crafty!

I had big plans for posting all sort of Halloween crafts this year on my blog. I love Halloween. I love to celebrate this day with lots and lots of decorations, crafts, and goodies. It's also so fun to have a child around that appreciates every spider web hung, every black bat hanging around the house, and every pumpkin carved. But this year, sickness has caught up with me! :( I am so sick and have been this past week. Of course it hits now, right??! When I am the busiest, I always seem to get very run down. So I am leaving the blog for a few days at least, but I am not leaving you with nothing. Please pop in to my favorite craft blog and see what's up...
The Crafty Crow is a collection of fabulous craft ideas at all times of the year, but there are some ridiculously cute things posted right now for Halloween. Get ideas and inspiration, make some crafts with your kids, and enjoy the Halloween weekend!! :) xo!

make a black wreath.

For Halloween, your front porch will be the first thing that people notice while they are trick-or-treating. When those kids come up to knock on the door, have the door look festive with a spooky black wreath! :) For our door, we bought the 4-dollar black wreath at Michael's and tied a big orange bow on it.. so cute! And it immediately made our front yard look like it was in the spirit of Halloween! While our wreath was super easy and effective, here are two other variations on the black Halloween wreath that I absolutely adore...

Martha, you've done it again and wowed me! I am in love with this wreath. Using silk roses hot glued onto a Styrofoam wreath form, the entire thing is then spray painted black to give it a gothic feel. Tie it up with a big black ribbon and it is perfection! :) And of course, what a way to re-use those old silk flowers you probably have laying around somewhere, right?!

I found this amazing black wreath here. Scroll down about halfway down the page to get the instructions, but the basic idea is super simple. You take a Styrofoam wreath shape and literally tie a bunch of black grosgrain ribbon all around it to form this cute wreath, perfect for Halloween!!

Tomorrow, I will be posting about a few cute kids crafts for the week of Halloween.... very simple, yet so fun for any age! :) xo!

shadows and silhouettes.

And wouldn't you love to put up some fun shadow-y decorations like these??!! And if you are feeling lazy like me, the Martha Stewart craft aisle at Michael's has some ready made decorations that are so super cute as well!! :)

I am up to my knees in Halloween today, getting ready to throw a party tomorrow for 7 crazy little boys. :) I want to utilize my time today, so when Andrew comes home, it is a Halloween-fest around here!!

What do you do to decorate for Halloween??

Any fun ideas for me?!

I will be posting a bunch of fun, last-minute Halloween crafts and decor tips starting Monday that your kiddos can help you with. I think holidays with kids are so extremely rewarding... to see their happiness at even the smallest craft or decoration makes it all worth it. :)

Happy haunting, friends!! xo!

it's time!

I think it is finally time to get some pumpkins today!!! I wanted to wait until closer to Halloween so it felt more festive, but I think the time has now come. I am hosting a party for Andrew and a few of his good friends on Saturday and I need to put on my Halloween thinking cap and get decorating!!! :) Wish me luck on finding the perfect pumpkins, xo!

30 days.

Who's excited????!!!!!

I AM!!!!!!

I am so ready. I feel like I have waited so long to see this movie! I even have my special pass to see the movie the evening before release!! (And I don't even have to stay up until midnight to see it this time!) My mom and sister surprised me with this super cute t-shirt for my birthday as well, which I will be wearing to the movie. And do you know who is in my bedroom keeping me company now??? This guy. :) Yes, that's right. I am now 27 years old with a cardboard cutout of Jacob Black staring at me while I sleep...

My name is Holly

and I am a

Twilight-a-holic.

xo! :)

continued support.

I am sure many of you read my blog a while back about helping out the Baby Emma Crew fund. This little 14-month old girl has suffered a very traumatic brain injury about a month ago and has had to undergo many surgeries and treatments since. She has lost the functioning on the right side of her body, even her speech, yet she is still fighting strong.

It is times like these that we all need to figure out a way to help, no matter how small. I have some very cute items in my shop listed for this fund, such as the "hoot owl tags" above, and would love for you to take a peek. I just made my first donation this morning and immediately felt lighter, like I was helping to lift this terrible burden off of Emma's parents by just the smallest amount. Take a peek, and do what you can to help. Every dollar means that these worried parents can rest a bit easier by their daughter's side!

Thank you, friends!! xo!

black and white.

I am big on black and white.

I wear almost nothing else, and when it comes to flooring, I tend to like the same color scheme. Any pattern. Any sized tiles. Any room. And it's SO effective with any color scheme you have going on in the room.

A bright and happy bathroom, with those cute tiles that almost give a polka dot feel to the floor!

The black and white checkerboard makes for such a cozy space in this kitchen.. who wouldn't want to cook up a little dinner in here?!

Bird's eye view! A few sparse black tiles give an otherwise plain white floor some pizzazz!

The coziest little kitchen (and windowseat, which you know I love!) I love the black and white color scheme with that little pop of green. Much like my blog at the moment, haha!

A grand entrance, and a cheerful butter yellow placed against the bold black and white tiles.

Hope you all have found some pretty inspiration through these photos! Have a cozy Thursday, xo! :)

orange to yellow.

Here are the photos I took from Andrew's karate graduation this past weekend! :) He was happy to strike a pose for me before his testing... with his new toy gun, of course, courtesy of his Papa (my dad!) at Knott's Berry Farm. :)
He graduated from the orange belt level to orange-yellow. Moving on up in the karate world, right!? :)

Very happy with his new belt level, as you can see!! :)

And here he is afterwards with his fabulous karate teacher! Andrew adores him :) I am so proud of him in his karate class... it is so exciting to see your child do so well at something they really love!!

Have a happy Wednesday, xo! :)

found no.4 - take a seat!

I love chairs.
I think they are so perfect to mix and match, and an eclectic little chair can be put anywhere to brighten up an otherwise dull corner. These are some of my favorite chair inspiration finds at the current moment...

My talented momma has created this gorgeous pillow with the cutest "settee" and chandelier silhouette! Peek at some of her other cute pillows here!

In a perfect world, I would have this exact chair in the corner of my room! Oh, Anthropologie, you always make me swoon... :)

This print is so amazingly charming! It reminds me of a certain little boy and his dirt-covered wellie boots. :)

This is a fuchsia and black armchair from Etsy! Is this not the most whimsical chair you've ever seen?! :)

Happy Monday, friends!

And go peek at the shop... lots of new items were listed over the weekend!

xo!

p.s. a very good cause!

Yes, I swear I am going to Knott's Berry Farm today, but I had time this morning to finish listing everything in my shop and I wanted to share with you all about a very worthy cause I am trying to help, in any small way.

I received an email yesterday from Hullabaloo, a local kid's band and a favorite of both Andrew and I. They are trying to organize a benefit concert to help out this sweet little girl, Emma. She was at daycare a few weeks back and suffered a tremendous brain injury, and has since had to endure a whole lot of surgery and treatment that no little child should ever have to go through. You can read about her and her family here.

Maybe it is because it is a local issue here in San Diego, or just that fact that I am a mother, but I wanted to do my part in helping, in my own small way. I think it is important to do what you can in order to help someone else, even in tough economic times. So I listed some super cute items in my shop that will benefit little Emma's cause.
Shop here, and know that you are helping out a family in need. :)

The items listed as "BABY EMMA" are all contributing to this cause, and I want to thank anyone in advance for helping out!! :)


Now go kiss your kids and thank goodness that they are healthy. You never know what will be tossed at you at any day, so we should cherish everything we have in this moment.
Happy weekend, xo!

i've been a busy girl.

I have been so lucky lately that my little Etsy shop is doing so well. Lots of orders have been coming in, many custom items have been created, and I am having SO much fun. Creating things for my Etsy shop doesn't feel like work at all..!! :) I want to share some of the things I have been working on... I made some fantastic little invitations for a Halloween party I am hosting for Andrew and a few of his friends from school and karate. I wanted the invitations to be simple, but very "boy-ish" with the spider! I am so happy with how they turned out... now the big task is to actually put on the party haha!!

Lots of custom Christmas tags are sent off to a friend and fellow blogger... I would be so excited if this pile of Christmas paper goodies found itself on my doorstep haha!! :)

A million little goodies are ready to be listed in the shop, so look for these things over the weekend! :)

A fantastically fun Halloween card... one of many that will be for sale!

And some Christmas silhouette cards as well! This one is my absolute favorite... who will snatch this one up?! :)

And of course, more "hoot owl" tags will be listed..

And if you need a greeting card for an upcoming wedding or a bride-to-be, this might be perfect! :) I will be listing things in the next few days, whenever I get a few free moments.

But for now,

I am off to enjoy a family day at..
Knott's Berry Farm!!
Andrew has had this whole week off from school since he is on a year round schedule, so we are taking full advantage of that and heading up to take him to Knott's! :)
Have a happy weekend, xo!

my little wizard.

After much consideration, Andrew has finally decided on a Halloween costume...

Harry Potter!

After watching the first two movies together, he is now just as big of a fan as I am! (You don't know how happy that makes this wizard-lovin' momma!)

I will be making his robe, but we ventured to the halloween store last night to get the "official" glasses, tie, and light-up wand! We're nothing if not authentic. ;)

So Andrew is going to be a wizard, and mommy is still deciding. Indian? Alice-in-Wonderland? Or vampire?? My gut is telling me to go with the vampire. Wonder why??!!

I want to know...

Do you dress up for Halloween? What are you going to be this year? What are your kiddos dressing as?! I love this time of year, don't you?! :) xo!

farewell...

...to the hot, summer days that we have had for long enough.

And hello

to

autumn

weather!

In the past few days, San Diego has undergone a weather change... We've broken out socks, slippers, sweaters, and more cozy blankets! Being able to bundle up is a true luxury when you live in a hot climate like this, so we are making the most of it! Autumn has truly arrived here now! :) Get cozy and enjoy fall, xo!

{image found here!}

where are we going today?!

New York City!

OK, that's a lie. :)

We are going to the miniature New York City at...

Legoland!

Andrew's class is going on their first field trip today and I get to go with them, yay! Pictures will follow very soon!

Happy Thursday, xo!