Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from Amanda, David, Allie, and Titan!

 

Christmas Table Setting 2012

Finally getting around to posting this year's Christmas Table setting.

This year I used silver chargers, my grandmother's china dinner plates, and some super cute Christmas tree salad plates that I picked up at TJ Maxx for about $3/plate.

Christmas Wreath Party

Good morning! I hope you all had an excellent weekend. Last week was super busy for me so I didn't get to post much. I spent a few days in beautiful Cincinnati, Ohio. I just love Cincinnati. It is a pretty city with a real charm. When I worked in Admissions, I spent a good bit of time there so I was excited to go back for a few days. It was especially nice to get to see it all decorated for Christmas.

While it was a great trip, I was definitely glad to head back home on Friday. I think I brought the rain with me though because it is a dreary day here in Alabama. Yesterday, I held a small Pinterest party and made a new wreath for our front door.



This is Jennifer's wreath hung up and looking all festive. I just love how different they all turned out. Hers is a live wreath so it smells WONDERFUL!

And here is my wreath adorning our front door.

I LOVE it! It is my favorite wreath so far. I made it using this tutorial from Kristen's Creations Online as an inspiration.

I want to make this a Christmas tradition but next year I will have the party a little earlier so that I can enjoy my creation longer!

Have a great week!

JOY Wall Hanging

This was one of my favorite DIY Christmas projects this season. Mainly because it took all of about 5 minutes and cost about $6. Quick and cheap, can't beat that.

 

Since our Christmas tree is in the corner of our living room, it leaves a section of our wall between the windows feeling a little off balance. I knew I needed to hang something vertical here but wasn't sure what. I spent my whole lunch hour walking around Hobby Lobby looking for some inspiration and finally settled on these wooden letters to spell out the word 'Joy". The letters were about $2.50 each and they are about 8 inches tall.

 

I took some left over red spray paint from a project that was an epic fail and gave them a good coat.

 

 

Then I took those nifty command picture hangers (the ones with out the hooks) and stuck them to the wall. These were great  because I didn't have to add three more nail holes to my wall.

 

Ta da! This does a really great job tying the room together. For 5 mins and under $10, this is definitely my kind of project.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

~Amanda

 

Outdoor Christmas Decor

Today was a great day. We finally out our outdoor Christmas decor up, hubby was off work and home with me all day, and my alma mater won it's 23 SEC Championship, securing it's spot in the second straight National Championship. Roll Tide!

 

 

Here are some pics of our outdoor decor. This is our first year to decorate outside. Next year, I will definitely not skimp on the garland and invest in the thicker stuff. That's what I get for being cheap thrifty. I would also like to add those adorable little mini Christmas trees where the poinsettias are sitting. Maybe I can pick up some at an after-christmas sale.

 

Here is what it looks like in the daylight.

 

 

 

And at night!

Christmas Decor Inspiration

It's almost that time of year again. Time to pull out the Christmas deocrations and finally get to some of the pintrest projects I've been waiting a year to try.

I am an advid follower of the rule that Christmas decorations are not to be put up before Thanksgiving. One holiday at a time people!

Eventhough I refuse to switch over to the dark side, I have started planning what projects I want to take on this year to add to my Christmas decor.
Here are a few Pintrest Projects that I hope to tackle this Christmas:

Ho Ho Ho Sign

 

Candy Cane Yarn Wreath

Christmas Card Wreath

 

 

Burlap Christmas Pillows

 

First Craft Fair

This past weekend I did my first craft fair. I was so nervous because of the nature of my items. I typically sell items that are customized with people's names so I didn't think I would have any sales. To my surprise, I actually had 4 orders! I also learned a few things that I will work on for the next fair. If you are planning on doing a craft fair during the holiday season let me offer a few suggestions:
1. Get a Square. Period. - If you have a smart phone or an iPad you NEED a square. You can download the app for FREE in the app store and register and they will send you a free device that you can plug into your phone or ipad. This allows you to take credit cards. It direct deposits the money into your account in about 24-48 hours and even sends your customer a receipt to their phone or email. There is a charge per transaction but it's super small plus because there are no monthly fees, you don't have to worry about paying a bill! Three out of four of my sales were with a debit card so if I couldn't take them, I would have lost those sales.

2. Bring cute bags to package your sales. I didn't have to worry about this since all mine were orders but I saw a few people putting their sales into simple cheap brown gift bags with a piece of colored tissue paper. I thought this was such a cute idea. It really makes your products have a nice "boutique" feel to customers. Hey, Victoria's Secret makes billions off of this strategy, make it work for you too.

3. Offer an incentive to customers to place an order the day of the fair. I didn't think of this until the last hour or so but I really should have done this. I noticed that I went through about 40 fliers and people said they wanted to order but would order later. Next time I will offer a special such as 15% off your order if you order at the craft fair.


4. Stand up. I know this may sound crazy, but it works. For my "real job", I work college fairs and have to stand behind a table all day. My boss is always so insistent that we stand, not sit and there is actually some logic behind it. I noticed at the craft fair that when I was sitting, only half the people came to my table as when I was standing. I started looking around and noticed that the people who were standing had much more traffic than those sitting. You appear more approachable when you are standing. Try it out!

Anyone else have any craft show pointers??
Finally, here's a pic of my booth, my husband was such a proud hubby that he had to take a pic...he's going to be one of "those dads" one day :)