Gifting | Stockings

Its hard to believe that Thanksgiving has already passed and we're less than 2 weeks away from Christmas! Stockings are one of my favorite parts of Christmas, because I love giving and receiving small, thoughtful gifts without all of the fuss.

Budget-friendly, stocking-worthy gifts seem to be the most difficult kind of presents to find, so I've rounded up a few of my favorites! Some of these would also make great small gifts for friends or co-workers.

lip balm set | mini capri blue candle | scarf

koozies | festive socks | whiskey stones

glass water bottle | starbucks card | road id

xoxo

Marisa

Friday Five

*this should have gone up yesterday, but I had a few technical difficulties...


Friends! It's been too long, and I have no one to blame but myself. I'm trying to jump back on the blogging train and get a better schedule going. So, without further ado, here's my Friday 5! 

1 | after living with a half completed gallery wall behind the sofa for oh I don't know, 6 months, I finally decided to start over and switch things around. I'm loving that the new gallery wall is one of the first things you are when you walk into the maisonnette and that it finally looks complete! 

2 | this peanut butter/honey/greek yogurt dip has been my go-to healthy snack for the past month. It's unusual for me to keep making something like this for so long, it's a real winner with apples! 

3 | this apothecary match jar tutorial is brilliant. So simple and a fraction of the cost of the original. I'm going to get the supplies this weekend. 

4 | continuing my love for all things black & white, I bought two of these gorgeous pillow covers this week on sale and think they'll look great either on the bed or the sofa 

5 | tomorrow I'll be racing in the Ortega River Run here in Jax, this will be my first 5 mile race and the last big 'warm up' before the Gate River Run 15k on March 15. Wish me luck! 

What have y'all been up to this week? Any big (or little) plans this weekend? 

xoxo

Marisa

Holidays & New Entryway Art

Friends! It's been forever since I've updated this little blog of mine, but I'm back and excited to show you some updates I made over the holidays over the next week or so. Speaking of the holidays, how were yours? I had a great Christmas and New Years. It was so nice to be able to relax a little and spend much needed time with family & friends.

Christmas morning with the family 

One of the bigger projects I tackled was updating the 'entryway' in the maisonnette. Last time you saw it, it looked like this, with 2 shelves on the little wall you see when you walk in. I liked the shelves there originally, but I was never really sure how to style them and they ended up being dust collectors.

pretty, but not practical

After considering my options, I knew I wanted to hang two large-ish black frames vertically, with a large black and white graphic print inside. I looked at fabric, but didn't love any of the options that were reasonably priced, and then I stumbled upon this post and knew I could just stencil something I liked. I'm a total sucker for an ikat pattern, and instead of re-inventing the wheel, I decided to make my own stencil, based on this original. 

To do this, I printed off the original image, traced it onto cardboard from a cereal box, and cut it out with a razor knife. To stencil the pattern onto the poster board, I simply taped it down and used a regular bristle brush to dab it into the stencil. I wanted the pattern to look almost like a fabric print, so I wasn't worried when some of the repeats weren't perfect. 

mid-stencil 

Once I finished stenciling both pieces of poster board and they dried for a few hours, I simply cut them to size and popped them into the frames. I love that the black and white pattern makes a statement, but isn't too overpowering for the space. 

Did y'all make any changes over Christmas? What are you looking forward to in 2014? 

xoxo

Marisa