Blogger's Favorite Holiday Giveaway!

Well helloooo there!!  I know it's been quite a while since I popped in to the blog, but you know how it goes...life happens, and I needed to focus on myself and my health for a while.  No hard feelings?! I sure hope not because I'm making it up to you guys with an amazing giveaway!

With the holidays quickly approaching (how is it mid-November already?!?!?!), it's totally understandable that many people have gift-giving on the brain.  Mallory from Charming in Charlotte asked me, and 8 other fantastic bloggers, what our favorite stocking stuffers are for the holidays. 

1- Sephora Collection Palette in Nude:

The Holiday's are the perfect time to step up your makeup game and this Sephora eye shadow palette is my go to for Holiday parties. The colors last and are warm and perfect for winter tones. I also think that it makes the perfect stocking stuffer or gift for your girlfriend.  -Mallory, Charming in Charlotte

2-  Geometric Pillow Cover + Your Monogram and 6 Diamond Ornaments:

At Christmas, I'm all about adding little bits of sparkle around the house.  I've had a set of these oversized diamond ornaments for a few years, and when I recently came across more at a local store, I thought you might like some too!  They really stand out and shine with the lights on the tree.  Also, I love a good monogrammed pillow, and one in a designer look-alike fabric for Christmas is even better!  This is for the covers only, and I will monogram the center with the winner's initials of choice.  -Jennifer, Dimples and Tangles 

3- Animal Plates by Rachel Kozlowski for West Elm:

As most of my followers already know, I love including animals into my decor and I just adore the animal plates by Rachel Kozlowski for West Elm. To me they are the perfect combination of quirky chic animal decor and I have an entire wall full of them in our kitchen (which you can see HERE). There are some colored and neutral plates. I like them all and they make me happy when I look at them. -Julia, Cuckoo 4 Design

4- Nate Berkus Metal Wing Bowl: 

I am a sucker for all things Nate Berkus and this angel wing bowl is no exception! It’s such a unique and affordable piece and the gold seals this deal. It will be an amazing conversation piece on your holiday entry table or for serving treats at Christmas dinner!  -Summer, Simple Stylings

5- Suzanne Wristlet and Tassels: 

I love this wristlet because it is the perfect size for a kid-free night out.  I spend so much time lugging lunch boxes, diaper bags, jackets, sippy cups, and whatever else is thrown in my hands that I love to go out with as little as possible.  It has enough room to hold the essentials: lipstick, my phone, and a credit card and it can be dressed up or down depending on the occasion.  I added the tassels because, let's face it, everything is better with tassels!I grabbed couple of these for Christmas gifts and I love that I could play around with color combinations so they will perfectly fit the recipient!  -Beth, designPOST interiors

6- King Gold Gilding Wax: 

I am giving away a jar of Gedeo King Gold Gilding Wax and a set of Threshold agate coasters for the lucky winner. I will run a DIY on the coasters and send the supplies for the winner to DIY their own coasters. -Emily, Eleven Gables

7- J. Crew Crystal & Gem Cluster Necklace:

I love heels and a dress as much as anyone, but my favorite way to dress lately for the everyday is in classic, casual silhouettes with a bit of sparkle to add some interest.  This necklace is currently on heavy rotation in my wardrobe!  It's as perfect for a Tuesday afternoon as it is for a Saturday night.

-Jennifer, The Chronicles of Home

8- Marquise Crystal Statement Necklace: 

The minute you brought up a favorite things giveaway, I immediately thought of jewelry.  I have what some may call a "slight obsession"...especially when it comes to statement necklaces.  They are such versatile pieces.  They can be the finishing touch for a dressy outfit or add an unexpected pop to casual attire.  To me, they are a must-have for any girl!

-Gabbi, Retro Ranch Reno

9- Everyday I'm Hustlin' Hat: 

I chose this because it's on my own wish list! I love the trucker style of this hat, and love to wear hats!  I also love the sentiment and I think it's one we can all relate to, especially around the Holidays!  -Cassie, Primitive and Proper

10- Steve Madden Buffalo Plaid Infinity Scarf: 

One of my favorite gifts to give is a chic scarf.  With all the pretty designs, sizes, materials, and colors it makes it easy to find one to fit everyone's style.  I love how adding a scarf to a simple outfit makes a huge statement and adds an instant pop of color.  It's a fun, classy, versatile accessory that makes a great gift!  -Becky, This is Happiness

I don't know about you, but I'd love to see all 10 of those items under my tree and in my stocking this year.  And for one lucky reader, Santa...errr, I mean Mr. Delivery Man...will be dropping each one off right at your doorstep.  All you have to do is enter below!  Good luck!!

Now tell me...what's your favorite stocking stuffer for the holidays?!

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Paisley Print Boutique Giveaway!

I'm taking the blog a bit off course today.  99.9% of the time I use this little slice of the web to talk about all-things-home/DIY/design related, but today I'm talking about another love of mine...jewelry!

If you follow me on Instagram, you already know I adore jewelry.  Okay, that's putting it lightly.  I fully admit I have a mild problem obsession, but I can't help myself.  I <3 jewelry and fashion...just as much as I love everything-home!

Luckily, this embarrassing Instagram-over-share of my wardrobe caught the attention of a good blog friend, Jen, who reached out to see if I wanted to collaborate with her and help spread the word about her uh-mazing shop, Paisley Print Boutique.  

Ummmmm, yes!!  I was ready to shout about PPB from the top of my lungs...because not only does her shop carry a variety of beautiful goods (I'm talking soap to scarves to paper goods to jewelry to art), but it is making a difference in people's lives.

Several years ago, Jen spent a year on the international mission field.  She worked with many individuals all over the world...from women who were victims of sex-trafficking crimes, to HIV-positive, single-mothers who were trying to support their families in Kenya, to girls who were abducted by the LRA in Uganda. Now, even when she's home in the states, she is able to help those in need through PPB.  

Jen graciously allowed me to pick a few things from her shop.  I fell in love with a pair of Raven + Lily gold leaf earrings and a beautiful necklace from Miriam Designs.  I couldn't wait to wear these pretty things, and I was even more excited when I opened my envelope and saw the adorable packaging she wrapped them in!

It's wonderful when you can use or wear something that doesn't only look good, but makes you feel good, because you know you are making a difference in someone's life.

Now for the exciting part...there are TWO $50 Paisley Print Boutique giveaways up for grabs!!  To enter, just use the Rafflecopter widget below.  And if you can't wait that long to get your hands on some PPB goodies, you can save 20% (today - August 29th) by using the code RetroRanchFriend.  Good luck, friends!!

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****My usual disclaimer...I was not compensated for this post.  I just think Jen and PPB rocks so I wanted to spread the word and share the love!!****

Disappointments...& A GIVEAWAY!

Spring has finally arrived and I am so thankful.  The temps are warming up, the birds are chirping and the grass turns more and more green each day.  This change in season always inspires me to change up our home décor.  I crave new accent colors to warm up the cool blues that dominate our home.

So when I was asked to be a part of a spring décor and giveaway post with 14 super talented bloggers, I jumped at the opportunity.  I thought this collaboration would give me the swift kick I needed to finish spring-ifying {yes, a new word} our home…a process I started here and here.

Well that was my plan, and unfortunately plans do not always go as expected.  My work schedule has been a bit hectic lately, which caused more stress and less time for me.  Booooo!!  Instead of making things even worse on myself out and cranking out something I didn’t love, just for content, I decided it would be best if I didn’t submit a project.  I know it’s a lame, but it’s the truth and I always promised to keep it real with you guys. :)

Buttttt, to show how much I love each and every one of you, I am still sponsoring the amazing $150 Tar-jay gift card giveaway!!  And I’m sharing 14 awesome spring projects below, so you can get your fill of eye candy for the day.  You must check them all out!

Hopefully we’re still friends… ;)

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The Turquoise Home | Tiny sidekick | The Blissful Bee

Making Home Base | One Krieger Chick | Design, Dining and Diapers

Just a Girl and her Blog | Designer Trapped in Lawyer's Body

The Happy Housie | Place Of My Taste | Create Craft Love

This Is Happiness | Homey Oh My | House by Hoff

Adding Some Spring...& A Giveaway!!

Spring has finally sprung!!  Well at least that is what my calendar is telling me.  I’m hoping Mother Nature gets the memo soon because I want warmer temperatures and blooming flowers ASAP!  Remaining snow piles be gone!!

To hold me over until that happens, I’ve decided it’s time to start adding spring trends into our home décor.  My go-to for spring decorating consists of a few things…pops of color, flowers and shine!  To me, nothing says spring more than these elements.  Luckily, to create a look like that in your home, you just need the simple addition of a few accents to already existing vignettes and rooms.  Pillows, candles, boxes, frames, flowers, succulents, throws or art can go a long way in transitioning a space.  A complete overhaul or spending a fortune just isn’t necessary to have your home looking on trend.

Nowadays I do most of my shopping online.  I don't have to leave the comfort of my own couch to access so many awesome stores like West Elm, World Market, Amazon and Home Depot.  While looking to spring-ify {totally a word} our home, I came across a few a few West Elm accessories I just couldn't get off my mind and quickly put them into my shopping cart.  Then I headed to Coupons.com to search for any West Elm coupon codes I could apply to my order.  After that it was time to check out and impatiently wait for my goodies to arrive!

Since my home has a whole lot of cool blues going on, I wanted to add some warm pinks and extra shine to energize our space.  Plus, nothing says spring quite like flowers...so when I spied a pair of gorgeous West Elm clearance candlesticks that mimic the bloom of a flower, I just couldn't resist.  I knew they'd look perfect paired with some colorful accents on top of the West Elm silver lacquered tray.  And to top it all off, I added a little DIY painting and fresh tulips.

What are your favorite ways to add spring trends to your home?  Don't forget to check out the other 14 talented bloggers below and enter our fab giveaway to win $150 to West Elm or Target!!! :)

Bliss At Home

brittanyMakes

The Chronicles of Home

Cuckoo 4 Design

Dimples & Tangles

Dwellings by DeVore

A Home Full of Color

Lacquer & Linen

The Makerista 

Primitive & Proper

Retro Ranch Renovation

Sarah M. Dorsey

This, That and Life

The Thriftress

The White Buffalo Styling Co.

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Thank you so much to Coupons.com for providing me with a gift card for this post, and for sponsoring the giveaway!!

**Linking up to Dimples and Tangles Best of the Nest Link Party! :)**

Modern Masters Giveaway Winner!

Thank you so very much to all of my awesome readers who entered my Modern Masters giveaway! With the help of Rafflecopter and Random.org a lucky winner has been selected...congratulations Jennifer Fadiman!  

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I'll be emailing you soon!

Happy Memorial Day everyone!! :)

Modern Masters Metallic Paint Review & {Giveaway}!!

One lucky day I was contacted by the sweet people at Modern Masters to review some of their products.  I could choose from their metallic paint collection or try out their metal effects kit.  You all know how much I love to paint everything {some examples here and here}, so reviewing a paint product was right up my alley!

I headed to their website, and was immediately impressed with the number of colors they offer.  I had quite the difficult time narrowing down which I wanted to try out, but after a great debate, I made my choices...and then stalked my mailbox until my package arrived. ;)

My thoughts then turned to what I wanted to try the paint on.  Luckily, I was in the middle of a project that could benefit from a little metallic paint.

We had a large wooden tray that needed a major makeover.  {Yes, I had already started sanding when this "before" was taken...whoops!}

I sanded and re-stained the piece because the undertones were a little too red for my liking, and the cup rings were not the prettiest thing to look at. 

Once that was dry, I tapped off {and aluminum foil-ed off} the areas of the tray I didn't want to get paint on.  Then I grabbed a couple different widths of stencil tape from my craft basket and started laying out patterns.  {And before you ask...nope, I didn't measure a thing.  I just eyeballed everything to make sure it appeared even.  One of my requirements for this design was that I did NOT want to have to measure a. single. thing.}

After all the tape was down, I used an exacto knife to cut away the pieces I didn't want.

Then I took my tray outside and gave it two coats of gold spray paint and primer {Rustoleum's Universal in Pure Gold...best gold spray paint out there...in my opinion, of course}.  I wanted the design to appear pretty opaque, and I wasn't sure how sheer the metallic paint would be.  So I figured, better to prime the surface and be safe, rather then sorry!

Once the spray paint dried, I pulled out the new paint...woohooooo!  {I used Brass - ME289.}

I placed a few small blobs of paint onto the tray and rolled 2-3 coats on, waiting only a few minutes in-between each of them.

Then I peeled back the tape to see things unfold...

It's amazing what a little metallic paint can do, huh?

And now for my honest opinion of this stuff....it rocks!!  I was hooked after the first coat of it went onto the tray.  The paint is incredibly easy to work with, the finish is beautiful and a little bit goes a long way with this stuff!!  In fact, I was so smitten with it after completing our tray, that I immediately started working on a couple wooden signs for some special blog ladies in my life...and thennn I used it on a couple gallery wall additions for our hallway!

Word even got out to a friend of mine that I loved the paint so much, that she graciously volunteered a table of hers to be made over with the Blackened Bronze - ME238 Shade. ;)  Keep a look-out for the reveal of that next week, and enter my very first giveway below!! :)  One super lucky reader will win their choice of either one quart and 6 oz. container of any color OR four 6 oz. containers of any color OR a metal effects kit {one pint primer, one pint reactive paint, one 4 oz. solution or rust activator, one spritzer cap, one pint of Permacoat Xtreme for rust only} from Modern Masters!! :) 

Good luck everyone!

**All opinions in this post are 100% mine...I'd never lie to my amazing readers!!**

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I'm linking up to:

http://www.thisthatandlife.com/2013/06/bling-it-out-link-party-link-your-gold/