Back to Basics - Christmas with mason jars and pallets

Anyone that knows me KNOWS that I love some bling. The more bling the better, especially when it comes to Christmas decorations.

But, simple and natural is beautiful, too. There is an upcoming Christmas Celebration and the decor we are planning is going to be full of magnolia branches, mason jars, and pallets. And it's going to be jsut beautiful, but without the bling.

Besides, glitter IS the herpes of craft supplies, right?

Check out these lovely invites for said Christmas party -- I LOVE the candy cane striped baker's twine. And the mason jar. And recycled card it's mounted on. Okay, I love the whole thing. 

And here's the best part of pre-party prep so far -- we upcycled pallets for yard decorations! My friend got five pallets (one that she stained that looks gorgeous) and we used a projector to paint them. Well, a few of them we traced then painted:

And we had two little helpers along the way... here's one:

...And then I was forced encouraged to step out of my perfectionist comfort zone and just straight up paint this one without tracing:

It's my FAVORITE!

My friend's hubby is going to put lights in all of them AND THEY ARE GOING TO BE EVEN MORE AWESOME. I am soooo excited about this project.

So excited in fact, that I am going to make one for our front porch. Sam's Dad is going to get me a pallet from his warehouse. I want to put it where you would see it at the top of the steps and then put garland on the top. I was thinking about drilling holes where the dots are and putting those big "bulb" light through it... but I don't know... let's not get too crazy.

Project Organized: Upcycled Antique Cabinet

 I have a thing for antiques. Anything vintage really. It's classic. The latest version of my bedroom at my parent's house is all antiques, mostly from my family members. Beautiful collectibles and being surrounded by items that were treasured by those I loved is my idea of a perfect room.

I didn't bring a lot of those items to our home when I moved in because we have limited room. BUT, I was recently gifted with a gorgeous antique curio cabinet and I made room for it after a little suggestion from my mom that made a big difference:

Upcycle it. Line it with fabric and use it for storage. I pinned a bunch of pins on your pinterest with pictures you can look at.

Shut the front door. Sheer genius, that woman.

Here's the before:  {Notice the wall color changes in these pics - more on that later!}

Zoe thought she had a new perch to hang out on...

I bought fabric with typewriters and typewriter keys (eeek!!!!) printed on it from Etsy, lined the inside of the cabinet with adhesive, cut the pieces to cover the glass, and stuck the fabric on the adhesive. And voila:

Upcycled Craft Cabinet that hides all of my goodies!

And displays typewriters for that photo. How fun!

Later on, I moved it to another wall and now the tv sits on it ;)

The best part: It holds a TON of stuff and it hides it!