Rufflewood // Hiip // Darling Clementine Shop // Amelia //
Zuzii // Chewing the Cud // Honey and Bloom // Fawn Shoppe
It's small business Saturday!! Support small businesses and take advantage of the deals around the internet! It's a win-win!
This has been the fullest and most beautiful Thanksgiving weekend ever. Hope you're enjoying the holiday cheer in your corner of the world too!
xoxo.
The thankfulness levels are at all-time highs today. We're celebrating five years with this darling little ray of sunshine.
Happy Thanksgiving dear friends!
xoxo
Today I'm taking a break from the gift guiding {here are gift guides one & two} and sharing a little inspiration for advent that I created with my dear friends/photographers Pictilio!
There are twenty-five beautiful days in December leading to the celebration of Jesus' birth! Growing up, my grandparents got advent calendars for us every year, and my cousins and I strategically picked our favorites at Thanksgiving {my family is big on traditions, so I'm talking every year until we were practically in college!}
SO. You better believe we're carrying that tradition to our kiddos, with a little twist! Every day of December, we're making a conscious effort to come up with a little family activity we can do or chat about together, to really be remembering the reason for Christmas and not get consumed with distractions. I mean, we're definitely filling the boxes with treats about half of the days, but we're also going to have some fun ideas of how we can GIVE to others, and how we can remember this year. Here are some we'd like to do in our home:
1. Bring a meal to a family who could really use it. Maybe a friend with a newborn, a family in the middle of a move, or someone who is sick or in the hospital.
2. Draw a picture or write a letter to someone who has made you smile this year.
3. Bake cookies together and bring them to a neighbor or two.
4. Make a mini holiday video as a family, and do this one every year!! How amazing would it be to be able to watch a minute video celebrating Christmas traditions for every year as the kiddos grow? (videos are my new favorite thing since the day I tried using iMovie and realized it wasn't as hard as it looks!)
5. Read the Christmas story together with a fire in the fireplace.
6. Choose a gift to donate to families in dire need {there's a little video on the right to show kids how it all works!}
We're pretty excited about this. It's also SO simple to do the box idea, because they're basically already wrapped. You can find packages of boxes at any craft store. Ours are from Paper-Source. Just add a little sparkle with a ribbon, and you're good to go!
Also, Pictilio has more ideas for filling the boxes on their blog today!
Thank you so much to Pictilio for the beautiful photographs! xo
Modcloth Fingerless Gloves // Forest Necklace //
Rifle Paper Calendar // Monogramed Wristlet //
C.Wonder Cake Stand // Madewell Transport Tote // Brika Bracelet
Another day, another gift guide. Dun Dun Duuuuunnn, all the sales are coming in 3.5 days!! If there ever was a time for guides on gifts, it's now. I assembled a board for the ladies using picks from friends with good taste {and I couldn't resist adding that gorgeous bracelet from Brika!}
Here are today's gift guiders... follow their blogs, follow their magazines, shop in their shops! You won't be disappointed:
PJ Feinstein- blogger at Bunny and Dolly, mama to Levi, living in Omaha. Follow @bunnyanddolly.
Melissa Sanchez- blogger & photographer at Savvy in San Francisco, mama of three, and a great friend. Follow @savvyinsanfran.
Amanda Gomes- my sister!! Creator of Delighted Magazine, mama to Camille, and the best. Follow @delightedmag.
Erin Austen Abbott- Owner of my favorite online shop, Amelia, mama to Tom. Follow @ameliapresents.
Brittany Bishop- Blogger at Life of Charmings, mama to Maddalena. Follow @beebeebishop.
I may get some more gift guides up this week... OR I may get all sentimental about Sophie turning five and share all my thoughts about any and everything "growing up" and such. Stay tuned and find out. Ha!
xo.
Kate
'Tis the season: gift guide time!!
We all have different tastes and styles, so I've asked some of my favorite friends on the internet to help with gift guides this year, so I can mix things up and give you variety! I'm starting with gifts for the MEN in our lives. They often are the trickiest so they get the shaft on gift guiding, so I'm flipping everything and showing our picks for men FIRST! Enjoy!
Who are the people making such fabulous picks, you ask? Let me tell you:
Erin Austen Abbott: Owner of my favorite online shop Amelia, mama to Tom Otis {more about Erin HERE}. Follow @ameliapresents
Brittany Bishop: Blogger at Life of Charmings, mama to Maddalena. Follow @beebeebishop
Erin Taylor: My cousin, friend, owner of Bustle Events, blogger at Pocket Stylist {more about Erin HERE}. Follow @bustledesigns
Photo via We Eat Together
Yum.
We love our tree to be a mix of fun and plenty of color, so I'm planning to use leftover felt {from THIS diy} and make some of these pretty ornaments.
Books to inspire grateful hearts.
Which side of the brain do you use most? (I'm 59% right, 41% left)
Ohhh my gosh, Brian and I were LOVING these pictures.
Really into garland right now. Particularly this.
I don't know about the quality of this camera, but I love the look!
So cute and sparkly!
I've been working sprucing up my home a bit more lately, and I love these tips.
Scones are my favorite.
Those leaves!
This almost makes me want to go camping. Almost.
{But actually, maybe I'll just stay in my warm home by the fireplace instead... last time I went camping, a bear quite literally almost ran me over in my first 15 minutes in yosemite... true story, unfortunately, but I lived to tell, so maybe it's fortunate?}
Also, I won this at The Land of Nod party last night and wow, the quality is unreal. I want to get more!
HERE is the big question of the week: have you seen the new Delighted Magazine?? My sister did an amazing job! I'm partial to the kiddo style pages 38-50 {hello, Sophie & Maggie, and my perfect little niece Camille!}
Happy Weekend!
xo.
