|| I n s p i r i n g . H u e s || Mixture of Fall and Winter

With Thanksgiving quickly approaching and the winter holidays arriving just soon after, I was looking for a color pallete for my home that I could easily merge for both fall and winter festivities.  We all know with fall comes neutral colors and often bold colors (think red, orange, and navy).  I am wanting a very natural look for Christmas this year and decided on these colors to decorate our first tree in our new home.  With the Fall Meadow color, think a slightly shimmery gold color rather than yellow.

 

Color pallete by Elizabeth of Lima Green Designs

Image via: Pinterest

Color patches: Valspar 

|| L o c a l . I s . T h e . N e w . B l a c k || October Meet + Make

 

October Meet + Make with Sarah Hearts

 

A wonderful experience of crafting with fabulous ladies, chatting with an amazing host, and leaving with a drool worthy door mat has left me excited for what is to come next for Sarah Hearts and her wonderful Meet + Make events at West Elm Orlando.

 

Sarah hosted one of her best Meet + Make events to date.   With over 50 attendees equally excited, there was chatter in all corners, paint was being applied in beautiful patterns on door mats, spiked cider and lovely desserts were being passed around, and the beautiful products of West Elm that surrounded us made it a fabulous evening.   

 

I love attending Sarah's events not just for the crafting aspect, but meeting amazing people in the Orlando area.  If you are new to Orlando this is a wonderful way to meet others, make connections, and have fun while crafting.  All you simply have to do is purchase your ticket, show up, all the supplies are there for you ready to go, and all you have to do is be a little creative and have a blast! 

As Meet + Make is coming to an end, you are then handed an amazing swag bag that you see pictured at the beginning of this blog post.  Inside this swag bag you have sponsors (some that are even local) that have sprinkled and donated some of their handmade products.  Talk about being exposed to supporting locals, small businesses, and items made in the US!  Sarah gave me the wonderful opportunity to be a sponsor myself at this Meet + Make.  Here is a detailed view into my swag bag:

1. Pen and Paper Flowers: PNP Flowers provided an adorable polka dotted key chain that stated "Her dreams give her goosebumps".  A constant reminder to dream big!  I had the opportunity to meet Jessica (the gal behind PNP Flowers) at a previous Meet + Make and she was a wonderful individual to get to know and craft with!

2. Modernly Mae:  These flowers made out of felt and placed on wire stems are adorable! I currently have them on my fireplace mantle for fall.  I plan to order more to add to my vase because they are simply too fun not to have more!

3. Bright Light Paper: I can't get over these adorable fall cards!  Not only are they perfect to spread fall cheer, but they are hand drawn and painted by watercolor.  Time to send someone some snail mail!  Added bonus? Elizabeth (another one) was in attendance.  I got to meet this local with a wonderful business that also sponsored the Meet + Make.  How can you go wrong with two Elizabeth's at one event?

4. Thatch and Thistle: I. Can't. Get. Over. This. Company!!  Thatch and Thistle provided these geo triangle kraft stickers.  Their online shop offers supplies for beautiful packaging, wrapping, gift giving, and for your unique party supply needs.  I have a slight addiction to their products.

5. The Bannerie:  Oh my, oh my, oh my! How I LOVE this gold, glittery 'Fall Y'all' banner!  It is the perfect addition for my fall décor.  I already have an ongoing list of additional gold and glittery banners I need in my life for upcoming events.  Check this shop out!

6.  Sarah Hearts: Sarah provided these adorable stickers in the swag bag, but more importantly allowed this amazing event to happen!  Her blog is full of inspiration for many facets of your life, many DIY projects, and even designs a monthly wallpaper for your computer and phone!

7. Lima Green Designs: I was thrilled to sponsor another Meet + Make event.  These are my fall themed mini clothespins that are perfect for attaching tags to gifts, hanging pictures on twine, or even keeping your napkins closed at your holiday feast. 

Sarah, thank you for another great event at West Elm.  I am looking forward to another great event in December!

 

 

Now is your opportunity to join in on the fun!  There is probably already a waiting list, but get on it!  Sarah opened the sale of her tickets for her next

Meet + Make in December today.   Jump on this opportunity!

 

|| L o c a l . I s . T h e . N e w . B l a c k || Thanksgiving Invitations

 

Thanksgiving Invitations

 

 This Thanksgiving will be our first holiday in our new home.  I am slightly excited to say the least!  What better way to share our first holiday than bringing both sides of our families together.  To kick off the Thanksgiving preparation, I turned to a few vendors with amazing handmade and original products to create a unique invitation to send out to our families.

 

I enjoyed putting this invitation together so much that I wanted to share my findings with you.  It isn't too late to get yours out!  These invitations aren't just for Thanksgiving with family, but you can also create them for a unique Friendsgiving with friends that you call your family.

 



I found our invitations searching through Etsy.  Aren't familiar?  One click and you will be in handmade, custom, and unique gifting heaven. 

 

After much debate, I picked this invitation by Sweet Bee Design.  Tori was amazing to work with and offers so much more than holiday cards/invitations.  After purchasing the digital file, emailing her my custom information, I had my proof back in less than 24 hours.  Within a day of purchasing my file, I was already at Staples printing my custom invitations.

 

You can also find Sweet Bee Design on Facebook.

 

 

After printing the custom invitations, it was then time for my favorite part: decorating, I mean addressing,  the envelopes.  Being new homeowners I was thrilled to purchase an address stamp that will take us through the next couple of years of sending handwritten mail.  Yes, there is still such a thing in my household.

 

This beautiful, handcrafted stamp came all the way from Hawaii.  I also found this address stamp through Etsy by an amazing shop called foryoo.  This shop will also send you a proof of the stamp, and once confirmed, your custom stamp is created and shipped to you.  Coming from Hawaii it can take up to two weeks to receive. 

 

Foryoo is also on Facebook.

 

 

 

Addressing the envelopes to our loved ones was a thrill to write!  I wanted something eye catching, unique, and creative so that it made our family members smile when they received the invitation in the mail.  Need more ideas past this one?  Pinterest has boards dedicated to addressing envelopes in unique ways or simply tap into your creative side.

 

 

 

My final touch was a postage stamp with some fall flair.  I loved these stamps that I got at my local post office.  You can also get them online.  If you want even more options for fall stamps, you can check out the unique postage stamps available on Zazzle.

 

By creating custom invitations, it creates a unique twist on throwing a party, a get together, a celebration, and special announcements.  This is something you can also do with the upcoming Christmas and New Year season!