and pull together their Christmas tree. They’re all incredibly beautiful, you’re going to find so many ideas to love!

Monday

Casa Watkins Living

Blue I Style

Polished Habitat

Southern State Of Mind

Up To Date Interiors

Lovely Etc.

Tuesday

Elizabeth Joan Designs

Roots North and South

Postcards From The Ridge

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

5 Stocking Stuffer Combinations

December 8, 2016 by CORINNA HENDERSON

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #BigLotsHoliday #CollectiveBias

My favorite part of gift giving within my little family is the stockings. Filling stockings with little treats and gifts is much more enjoyable than wrapping Christmas gifts to place under the tree for me. The challenge of finding things that will fit in the stocking and using my lifelong tetris passion to get them all in, the whole experience is just fun for me. And I know some people like to wrap the goodies inside the stocking, but I just don’t have that passion.

This year I was faced with the exciting challenge to make Big Lots my one stop shop for everything from the stocking to the goodies inside. From children’s stockings to men’s stockings to the pets, a unique gifting experience can be created. Even if you forget to take care of those stockings until the last minute, with so many Christmas presents to choose from in the store, you’ll be happy with what you pull together.

I ended up having to take my little guy along with me. Thankfully everything was easy to find because he loves to talk and chat with every person around. We first found the seasonal section and picked out our stockings. Aisles dedicated to pets, gift sets and toys were nearby so we spent some time browsing those. And in the larger walkways there were temporary displays dedicated to gifting.

You may or may not have all the same stocking requirements I have (Dad, Mom, Child, 2 Cats and a Dog), but I’m going to walk you through my ideas for each stocking to hopefully inspire you with your own ideas for your stocking needs.
stockingdad

And then because I love to break out of doing things in any traditional way, I decided not to hang the stockings on my mantle. I used over the door wreath hangers to hang them on the hallway doors! A couple cute clothespins, Christmas cards and handwritten name cards are all it took to add the stockings to the doors securely with holiday charm.

Obviously my challenge wasn’t a challenge at all. Big Lots checked off every item I needed for my stocking stuffers and then some with great quality, trendy and name brand items, and it was all had for a great value. I hope you’ve found some inspiration between the stocking stuffer ideas and the stocking hanging idea. Let me know what part you enjoy the most in the comments below!

EEF&TSBT: The Cozy Casita

December 7, 2016 by CORINNA HENDERSON

In an effort to eliminate some of the world’s longest blog post titles, I’ve abbreviated one of favorite series I do here: Epic Etsy Finds & The Shops Behind Them (EEF&TSBT for short). Today I want to pop in a share a little shop that I discovered and let you preview a bit yesterday: The Cozy Casita. She uses talavera tiles to adorn trays mostly, but you can also find mailboxes, boxes and coasters. Reach out to her if you’re interested in something specific, she does entertain custom orders.

My two favorite colors are teal and pink. As far as creating something unique for me, I’m pretty difficult with being specific in my requests. I’d seen she used a lot of Frida tiles and I adore Frida so I told her to use one if she can. The trays can also be painted or left in a natural wood state.

Would you like to see how my tray turned out?

I’ve made some tea and picked up some festive cookies just in case you stopped by hungry today. The tile combination is so pretty. Still typical or mexican talavera tiles but the colors are a bit unique from what you’d usually see.

I love the whimsy and absolute practicality these have. And they’re incredibly sturdy, I don’t feel like it’ll break with regular use.

Especially with the time of year we’re in, I wanted to share this shop as an option for gift giving, too. I know I would love to receive one as a gift. Paired with some cute mugs or a food gift set, it’s a gift that inspires and continues to be useful.

If you’d like to check out The Cozy Casita, you can do so by clicking here to visit the Etsy shop. I’ve also included 3 of my personal favorites listed in her shop right now below:

I hope you enjoy these little shops I share with you and that you’re having a wonderful holiday season. Make sure you check back for tomorrow’s post- lot’s of ideas for stocking stuffers coming your way!

Colorful Eclectic Christmas Tour

December 6, 2016 by CORINNA HENDERSON

It never fails, every year on November 1st I drag our Christmas tree out of storage and put it up. For 10 months out of the year I refrain from decorating for Christmas. But for the months of November and December, I like to focus on adding magical Christmas charm.

And here we are, less than 20 days before my favorite day of the year. I love Christmas. And I’m still not done. But it’s The White Buffalo Styling Co‘s Holiday themed Blogger Stylin’ Home Tours time. If you’re stopping by from Cuckoo for Design, Hello and Thank you for visiting today!

I’m also linking this tour to the Holiday Housewalk party hosted by Jennifer Rizzo.

holiday-housewalk-2016-linky-party

I’m also sharing this tour as part of The Nester’s Holiday Home Tours.

I’d love to show you two spaces today. I’ll start with the living room and then I’ll show you a peek into my sanctuary.

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…

I like to teeter on the edge of subtle with Christmas decor. Just enough embellishments and swapping out a couple year round pieces for Christmas specific ones is the approach I take.

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Oh Colorful Christmas Tree…

I’m sure my tree just looks like a hot mess of ornaments threw up on it and haphazardly threw some pink pompom garland in the mix. But that’s kind of the rules of my tree decorating game. I love funky bright colors, ornaments from and inspired by around the world, and whimsical little touches.

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Not A Creature Was Stirring…

In my bedroom, I chose to go soft and simple with my decorating. Some faux greenery draped over the head of the bed, a funky tree pick in the pothos and a votive filled with cinnamon sticks adds just enough sparkle to make the room magical.

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I hope you’ve found inspiration or an idea or two here. Please be sure to let me know if you have an questions or comments below using the comment form. The next stop on the Blogger Stylin’ Home Tours is Dimples and Tangles. I know you’ll enjoy your visit there!

MONDAY:

TUESDAY:

4th Utility Cost comparison

November 30, 2016 by CORINNA HENDERSON

As I mentioned last month, it is time for the end of my monthly check ins with my partnership with Rheem and our hot water heater experiment. For this final check in, we’ll be assessing the usage of electricity, natural gas and water consumption from the past 3 months versus the same 3 months the year before. The purpose of this analysis is to see if the claim that upgrading your existing systems will save you money. Unfortunately I’ve found in my own experience that the numbers only make true sense if you’re using the same amount of those resources from year to year. And honestly, I’ve gone a little ham with my water consumption now that I have hot water on demand. But it’s still fun to look at. So here we go:

From the past 3 months, here’s the breakdown:

Electricity

Natural Gas

Water

September $157.08

October $107.30

November $106.06

September $0

October $0

November $30.11

September $129.20

October $0

November $138.57

September total utility 2016: $286.28

October total utility 2016: $107.3

November total utility 2016: $274.74

And from the same 3 months in the year 2015, here’s the breakdown:

Electricity

Natural Gas

Water

September $131.57

October $82.46

November $111.54

September $32.17

October $47.72

November $86.43

September $138.61

October $0

November $106.60

September total utility 2015: $302.35

October total utility 2015: $130.18

November total utility 2015: $304.57

So, yes, there’s a decrease in the overall amount we’re paying. Which is amazing considering how many baths a day my little one manages to take everyday now. And considering a full warm bath was nearly impossible with our old unit, it’s definitely worth mentioning!

If you’d like to read a little more on my thoughts on whether or not this whole process has been worth it in my opinion and with my experiences, definitely check out my thoughts on upgrading my hot water heater.

My Thoughts On Upgrading My Hot Water Heater