Happy Thanksgiving!!

found on cleverlysimple.com

I want to take this chance to thank all of you for this amazing year I have had!  With my first full year as Jessica Stout Design under my belt, I am so thankful for the loyal, amazing clients and followers I have had.  I want to take this time to express to you my sincere appreciation for your confidence in me, patience with me, and loyalty through this year!  I couldn't have done any of this without your support and love.  This year I am thankful to do what I love each and every day!  I hope you have have a wonderful Thanksgiving with friends and family, and safe travels to where ever you are spending your holidays!!!  Cheers!!

Layered Holiday Mantle Garland

Ready or Not....the holidays are upon us!!!  If you haven't started decking the halls with Christmas decor in your home, then this is the weekend to do it!!!  There is not a lot of time between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year, so why not get a head start on your decorating so you have more time to enjoy it!!! 

With less than 10 items, you can create a gorgeous, layered Holiday Mantle!!

Basic Artificial Garland can be bought anywhere

White Christmas Lights bought anywhere

(choose the green wired lights to hide in the green garland)

Holiday Living 6 ft. Unlit Magnolia Artificial Christmas Garland from Lowe's 

Buck Head Book Ends (set of 2) from Birch Lane

 Holiday Lodge 5 ft. Fabric Ball Artificial Christmas Garland from Lowe's

Holiday Living 28" Red Indoor Berry Artificial Christmas Pick from Lowe's 

Engravable Simple Stocking Holder from Pottery Barn 

This is a mantle I helped a client of mine decorate for the holidays.  We started with just the plain, basic green garland and layered in all of these pretty details!!  They recently renovated the design of their fireplace and mounted their television above the fireplace.  So, decorating her mantle for the holidays was a new challenge for her this year!  Especially on how to hang their stockings with only limited space below the television.

I love these deer heads!!  My client actually found these and wanted to incorporate them into the mantle decorations.  We propped them up on little clear vases so you can see them above the garland.  And you would never know they are bookends!!

These flat stockings holders are awesome if you are looking for something to just tuck under your mantle garland without all the decoration.  Sometimes something simple is much better.  I love these from Pottery Barn because they are also engraveable! If you don't want to splurge on these from PB, I have also seen these at Target in a 2 pack.  

And that my friends, is how easy decorating a mantle for the holidays can be!! 

It's not too late to hire me to help you with your Christmas decorating!!  Are you stumped on where to start?  Need to buy a few extra new pieces to add into what you already have?  Entertaining lots of friends & family this holiday and want to impress them with your Christmas decorating??  

Call or email me today to schedule an in-home consultation!!  

jessicastoutdesign@gmail.com

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!!!

You guys are so awesome!!  Thank you SO much for entering this giveaway!!!  I truly love these handmade frames and wall vase and was so honored to work with Conrad Designs to give a couple of his items away!  I know you winners will LOVE your new items in your home!!!

!!!!!WINNERS!!!!!

Kelly A.

Elise B.

Tammy W.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Checkout all of Jonathan's handcrafted wooden creations at www.conraddesigns-indy.com

And you can also purchase Jonathan's creations just in time for Christmas on his Etsy shop atwww.etsy.com/shop/ConradDesignsIndy

If you are looking for a custom furniture piece, maybe an entry way table, console table, or been dreaming of having a custom farmhouse style table, talk to me about getting a custom design and order by Jonathon. 

Hand-Crafted Wood Frames GIVEAWAY!!!

Christmas is just around the corner and I am in the giving spirit!!  With the snow fall we had here in Indiana yesterday, it really is starting to feel like the holidays!  So I thought the perfect way to get the holidays started is with a GIVEAWAY!!! 

You guys, this local artisan is one of the best!  His craftsmanship, attention to detail, and ability to hand-craft just about anything out of wood is pretty amazing!  I love supporting other local artisans.  Especially when their work is so gorgeous!  

Conrad Designs is a family owned and operated small business located in Noblesville, IN that specializes in handcrafted, wooden home furnishings.  Jonathan Conrad grew up building projects with his Dad and Grandfather, and has been doing it ever since.  He loves to create unique, distressed frames to perfectly compliment your family photos or design and build a custom piece of furniture for your home.  Conrad Designs specializes in handcrafted photo frames, but his wood creations are endless.  His building services range from Kitchen and Dining Room tables, shelves, home decor, and outdoor wood furniture.  

The first prize is going to be a 8 x 10 custom wood frame painted in a gray distressing.  This frame has hand mitered corners and clear glass perfect for any photo or print.  I am also including this wreath print that was hand created by yours truly perfect for your holiday decorating!!!

The second prize in the giveaway will be this gray and antique cream colored 8 x 10 frame.  Includes hand crafted details such as mitered edges and a crackle finish with another great holiday print!  This print is from one of my favorite blogs We Lived Happily Ever After.  

Last but certainly not least in the giveaway is this super cool hanging vase.  Perfect for displaying fresh stems from your garden or even a candle.  How cute would this be hanging in a bathroom for your toothbrush or make-up brushes?!?  The possibilities are endless!

{see below where you can win one of three prizes!  three winners will be selected at the end of the week!}

Checkout all of Jonathan's handcrafted wooden creations at www.conraddesigns-indy.com

And you can also purchase Jonathan's creations just in time for Christmas on his Etsy shop at www.etsy.com/shop/ConradDesignsIndy

If you are looking for a custom furniture piece, maybe an entry way table, console table, or been dreaming of having a custom farmhouse style table, talk to me about getting a custom design and order by Jonathon.  

Shop Local Saturday is this coming weekend, and you won't want to miss Jonathon this weekend at the 

it is the perfect time to get a jump start on Christmas shopping!

See a list of all the vendors attending here.  

Here are the details:

sign up for the giveaway below

3 winners will be selected on Friday, November 21st after noon

*so you must enter before noon on Friday*

tell all of your friends to enter the contest.  you don't want to miss this offer!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Planning for Christmas!!

Mid-way through November already and I have ALL things Christmas on the brain!!! How about you?!?  

 decorating

tree trimming

crafts

Christmas card photos

gifts

DIY projects

entertaining

With only 3 weeks in between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year, I am in turbo mode to get everything on my wishlist accomplished for the holidays!!  The holidays get so busy and we really like to take this time to spend extra time with family and friends.  So, my goal is to get a lot of my Christmas decorating in our home completed early so we can just enjoy the holidays!  Even if we wait to put our tree up Dec. 1 I am okay with that as long as the rest of the house is sparkling in glitter and lights before Thanksgiving!!!!  

Each year, when it comes to my Christmas decorating in my home, I try to do a couple of new craft and DIY projects to incorporate.  It is fun to have at least one new decor item each year as well.  It may be just a gorgeous new ornament or sparkly white reindeer statue!!!  It's hard NOT to buy something new each year with all the amazing holiday decor out there -- I'm talking to you Target, World Market, Home Goods, Lowe's, and  Hobby Lobby!!!   

I  already picked this guy up at World Market!!  

I have some BIG plans for this guy!  And I don't feel as guilty buying new Christmas decor like this if it is something I can move into another room after Christmas!  

I couldn't pass this up at Home Goods for $4.99!!!!!!  

You know all the impulse items around the check-out aisles that you can't help but not look through!?!  Well I found this Erin Barrett For the Love of Letters wood sign there!  I was so giddy!

She has lots of fun holiday items on her website and around Indianapolis too!  Every boutique I walk into these days I spy a For the Love of Letters sign!!  But I'm not complaining!!!!   

(you can tell this is definitely hers and not a similar artist because all of her signs and prints has a small "eb" at the bottom!!) 

Before I go too crazy buying new Christmas decor though, I need to see what I have and make a plan for this years decorating!  It seems I always forget what I have from last year!  Never fails!  Or I bought something after Christmas at 75% off at Hobby Lobby and totally forgot about it!!  So, I have been scrolling through last year's photos of my Christmas Home Tour 2013 to see what I can change around this year.  You don't have to buy all new each year, just  move things around to different areas to get a fresh new look!

I hope this will also inspire your holiday decorating this year!!

Lots more pictures from my 2013 Christmas Home Tour here.  

And if you missed my 12 Days of Holiday Decorating from last year, you HAVE to check that out as well for inspiration on decorating, wrapping gifts, decorating mantles..............

You can find a link to all 12 days here!!  

I've already done a little holiday decorating for a client this year!  I think that is why I am SO excited to decorate my home for the holidays now!!  More on that later!  

And a quick sneak peek at a craft I am planning for my annual craft day with family!!

You can see what we made last year at 3rd Annual Craft Day here if you are looking for a winter craft idea.  1st Annual Craft Day (or Pinterest Party as we called it then) here and 2nd Annual Craft Day was a Fall pumpkin decorating craft day!  

{3rd Annual Craft Day 2013}

I love incorporating natural elements into my Christmas decor!  You can use live trees and twigs, fresh boxwood, and fresh spruce and evergreens in flower arrangements! 

Trying to think of something cool to do with these logs!!!!  Candle sticks?!?!

Where are your favorite places to shop for Christmas decor?!?  Do you have a theme for your holiday decor?  I always love to hear what colors people use in their Christmas decorations!  Do you keep a common theme of red and green or go non-traditional with blue and silver?!?! 

Halloween Fun 2014!!!

Halloween decor for my entry way!

My sister and brother-in-law hosted a family + friends Halloween Party this year.  I helped with some fun and easy spooky decor, ghoulish appetizers, and hilarious Minute to (Hallo) Ween It games!!! 

This was so fun and easy to create.  A great backdrop to capturing everyone's Halloween costumes!!  First, we just hung two strips of butcher paper.  Attached to the wall with painter's tape.  We hung some fake cob-webs, plastic over-sized spiders, and a couple of black spider web decorations to create a great backdrop for photos.

Out of our small group that attended the Halloween Party, Wayne & Garth from Wayne's World was the hot costume of the year!  With myself and my husband as Wayne & Garth and another couple!!!

Halloween Food!!

Dirt Pudding

with green food coloring for a more festive, ghoulish look and gummy worms

I put the pudding mixture in a ziploc bag for easy transportation into the individual cups.  For easy transportation to the party -- I loaded the individual cups into muffin tins so no cups went spilling in the car on the way there.  

I didn't make these cute spider cookies!  But they look awesome!! 

Pumpkin Cheeseball

2 packages of cream cheese

1 package of Buddig Beef lunch meat

1/2 Cup chopped green onion

1 Ranch Dip packet

3/4 Cup shredded cheese

3-4 TBSP Worcestershire sauce

(orange food coloring for the pumpkin color)

*there is no pumpkin flavoring, I just shaped the cheeseball to look like a pumpkin.  i used a stem from a red bell paper as the pumpkin stem.  used some chopped green onions as a little garnish on the top.  and made lines through the sides to give it a more realistic pumpkin shape!! *

Minute to (Hallo) Ween It!!

This is a great way to add some fun to any party!  They are easy games anyone can do with a party of any size.  And to make things interesting, we mixed the couples up so that we weren't teamed with spouses!!!

Wrecking Ball

{baseball or softball in this case, inside of pantyhose.  knocking down full bottles of water with the baseball, without using your hands.  it's a lot harder than it looks!!}

What a fun evening being out of character for a couple of hours and playing some greats games!!!  There were lots of laughs and lots of fun to be had!!  I hope this becomes an annual party!  It was too much fun not to!!