Winner of the Giveaway!!!

                  Today is the reveal of the winner of the Giveway for My Own Art.  Thanks to those that entered for a chance to win. :) 

 

Source

 

And The Winner is:

 

GINA KUNIEWICZ

 

Congratulations Gina, I can't wait to see your completed artwork! 

 

I will see you all after the New Year!   Have a wonderful Christmas and a peaceful holiday :)

A Sleigh Ride

I had read somewhere recently that a couple surprised their kids with a note at bed time to let them know they were going to look at Christmas Lights.  I loved the idea, so I decided yesterday that I would create my own little letter and leave it on the kids beds when they went upstairs to get ready to go to sleep.

 

But before we could set that up, I had to do some baking...

 

 

 

 

 

I made a triple batch of sugar cookies that called for sour cream as one of the ingredients, so I figured I couldn't go wrong.   They were great since I didn't have to refrigerate them before baking.

 

 

 

 I also made a double batch of gingerbread cookies.  The recipe was very mild which my daughter and I tend to like a lot.

 

Once out of the oven,  I let the cookies cool...

 

 

 

Then we all sat together and had a lot of fun decorating. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While they worked on the fun colorful ones, I hung out in the gingerbread section with my white icing and decorated some gingerbread men, women, and houses.

 

 

 

We had a lot of fun and through the process, we actually found out something.  In all of my years of decorating cakes and cookies, my husband not once said, "Hey I can help you decorate those 150 cookies for that order, cause I am good at decoratin'."  Nope, I never heard him say such a thing and then last night he sat down and decorated cookies like he had been doing it for years!!  He even explained to the kids how to hold the bag and when to release your pressure so the icing would stop flowing.  WHAT!!!  ARE YOU SERIOUS?   Ok, nice to know.  Well at least if I am decorating cookies in future, I won't be doing it alone ;-).

 

After we were mostly finished decorating, I snuck in to the kitchen and made some hot cocoa for the kids and put together a little plate of cookies for each of them.  Then, I warmed up the car and hopped in while Dustin ran up and put the note on their beds.

 

We waited and waited and finally they came running out in pjs and jackets and jumped in the car.  Seeing their faces all sorts of excited brought me back to my childhood when my mum and dad would do magical things at Christmas!

 

I bought the reindeer antlers and nose to go on my car this year, so technically I wasn't fibbing, Rudolph was pulling our sleigh, lol.

 

I thought I would share the letter with you and give you the option to copy and paste it if you would like or change it to suite your family. 

 

PSSSST!!!

Listen up and lend your ear!  Are you ready for a little Christmas Cheer?

Don't be silly, it's not time for bed!!!  Santa's helpers are in the sled!

The Cocoa is ready, the Cookies are too, so all we need now is...

YOU!!!

Grab your jackets and hurry along, we will listen to our favorite Christmas song!

You have 20 seconds to get to the sleigh,

for Rudolph will be on his way!!!

 

 On a different note, (ha ha Get it? Sorry that was just sad, lol) don't forget that tomorrow Friday 12/21, the GIVEAWAY will close at 11 am EST, so don't forget to enter!

A Little Homemade Christmas!!!

 I have decided to extend the GIVEAWAY until this Friday December 21, 2012. Click Here to go to the giveaway!

Over this last week and this weekend we spent some quality family time together and completed a few projects!  The kids wanted to make a ginger bread house, but when we got home we realized that we had purchased chocolate houses, not gingerbread!  That's was ok by the kids since they love chocolate and the store bought gingerbread tastes a little funky to us.

 

We melted down the chocolate and put it into the molds.  I really like that next year we will be able to reuse the molds and just pick up a bag of chocolate and some candy to add to it. 

 

 

 

 

 

 Then the kids put them together and started working on decorating. 

 

 

And here is their finished Houses :)

 

 

Some of the other things that I was able to put together were snowflake Popsicle sticks decor, target place mats turned pillows (thanks to my mum), and  twine wrapped candle jars.

 

 

 

Another thing my daughter and I did this weekend was to add a little old fashioned fun to the Christmas tree by making popcorn garland!

 

A few tips on making popcorn garland that I learned since the last time I made it. 

 

1.  First get a buddy to help you out.  It goes by a lot faster. 

 

2. Make sure the popcorn is plain white popcorn, NOT buttered.

 

3.  Make sure the popcorn has been sitting out for several hours before you make the garland.  That way it doesn't crack when you put the needle through it.

 

4.  Use an upholstery needle and strong thread.  The upholstery needle felt much better on my fingers and went through the popcorn better.

 

* To store it at the end of the holiday, just put it in Ziploc bags.  I kept the last batch for 4 years before throwing it out at the end of last year.  No moldiness or bad smell.  The only reason why we redid them is because they looked a little rough after 4 years ;-)

 

 

 I couldn't help but share a few of my favorite ornaments along with the Tree Keeper!

 

 

 

 Some of my favorite ornaments are my son's first Christmas ornament, my daughter's handmade ornament, and our first Christmas ornament for the year we got married, given to us by a friend.

 

Dozer (a.k.a. Tree Keeper) loves, loves, loves being near, next to, or under the tree!  He can't help himself.  It's so comforting to him! 

 

 

 

My Own Art GIVEAWAY!!!

 

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED!


I was recently contacted by Elin Tidbeck from the company My Own Art to see if I would be interested in reviewing her artwork.  After checking out her website, I knew that the type of artwork she creates would fit into any one's color scheme and decorating style! 

 

Elin was also gracious enough to do a giveaway on my blog so that one of my readers will win an original digital file of her artwork!  

 

Having the digital file allows you to to have the rights to make as many reprints as you wish at any size and on any media of your choice.  So that's really nice to have.  Printing additional copies would be a great gift to give family this holiday season.  I really liked having the option of either putting it on canvas or framing it.

 

So, with that being said, I will shut up now ;-)

 

 and just show you what I am talking about.

 

 

Here is what My Own Art does...

 

A beautiful picture turned into such a gorgeous piece of artwork!

 

 

 

 

And here is another one that I really like...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   What little boy or girl do you know that wouldn't love to have their pictures turned into such fun artwork? 

 

This one just made me crack up laughing!  How can you not giggle when looking at this?   I love when family portraits aren't too serious.

 

 

For the Star Wars Lover in your family! 

 

I just think any one of these would make an awesome statement in a room.  Don't you?  It would definitely be a conversational piece when someone comes in your house.  It adds so much character to your own personal space, whether or not you put it up in their bedroom or playroom or out in the family room for everyone to see.  I know the kids will get a big kick out of it.   Mine already have. The artwork that Elin did for me has only been up a couple of days and my kiddos can't get enough of them!

 

 

 

Below is the one of the photos I sent to My Own Art and this was one of the pictures that Elin created for me...

I received my digital files from My Own Art and I had them printed to 11 x 14 inches to fit two matted 16 x 20 frames that I purchased at Target.

 

 

 

 

I know this couple is so cute and winter ready, but they had to go to make room for my babies :-) 

 

I tried Target and CVS for printing, but they only go up to 8 x 10 and don't do special orders, so I ended up at Walmart.  I have to say, I was so pleased with their quality and price. 

 

 

I went with a matte finish and chose poster size.

 

 

 

 

 And here is how they look all snug in our home...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So now every time my husband gets to the top of the staircase, I hear him say, "My babies!"

 

Too cute! 

 

 

Now you have a chance to win one of these files from My Own Art.

 

There are 3 ways to enter: 

 

1.  Head on over to www.myownart.com.au  and come back and leave a comment telling me which style background is your favorite! 

 

2. Click HERE and like My Own Art on facebook and come back and leave a comment letting me know you did!

 

and for your 3rd chance to be entered into the GIVEAWAY,

 

3.  Click HERE and like Seaside Interiors on facebook and come back and leave a comment letting me know you did!

 

DON"T forget to leave your email info, so that we can contact you if you win :)

 

The Giveaway is now open and will run until Friday 12/21/12  at 11 am EST.  The winner will then be chosen randomly through random.org.

 

BUT WAIT!!!

 

If you don't win the Giveaway, we have something for you too! 

 

Since it is the holidays and Elin is awesome, she has created a coupon for my readers! 

 

You can use Coupon Code:  30offseaside

 

That means you will receive your illustration and rights to your digital file for $30.

 

Not too shabby!

 

 

 Thanks again to My Own Art for being my first Giveaway Sponsor!!!

 

If you enjoy reading my blog and want to have my posts sent to you via reader, you can click up top on the right and follow along.

 

Good luck and the winner will be announced after the GIVEAWAY closes Friday 12/21/12!

 

 

 

 

Holiday Decorating and Lights: Part 1!

Happy Holidays

The outdoor lights are now complete thanks to my husband.  I kept my feet firmly on the ground since last year I went flying off a ladder only to land on my neighbor who was tryin' to catch me, lol.  No one was severely injured, thank goodness :)

 

So Dusty worked hard on all of his lights while I took care of inside stuff.  Since Christmas is about the kiddos, my daughter won out in the lights color for the main tree.  She said, "white is not a color."  "Please oh please can we do colored lights?"  So that is what is now on the tree.  My white lights got bumped to the smaller tree only to find out that I was missing all of my white lights.  If you were wondering like I was where they went, well apparently outside on all the little bushes.   So I picked up a few more sets and finished off some of the inside decorating.

 

 

 

 

I love the idea of whole coffee beans as a decorative element!

 

 

 

 

 

Don't miss my next post which will be part 2 of the holiday decorating and on Friday, make sure to stop in for my FIRST GIVEAWAY!!!  It will be a great chance to win something that you can give as a Christmas gift to a loved one or well, if you love it like I do, just keep it for yourself ;-)

 

Restoration Hardware and Pottery Barn Room Design Board

A few of the recent design boards that I have created seemed to have one thing in common.  Comfort, comfort, and well, a little more comfort!  A place to just kick back and relax!  So today, I thought I would share one of my recent design boards that I put together for a very loving couple, Lauren and Robert.

Care of Lauren Zeigler Photography

 

I know, how Stinkin' cute are they?  I love these photos that they allowed me to share with you guys!

Care of Lauren Zeigler Photography

 

I knew pretty quickly that Robert loved the look of Restoration Hardware while Lauren loved the feel of Pottery Barn.  Where Robert pulls in how things look, Lauren pulls in how things feel.  She likes the layered textures in the room and he likes the clean lines.  So, together I knew I wanted to create a space that spoke to the both of them. 

 

Here is my mix of the Restoration Hardware and Pottery Barn feel...

 

 

 

I love the warmth of the buttery yellow with the gray blues and touches of brown!  I worked in a few items that they already owned such as the black Ikea side tables.  I had a lot of fun pulling the different pieces together.

 

SOURCE LIST

 

http://www.target.com/p/threshold-kitsune-toss-pillow-blue/-/A-14161279#prodSlot=medium_1_23&term=threshold pillow

 

http://www.potterybarn.com/products/caged-glass-table-lamp/

 

http://www.crateandbarrel.com/hayward-18-pillows/f47154

 

http://www.crateandbarrel.com/prescott-jars/f47777

 

https://www.jossandmain.com/Prescott-and-Parker~E2686.html#

 

http://www.homedecorators.com/P/Hidcote_Mirror_-_Set_of_3/170/

 

http://www.rugsusa.com/rugsusa/rugs/rugs-usa-edison/nickel/200SBHAC13A-26010.html

 

http://www.potterybarn.com/products/studio-wall-easel/

 

 

Please contact me at: seasideinteriors01@gmail.com for a detailed Design Board for a room in your home!  The current price for one of my design boards is on sale for half off and is $75.  This includes the mood board as seen above, the room layout, and source list for where to purchase furniture and accessories found in the Design Board!

 

Oooey Gooey Blackberry Cobbler

I made a few pies for the holiday and a Blackberry Cobbler.  The Blackberry Cobbler won out by a huge margin :-)   

Of course, it doesn't hurt that I used my favorite cobbler recipe from the Pioneer Woman! 

This recipe has just a few ingredients and is made in a couple minutes,which is always a must on my choosing of recipes. 

The Pioneer Woman's Blackberry Cobbler

 

 

click HERE for the WONDERFUL recipe!

 

Be back soon with our holiday decorating.

 

Yummy Soft Snickerdoodles!

 By this time each year, I am usually completely stressed and worn out from hustle and bustle of what comes along with the holidays.  BUT this year, not so much!  Maybe because my mum is doing Thanksgiving and I am taking care of Christmas dinner.  We usually switch off so one of us isn't doing everything.  And I have never gotten into watching the Lifetime Christmas movies before, until this year. My daughter and I have already seen 5 of them ;-). Usually I just watch my regular fav's like A Christmas Story, Grinch, and Grizwald's Christmas Vacation right before Christmas.  I think my main goal this year is to keep the holidays SIMPLE.  I am not going black Friday shopping for the first year either.  Who needs it when you can go Cyber Monday shopping in your pjs.  I just want to spend time with family and make some yummy food!  Which leads me to the first recipe for the Thanksgiving holiday...  

Soft Snickerdoodle Cookies

Recipe Source Here

• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Total Time: 20 mins
• Servings: 24

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 3/4 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 3 teaspoons cinnamon

Directions

          Preheat oven to 350°F.

1. Mix butter, 1 1/2 cups sugar and eggs thoroughly in a large bowl.
2. Combine flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl.
3. Blend dry ingredients into butter mixture.
4. Chill dough, and chill an ungreased cookie sheet for about 10-15 minutes in the fridge.
5. Meanwhile, mix 3 tablespoons sugar, and 3 teaspoons cinnamon in a small bowl.
6. Scoop 1 inch globs of dough into the sugar/ cinnamon mixture.
7. Coat by gently rolling balls of dough in the sugar mixture.
8. Place on chilled ungreased cookie sheet, and bake 10 minutes.
9. Remove from pan immediately.

 

The one thing I always suggest is to take the cookies out just before you think they are done!  They will cook just a bit more out of the oven.  That's how I always keep mine soft in the middle.  Also, I made mine a bit bigger than the 1 in. rd size that this recipe calls for.  More like 2 in. size for mine ;-)  So I did just about 11 min. on the baking.   Since I needed 30 cookies for my son's classroom party, I just went ahead and tripled the batch to leave some for us!

 

 

 Tomorrow is another baking day for me.  The list consists of Pumpkin Pies, Sweet Potato Pies, Blackberry Cobbler, and hopefully some of my husband's Great Grandma's Ginger Snaps.  Check back in for a few more great recipes and my very favorite easy to do pie crust recipe :)

 

Awesome Holiday Crafts for Cheap!

This year the budget for Christmas decorations is, well, almost a nice big Zero.   So I am going to do some of my own homemade crafts that I think will add some fun to our Holiday without really breaking the bank.  Let me show you what I have in mind...

 

SOURCE

 

I love the option of creating a large holiday item that has an impact on your room but not on your wallet!  I am thinking of creating two of these maybe for by the fire place.  I already have some boxes, a scarf, the black card stock and possibly the orange card stock.  I may be able to take some wrapping paper and use the lighter side or if not, all I would need to pick up is some white paper.  And I will have some fun snowmen for really cheap. 

 

SOURCE

 These are great too!  If you are a crafter like me, then you probably have a bunch of Popsicle sticks laying around.  If not, they are a very inexpensive item to pick up at the dollar store. 

 

What I really love about the last two crafts is that my kids can actually help make them.  So we can turn it into some family time!

 

 The idea to do some of my own Christmas Crafts came when I went to Target.  Ok, Ok, yes I went to Target AGAIN.  It's an addiction and we are having me checked out for it ;-) 

 

While I was there, I found all sorts of goodies that I thought hmm, "I can so make those at home for a fraction of the cost.". 

Here's what I found...

 

 

 A beautiful white nutcracker for $20.  Not bad at all, but since I have a few old nutcrackers already, and spare spray paint, I think I can do this for FREE! 

 

 

I love this branch Wreath for the Front Door.  Sort of Frosty and Silver.   

 

 

But with a price tag of $45, ouch!   For this project, I am going to need a little bag of glisteny (we are going with that word) snow, a bag of mini pine cones, some grayish silver spray paint, and some twigs and branches.  I think I can make this guy for pretty cheap! 

 

 

If I get the stuff to make the wreath above, I can easily make a few of these with the left over items.  Ok kids, OUT TO THE WOODS FOR SOME BRANCHES!  What, you know you would send your kids too, lol! 

 

I also can't get enough of these sweater cones!!!

 

 I know these are a definite on my to do list.  I think these can be made for cheap out of a Styrofoam cone or heavy card stock for the cone shape and some thrift store sweaters or old sweaters you may have lying around.  I don't know if the dollar store sells the Styrofoam cones, but I bet Walmart does or you can even get them for cheap with a coupon for Michael's or Joanne Fabric.  Another quick and easy project!

 

So if I were to purchase all of these items from Target, I would be up to about $140 bucks or so.  I hope to be able to create them for a very small cost and I will be back with up coming posts to show you how to do that. 

Don't worry, I haven't forgot about Thanksgiving, I will be chowing down on Turkey next week at my mum's, but I have my eye fixed on Christmas. 

 

 For example, I have been recording Lifetime Christmas movies and last night I put on one called Dear Santa.  It was so bad that my husband got up from the couch and cleaned the entire kitchen.  See, I have Christmas plans ;-)

 

Even MORE Target Inspiration & A Painting Update

Target you're killin' me!!!    I was only supposed to stop in at Target yesterday to get a few artist brushes for a paint job that my husband was doing, but I went to the holiday section and found so many cute pillows!   I thought I should share to help get you in the spirit ;-)

 

Starting with this guy!  I have always had a severe obsession with penguins.  So much in fact that as a teenager, for every birthday, I got some sort of penguin.  I still have not gotten over them, all though my owl obsession is starting to take over.

 

 

 I love him!  The colors are a different change to the deep red and green of the holidays.  His smile is so sweet!

 

 I am always a sucker for buttons on pillows.  This one has different textures from the material on the word Merry to the buttons and I like the muted colors in the word Christmas.

 

 

 A very modern feel to a snowflake pillow.  The stitching on the snowflakes adds a neat touch.

 

 

 Felt pillows have never looked so cool and contemporary!

 

 

I love the blues and grays in this one with a hint of green.  I tend to find that I am more drawn to the red and green of the holidays when they are separate from each other with a mix of new colors. 

 

Again, I was supposed to be ONLY looking for some small artist brushes for a paint job my husband was working on, but I couldn't help myself.  And hey, I should be patting myself on the back, do you know how many rows of Christmas home decor and decorations they have that I didn't stop to take pictures of.  I know, my husband should be thanking me for staying mostly on track, lol!

 

 

And here is a little look at the painting we are doing for the interior decorating job I am working on this week...

 

 

BEFORE

 

 

 

AFTER

 

 

 

 

 It was a little hard capturing the exact color with my cell phone, so I will take better ones today.   The color is Sherwin Williams Languid Blue.