Paper, Please: Coasters

I really, really, REALLY love Paper-Source. We just got the store in the town next to mine, and since they’ve opened I’ve visited more times than I care to admit. The first time I ever saw the sign for it going up there I just about drove off the road. Too exciting to handle!

Anyways, they recently announced a new line of custom made coasters for events. These are an untraditional item that are such an awesome idea! The perfect touch to any party.

They have them for all kinds of events, from graduation parties to weddings to birthday parties to family reunions. They also have personalized ones as hostess gifts, which I think is an awesome gift that any entertainer would love to receive! I mean, they’re totally useful and oh-so-adorable and whimsical.

What I also love about these is that you can customize the color of the font and choose either matte or foil-metallic inks. So cool! I also think they’re reasonably priced for how incredibly awesome they are!

Here are some of my favorites:

Graduation Burst | Sketch Turkey | Watercolors Cheers | Chevron | Happy Birthday Dots

Which do you like the best? Which event do you think they’re most suited for?

Preppy Product: Queen of Preppy

Okay, so I’m sure this won’t come as a surprise, but I’m pretty Lilly Pulitzer obsessed.

This is definitely typical to a preppy girl. Lilly and preppy are pretty much synonymous. Lilly Pulitzer is, without a doubt, the Queen of Preppy.

Over Christmas and especially recently, I have been stocking up on Lilly products. I’ve always been a fan of the stuff (before it totally blew up…I have to say I don’t love how many non-preppy girls sport it like it’s their job, but whatever!). I mean, how could you not love the colorful nature of the adorable and, dare I say perfect, products?

For Christmas, I got a bunch of Lilly stuff. From portable speakers to winter accessories, all of it was completely adorable.

Also, I have recently purchased some really cute Lilly paper goods. I got folders, notebooks, wrapping paper, post-it notes, and even playing cards! Preppy perfection!

I also got a really cute beach bag (can’t wait to use it in Florida!) and a few other random things like an adorable caddy that can be used for so many organizational purposes! I love it all!

On my Lilly wish list: new clothes (duh!), the portable iPhone charger (too useful and adorable to pass up) and wedges!

What are your favorite Lilly products? What’s on your Lilly wish list?

Best of Break

Break is officially over and I’m back at school ready for a great semester.

However, I wanted to take a minute to reflect on how great break was!

Here were my favorite things:

Christmas – duh! It was a great day with friends and family. I loved all the things surrounding Christmas as well, from baking to gift wrapping to gingerbread cookie decorating!

Internship – what a great opportunity. I learned so much and met great people. The best part of all is that I learnt so much about myself as a worker and gained more insight on what I want to do after graduation.

Friends & Family – by far the best thing about being home was just enjoying time with my friends and family, being silly with my sister, and having all that awesome quality time with everyone. It is so special and irreplaceable to make those memories and spend that time.

My dogs – this is a no brainer. They’re cute and cuddly and I miss them so much when I’m at school!

Champagne – I feel like I drank so much champagne this break and it was so deviantly delicious.

What were your favorite things over the holiday season?

Craft Craze: Map Pictures

For Christmas, I had so many aspirations to craft decorations and gifts that I simply did not fulfill. My Pinterest boards were bursting at the seams with ideas that when I originally pinned was so excited over and nearly ran out to the store right then and there to buy the supplies, but by the time the season rolled around I had no time to even think about crafting, let alone actually doing them.

With that said, I am saving many of those crafts for next year.

I did, however, craft one gift during the holiday season.

I have always loved the map crafts that I see all over Pinterest. You know, the ones with the heart around a certain location on the map? They are so cute and actually mean something.

So I put my own spin on one of these creations as a gift for my parents, highlighting family pictures and one of their favorite vacation spots – St. Maarten.

Here’s how it turned out:

This craft was obviously super easy and actually came out really cute!

Hopefully throughout this year and during the next Christmas season I will craft much, much more (especially decorations!).

What crafts did you do over the holidays? How did they turn out?

Paper, Please!: Holiday Thank You’s

As the holidays are just about over – there is certainly still some business to take care of: thank you cards.

I am a little bit psychotic when it comes to TY notes, as I am always sure to send them out in a timely manner. In fact, mine are already in the mail as we speak!

There are so many great holiday thank you cards out there to choose from. This is the last chance of the year to showcase Santa, Christmas tree, and all holiday art, so you mine as well take advantage of it!

All of the cards below are from either Tiny Prints, Card Store, or Expressionery. Expressionery is currently having their 60% clearance sale which I shop every year where you can get some great personalized Christmas TY cards for super cheap…I highly recommend checking it out!

Shutterfly, Pear Tree Greetings, Vista Print, The Stationery Studio, and many other sites also have awesome card to choose from.

Finally, it could be so fun to send a New Year’s card as not only a well-wish for a great year ahead but as a holiday thank you. Sites like Tiny Prints have so many great New Year’s cards to choose from!

When writing a thank you card, make sure to keep them neat and concise. However, be sure to make them personal and not too generic.

Whatever cards you decide to send, make sure to send some kind of thank you notes! After all, it is the polite thing to do!

Gingerbread Fun

The other day, in the spirit of Christmas, my boyfriend’s sister and I had a little gingerbread party.

We made gingerbread cookies, baked them, then decorated.

Despite the fact that our boyfriends were helping, they actually came out really well!

This was the first time I ever made gingerbread men and it was so fun and a great tradition to start. Also, the recipe was very simple and easy to whip up.

Decorating them was actually harder than I thought it would be but also really fun.

Here’s a peek at some of our creations:

In case you didn’t notice from the pictures, I was Kylie’s and Matt’s stalker as I took about 20 pics of them.

Also, if you see any weird looking cookies – those were probably decorated by my boyfriend who created a gingerbread cyclops and other very strange characters.

Like I said before, this was such a fun tradition to start and I can’t wait to do it again next year!

Holiday Traditions

Since yesterday was Christmas, I wanted to share some of my favorite Christmas time traditions with you.

Traditions are such a special part of any holiday, but during Christmas they seem especially…perfect.

Here are my favorite yearly traditions that the holidays absolutely wouldn’t be the same without:

1. Ornament exchange – every year at Christmas dinner, everyone at the table gets an ornament. Usually the ornaments reflect something special about you or something you like, for instance my Grandpa got a golfing Santa. It is such a fun thing to do every year and it is so fun to look back on the ornaments each year while decorating the tree.
2. Christmas jammies – Pajamas are one of my biggest obsessions as it is, so holiday jammies are just that much better. For literally as long as I remember, my sister and I have gotten matching pajamas to wear on Christmas Eve and wear while we open our gifts. I love wearing them both that night and on many others to come.
3. Baking – as you’ve probably figured out, I love to bake, and the holidays are no exception. I love making special recipes for Christmas – both yearly pieces as well as trying new recipes that really capture the spirit of the season.
4. Christmas house – in our town, we have a Christmas house literally millions of lights set up outside of it. Everyone goes and walks around and just enjoys the lights. There are little houses, characters, and stations set up to enjoy. It is so much fun and such a fun tradition to keep every year to go at least once to see the lights.
5. Coffee Cake -Christmas morning simply wouldn’t be the same without my moms Jewish Coffee Cake. This may sound really weird and ironic, but it’s our favorite breakfast and the only one we would accept on Christmas morning. It is a delicious homemade coffee cake that I always remember as being so delicious. I think every year it gets better and better, and I love having it in the mornings after Christmas a well.

I hope everyone had a very merry Christmas! Since I shared with you, tell me: what are your favorite holiday traditions?

holiday cookies!

my sister and I in our christmas jammies yesterday!

a small portion of the christmas house!

Monday Getaway: Barbados

I love Christmas time, but it has been so cold out! To be honest, I’m totally over it. I wouldn’t mind living somewhere where it never gets cold and skipping winter all together.

That’s why, as happy as I am to be home, I’d love to be somewhere tropical and warm to soak up the sun and not have to shiver.

Some of our best family friends went to Barbados for Thanksgiving and used pictures from the trip on their Christmas card. The water looked so beautiful there and I am totally jealous! I would love to be relaxing on the beaches of Barbados right about now! It looks so beautiful, peaceful, and exotic.

A tropical holiday could be nice, don’t you think?

Gift Wrapping

Wrapping presents is one of my favorite things to do. Naturally, around Christmas time, there are many presents to be wrapped and I find it so fun.

I love making gifts look pretty and perfect. Big bows, adorable paper, and perfect creases and folds are so appealing to me and look so beautiful under the tree.

This year I’m loving wrapping paper with snowmen as well as this adorable Grinch paper I found! So adorable!

Here are some of my favorite gift wrapping styles:

1. Simple, Plain, and Classic – I love very simple wrapping paper because it is understated but completely perfect for the season. This is one wrapping look you can’t go wrong with!
2. Kiddie Like – I don’t know why, but I am always drawn to the kid-styled Christmas wrapping papers in the stores. I love the Rudolph and Frosty ones and always ask my mom to wrap my gifts in them (she doesn’t). These are such classic characters that make the season and they look great on gifts.
3. Bows – As you know, I love bows! There are great sites explaining how to do fancy present bows that you can utilize to make your gifts wow this year, just from the wrapping! A bow with simple paper is my favorite way to go when it comes to wrapping.
4. Bags – especially when it comes to weirdly shaped items, it’s easier to plop them in a bag. Make it cute, though! Find adorable bags with cute characters or designs on them and dress it up with cute tissue paper…maybe even with some sparkles!
5. Special Orders – sometimes gifts require special dressing. Using cellophane or even goody bags with curling ribbon is always so appealing and fun. When it comes to gifts that require out-of-the ordinary wrapping, have fun with it!

What are your favorite ways to wrap presents? Do you love doing it like I do or do you consider it a tedious task?

Paper, Please!: Christmas Greeting Cards

While Christmas is certainly a time for gift giving, my favorite part of a gift has always been a card. Whether I’m giving or receiving, no present is complete without a card with a nice message inside.

Many times we are so busy wrapping up gifts that we forget to include a card on Christmas to our loved ones.

Christmas is a perfect time to remind someone how much you love them, how lucky you are to have them in your life, or to say a simple thank you for the many things they do for you throughout the year.

Giving and getting presents is always nice and super fun, but especially this time of year, it’s important to remember why we give them: to spread love, to say thanks, to say “I appreciate you” or remind someone why they deserve something special.

I love these holiday cards from the Card Store. They are so adorable and whimsical.

The best thing about the Card Store holiday card selection is they have something for every taste. From tropical cards (see the hula reindeer) to whimsical and cute (see the skiing santa…love the watercolor feel!) to cards animal lovers cannot resist (see the grumpy cat!) they definitely have it all. I had so much fun just looking at them and I can’t imagine how fun it will be to actually give them.

Whatever card you decide to give, make sure that on the inside you take the time out of this busy season to include a meaningful message that will make someone else’s holiday. I know I keep cards like that forever, and I’m sure others do too.