Since we have kind of an earthy/natural Christmas theme going on at our abode.  I’ve had the itch to make some of these terrarium ornaments for our tree.  They require zero care.  Well almost zero.  If you have animals like mine you gotta make sure they don’t clobber the Christmas tree, and break your beautiful creations.

I found this quick and easy little project on Design*Sponge (love that site), and wanted to share their “how to” for these Mossy Balls of Joy.

What you’ll need:

– clear glass ornaments

– dried moss

– twine

– pencil

– q-tips

optional- twigs, butterflies, feathers etc…

1. Tear off a small piece of moss and moisten slightly (this helps to keep the moss from crumbling a lot of dust inside).

2. With the eraser end of your pencil, gently push moss into the opening. Repeat this a few times until you have a forest floor on the bottom of your ornament.

3. Add any extras and poke with your pencil to style things as necessary.

4. Bend a q-tip and clean any debris stuck to the inside walls of the ornament.

5. Attach a piece of twine with a bow and hang.

Look at the adorable wrapping my new little snowflake ornaments came in.  I bought these cute little things from the Nesta Home Etsy shop.

This is one of my favorite things about buying things on Etsy!  I mean….has Target ever given you personal touches like this?  I think not.

We put up the tree yesterday, so I will post some photos of these sweet frosty flakes hanging on the tree very soon.

How cute are these?

You could use these for…

• candy jar tags
• gift tags
• home organization-labels
• place card markers for dinner party
• Christmas stockings
• messages for someone special

Love these tags?  You can buy them at Blue Pearls Etsy shop.

I just ordered the cutest little wooden advent calendar from DabberDoo’s Etsy shop.  I can’t wait to have kids so we can fill each little drawer with a treat for the countdown to Christmas.  Super fun Davenport tradition in the making!

I also picked up some adorable hand painted rusted tin snowflake ornaments from the Nesta Home Etsy shop.

We’ve got a somewhat natural X-mas tree style.  I think these will go with the cute little woodland creatures, and simple glass ornaments we already have.

If you are like me and love J.CREW; then you have probably had the issue of seeing that the one item you were just dying to buy was sold out when you went to buy it online.  You are happily strolling along navigating your way through their website to that dress or blouse you saw in this month’s catalog, credit card in hand, a bright smile plastered on your face, and B-A-M! your hit with the dreaded “We wish we’d made more of this style.  It SOLD OUT much faster than expected” message.  Your hopes and dreams of ever owning this item are crushed into a million little pieces.  I know exactly how you feel.

Even before I got engaged I knew that I was going to have a J.CREW styled wedding.  I had the dress I wanted all picked out and everything.  I had my eye on the Genevieve Silk Radzimir Gown.

“Pure magic in a very rare fabric usually reserved for royal weddings and haute couture—so rare, we could make only a few of these beautiful dresses. Luxurious midweight Italian silk radzimir with delicate spaghetti straps. Fitted bodice, full skirt with inverted box pleats and shirring for volume. Hidden on-seam pockets. Back zip hidden with self-covered buttons. Fully lined. Falls to floor. Part of the J.Crew Collection. Import. Dry clean. Specially packaged in a custom-made box to ensure your gown is always as beautiful as the first day you wore it.” – J.CREW

I know, right?

So the day came, and Derek proposed.  A few days later we hopped online to purchase the dress, and of course it was SOLD OUT.  SOLD OUT!!!  Derek, being the sweetie that he is, picked up the phone and called J.CREW.  Come to find out they will put you on a wish list if an item you are looking for is sold out.  So we said…sign us up!

At this point they put you on a list, sometimes behind many other hopeful ladies (or men) and tell you that if one comes in (typically due to a return) and you are next on the list, they will charge your card, ship the dress to you, and send you an email (or phone call) to tell that the item is on it’s way to you.

Well, they finally made it to my name on the list, but by this time the slump of the economy was is full effect. Just like the description reads, this gown came in a custom-made box along with a precious padded hanger.  And to top it off, the box was tied up in a cute satin ribbon.  Ahhhhh.

Although we would have been able to afford it, I decided to shop for a less expensive gown.  If I was unable to find one that would help lessen the cost of the wedding, then I would stay with my J.CREW gown.  As luck would have it I found a suitable replacement.  I hated to see my dream J.CREW gown leave my little hands, but it was the right thing to do.  It saved me around $1000.00.

I did however have the rest of the wedding party dressed to the 9′s in J.CREW, and boy did they look stunning.

So remember, if there is something that you are dying to have and it’s sold out….don’t worry.  Simply call customer service and see what kind of magic they can work for you.  Oh,  I almost forgot.  I did the same thing with my sister’s bride’s maid/maid of honor dress too.  See!

My Crate and Barrel holiday catalog just arrived in the mail.  This bad boy has 55 pages of holiday inspired decor, and I have fell in love with at least one item on every page.  I know, I know….I can’t have it all, but I want it all.

I wonder how much of this I can slip in under Derek’s radar?  Just kidding honey.  I’ll ask first…for most of it. (tee-hee-hee!)

Here are some of the main things I am drooling over.

The saddest thing about this story is that Memphis doesn’t know the joy of having a Crate and Barrel store.  So this little Memphian has to get her C&B jollies from catalogs and online shopping.

I know…it’s pretty sad, but I think I’m gonna make it.

Not only did I get off work early today (for a doctor’s appointment, but off is off), but my Gap/Old Navy order was waiting for me on my doorstep.  And that made me super happy.  I have been waiting for this little package to arrive for a few days now.

See, we are waiting for someone to come fix our heater because the thing is old and the size of a Mac Truck, on it’s last leg, and the dumb thing decided not to generate heat when we turned it on for the 1st time this fall.  Boooooo!  Since we live in a 60+ year old house that is not that well insulated heat escapes quite easily, and the cold air does too.

To battle this coldness that is creeping in more and more these days; I purchased me some adorable slipper booties from Gap to keep my tootsies warm until the heat is restored in our golden oldie of a house, and for the cold winter nights to come.  Toasty.  Ahhhhh….

I also purchased a cute striped henley, a cardigan, and an awesome yellow scarf from Old Navy.  I decided on yellow so it would bring a little sunshine to these cold dark fall days.