Christmas

Easy Holiday Decor for Under $10

| The Bee Life

There are easy ways to bring a little holiday impact to your home before you lug all of the Christmas decorations down from the attic.  Not only are these simple, they’re also budget friendly pieces you can sprinkle throughout your home to help spread a little holiday cheer and get in the holiday spirit without going full blown Christmas just yet!
Easy Holiday Decor - the bee life
(1) Seasonal Hand Soaps.  Scents are a great way to incorporate the essences of the holidays into your home before all the halls are decked with garland and lights.  These are easy to switch out throughout the home from your kitchen to bathrooms with plenty of affordable options like Mrs. Meyers hand soaps holiday scents (pine and peppermint) are just $3.99 or $6.50 if you’re shopping Bath & Body Works stock up and these will last you well into the New Year!

(2) Festive Hand Towels.  This is another easy switch for your kitchen or bathrooms to bring in some festive colors for your hand towels, plus if you’re shopping at Marshalls or T.J. Maxx you can often get these in 2-or-4 packs for under $10.  I love having seasonal hand towels throughout the home to keep the holiday decor throughout, plus the patterns or themes are so cute, they’re hard to turn down!

(3) Seasonal Candles.  Not only do these smell like the holidays, they’re often festive with fun plaid patterns, deep greens/reds, or have glittery gold text that just screen Christmas!  I love picking these up as they start hitting the shelves, especially the smaller ones you can find at Marshalls for $2.99 — T.J. Maxx online also has this adorable Buffalo Plaid printed candle for $6.99 that goes right along with my latest obsessions!

(4) Scented Pinecones.  Again, bringing scents into your home can make the feeling of having a real pine tree in almost any room – scented pinecones can also double as a simple centerpiece that will last beyond the Christmas decorations and into the cold winter months.  For $3 at Michael’s all you need is a packet or two of these scented pinecones in a big bowl for your dining room and wah-la you’ve got a centerpiece.

(5) Wall Hanging Twig Tree. Oh my gosh! I stumbled upon this as I was dreaming through Target’s holiday decor collections and fell in love with it immediately!  Not only is it simple and rustic, it can double as a Christmas tree for sentimental ornaments (and would be great for a small apartment), or just have a string of lights wrapped about it or even used for Christmas cards – best part is it’s $10!

(6) Festive Garland.  Having a mantle, garland is an easy way for me to incorporate the holidays by focusing on one focal point in the house without decorating every nook and cranny in the house.  If you’re just wanting a touch of holiday flair to get into the holiday spirit, World Market has these super cute garlands for $9.99.  6 Holiday Decor Under $10 - the bee life
Shop the decor: Mrs. Meyers Hand Soap | Be Merry Garland from World Market | Wall Hanging Twig Tree from Target | Buffalo Plaid Candle from T.J. Maxx | Season Hand Towels from T.J. Maxx | Scented Pinecones from Michaels

I’m jonesing to pull out all our Christmas decor and get the house holiday ready – but I like waiting until after Thanksgiving. Although I’ve already started with the evergreen candles and hand soap and have been making big plans for our holiday decor and switching up our color theme this year (but more to come on that)!   Have you started getting ready for the holidays yet?

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Image Source: Country Living Historic Tudor

House Tour – Christmas Dining Room

| The Bee Life

One of my favorite rooms to decorate during the holidays and different seasons is our dining room.  We have a large custom table that is perfect for statement centerpieces and plenty of room for family and friends to gather around for a delicious meal, conversation and laughter.
House Tour - Christmas Dining - the bee life (1)
I love thinking of ways to transform this space each year and building upon pieces I already have or buying new… this year I kind of went the old/new route based off the color theme of gold and green, selfishly carrying our wedding color palette into the holiday season and our home!  I used some pieces from our wedding and ended up buying a new table runner and napkins to pull the look together for guests.

My goal this year was to keep the dining room intimate and cozy for a small group of six, candles mixed throughout with customized ornament place settings. I used glass ornaments, (I basically have plain glass bulbs stock-piled once the year end sales hit) and poured white paint inside of them to drizzle along the inside, so when I wrote names in gold on the outside they popped! Guests can take these home as a keepsake of the holiday memory to hang on their tree!
House Tour - Christmas Dining - the bee life (2)
The greens mixed in help bring that classic Christmas feel and were conveniently trimmed off our tree. I love entertaining and having friends and family in our home, celebrating, laughing and creating memories and with the perfect setting and people it makes it easy.

Cheers to new memories!

Holiday Hacks – Make A Statement

| The Bee Life

One of my favorite things about the holidays is presents! But no… probably not what your thinking – I love WRAPPING presents… seriously, it’s all about the presentation.  Although my wrapping game isn’t quite up to par with what I’d like it to be… I’m getting there. So if your like me, and like to make a statement with your presents, and include them as part of your decorations under the tree – here are some easy hacks to do just that!
Bee Holiday Hacks - Statement - the bee life
Pick a Theme or Color Palette. This can tie into the decor of your home if your planning to use these are decor under the tree. Often times I’m inspired by a specific ornament or even spotting some gift wrap in the store and working around that to pick my theme for the year!

Get Wrapping Paper for Each Person/Categories. I know; this is getting a little crazy but I like to wrap all of B’s presents in his very own wrapping paper – this leaves out the need for 20-different name tags.  This could be done by family (yours vs. his) or by person if you have enough variety in your paper selection.

Stock-up on Tags/Ribbon when you See a Good Deal.  And it doesn’t have to be Christmas! I stocked up on a bunch of tags after Valentines day, they were gold, and bright pinks – they’ve come in clutch throughout the year and I’m sure I’ll throw a few gold ones on gifts this year too.  Always be on the look out and stock-up especially if you see one of a kind options at Marshalls or TJ Maxx. Or better yet, print your own with these free printable Christmas tags! Don’t be afraid to keep it simple too and make a statement with ribbons, tags, or greenery.

Invest in some Good Tape. This is a fault of mine; because I scrapbook and go through a lot of tape, therefore I just stock-up at the Dollar Store – however I’ve come to find that this tape and some of the fancy, thicker wrapping paper I’ve picked up don’t go well together.

This is a fun way to spread some extra cheer and make a statement with family and friends.

Photo Source: Cosmopolitan

Holiday Decor Inspiration

| The Bee Life

Every year I get an itch to completely redo all of our Christmas decorations, but then there is a part of me that just loves what we’ve created over these last few years and how we’ve made our home a cozy Christmas wonderland.  So I mix things up on a smaller scale, our outdoor space we’ve been doing different lighting variations and and the dining room is always my play space to create a magical setting.

So although I am not completely redoing our decor this year, I love to share future inspiration for holiday decor around the house… enjoy!
Holiday Decor Inspiration - the bee life
Classic. I love keeping decor classic with white lights and pops of color, you can’t beat the feel good sentiments of Christmas and a nice lush evergreen.

Pops of Color. This centerpiece is what dreams are made of and reminds me of the vintage ornaments I’ve found over the years from my grandma and at antique stores – pinks and blues and golds are so fun to play around with!

Simple. I hope one day I can work up to simple, right now it’s a complete flip of decorations in the house; picture frames are put away and the house is completely transformed with greens, lights, multiple trees, candles and ornaments.

What are your favorite things about decorating for Christmas? What theme or color palette are you dying to do?

 

 

Photo sources are linked above. 

Bee Holiday Hacks – Gifts on a Budget

| The Bee Life

Bee Holiday Hacks are back! And this is a fun one I am excited to share with all of you. One thing about the holidays that both B and I absolutely LOVE is to spoil and go over the top for presents, especially with each other. But there have been years,  that major life events happen like a new job,  buying a house, or getting married… so money hasn’t always flowed as much as we like and we need to budget, AKA reality.
Bee Holiday Hacks - Gift Giving - the bee lifeSo in years past we try to limit each other, and set expectations ahead of time. But how you may ask? Here are some hacks for saving cash while still spoiling your loved one and having a meaningful Christmas!

Talk about it. First things, first. You need to be on the same page with your people or person. Set the expectation that this Christmas isn’t going to be as extravagant as past Christmas’ and ask that they respect and reciprocate.  This goes with family too, I’m sure everyone would like to feel a little less pressure around the holidays especially financially.

Pick Gift Themes.  So this past Christmas B and I picked 5-categories of gifts that we each had to get for each other. One of them could be on the higher end, but the other ones had to be modestly priced.  Here were our categories (1) An Experience (2) Something for the House (3) An Inside Joke (4) A DIY (5) Something for the Wedding.  I bought half-marathon race registration for our experience, and B got us tickets for a sushi making class. For the DIY, B attempted to make me a sofa table and also made cookie trays – while I ended up making B do is own DIY for our laundry room, haha! It was really fun to see what each of us came up with, and had fun doing it and stories to share with each other after the fact.

Stocking Price Limit. I love stockings – but these can get a bit out of hand as well. So we put a price limit on these too; i.e. $50 or 10 gifts under $10. Again this is something you could put categories too or mini-checklists!

White Elephant. When it comes to the <extended> family; don’t be afraid to suggest a white elephant exchange OR the exact opposite, don’t be afraid to opt out of the family exchange.  We used to do a cousin exchange but as we’ve gotten older and schedules get jumbled we now just do a family wide white-elephant, totally optional, totally fun and no pressure!

We need to remember it’s OK to slow down, and take a back seat every once in a while, the great thing about Christmas is that it happens every year. Oh! And it’s not all about the gifts.

Photo Source: Extra Petite 

Christmas Ed. Latest Obsessions 11.17

| The Bee Life

Since I was already obsessing over some Christmas items last month, it’s only fitting to continue the obsessions!  From vintage to plaid, it’s a mix of nostalgia and inspiration for the upcoming holiday season.
Latest Obsessions 11.17 - the bee life
Ornaments: Every year growing up it was tradition to pick out a Hallmark ornament to add to a collection, start a new one, or just whatever was the favorite that year. Where I still love getting my annual Hallmark ornament, I like getting other ornaments each year, for a milestone, for B, gifts for neighbors and friends… I love ornaments and they’re so sentimental and easy.

Vintage Wrapping Paper: I cant help but feel nostalgia when I find some prints with a vintage flare, especially with Santa’s! Growing up my presents from Santa always had a Santa pattern on them, and now that I’m older, I can’t help but love that small piece of my childhood.

Just Plaid: This has been a latest Christmas obsession for a few years now… it started with a plaid pattern on our Christmas cards, to table runners, and just wanting EVERYTHING plaid. Where you can’t go wrong with a classic red plaid print, green plaids are starting to grow on me.

Multiple Alpine Faux Trees: So we have one of these adorable faux alpine trees, and I love dressing it up and having multiple trees around the house… but I want more of these skinny guys! Since I keep our main tree pretty uniform and simple – these trees are where I like to have a little more fun and keep the holiday chair going throughout the house! I’ll keep keeping an eye to build my little cluster.

What’re you Christmas obsessions? Are they new and trendy or vintage and nostalgic?

Photo Sources: Top Left | Top Right | Bottom Left | Bottom Right

Parties – Festive Cocktails

| The Bee Life

Since I’m SO pumped for the holidays this year – I can’t help but get excited for all the fun leading up… the decorating, the tree hunting, our Christmas party, baking cookies, just all of the things!  One way to customize your holiday party is to have a signature drink, these drinks have me totally inspired for our upcoming holiday party.
Festive Holiday Drinks - the bee life
Pomegranate Rosemary Spritzer: This drink just looks light and refreshing especially with the garnish of rosemary to top it off.  I think substituting out the pomegranate for cranberries would also be a great option if you wanted to make it a little more affordable and easier to create. This would also be a great drink for a NYE party!

Pink Peppermint Russian: Although I would need to substitute the milk, perhaps with almond milk, this drink looks so pretty and delicious and has Christmas written all over it. Not to mention, it’s a warmer drink which is perfect for warming up your guests from the cold and snowy nights.

Crockpot Cranberry Apple Cider:  This is perfect for a party to start up, and let it simmer and cook in the crockpot while you fine too the decorations and prep the food!  Easily add in some whiskey or rum and you have an instant cocktail to keep you warm and keep the festivities going!

My other go-to holiday party drink is getting the party start with Little Beers, or red and green Jell-o shots!

Cheers!

 

Latest Obsessions 10.17

| The Bee Life

So many things lately you guys, and so much fun, but so, so random.
Latest Obsessions 10.17 - thee bee life
Etsy. We have been shopping for wedding gifts for our bridal party, parents and a few other special people participating in our wedding and Etsy has pretty much been our one stop shop.  The ability to customize special pieces for our loved ones, order hand made jewelry and custom prints has me completely obsessed! I can’t share too much, because a few of those recipients may be reading!

Vintage Santa’s. Yup, I know I’m early guys… but I’m so excited for Christmas! And I think vintage Santa’s might be a thing at the #wagarwoolfchristmas this year. This wreath has my name written all over it not to mention this print (from Etsy) has already been ordered.  I wasn’t sad at all when I saw all the decor out in the stores, I will be decorating as soon as Thanksgiving is over.

Summer Clothes… for our honeymoon! Since we’re going someplace warm, I’ve been shopping for a few fun and flirty bathing suits on top of some fun summer clothes! Especially taking advantage of some of the clearance items. Starting to get obsessed with our upcoming trip.

Our Wedding.  Yup! Still obsessed. As the final details are coming into place, the seating chart is nearly set and guest list is final, simply cannot wait with all the warm and fuzzys inside. Final dress fitting is this weekend and then it’ll just be the final countdown! I can’t imagine what our wedding day is going to be like, but I know it’s going to be pretty wonderful and perfect and I can’t wait to marry B.

Photo Sources: Top Left | Top Right | Bottom Left | Bottom Right

Christmas 2016 – Recap

| The Bee Life

I must admit I’m still in a bit of a daze from yesterday, it was amazing!  These recent years have shaken up the norm a bit, but after six Christmas’ – B and I finally got to spend it together at my parents!  It’s quite different then what B is used to, so I was a little nervous that he would be bored out of his mind.

Christmas Eve was full of baking and frosting cookies, Christmas music, family, laughs, and lots of food and drinks!  The family went to the early mass, came back and took photos in front of the tree, as always. We watched Home Alone, Arthur’s Perfect Christmas, and the end of It’s A Wonderful Life (we turn it on at the same time almost every year!) We then had to head to bed so Santa could come – yes the presents aren’t put out until everyone is asleep.

My brother is ALWAYS the first to wake up on Christmas morning, even as we have gotten older and his normal wake up time wasn’t until noon. This year was no exception, we had group texts going off just before 7am with a handful of Christmas emoji’s from him. We dragged ourselves out of bed and grabbed some fresh coffee and a cutout cookie. From then on the rest of the day was a blur of goodies, waffles, more Christmas tunes, laughs, facetime, games and a HUGE Cavs win!!

It was so awesome finally having B home with me for Christmas that I so dearly love! I think B had a pretty good time. *winks*

Merry Christmas!