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If y’all have been following us for a while you know how much I love decorating Christmas trees! Especially for so many of you, our sweet Clients! This is my favorite time of year and the amount of time I spend designing trees in my head and dreaming of new ideas is unreal! We love working with each of you to design the perfect holiday scape that brings your Christmas visions to life and coordinates your home decor with your holiday style. We get so many questions about colors, styles, whats on trend vs. what’s not, but the number one question we get is whether to use real or faux trees.

I know the real vs. faux tree is a much debated topic and I totally understand the appeal of a real tree:

  • The Christmas Aromas – The smells of a freshly cut tree just screams Christmas and fills the entire home. For so many of us it brings back so many childhood holiday memories.
  • Tradition – There is a lot of nostalgia and pride that goes with selecting your own tree from a tree farm or a nearby forest. Plus you get to create new memories with your family while picking out your new tree each year. 
  • Environment – This one could go both ways, but many believe real trees are better for the environment.

I always grew up with real trees. Many years we would pick out our main tree from a local tree farm and then cut down our own miniature trees for our room from the mountains; however, as we’ve gotten deeper into the design industry and started our own Christmas decorating business, I completely understand why so many people love faux trees. In fact, they have now become my preferred type of tree. And here’s why!

  • Easier to Decorate – In general the branches and needles are stronger and easier to manipulate. You can bend the branches in different ways to create a fuller look and hold your ornaments and decor in place. This is the main reason I prefer faux trees. Plus, if you get a higher quality tree, they really do look real!
  • More Consistent in Size – You always know exactly how tall your tree is and whether it will fit in your space. Plus they are generally more proportional. 
  • More Cost Effective – If you plan to use your faux tree year after year and store it in a cool and dry place, you will generally save money over the life of your tree.
  • Ease of Maintenance – You don’t have to worry about watering it everyday to make sure it lasts the entire season. You can set it up and take it down any time you want without worrying about it dying and potentially even catching fire. 

Real vs. faux trees is such a personal decision and no matter what, either will look absolutely beautiful in your home this holiday season. But for all the faux tree fans like me, I’ve rounded up all my favorites for you this holiday season (just click on the specific tree below to be linked to the site). These all have top ratings and I have either seen or decorated most of these in person! Feel free to reach out if you have any questions about any of them specifically! Happy decorating!

Hosting Thanksgiving this year and looking for those last minute essentials to bring your tablescape to the next level?! We’ve got you covered with some of our favorite table accessories this year!

 

Brussels sprouts have gotten a bad rap in this world somehow. I don’t know if it is because Danny Tanner hated them, so all of us growing up in the Full House era refused to eat them or what the deal is because let me tell you – they are dang good!

I finally got over my fear of Brussels sprouts within the past year or so, and I can’t get enough of them! I literally want them for dinner every single night, and if I am at a restaurant and they have a special side of them, you can bet that I am amending my order to get those!

Thank you to Harry and David for sponsoring this post. All opinions are my own.

Y’all know I love a luxurious and gourmet dinner party. Nothing makes me more excited than dreaming up a beautiful tablescape, spending hours planning and cultivating the perfect menu and inviting our friends over for an incredible evening.

Sometimes, though, there just isn’t enough time in this busy life to do the shopping and planning needed for a WOW-worthy party – Especially true for Landon and me as we get acquainted with a new city AND with a baby on the way. BUT! This doesn’t need to stop us from hosting the jaw-dropping dinner parties we all love… We may just need to outsource a bit 🙂 ! And that’s where Harry and David comes in.

I recently discovered Harry and David Gourmet when I wanted to host a dinner party for some of our new friends in Denver; however, I honestly didn’t have the energy to put everything together (hello 1st trimester sleepiness). I’ve always been familiar with their annual pear and fruit deliveries but had no idea that Harry and David Gourmet had an inspired collection of thought-fully chosen appetizers, entrees, desserts and wines that are perfectly curated for the well-defined palette and for those who love to host dinner parties… Ummm, hello! I needed this in my life! I wanted to show our guests the full Everyday Hostess experience with a unique theme and ambience. With Harry and David’s ready-to-serve premium gourmet meals and paired sparkling wine, I was set!

Ever since we visited friends in Boston, I’ve been dying to bring that east coast, nautical charm to one of my dinner parties – and this was the perfect excuse! I set my table accordingly with a color palette of red, navy and white and incorporated the cutest lobster plates, starfish, boating rope, and of course this adorable lighthouse candle set as the centerpiece. I ordered two of Harry and David’s ready-to-serve gourmet meals and sparkling wine, and that’s literally all I did for this event. Harry and David did all the rest!

A gourmet charcuterie board is a classy way to open any dinner party, and Harry and David did a masterful job with theirs – pairing Artisan cheeses with salamis and crackers. After some mingling we enjoyed our main event, which was Harry and David’s Gourmet Lobster Truffle Mac and Cheese meal. Y’all, I could rave about this meal for hours. The quality, the presentation, the ease was absolutely superb. And it meshed wonderfully with my theme to boot!

You wouldn’t believe what was included in the Gourmet Lobster Truffle Mac and Cheese! This beautifully crafted meal included Citrus Herb Scallops with a mouthwatering Truffle Lobster Mac and Cheese and the sweetest fresh peach crisp made of ripe peaches and topped with a toffee crumble. Un.be.lieavable.

Harry and David could not have made this dinner party any easier on me. Not only was everything perfectly presented with the scallops displayed in individual sea shells and the Truffle Lobster Mac and Cheese in individual ramekins, everything was already prepared and just needed to be heated for a maximum of 25 minutes. So quick and easy, yet with the seafood coming from Maine, it tasted so fresh as if it had been caught and flown in on the same day. All I had to do was un-package the boxes and set the table, and voilà! A spread made to impress! And did I mention the paired sparkling wine they included with the meal?! No detail was spared.

The party looked like I had been preparing for days and all I had to do was review all of H&D’s gourmet options, click to order, and it showed up on my doorstep fresh and ready to wow in just a matter of days!

It’s the perfect way to host a luxury event with friends and family without getting bogged down in all the details leading up to the evening. I also love the idea of sending these meals to friends and families as gifts or as part of a meal train for someone with an illness or to new parents (no casserole from you!).

Check out their full list of gourmet selections for your next dinner party. It’s sure to impress and you’ll have all your guests asking for your recipes and tricks!

Enjoy!

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Huge thank you to Le Grand Courtage for sponsoring this post! All opinions are my own.

Go nuts with your Easter egg hunt, but search no further for the perfect adult Easter basket! The care packages you got from the Easter bunny were a blast when you were a kid, and Easter baskets can still be just as fun for the grown-ups as party favors, hostess gifts or to send to friends and family.

Our Easter basket this year is a date night in a basket for the twenty- or thirty-something hostess, featuring a beautiful bottle of Le Grand Courtage rosé brut! Not only is it the perfect way to either kick off or cap a spring evening in, but the gorgeous pink color and elegant labeling make it a festive centerpiece for our Easter basket! I opted for the full bottle for this basket, but they also have adorable minis that make the perfect addition to any basket! And we can’t enjoy this sparkly number without a classy and festive glass, so we included two champagne flutes for you and your loved one.

One of my favorite parts of Easter (besides preparing the brunch, of course 🙂 ) is the Easter egg hunt! There is always so much excitement and laughter as the kids run around the backyard collecting all of their eggs, so let’s make it the best Easter egg hunt possible this year! Check out our tips below for creating the perfect Easter egg hunt!

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Determine the Type of Eggs – Depending on your preference, you may want to use reusable eggs filled with candy or other prizes, or home-dyed hard boiled eggs. The plastic eggs are super cheap and can easily be used over many years. The main downside to using decorated hard boiled eggs is that they may rot if they are not found right away.

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Prepare the Eggs -If you are using the reusable eggs, be sure to stuff them a couple of days in advance. You will have enough to do the day before in preparation for your Easter meal or the Easter bunny, so get this out of the way early. Stuff the eggs with a variety of candy types including Jelly Beans, SweetTarts, and Robin Eggs! If you want to mix up your Easter egg hunt a little bit, have a couple special eggs with stars or a special note in them that gives the finder a bigger prize!

Make sure you have enough eggs for each kid. Nobody likes a hunt that ends too quickly! Allow about 20 eggs per child.

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Hide the Eggs – Always allow a bit more time than you think to hide the eggs. If your hunt is early in the morning when the kiddos wake up, hide the eggs the night before assuming weather allows 🙂 Otherwise wake up a little bit earlier, or have someone entertain the kids while you hide them!

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Hide the Eggs According to Age – Make the hunt age appropriate by hiding the eggs based on the child’s height and abilities. If you have younger kids (usually under 3), place the eggs in plain sight and just spread them out on the ground. Kids ages 4-7 may be ready for spots that are a bit more out of the way such as in bushes, near trees, in pots, etc. Have fun finding creative and tricky spots for the older kids such as in trees, behind bushes, in drains, etc.

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Easter Baskets – Make sure every kid has an Easter basket or bag to collect their eggs.

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Make the Rules – Point out the boundaries of the search to the kids, so they don’t go on a wild goose chase! If you want to differentiate eggs between kids, color code them so different age groups pick up certain colors.

Enjoy! – Sit back and watch the kid’s enjoy the hunt! Take lots of pictures so the memories last a lifetime!

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Do you have any other fun tips for hosting an Easter egg hunt? I would love to hear about your family’s traditions!

Happy Easter!

If y’all checked out our recent ice cream social inspiration board, you know how much we love incorporating this theme into our end of summer soirees, birthday parties, and school gatherings! I mean what’s not to love? A fun party theme with a beautiful pastel color palette and a bar filled with all your favorite toppings to dress up your ice cream sundae! No guest can complain about that!

Now this is one inspiration board we just HAD to bring to life! And that we did! With a bright color palette of pink, yellow, mint and lavender, we threw the cutest ice cream social complete with a DIY topping and sundae bar!  Check out the original inspo board here and see how we brought it all to life below!

We’re just a few weeks away from St. Patrick’s Day, so today we are getting all ready and preparing our home before the Leprechaun arrives and making our favorite treat – St. Patrick’s Day Popcorn!

This is the perfect treat to send your little Leprechauns to school with or to serve at your St. Patty’s Day party! This sweet and salty festive snack will be thoroughly enjoyed by kids and adults alike and only requires a few simple ingredients – your favorite popcorn (I usually opt for Skinny Pop to save on those cals somewhere-ha), white chocolate, green food coloring, green sprinkles, and the green candy of your liking! Green M&M’s is always a favorite, but this year I opted for green candy corn that I picked up at our local Central Market (I also found some on Amazon here).

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Kate Spade and lots and lots of pink — who needs Cupid? Because that’s a match made in heaven! Saying that I was on Cloud 9 while creating this Valentine’s Day tablescape is a bit of an understatement. This Kate Spade inspired Valentine’s Day brunch setting is more than enough to make a girl swoon!

I mean, what else could we ask for in a tablescape besides lots of pinks, golds, Kate Spade products and a table full of tasty treats?! My eyes are still seeing hearts!

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I’m absolutely obsessed with Kate Spade these days (for more than just her first name), so of course, I had to find a way to include her iconic style into this Valentine’s Day brunch party!

To create this lovely set-up, I started off with a simple white table cloth and dressed it up with a black and white striped table runner (really basic fabric from Hobby Lobby), which we are seeing in so many of her designs right now. Then I just layered the table with as much pink and gold as possible! Fresh flowers are always a wonderful centerpiece, but if you want to reuse them in the future, many silk arrangements look very real!

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Bed Bath and Beyond carries these adorable pink, gold and white plates and chargers, which I paired with some gold flatware to bring in a touch of “glam.” To add a little bit more of a pink feminine flare, I got some super cheap ribbon from Hobby Lobby and just tied bows around each chair to give the table a more finished and buttoned-up look.

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Finally, to top off the entire tablescape, I found these large 40-inch gold mylar XOXO balloons to tie in the Valentine’s Day theme a bit more. Who doesn’t want some extra X’s and O’s around Valentine’s Day?! (Brb — going to listen to that Elle King song on repeat!) These balloons are so popular and trendy right now, and it is not hard to see why! They could not be any cuter! I got mine from Ella Celebration who worked with me to get exactly what I needed. You can order any letters or numbers that you want, and they are perfect for any gathering or birthday party!

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Of course, no party is complete without a delicious menu! I played matchmaker with some festive recipes… and they make for a wonderful marriage of flavors and colors, if I do say so myself! The deep color of Red Velvet waffles just scream Valentine’s Day, plus who doesn’t want to wake up to a plate of red velvet waffles?! I also just love these adorable Apple Rose tarts. They are little bouquets of deliciousness, and we could all use a few more roses this holiday!

Menu:

Red Velvet Waffles with a Cream Cheese GlazeApple Rose Tarts |

Breakfast Potatoes | Cheesy Quiche |

Raspberry Lemon Cheesecake | Cranberry Pomegranate Mimosa

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This menu is perfect for a relaxed family morning brunch at home or for a more formal brunch with friends and family! Plus each recipe is decently simple and quick, so you can prepare the night before and throw it all together in the morning and enjoy your Valentine’s Day with your loved ones!

How do you celebrate Valentine’s Day? I would love to hear about your favorite traditions in the comments below!

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Design:

Event Styling: The Everyday Hostess

Food & Recipes: The Everyday Hostess

Photography: Stephanie Drenka

 

Products:

XOXO Gold Balloons: Ella Celebration

Cupcake Holders: Bella Cupcake Couture

Kate Spade Pink Napkins: Bed Bath and Beyond

Kate Spade Gold Flatware: Kate Spade

Gold Beaded Napkin Rings: Bed Bath and Beyond

Champagne Flutes: Nordstrom

B by Brandie Black Salad Plate: Bed Bath and Beyond

B by Brandie Gold Dinner Plate: Bed Bath and Beyond

Metallic Candle Holders: Bed Bath and Beyond

Gold Chargers: Bed Bath and Beyond

Pink Peony Flower Arrangement: Wayfair

Black and White Striped Table Runner: Hobby Lobby

 Cupid’s making his debut in just a couple weeks, but it’s not too late to plan the perfect  Galentine’s Day party or Valentine’s Day dinner with your honey!

This year, I put together a super girly Galentine’s Day dessert party with everything red and pink and sparkly! We used our favorite balloon garland as a centerpiece to give it a festive feminine flare and a pop of fun! I can never have enough chargers, so we doubled them up for a little added interest and used our gold glitter chargers as a base and layered them with glass gold beaded chargers.