New Year's Brunch // Add a Little Sparkle ...

Another New Year is upon us, and it is hard to believe 2015 has come to an end.  It seems the years are moving along quicker and quicker these days.  It is nice to stop and reflect on the year, and realize all the good and bad that has happened, and move forward with greater knowledge with hopes of doing better. 

New Year's brunch is the perfect way to start fresh and with the right foot forward.  A simple, yet elegant table will help you ring in the New Year with just the right amount of sparkle.

I was arranging some flowers, and was thinking of a way to dress up some ordinary flowers with a little sparkle for the New Year.  I had some fun little gold and sparkly ornaments laying around from Christmas, so I decided to add a few to the vase after I had arranged the flowers.  They added another element of sparkle to the table, and were a fun yet simple way to make my arrangements more festive for the New Year.  I just added the ornaments to the arrangement after I finished arranging the flowers, then added the water.

I set them out on the table with a few festive sparkly gold tinsel pieces and some confetti along with our place settings.

The champagne glasses made the brunch a little extra festive serving some sparkling apple cider along with brunch.

A little orange on the plate added a nice touch.

Sources:

Recipe | Overnight Challah French Toast with Vanilla Bean Syrup via Armelle Blog

Recipe | Sausage and Cheese Quiche recipe from La Fuji Mama

Impulse Gold Chisel Champagne Flutes  |  Overstock 

10 Strawberry Street Gold Double Line Bread Plates  |  Overstock
Chairs | West Elm Scoop Back Chairs
Brown and White Plates | Thrift Store Find
Napkins |  Target
Chandelier  | Vintage

All photos by me.

Christmas Cards 2015 + A Minted Giveaway ...

It's Christmas card season again, and I am excited to partner with Minted again on our Christmas cards this year! (see our cards from the past few years, here and here)  When it comes to quality, Minted Holiday Photo Cards can't be beat!  Their holiday cards are always my favorite!  Their unique mix of Independent Designers offer a great selection of beautifully designed unique cards.  I always love browsing through all of them while making my selection for the year.

This year I went with the Gold Foil pressed cards designed my Alethea and Ruth.  Coincidentally, I didn't even realize until now that I chose one of their designs last year as well!  I'm not surprised, their designs are beautiful, and the Gold Foil Cards from Minted is always so beautiful and luxurious.

Another thing I really love about Minted Holiday Cards is that if you use their Address Assistant to upload your address book into their system, they have the option of addressing each of your cards for you with the theme and design from your card.  I can't tell you how much time this saves me each year of having to hand address each card.  I also had them print our return address on the back of the envelope which really adds another level of quality and adds to the customized look!

Sending out Christmas cards is one of my favorite holiday traditions, and going out and getting the mail in December is always my favorite time of year to get the mail!  

GIVEAWAY TIME!

I'm excited to give away not one, not two, but three Minted $100 gift cards to three lucky readers!  I hope that you can use it to order your Holiday cards and spread Christmas cheer!

GIVEAWAY DETAILS

To enter the Giveaway for THREE chances to win a $100 Gift Card to Minted, be sure to fill out the form below!  There are several ways to enter and gain extra entries, but to enter you are required to put your name and email so I can get in touch with a winner, and follow me: @armelle_blog on Instagram, enter below! (for extra entries, head over to my Instagram for more chances to get some extra entries!)

The giveaway will end Sunday, December 3rd 2015 at 9 pm Mountain Time!  

Be sure to enter to below!  Good Luck!!

Family Photos taken by the talented Samantha Broderick Photography.

How To: Hang Christmas Wreaths on Outdoor Windows ...

This post contains Affiliate Links 

I always knew that our home would look amazing with Christmas wreaths in the windows.  But, last year being my first year to hang them, I was left scratching my head wondering exactly how I was going to securely hang them.

After asking around, and googling "How to Hang Wreaths on Outdoor Windows."  I found some ideas, but none of them seemed like simple ideas that actually worked.  When I was wondering around the Home Depot, I found these Command Brand Strips that are made especially for the outdoors, and especially for windows.  Finally, an easy solution that isn't permanent and really worked!

This is what you will need to hang Christmas wreaths on your windows: (affiliate links used)

• Faux Pine 18 inch Holiday Wreaths from Michaels Craft you can also find them online here.
• Red Holiday Bows or you can make your own out of Red Ribbon from Michaels Craft
• Command Stripe Outdoor Window Hooks
• Rubbing Alcohol
• Paper Towels

Step One

Clean your windows well.  Take the Rubbing alcohol and put some on a cloth or paper towel.  Rub around the entire area where you will hang your hook.

Step Two 

Remove the black and white liner side that says window or wall side and apply it to the window where you would like your hook to hang.  Press the entire strip for a full 30 seconds pressing up and down on the strip. (be sure to place the hook in the same area on each window so they are uniform) 

Step Three

Remove the blue liner.  Press the hook to the wall stripe and hold firmly for 30 seconds.

Step Four 

Wait at least one hour before hanging anything on the hook.  This is a very important step.  The adhesive needs time to bond or it will not hold the weight of the wreaths.

Step Five

After at least one hour, hang the wreaths on the hooks.

Step Six

When you would like to remove the hook, stretch the strip slowly against the window at least 12 inches to release it.  Always pull straight down not towards you or it will break!

Pretty simple, and it doesn't damage your windows.  They hold up very nicely in the wind as well.  With the kind of wreaths I had they have wire as the base and were able to hook on nicely.  They stayed put really well.  I think one may have fallen off in some really high winds, but that was it!

The command strips are very easy to remove and made it really easy to make my home festive for the holidays.

I loved how it looked on Christmas morning in the snow! My family during our magical snow storm on Christmas morning 2014!

I hope this helps if you are looking to hang holiday wreaths on your windows this year!  

Can you believe Christmas is just around the corner?!

{all photos by me}

Recipe: Harmons Holiday Pies ...

Pie.  Isn't it everyone's favorite part about Thanksgiving?  Well, it most certainly is one of mine!

There are so many pies to choose from when making your favorite holiday pie, and sometimes it is just too hard to have to make that decision!  Well, you've come to the right place!  We did all the hard work for you!

I've teamed up with the Harmons Grocery Bloggers to bring you a master list of amazing pies with amazing flavors that have been tried and tested!  

We were able to meet up, chat, sample and photograph these beautiful pies, talk about food, and our favorite recipe secrets.  I just love getting together with fellow foodies to eat and talk about one of my favorite subjects, food!

I made my favorite French Apple Tart.  I shared the full step by step recipe here.  I've made it countless times over the years, and my mom has as well.  It is a family tradition to eat at Thanksgiving, and special holidays.  I hope it will become your tradition too!

Becky from A Vintage Mixer made this unique Almond Butter Pie.  It was a perfect combination of Chocolate and nuts.

Si from A Bountiful Kitchen made this beautiful Chocolate Silk Pie.  Si knows her pies, just look at that crust!  It's a tried and true recipe that I know you'll just love!

Rachael from La Fuji Mama made this beautiful Gingerbread Chess Pie.  It had the most unique flavors and the gingerbread was just amazing!  

Jesseca from One Sweet Appetite made this Streusel Pumpkin Pie.  If you are sick of plain old boring pumpkin pie, then give this one a try this year to spice things up!  

Here are the links again to the recipes for this wonderful spread of pies by all the Harmons Bloggers:

French Apple Tart by me

Gingerbread Chess Pie by La Fuji Mama

Chocolate Silk Pie by A Bountiful Kitchen

Almond Butter Pie by A Vintage Mixer

Streusel Pumpkin Pie by One Sweet Appetite

Enjoy!

This post is sponsored by Harmons Grocery, your neighborhood grocery store.

All photos by me.