2016 Christmas Cards with Minted

One of my favorite parts about the Holiday season is sending out and receiving cards.  I am a huge fan of Minted and have fun picking out a design each year.  I love my cards this year! I picked the Although it's Been Said design because I loved the simple design and neutral colors. And of course, I love the patterned envelope insert, envelope wrapper and having Minted address my cards, too!

You know what's funny about taking photos with Christmas bulbs in them?  You can't avoid your reflection!  Yep. That's me in a green Michigan State tee and my pajama pants.  Haha.

Love this sentiment and design!

There's still time to order gifts from Minted - Use code GIFTEVENT for 15% off and a free upgrade to priority shipping.  

Maybe you were too busy to order Holiday cards this year?  Send out New Year's Cards instead!  Minted has a pretty fantastic collection.  Shop it here.  Use code WINTER16 for 15% off!

Minted $125 Giveaway - 2 Winners!

{ Winter Berries }

Guess what?  Christmas is less than two months away!  Can you believe it?

If you've been here before, you know that I love Minted for my holiday cards and I am happy to be partnering with them again to offer two readers a $125 Minted credit.

Minted is my favorite for a lot of reasons.  All designs are sourced from a global community of indie-designers.  Very cool.  I also appreciate all of the options and choices they offer.  Chose your card design and then select your favorite color combination, customize the greeting, and even select the paper weight and edge design. I especially love this part!

Here are a few of my very favorite designs (let me tell you, it's hard to narrow it down!)...

{ Tagged with Joy }

{ Holly Border }

{ Although it's Been Said }

{ Colorful Holidays }

{ Merry + Happy }

If you like photo cards, don't worry, Minted has you covered!  They literally have hundreds of designs to choose from.  Find your favorite by using the find it fast option.

{ Christmas Sprigs }

{ Greenery Wreath }

Another perk about using Minted?  Give them your address list, and they will address your cards for you using their Address Assistant.  The best part?  This service is FREE.

To enter for your chance to win a $125 credit to Minted,  CLICK HERE.  There will be two winners!

Giveaway will be open to residents of the U.S.A.  Giveaway will close on November 3, 2016, at 11:59 pm PDT.

Start looking for your favorite card now, it might take you a while to find your favorite :)

Uneven Log Cabin Quilt

It took me a while, but I finally finished the BIG quilt I have been working on!  It is a queen size quilt and it the largest I've made.  It took me a long time, but mostly because I started and stopped on it so much.  The sewing part wasn't hard, but cutting all the pieces took a really long time!

The pattern for this quilt was published in the Better Homes and Gardens Quilts and More Magazine, Summer 2015 issue.  It was designed by Natalia Bonner (pieceandquilt.com).

Here are a few in-progress shots:

And, the finished quilt!

I tried to do a project without any green in it, but it just didn't happen!  I ended up going with a solid green for the edge-banding, and I'm glad I did.

It took me a long time to select a backing for the quilt.  I finally found this blue gingham print,and I think it works perfectly with the front of the quilt.

I want to point out that I quilted this using my standard size sewing machine.  It was tricky, but after watching a few instructional videos on YouTube, I was able to figure out how to work with a quilt this large on my standard machine.  

On to the next quilt...

Fall Decorating - DIY Tablescape

Last weekend I worked on a Fall Tablescape.  It was a lot of fun to put together!  I started with the DIY centerpiece box I build last year (Find the easy tutorial HERE) and then filled it up with a whole bunch of fall goodness.

The white pumpkins are real, but the gold ones are inexpensive plastic ones I bought at Hobby Lobby and spray painted gold.  

The gold leaves are from last year too.  I found some oak leaves in the yard, pressed them flat for a few days in between books, and then spray painted them gold.  Quick and easy!

The green hydrangeas might just be my favorite part.  My mom cut these from her yard earlier this summer and dried them.  She brought me over a whole bunch - they are so pretty!

The purple-blue flowers are some type of thistle, I think and came in a grocery store bouquet.  They were in water, but I think they will dry really nicely here in the centerpiece.  The other bits of greenery are Lamb's Ear, a perennial we have growing in the yard.  They were  a perfect filler for the centerpiece box.

The place mats are brand new - I just bought them from Crate & Barrel.  Find them here.

I'm sharing this post with Inspire Me Tuesday at A Stroll Through Life.