Best Projects of 2014

Well hello there friends.  How was your Christmas?  Ours was great.  We have Christmas at our house early and drove down to visit family out of state for Christmas morning.  There are so many toys laying around it's driving me crazy!!  I've enjoyed the break being home with the kids and doing nothing.  I really needed this break.My mom gave me a break yesterday and I decided to pack up the

MY NEW FAVORITE "PRETEND" HOUSE!

i recently fell SOOOOO in love with this house on pinterest!!and i can only imagine what the inside looks like....so here are my thoughts.......COTTAGE AND VINETHIS OLD HOUSEANNE HEPFERMY DESIGN CHICHOME BUNCHDOMINOMERIDALUCY WILLIAMSHOUZZSUZANNE KASLERPINTEREST

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all of my wonderful friends here in the blogging world. I am so lucky for your constant support and encouragement! 2014 has truly been a wonderful and busy year, and although I haven't been able to blog as much as I would have liked the past few months, I wouldn't trade it for the world! May you all be blessed, happy and healthy this holiday season and in the upcoming year.So

This Year's Christmas Decor

This is probably my last Christmas in my little student housing rental. Apartment hunting for my own place begins in the new year! I'm okay staying where I am until June when I graduate, but if something great comes up closer to downtown where I'm now working, I won't say no.  The design direction of my new place is definitely going to be less feminine and more sophisticated. I can't wait for a

Christmas Card Holder

Now that Christmas time is in full effect, the Christmas cards are arriving in the mail.  Instead of stacking them on a table this year, I want to display them in the open.  They're too pretty not to put out for everyone to see.  I hung and tacked a ribbon to the top of the entry closet door.  I wanted to use clothes pins to attach the cards to the ribbon.  Before I did that, I cut pieces of

DIY Ornament Garland

I always drape a faux evergreen garland across the family room mantle.  This year, I was determined to dress it up with leftover ornaments.  This was a super simple project.I started by laying my garland out.  I wrapped a couple pieces of ribbon around it first.  I decided to used gold, silver, and blue just like the tree.  I first attached the silver ornaments.  I attached the ornaments to the

CHRISTMAS AROUND THE HOUSE…AND MORE

I RECENTLY ORDERED THESE GOLD LEAF STICKS AND THREW THEM IN A POTTERY BARN VASE I ALREADY HAD…..INSTANT DRAMA-YAY!!!!!THEN I BOUGHT THESE BATTERY OPERATED LIGHTS AND FAKE MAGNOLIA AT SERENDIP IN NORFOLK….LOVE LOVE LOVE THEM!I INHERITED RUDOLPH FROM THE WORKROOM YESTERDAY….AND HAD NO CLUE HOW MUCH I WOULD LOVE HIM!! ….. THE BAR SUITS HIM WELL!THE NATIVITY SCENE WAS GIVEN TO ME A FEW YEARS AGO-LOVE

Sarah and Tommy's Gingerbread House: Last Day to Bid

Hi Everyone! Today I'm sharing an exciting project that I worked on in collaboration with the talented Sarah Richardson and Tommy Smythe. The design duo partnered with the Children's Aid Foundation and Raghuram Addagada, executive chef at the Ritz-Carlton Toronto, to create one masterpiece of a gingerbread house! I sat down with Sarah and Tommy, who explained their design ideas in detail. I then

Gold, Silver, and Blue Christmas Tree

The Christmas tree is finally up and decorated.  It took me a while since the kids wanted to help  I was re-arranging as we went since my daughter puts ornaments wherever.  My son was pulling off the ribbon as soon as I put it up.  Out of frustration, the tree sat for a week with just ribbon.In years past I have done a gold and silver tree and a blue and silver tree.  This year, I combined all

Rediscovering London and Paris, via Instagram

Are you on Instagram? No? Neither was I for years. I resisted it because, like many photographers, I was wary of the way Instagram owned the copyright to all the images posted on it. It was like blindly signing your rights over to an organisation you knew little about. Lately, however, I've become enamoured with the beauty of 'Insta' because it's a captivating insight into people's lives, only

November Month In Review

Yep, December is here.  It seems like this year just moved by so quickly.  Four more weeks and it'll be a new year.Here's what happened around here in November.I did a roundup of some holiday decor from Target.I shared some tips on saving money on home decor.I created a harvest sign for my entry table.I'm helping mom decorate her living room and shared some chair options.Some holiday gift guides

Instagramming London and Paris

Just a note to say that if you're on Instagram, I've been posting travel tips and inspiration from London and Paris this past week, at link here. Do have a look, or even follow: I would love to see you there!And if you're not on Instagram, you can still view images on this link – here or at http://instagram.com/janellemcculloch_authorI will still post on this blog so if you're a traditionalist (

Christmas Entry Table

One of the places I like to keep decorated for the season is the entry table.  It's the first surface you see when walking in the house.  As usual, I like to keep things simple.  My son is grabbing everything now and I don't want to put too much out for fear that it will be taken down and broken.  He has a thing for throwing anything round and resembles a ball.I kept my colors to blue and silver.

LUCY WILLIAMS AND ADDISON-WEEKS UNITE!

MY COUSIN (THE ADDISON OF ADDISON-WEEKS) RECENTLY ASKED IF I WANTED TO SHOW SOME PAINTINGS FOR HER ADDISON-WEEKS HOLIDAY OPEN HOUSE…..HECK YEAH!!!!  COME SEE YALL!!!HOLIDAY OPEN HOUSEDECEMBER 4TH 10AM-9PMDECEMBER 5TH 10AM-5PM4108 HOLLY ROADVIRGINIA BEACHAND HERE ARE JUST A FEW OF THE PAINTINGS YOU WILL SEE!!AND THE JEWELRY (!!!)……

Easy Advent Calendar

I think one of the things my daughter loves about Christmas is the countdown.  Of course Christmas morning gift opening is the best for her but getting there can be fun too.  Today is December 1st and and I almost didn't make it.  December came up quick.Here's what I used:card stock cuts into small squareswashi tapeSharpie markerTo make the numbers on each card, I traced some numbers I printed.To