Better Homes and Garden's Shoot and Hot Chocolate Bar

 

A couple of months ago we got an e-mail from Better Homes and Gardens asking if we would be interested in having our home photographed for their Christmas Ideas Issue. It seemed too good to be true and to be honest I kept thinking it might fall through but the last two days we had a stylist from Better Homes and Gardens here and today we had a photographer and a second stylist here as well! It was so exciting getting to watch such talented people work their magic and they were incredibly sweet and easy going and so wonderful with the girls. I had feared that Lillie would not want to have her photo taken when it was time but instead she hopped right up in her window seat and smiled and posed and did everything the photographer asked - he was so good with her! At one point she even had him sliding down our stairs "on his bum-bum" like her and he pushed her around on his cart once he was done! I can't thank them enough for making it such an easy and enjoyable experience. Now for the hard part - we have to wait 8 or 9 months for the magazine to come out!

Now that it is over, I have to say I am exhausted. It has been so crazy trying to get everything finished up in time. Once they left yesterday I started taking down all of the Christmas decorations. I am just about done and then I can start figuring out what to do to fill all the bare holes. In some ways it is such a good feeling to have it all down and to get everything clean and organized but it also does make all of the rooms seem so empty and cold now.

I didn't take any photos while they were here yesterday but I did take some photos last week of the hot cocoa station I added in our dining room.

 

Have a wonderful Tuesday!

The Last Day of Christmas...And New Items in Our Shop!

 

Whew! Today is finally the last day of Christmas here! I think poor Lillie is so confused. I can't wait to tell you more about it but for now I have a million things to finish up before the photographer and stylist arrive but I did want to quickly let you all know our Oversized Ruler Growth Chart is now available in our store as well as a new pillow!  And if you have e-mailed me I promise as soon as today is over I am going to start getting caught up so you will hear back from me very soon!

Here is our Oversized Ruler Growth Chart:

(Please Note: The price of the ruler factors in the extra cost of shipping an oversized item. Your actual shipping charge will be the same as if you purchased any other item in our shop).

 

And here is our Burlap Heart Pillow with a Ribbon:

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And Without a Ribbon:

Have a wonderful Monday!

A Magazine Shoot and our January Family

As I mentioned last week, we have some exciting news. A couple of months ago we received an e-mail from an editor about photographing our home for their Christmas issue! It was a magazine I have purchased and read in the past so I was absolutely thrilled and so excited, to say the least! They will be coming later this month to shoot everything so our Christmas stuff will remain up for another two to three weeks. In fact, I still have several projects that I still need to finish. So, the posts I do over the next few weeks will still be kind of "Christmasy" or there will probably at least still be Christmas lights in the background. =) I didn't want you all to think I was that crazy person, though, that never takes down their Christmas lights.  I will share more about it once it gets a little closer and will definitely give all of the details after they come and shoot everything. I am going crazy trying to finish all sorts of projects now - ahhhh!!!!!

We also have another new thing we are excited about. This year, each month we are going to choose a different family/organization/cause to donate a percentage of EVERY sale made that month. At the beginning of each month we will share where it will be going.

I had already planned in my head who we were going to donate a portion of all of January's sales to when I saw a Facebook post on my friend, Ashley's wall about a little boy that she had recently photographed that completely touched me. I couldn't get it out of my head all day yesterday and seeing how we hadn't announced it yet on our blog or our facebook page we decided to switch it. So, this month a portion of all our sales will be going to Ethan and his family.  Little Ethan had surgery to remove a tumor above his eye on December 22 and was diagnosed with Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis (LCH), a rare cancer-like disease that affects 1:200,000 children. Ethan will most likely be starting chemo on Friday, which is his 3rd birthday. My heart just breaks for him and his family. If you would like to know more about Ethan and his family click here. Please keep him in your prayers.

Also, we have restocked some of our Briar Hats in black:

I can't believe how young Lillie looks in these pictures. She's grown up so much!

I am finishing up a free download for January and hope to have it available tomorrow.

I hope you all have had a wonderful start to 2012!