I started my Christmas shopping weeks ago. You wanna slap me? Hear me out! The stores aren’t swamped and picked over. Lines aren’t long. I don’t feel pressured. I won’t be broke when Christmas arrives. It really is to preserve my sanity.

If you need to grab some little but thoughtful gifts here are some easy and inexpensive holiday shopping ideas:

EcoTools bamboo brush sets. The travel sets come with little raw cotton cases and are great for every day use. The bristles are synthetic but super soft. Each of these sets is about $7 at most drug stores. I love them.

eos organic lip balm set $11 – It took me a while to jump on the bandwagon but these lip balms are great!

Like/Dislike stamp set – $13 – for a laid back office pal

The Little Prince pop-up book $23 – for the young & young at heart, or someone you love deeply

There will be a ton of holiday nail polish collections out there. This one is $17 but ULTA has sets of their own polish (which I really like) for less than $10.

Set of 8 cork toast coasters for $10

Loving this pop beauty Bare Texture kit for eyes, including primer for $28.

Animal House kitchen set $17

Slow Loris Chairlift Tee $16

Fab.com is a flash sale site for lovers of design. Each day you get an email of all the sales that day. Some are pricey but I’ve seen some amazing deals on there.

apron  $23

bunny love salt and pepper shakers $21

Plasticland has so much fun stuff!

This is probably the first installment of many for the holiday season! Hope you like my picks!

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I’m getting excited about Fall! Here’s a collection of easy ideas (you know I like easy) to start planning for:

Pumpkin gnocchi and Gorgonzola sauce – I wanted to make these w/ brown butter and sage last year and still have a can of pumpkin in my pantry. Ridiculous. You can just roll the gnocchi on a fork.

If you leave that can in your pantry like me, try a hydrating pumpkin face mask!

felt leaf garland

apple slices – I’d like to do caramel and chopped nuts

I love purple for Fall – via

pet bow tie!

two bite pumpkin pies

cowl scarf

crispy potato roast

teapot

2 bundt cakes – some I’ve seen were completely iced orange. This drip effect is nice though… just more! :)

Kelly of Let’s Die Friends made this awesome wreath! Love it!

Here are some of my favorite Halloween ideas:

via

hand soap

love this pumpkin idea! Mouse Motel!

tarantula in acrylic – the bf got me one for Christmas. His name is Oscar and he lives on my bedroom mantle!

A great idea if you work in an office and want to be subtly disgusting.

candy corn bath bomb

What are YOU planning to do around the house for this Fall season?

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Neivz cuff at Moxsie $65

Maria Dahlgren Breakfast in Bed Tray $26

felt circle artwork

Red Pepper Quilts

dot mani

The Dainty Squid pouch $15.75

Maya Hayuk

Tom Binns

colorful cabinets

Thread Social

Mrs Kitty’s freehand embroidery

drawing by James Bills

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Summer, I mean.

I don’t know what’s going on but I’ve gotten into a funk. It’s too hot and humid to do anything and not be miserable. I’m uninspired to dress in anything but tees/tanks, rolled up jeans and sandals/sneakers. Don’t get me wrong, I love warm weather waaaay more than freezing weather but sweet baby jesus has this summer been gross or what?

I feel like all I talk about on my blog is nails. Sorry about that. I need some inspiration!

Here are some things I want to do this week:

• Go to my favorite Goodwill. It’s been too long.
• Look at all the Fall 2011 Couture and Resort 2012 shows.
• Go through my collection of DIY ideas and pick at least something to make.

Don’t hate me for thinking about Christmas this early but these look easy enough:

via

There’s no real tutorial but duh! Foam cones in varied shapes wrapped in yarn (will probably pin ends of yarn to secure), multi-pack of pom poms discretely pinned on (forget messy glue) and some gold stars attached w/ toothpicks.

** I actually made them last night! Will share soon!

And a reminder about the 3-year blogiversary:

I have 2 people lined up to add things to the goodies in exchange for free ad space in the month of September. If you’re interested, read this and let me know!

Happy Monday y’all!

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Here are some recent things I’ve pinned. Are you on Pinterest yet? Need an invite? Let me know.

I gotta get busy with the scotch tape – via

I really want this cat/mushroom print for my kitchen – via

I want all of this happy happy summer celebrating gear via Let’s Die Friends. You know I love her!

A HUGE INFOGRAPHIC OF SUNSCREEN INFO

Painting on sketch paper by Blue McRight cracks me up (should go in my bathroom) -  via Drollgirl. Are you following her yet? You should be. She’s rad.

video tutorial on how to sew an elastic band skirt in an hour – measured to fit YOU! via

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Really want to try this manicure…

while I live in this cottage…

with this on a wall…

and lie in the grass with this above me.

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Yay! Netbook! I’m back to catching up on blogs, leaving comments, perusing…

I’ve been slack on writing posts. Saturday, I met up with 3 lovely local ladies, including Adrien from Looks Good From the Back. On Sunday I met up with Adrien again to go to an after-hours event at Sephora. We shopped around, ate a few chocolate covered strawberries and I purchased Buxom mascara. Love it, even though it’s not waterproof.

Now, I’m officially broke for the rest of the week so, time to get back to looking and dreaming.

Here are some things I’ve pinned recently.

“rainbow runner” by Sonia Winner (via)

oh my (via)

stained glass wedding cake

a gorgeous Konad manicure – it’s taking all my strength to not buy supplies. Here’s what Konad’s all about, in case you didn’t know.

loves these sandals – so simple and perfect

Anything lovely you’re longing for?

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I just got a request to do a closet post but it’s something I’ve been thinking about doing for a while. As feeble as my current closet situation is… it’s all I’ve got.

Before the bf and I moved into an old Victorian apartment in the Fan, I had about 15′ of closet space and a giant dresser (that I didn’t take with me). It wasn’t walk-in but it was glorious compared to the tiny space I’ve been living with for 2 years. There are two identical clothes closets in my apartment – one in the bedroom and one in the living room. I took the one in the living room. It’s as deep as a hanger is wide. I can barely see what isn’t in the doorway. I pretty much hate it.

So this is how I have all my things stored.

First off – my closet can’t handle all of my shoes so we have 3 racks in the hallway as you walk in. 2 are mine and they’re loaded.

Here’s the dreaded closet. I have 2 shelves but need a chair to reach the top one. There’s just a bunch of blankets up there, an overnight bag, and a storage box of clutches. My coats are on the far left hanging in a garment bag. Switching out seasons is an ordeal.

The bottom shelf looks like this. I just cleaned out and redid all this last week.

Here are my hanging shelves. If you get these, get the ones with wood inside the canvas. The plastic shelves sag terribly. Oh, and I use those 4 tier skirt hangers (the metal ones you see). I love them.

The rest of my bags are in a big hatbox in the bedroom. My makeup and other junk rests on top.

Everything else fits into this drawer unit I got from IKEA. It sits in a corner in the bedroom. Jewelry is on top in these clear divided things I got at Target a while back, and in random boxes. (Oh, I also have all my winter scarves in one of my bf’s drawers. His are different and against the wall, to the left.)

Some are clearance sale scores from last winter and I haven’t even worn yet. That top right pair, I’ve had for 20 years. No lie.

color!!!

So, that’s how I’ve dealt with a small closet space – just spread everything out everywhere else! :)

What are your secrets to dealing with a small closet?

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We made it out of Herndon Fest alive and on our way back to Richmond, bf wanted to visit a friend who lives off the IKEA exit so, he dropped me off to shop and I let him know when I was done.

I didn’t NEED anything but when has that stopped anyone?

Oh, I did need pillow inserts for the pillow(s) I want to make. Do you know how crazy expensive they are at fabric stores? Those things plus the fabric and effort into measuring, cutting, pinning and sewing can discourage a lot of people from even bothering. I ended up grabbing two 20″ x 20″ pillows for $1.99 each when I could’ve spent $15 each at Hancock Fabrics.

I checked out the fabrics and they had some crazy stuff. Did you know you have to cut your own and write down all the info? No biggie. I’ve done it before at Wal-Mart (and figured out the hand held scanner/printer thing after waiting for 10 minutes for some help, and cut another lady’s stuff too). I got a yard ($7.99) of this nutso Annamoa fabric. I want the squirrel on one side and the fox (with his tongue sticking out and a party hat?) on the other. I mean, c’mon! It’s fantastic!

Cork coasters. 4 for $1 and we actually did need these.

3 melamine serving bowls. I have their mixing bowls in the same color. $4.99.

36 tea lights in fruity scents – $2.99 & Lingonberry preserves!

The bf has a twin down comforter that we used to keep on top of the queen mattress (the surface area is the same size) until his sis got us a Tempur-Pedic topper. The old comforter needed a duvet cover so we can use it as a blanket. I grabbed this silly Seuss-esque  cover for $19.99.

Lastly, I’ve always wanted a table in the bathroom. The bf has a collection of bathroom books (sorry but I get my business over with asap and get the heck outta there). They’ve been all over the floor and when I saw this silly little Jetsons bedside table for $14, I had to grab it. I think they’re discontinuing it.

So that’s that! Get anything good at IKEA lately?

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