over the river and through the woods to Nannie's house we go!

Last weekend my sister, two nephews, and I packed up camp and drove two hours to visit our grandmother whom we lovingly refer to as Nannie. Nannie has an old southern accent and repeatedly says the phrase, "now it's like i've always said" in reference to things she has never said before. It's endearing. So we spent the night, enjoyed a few meals together, helped put up then decorate her Christmas tree, then stumbled upon some really great hidden treasures in her garage. Apparently Nannie was planning on giving away some incredibly wonderful items that my sister saw and knew I'd love! It actually all started a hanging coat/hat rack that I, of course, repurposed.

And it hangs above my bookshelf made of books. . .

Which I finally got around to re-stacking to look nicer.

Prior to this they were stacked more by size than color and eventually began to look cluttered. It didn't help that my sweet puppy Millie would chew on the corners of the books and shred any loose books she could get. It was especially terrible after I began stacking newly acquired books in front of the original stack rather than on top. Needless to say, I am thrilled with my restacking because a) the chewed corners are no longer visible, b) they are somewhat color coordinated, which I really like! and c) there is one slightly taller stack rather than two messy stacks! 

Plenty more came from Nannie's garage that I adore. Luckily my sister, Meggie, is more of a "Pottery Barn meets Snapdragon" kind of decorator so I didn't have to fight her for the lovely items discovered at my Grandmother's. =)

xoK

Craft Crush: Pilli Pilli

I stumbled upon the photo stream of Pilli Pilli Handmade. I know nothing about this person except that I adore everyone single one of this precious little creations. I am a bit over obsessed with garlandy bunting things at the moment. I would have them everywhere if I could but I'm not sure my roommates would permit such decor. I also have been toying with the idea of hanging fabric in embroidery hoops as decor. So the combination of bunting and embroidery hoops simply mades me giddy with joy. You can also check out what Pilli Pilli is up to on her blog if you're interested! 

Color is so wonderful. 

burlap + lace + red&lightblue + hearts + sail boats = lovelovelove. 

This is so neat! A book turned window box. I absolutely adore this idea! 

The only thing better than the combination of bunting and embroidery hoops is the two PLUS Christmas!

"Oh happy day!" is exactly what each of these makes me think.

"Let love grow."

xoK

A Peacock Family Christmas: Garland Edition

D.I.Y. Dot Garland

I'm not sure where I originally saw this idea because apparently it's everywhere. Nonetheless, I jumped on the bandwagon of the ever adorable dot garland. Here is the basic idea. . .

The dots can be the same size in various colors with space between them. . .

or with lots of pretty colors and closer together. . .

or just alternate colors overlapping each other. . .

or multicolored but stitched from the top rather than the middle. . .

or in all sizes and colors but all in line! 

 one. two. three. four. five. 

There is obviously 100 ways to ice a cake ("skin a cat" just sounds so terrible. . .) So I decided to stick with the basics for my first go 'round. 

I bought pre-cut 8.5 x 11 sheets of stiff felt in the basic Christmas colors. Sadly, I didn't take nearly enough pictures along the way but all I did was trace the lid of a mason jar to create same size circles.

I quickly realized this left me with random extra felt so I traced a candle to make mini-circles. This took me quite some time so I put on a movie while I cut. The cutting was the only time consuming part. 

This is where I stopped taking pictures and just focused on cutting. But once all the circles were cut I had a decision to make! Do I do garlands with mixed sizes or same size only? Do I leave space between the dots or put them right beside each other? Do I let the dots overlap? Do I put the small dots on top of the big dots? Ahhh! I eventually decided on same size dots with no space between the dots but not overlapping. From there, the process was quick and easy! All I did was begin with one dot and start sewing down the center so I was left with a circle with a line straight across. Then I would put a different color dot right next to it and keep on going. I didn't worry too much about keeping the stitch centered on the dots because you can't really notice in the end. 

I really liked the finished product! I ended up with two "big dot garlands" and one "mini-dot garland" although I am not using the mini-dot garland as garland any longer. It's already been repurposed in a way I will share with you later. =) 

xoK

"Wanna see the lights in my bed?"

Yes, this is the awkward phrase I uttered to my friend, Matt, as soon as he walked in the door. Forget the traditional, "hello!" or "welcome to peacock" or "hey, how are ya?" No, I go straight for the kill and invite the poor guy into my bed. I quickly followed up with "room" but not before he could look at me like I was crazy and all of my friends could laugh hysterically at my awkwardness. What was Matt's response? "Does that usually work for you? If so, I should start using that as a pick-up line." 

Allow me to explain-I had been inspired by photographs such as these. . .

It actually was not all of these pictures that led me to put lights in my room. From where did my inspiration come? Cleaning. Yes, cleaning. Well, organizing to be more exact. I had one extra box of Christmas lights that had to be used. Couldn't I just save them for next year, you might ask? Absolutely not, that is entirely too logical. Every single light bulb must be put to use! The result? A truly magical bed that I'm not sure how I ever survived in prior to this moment. 

I like it better than all of the others combined. It's the most magical bedroom in the whole wide world. 

xoK

A Peacock Family Christmas: Tree Edition

For me, searching for the perfect Christmas tree is about as great as the tree itself. I think I would visit a Christmas tree farm even if I wasn't actually buying a tree. I simply enjoy seeing the trees- the way they are all lined up, the different shapes and sizes, the pretty lights hung above the trees, all of it!  I like Christmas trees so much that when I was living at home I spent my own money to buy a 2nd Christmas tree just for my bedroom. And I don't mean a mini-tree, I bought a full sized Christmas tree. My friends helped me pick it out, carry it up stairs to my room, and decorate. It's also important to mention that my mom had a full-sized, beautifully decorated tree in the main part of our home that I saw anytime I was home and not in my room. All of that to say, I'm a pretty big fan of Christmas trees. 

This is one of the few pictures I can find that has my bedroom tree in it but you get the idea.

So imagine my excitement when I had an excuse to buy my very own Christmas tree last year! I had recently moved out of my mom's house and no longer had to put a tree in my bedroom. This is last year's Christmas tree with my sweet roommate. 

That was so fun. Going to find a Christmas tree this year was even more fun because I have two additional roommates! One of them was busy studying (can you guess who?!) so it was 3/4 of Peacock on the prowl for the tree. Let the hunt begin. . .

However, we quickly encountered a few problems: our price limit seems a bit too low, Jeni likes fat trees, Aubrey likes cheap trees, and I like big trees. . .like this one.

Since Jeni is a little bit not as tall as Aubrey and me, she doesn't even realize when a tree is a little bit not as tall as Aubrey and me. It was actually really humorous because she would find a tree she thought was great because it was big and fat then I would walk up and I would be the same height as the tree. Really, the tree was just fat but they all seemed a nice height to her! We eventually found the perfect tree!

Sort of. . .as long as you're looking at its good side. =) 

I also thought their "office" was adorable and worthy of about ten photographs. The sweet striped awning just felt like home! 

I'll save photographs of the decorated tree for another edition of A Peacock Family Christmas. =)

xoK

Photography Love: Parker Fitzgerald

I stumbled upon Parker Fitzgerald's photos on Flickr. They are covered in love, inspiration, and God. I appreciate the way he appreciates things big and small and I am inspired by his view of life.

More to come!

xoK

"Message in a Bottle"

If you've been to see a movie in the past few months you have seen this precious Coke commercial. But I just love it so much I had to share the sweet little mini-film. 

xoK

My Holiday Wish List

This is the lovely dress I was going to wear for Christmas. However, I cannot afford it, bills, and gifts. So, I'll just pretend I get to wear it during holiday festivities instead. 

This is "dot just a pretty dress". It would be so cute to wear for Georgia games, holiday parties, or even just to teach in. It so precious. 

Once again, another adorable dress but can a girl ever have too many? 

I LOVE this far too expensive but so incredibly beautiful bag. I would take it everywhere!

Another too expensive but sweet bag. I like the vintage traveler feel. 

I would also like this vintage globe that I found on etsy. It would look brilliant in my room! 

Any of these pretty books would be welcome in my home. 

And as much as I would love to tell of all the lovely gifts I am making and giving I cannot. I believe that would spoil the surprises for a few lucky love ones who may be reading this!