a date with the christmas tree.

First of all, I have to apologize to all of you. I have barely been around, and I didn't mean to completely abandon my blog. A few things have been happening around here that have been taking up my time, and I think it is high time to share!

Number One... The shop has been busy! I am finally caught up on all of my current orders and would love for you to keep shopping. Order turnarounds will be very quick since I know that you all are needing things super quickly this holiday season, so shop now! The 1300th customer will receive some fab freebies in the mail, let me tell you! :) I'm almost there, eek! Maybe you need some cute gift tags for your presents? Maybe something to add in for a hostess gift at a holiday party? Or maybe some cute confetti to add to your Christmas cards? The shop's got it all. Go peek. :)

Number Two... It's the holiday season!!! Need I say more? What isn't going on at this time of year? Shopping for Christmas gifts, stringing up holiday lights, mailing out Christmas cards, planning a party for Andrew's class. Whew! I'm tired just thinking of all of this. More on the holidays in a moment....

And of course, Number Three... I have been wanting to spend an inordinate amount of time with my new boyfriend! Yes, you heard me right! I am now dating a new & super fantastic man and I am happy, happy, happy. I guess my blog comes second to that. :)

So now you all know where I've been and I promise I'll try to be around more. I love my blog, I love my readers, and I love to share ideas, inspiration, and what I've been up to. So thank you for sticking around and popping in to say hi when you do. It means a lot to me. :)

OK, like I said, more on Christmas now!
I have a date
with my Christmas tree
penciled in for Thursday.
We are going to pick out a tree that evening and start decorating it and I couldn't be more excited! Before decorating the tree however, I always think it is fun to take a look at some decor inspiration. Here goes....


The most adorable little tabletop tree. I adore trees this size. Easier to decorate, but still so festive and fun! This one is from that talented lady named Martha. :) I also am so in love with the tiny little trees lining the windows. So super cute!


I am not a hugely pink kind of girl, but this screams happiness to me! I love the iridescent glass ornaments on the tree and I think it looks like one big piece of candy. Love! {Also from Ms. Stewart!}


I do happen to think that Christmas is a time to incorporate all colors. If you toss on every ornament you have on a tree, it looks amazing. The reason for the season is not to make a color statement, and I think this tree looks fun and whimsical.
{From Country Living!}


Then again, the simplicity of this color palette is totally oozing charm as well. I adore the pillow mish-mash on the couch and love how sparse the tree is. And of course, I am a total sucker for anything paper-chain. Maybe I should get Andrew on that project?? :)
{Country Living, again!}


And finally, my favorite picture for this year. I love, love, love this!!! Everything is so happy in this picture from Country Living... from the flowers on the table that are not classically "Christmas," to the bright and cheery Christmas tree, to the eclectic mix of chairs at the dining table, and the most perfect chandelier ever, this is how I want Christmas to feel at my home.

Special.
Not perfect, but so special.
That's what the holidays are all about. :)
Happy decorating, my friends!
xo!

a perfect stocking stuffer!

Just added to the shop...
gift certificates for the holiday season! :)

If you know someone who loves cards, gift tags, wrapping presents, creating, scrapbooking, paper crafts, etc etc etc.... this might be a perfect option to tuck in with their gift! :) Let the recipient choose what they'd like in the quiet coziness of their home after the craziness of the holidays!

Shop for them here!

And by the way...
Almost to 1300 sales in the shop, as well!
Lucky number 1300 will receive some yummy paper goodie freebies, for sure!
Will it be you?!

PS.
So sorry I have been absent around here.
Please forgive me.
I've been a happy & busy bee, let me assure you. :)
xo!

christmas cards...!

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving.
Tomorrow!!!?!!!
That means that this weekend kicks off the holiday season!
{Can it really be this time of year already?!}
I am in serious need of figuring out my Christmas cards for the upcoming season as well, so maybe you all could weigh in and help. :)

Shutterfly is amazing.
And yes, I know I run a shop full of handmade and super-unique greeting cards and I could whip some up for myself as well... but, that's not how I usually work. I like a photo Christmas card. {Am I being disloyal to my Etsy shop right now???!!} :) And when figuring out a holiday photo card, I turn to Shutterfly! I adore Shutterfly. I love the photo books and have used them for myself and my own photo storage, as well as for teacher gifts! SO cute.

But now I need help in the Christmas card department....
these are my faves so far. :)


1. bright colored lights christmas card

SO unbelievably cute. This card is one of my favorites- it evokes so much happiness and spirit!


2. holly and jolly christmas card

I love sharing more than one photo, and this is the perfect card to create those photo memories! :)


3. sweet and retro christmas card

The soft green makes this card so adorable. I love the swirly font and the retro feel of it is so super cute!


4. bright and merry christmas card

LOVE the colors. It is classic, but still young and modern.


5. merry zigzag christmas card

I adore this one. It definitely tops my list at the moment. I love the colors and the zig-zag provides a cute and whimsical touch!


6. berry merry photo christmas card

ADORE this. Maybe it is the addition of the "holly" berries that I like??? :)


And of course, these holiday themed address labels are too cute as well.
I think I may have to snag a few of these, too.
On the top is the gift address label.
And on the bottom is goodwill to all label.

So perfect to add on to the holiday cards!

So help me out, friends.

Which is your favorite card??

I am having a hard time deciding on which one Andrew and I will be sending out!

And...

If you are a blogger, go visit here to get 50 free cards from Shutterfly.

Amazing deal, right?

Happy Wednesday,

and a very happy Thanksgiving weekend to you all!

xo!

PS.

Mommy Holly is having a Black Friday sale!

FREE shipping to anyone who uses the code "blackfriday" in the message to seller area through Friday. :) Pay like usual and I'll refund you via paypal as soon as I can!

the holidays are upon us!

And what better time to unveil some holiday items I've been working on! Some of you might have caught glimpses of these things at the Queen Bee Market, but for those of you who missed it, the shop is brimming with new things for Christmas! :)


eat, drink, be merry tags! {my current faves!!} :)


candy cane stripes holiday greeting cards!


sweet be merry gift tags!


funky and bright holiday greeting card!

As always, convo me through Etsy if you'd like to place a custom order or need more quantities of any listings like the holiday tags, brown paper tags, or my line of vintage dictionary cutouts. These little reindeer are the best-sellers at the moment, and are flying out of the shop like crazy! I haven't been able to stop making these, and it makes me so happy that lots of holiday reindeer cutouts are out and about in the crafty world now! :)

Please go visit the shop! :)
It would seriously make my day.
xo!

the queen bee. :)

Wait.
The Queen Bee is over???!
I can hardly believe it.
It is just like Christmas.
You work so hard for it, anticipate it, and then all of a sudden, you are on the other side!
It was so much fun.
Lots and lots of late nights and hard work, but so much fun. :)


My booth, in all of it's holiday themed glory! :)


I will be listing the new holiday cards in the shop, as well as some new tag motifs today and in the next few days as well. I was so tired after the event, that I had to take a few days to recuperate! :)


LOVE how everything turned out though, and was so happy to share again in the Queen Bee crazy fun!!

I didn't get a chance to snap photos of all of the beautiful booths. And I mean, seriously BEAUTIFUL. Everything was magical and gorgeous and I wanted to buy everything. Here are some of the photos that I did manage to get. :)

Wendy Miracle - my sister's booth, full of whimsical children's items! :)


Mallory at her booth! :)


Heidi Devlin Design- my talented momma! :)


White Apple Threads - amazing bags & tshirts! :)


Joy's Hope. Who doesn't love Julie and her amazing booth?! :)


Whippy Cake, home of the cutest hair accessories ever. :)


An overview photo of the Queen Bee Market.
There is so much happiness in handmade. :)
Don't you think?

Thanks, Queen Bees.
I can hardly wait until May. :)
xo!

PS.
My shop is almost to 1200 sales.
Free goodies to that customer,
so hop over to the shop and take a peek! :)
Who doesn't love free things?!
I thought so. :)

only days away.

The time is finally here.
And if you live in my house,
you would most definitely know it. :)
We are busy, busy, busy with
Queen Bee Market prep!!

I am so excited to share with you the newest items to my shop, but am trying to keep my {secret telling} mouth shut so that the items can be a complete surprise at the market! Let me just say, I am oh-so-happy with the way things are turning out.

Are you going to be visiting me
at the Queen Bee Market?!
I hope so! :)

You have two days to shop this time around as well...
Friday, November 12th from 4pm to 9pm
and
Saturday, November 13th from 9am to 4pm
Let me know if you are planning on stopping in!
I will be out and about and around my booth quite a lot,
so I hope to meet lots of you. Come say hello! :)

And if you are not coming to the Queen Bee, {tear!}
new items will be posted in my shop on Monday.
Very exciting stuff, let me tell you. :)

OK, it's back to work for me and happy week, friends!
xo!

The blog in which I go on and on about Halloween. :)

Where have I been???
Yeah. I've been really busy.
As in, really, really, really busy.
Halloween took over my life for over a week and I needed a break. :)
But now I'm ready to share what I've been up to with all of you!


Up first was Andrew's Halloween party at our house.
I decorated and baked and set up lots of crafts for them.
It was extra fun! :)


They were so appreciative and all had such a good time. :)


I adore this 99-cent store find. Glittered black skeleton? Awesome. :)


The kids made lots of crafts and were able to play and eat and play some more. Happiness to the six-year olds, for sure! :)


Then came Halloween.
We had so much fun carving pumpkins.
Andrew just couldn't figure out why the age limit was 12 on the carving tools, since he is such an expert. :)


And of course, the highlight of Halloween? Costumes!!
{Forgive the slightly blurry photo- we were much too excited for trick or treating to sit still for many pictures!}


Andrew was a "dragon-slayer"/"knight"/"ogre"!
Yes, we got a lot of odd comments asking "What are you?!"
I made the costume, and Andrew was so happy, so that's all that matters. :)

We had lots of festive fun.
And now I am so tired of Halloween.
And tired in general.
And I need to get ready for this.
So if you don't hear much from me, consider yourself warned! :)
Happy week, friends!
xo!

a trip to the pumpkin patch.

Halloween is in 6 days.
Six days!!
And luckily, between everything that has been keeping us quite busy, we did fit in a trip to the pumpkin patch. And for those of us who live in Southern California, the gray and cloudy weather has made it the perfect time to celebrate fall. {As opposed to the beastly heat of other years!}

Bates Nut Farm is the perfect place to enjoy the autumn season. A huge patch to pick out the perfect pumpkins, lots of farm animals to feed, and a darling little shop to stock up on candy and goodies for the season. It was such a treat, as it is every year, and we are so in Halloween mode. Now we've just got to get these pumpkins carved for Sunday!
{Oh yeah, and I need to finish Andrew's costume, eek!}

Back to work, back to work.
Happy Halloween week, friends!
xo!

what i wore wednesday.

So I admit, I've been bad about taking photos.
I've been busy, which has gotten the best of me in some areas.
However, I've snapped a few in the past two weeks that I will share with you! :)
{PS. Do you follow along with The Pleated Poppy's fun Wednesday feature? Go here to find out more.}


Sweater: Urban Outfitters
Tank Top: Walmart
Jeans: Jolt jeggings, Nordstrom
Shoes: Minnetonka Boots {amazing, I love them!}


Sweater: Target
Top: Walmart {It's a Miley tshirt, love it!}
Jeans: Jolt Jeggings from Nordstrom
Shoes: Old Navy Flips Flops
Headband: Allora Handmade! :)

And of course, Andrew is wearing an cozy shirt from Walmart and pants are from Old Navy last year. :)


Top: JC Penney {It was $1.97, woo!}
Jeans: JC Penney Jeggings
Shoes: Steve Madden Flats
Watch: Walmart
AND newly bleached hair, woo! So long, crazy dark roots!

Happy Wednesday!
Now I am off to work in Andrew's class and then decorate for his Halloween party at our house this Friday after school, eek! Lots to do, lots to do!
xo!

skipping rocks.

We went for a day trip up to Idyllwild, California last week
and it was so beautiful there.
On the way home, we stopped to skip rocks at the most beautiful lake.


It was one of those days that the light was just right,
and even though I was snapping photos with my phone,
I adore what I captured.
{And notice another missing tooth?!}


It was a perfect time of day. :)

Happy Tuesday, friends.
xo!

happy birthday to me!

Today I am twenty-eight years old.
{I like even numbers, so this age seems quite nice.}

On the agenda today for the birthday girl?
Lots of birthday hugs and kisses from Andrew.
Lunch with momma at my favorite cafe in Coronado.
Cake.
Cake.
Cake.
Feelin' special. :)

Tomorrow I will be celebrating with dinner & presents, since I have a very busy family this year! :) Andrew wasn't too happy about waiting a day to open gifts, but I am a big girl and can handle it. After all, I am twenty-eight. :) And on Saturday, my sister and I are headed downtown San Diego to shop, drink fancy cocktails, dress up, and stay the night in a funky little historic hotel!

Birthdays are the best.
Happy 28 to me!
xo!

{image via}

winners!

With the help of random.org, here are the winners from this past week!!
{Sorry I didn't get this up yesterday. We went to another showing of Pinkalicious!}

Mommy Holly
$15 Shop Credit
Winner: Dixon Family

The Pleated Poppy
$25 Shop Credit
Winner: Jocelyn

Good Day Shop
Halloween Card
Winner: mianpian.net

Bringing Up Burns
Haute Ruffle Tanks
Winner #1: Polka Dot Moon
Winner #2: Heather - AFD Jewelry

Too Silly Sisters
Posh Posie Necklace
Winner: im zoe

Haus of Girls
12 month Pumpkin Onesie
Winner: LMShunk

Wild Olive
Printable Pattern & Banner
Winner: mysteryhistorymom

Congrats to you all!!
Email me to claim your prizes, yay!! :)
{ hollyndevlin [at] gmail DOT com }
Happy Sunday!
xo!

{Now it's back to work for me. I've got a slammin' Halloween costume to sew. More details soon. :) }

Homemade Halloween... A Giveaway from Wild Olive! :)

I am so in love with today's giveaway! {And it's the last of the week, eek!}

I discovered Mollie's blog recently and immediately was hooked. She makes the most adorable embroidery patterns and offers them in her shop in printable form.. so easy and convenient!! :)

This is how Mollie describes herself...
"I'm Mollie, a graphic designer who loves to create. Making doodles into crafty projects is a favorite pastime, and I love sharing them with others. Find more about my creative pursuits at wildolive.blogspot.com!"

Today, Mollie is offering two printables for you all!! A super cute printable banner to add to your Halloween decor...


And the most delish embroidery pattern ever!


Want to win?! Here's how:
1. Visit Wild Olive and become a follower! :)
2. Visit the shop and tell me your favorite thing.

Good luck!! Winner will be announced tomorrow along with all the other giveaways as well. Have you missed some?? Read my previous posts, friends! You won't want to miss a single thing. :)

And of course,
thank you ALL
for reading along with me this week for the
Homemade Halloween special!!!
I have had the best time. Thanks to all the guest bloggers and giveaway-girls!!! You all ROCK. I've got lots of fun posts planned for next week as well, but I might be writing about something besides Halloween, who knows! :)
Happy weekend, xo!

Homemade Halloween... A Guest Post & Giveaway from Haus of Girls! :)

Our last guest post comes from the fab Marta from Haus of Girls!! :) She is teaching us how to make an adorable Halloween banner. I am thinking I'll need to whip one of these up before Andrew's Halloween party, right? And of course, pop back over at noon for the last giveaway as well! xoxox Holly

-------------------------------------------------

Hello to all you Mommy Holly fans! My name is Marta and I am stopping in from Haus of Girls where I can be found documenting my crazy life as a Midwestern Momma of three girls.

I am a fabric stalking, antique loving, diet coke chugging, treadmill running, daycare providing, pig tail making, sporty spice type of girl who has recently tapped into my creative side. I taught myself how to sew and make almost anything I see. I now create, sew, and make things on a daily basis. Today, I am so very excited to share a super fun and easy project that I did a few weeks ago.An easy (no sew option) Halloween Bunting.
Boo! Enjoy and please let me know if you make one of your own.I'd love to see your fabulous creations!

And in honor of Halloween, I would love to give away one of my "Polka Dot Pumpkin" tees that I currently have in my etsy shop. I have a size 12 month onesie all ready to go to a new home! Thank you and good luck!

Last Sunday it was rainy and yucky outside so I decided to make the most of our day stuck inside and create something fun to add to our Halloween decor.

Using random scraps I already had lying around the house, I whipped up a Halloween bunting for our front door.
Nothing fancy.
Just simple and cute.

Our black front door makes for the perfect backdrop for some spooktacular orange fun and I’m sure yours would too.

Take advantage of your next rainy day and make one for yourself.
Here’s what you do.

Grab two different fabrics. One for the “flags” and one for the letters.

Measure out your three triangles for the flags.
I made mine approximately 6 inches across and 7 inches long.
(I am not precise. Ever. I eyeball everything and it always works out fine. Perfection is not the goal, but more of the act of creating!)

Cut out three flags.

Iron them and re-cut any parts that look crazy.

While ironing, glance up at your fave family picture from last year and ponder when you can get them taken again this year.

Next, take your letter fabric and cut out a little bit smaller size of strong heat and bond.

Iron the heat and bond onto the wrong side of your letter fabric.
Easy peasy.

Next, trace your letters.
You can easily do this by printing off your choice of letters, cutting them out and using that as a template.
Trace the letters BACKWARDS onto your heat and bond paper that you ironed onto the fabric.

Cut out your letters.

Then you should have something spooktacular like this.
Boo!

Lay the letters down onto your flags where you want them.

Then iron.
Remember, I’m all about simplicity.

End result.
No sewing required!

Finally, I pinned the flags reversed and upside down on top of a striped ribbon. I found it worked well to line the flags up with the bottom stripe.
I’m all about finding tricks to make sure I sew in a straight line.

Here it is pinned ready to be sewn.

Start on your first letter, mine was the “b,” and sew your way down towards the last “o” until all three flags are sewn on. (If you don’t sew, just hot glue the flags on! Even easier!)

String your fabulousness across your front door welcoming Halloween with a hint of homemade creativity.

Spooky!

Halloween countdown: 16 days.
Crazy.

------------------------------------------

Thank you so much Marta!! :)

If you would like to enter to win the adorable 12 month onesie, leave a comment on this post! For an extra entry, follow Marta's blog! Or visit her cute Etsy shop and let me know what you love the most!! :) Winner will be announced tomorrow!

See you all at noon! :) xo!