ELF ON THE SHELF

this year my mom and sister had the ultimate 'elf on the shelf' challenge going on.

24 days leading up to Christmas the the elf named 'pixie' got into some serious mischief around the 'girl house'. i saved a few of the pictures from the tricks played by 'pixie' to share with you on the blog. 

in the last picture you can see that 'pixie' left a note, the note was to me. while i was out of town for a weekend, 'pixie' let himself in and switched my living room to my dining room and dining room to  my living room.. that was quite possibly the biggest trick 'pixie' took on this season.. oh that silly elf!!

DAY TO NIGHT (CHRISTMAS FOODIE)

welcome back sweet readers- hope you all had a lovely holiday surrounded with the ones you love most! 

today i wanted to share with you our Christmas day table and traditions. 

Christmas morning we normally round up the dogs, stop by the grandparents house and we set out on a morning 'mimosa walk'- all bundled up with drink in hand. but this year, with the thunderstorms and rain that morning, we settled for mimosas by the fire! we set the table for breakfast and enjoyed german pfannekuchen, 'girl house' casserole and fruit salad- we made the casserole from scratch, who knew it would turn out so good, we wrote down the recipe for next year!?!

dinner was served at my momma lanes as well this year...and my did we eat well. the best beef tenderloin (thanks to Chamberlains Steakhouse for the amazing piece of beef!) mashed potatoes, creamed corn, green beans, tomato salad and warm rolls of course!

the meat was so perfectly cooked, you could cut it with your fork- now thats what i call a good Christmas Day Dinner!

*recipes to share with you*

german pfannekuchen *use butter instead of oil

'girl house' casserole

beef tenderloin 

CHRISTMAS CHEER

giving gifts its always fun- giving a gift that grows, and keeps on giving is even better! so this year i gave each of my friends just that... 

a fresh paperwhite bulb that just needs a little water and love to grow!

here's what i used:

gift tags, bakers twine and stamps (same as from my gift wrap)

paperwhite bulbs (find them at your nursery or amazon)

river rocks (at your craft store.. or if you have a creek...!)

mason jars.. i got the 4oz to use less rocks. 

**i left the twisted part of the lid on, but removed the cover seal

WRAPPED

wrapping gifts has always been a lane family favorite. this year is no different. 

i went with the basics, and tried to buy as little as possible, more about recycle and reuse this time around. wrapping your gifts with love is all the matters though really!

while the snowflakes may look a little time consuming, they turned out great and added just enough holiday cheer to the packages! (i linked two links below for you!!)

if you are a last minute wrapper- then dig in your kitchen  drawers for some baking paper, or even newspaper will do the trick!

i used a large roll of baking paper gift wrap i found at michaels, recycled kitchen baking paper will do the trick too on smaller boxes..

here and here are step-by-step on how to make paper snowflakes!

find bakers twine here - you will have enough for years... 

and i found the red rafia at SampleHouse&CandleShop

the little stamps and ink pad are also from michaels...so cute for personalizing!

here are other wrapping inspirations- happy wrapping!

1 // 2 // 3 

DECK THE HALLS (BRANDY'S HOME)

hello lovely readers- it has been such a fun week with so many wonderful guest bloggers!

i hope you enjoyed each post and each bloggers christmas cheer and decorations!

last but not least of favorite bloggers sharing their Christmas decorations is brandy from 'cashmere&camo' - her blog is so pretty and i envy her sense style! 

Hi All! I’m Brandy from Cashmere & Camo and a big thanks to Life of the Lane’s for asking me to guest post and share how I’m decking my halls this year!  

Every year I have a few primary influences and build off of those ideas. This year I really wanted to reuse some of my favourite birch bark decorations and incorporate golds and reds. Some of my favourite finds were from Restoration Hardware and decorated a winter wonderland tree and used some of the starry string lights to dress up the mantle and an old lantern. I also wanted to try my hand at some DIY’s this year and one of my favourites was the mason jar snowglobe I made. 

You can visit us over at Cashmere & Camo to get more details!

Thanks so much to Life of the Lane for featuring this post. 

Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday!

DECK THE HALLS (SARA'S HOME)

Confession: I am completely in awe that I have had so many lovely ladies wanting to guest blog here this week. Each of them have beautiful and successful blogs that I deeply admire and look up to. Today's guest blogger is no exception! Every girl needs a little 'glitter and grace' in their life, and when I first stumbled upon Sara's beautiful blog I was instantly hooked! 

Thank you Sara for sharing your holiday cheer on the blog today and for putting more glitter in the world on a daily basis!

It's so fun to be visiting here on Life of the Lane's and I love that she asked me to share some holiday snapshots from my life! 

Living with other girls, I'm not able to decorate exactly how I would like all around the house, but I have still had fun decorating the downstairs and outside with my roommates, and then making my room my own. One of my favorite looks is filling up big glass vases with bright ornaments, and then any excuse to add extra Christmas lights is welcomed by me. 

The fireplace in my room has been the absolute highlight this winter and I've been lighting a fire almost every night to stay warm and cozy. I love how pretty and sparkly this time of year is and I am soaking in every minute. 

Thank you for having me Lane and I would love for you to 

come say hi to me over at Glitter and Grace! 

DECK THE HALLS (THE RAND HOME)

Hi Life of the Lane readers! It's Nina from The HSS Feed and I'm excited to be guest blogging today and showing you a few of the details of our holiday decor. This is our first holiday season in our new house, with our 10 month old son, so everything has revolved around making his first Christmas perfect. I had every intention of coming up with a sophisticated holiday decor scheme, but we've settled on keeping things a little more traditional and as fun as we can. 

We don't have a fireplace in our house, so our Pottery Barn stockings hang on the banister on our second floor. I got this great ribbon at Paul Michael in Canton and the R's from Restoration Hardware hang with all four stockings (including one for our Yorkie, Harlow). 

We bought this great tree from Frontgate (faux, pre-lit to make life easier) last year and we've accessorized with ornaments gifted to us from my parents from a really cool place called Bronner's Christmas Wonderland up in Michigan, where I grew up. We put a lot of red, white and snowmen on the tree, keeping things fun and pretty traditional.

This is Griffin, our elf. We're participating in the "Elf on the Shelf" trend and on this particular day, Griffin was hanging out on our bar cabinet. He has a cute little plate and cup for snacks and sips that we leave for him each night before he heads to the North Pole to report on whether our son is being good (which he is - very good!). It's a fun tradition and we look forward to many more fun years with Griffin!

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

DECK THE HALLS (GOING BEYOND)

its always fun to see how others decorate for Christmas- and i am so grateful for yesterday's sweet guest post by Sunday Beach! 

not only are my favorite blogger great decorators, so are the lovely girls at the 

BEYOND STUDIOS in dallas. i thought it was so cute they decided to decorate their studios for the holidays- sharing the christmas spirit with their clients! 

even cuter is that clients send their holiday cards to the studio! (see picture below)

clearly the girls were all hands-on to #gobeyond with the holiday decorations this year at both studios. be sure you come by the BEYOND PILATES and BEYOND PEDALING Studio if you live in dallas and need to work off some of your holiday cookies!

DECK THE HALLS (THE MILLS HOME)

Hello Life of the Lane readers! It's Lauren from Sunday Beach.  Lane and I met this summer at the Sheridan French fan photoshoot. We quickly bonded over our love of SF and all things antler. I'm so excited to share my Christmas decor with you today!

I was inspired by a photo in Cottage Journal to spice up our standard wreath this year. Turkey feathers and shed antlers create a rustic welcome to our home. 
Get the DIY details here!

Like Lane, I love decorating with greenery. I save the cut branches from the bottom of the tree and incorporate them around the house. It adds a nice pop of color and consistency to the decor.

We have an antique hutch in our entryway. For the majority of the year, it displays our everyday china by Juliska. After Thanksgiving, I switch it to Tiffany Holiday. I also display our Christmas cards here. I love seeing all my friends and their families as I walk in and out.

We got a Christmas tree this weekend and let me tell you it was slim pickings! It's a little smaller this year but still quite cute. I collect Old World Charm ornaments in animals, santas, and coastal themes. This mermaid is one of my favorites! 

Do you spy Kirby? I was a little nervous about the kitten + tree combo so I left the bottom a little sparse.  (So far, I'm the only one who has broken an ornament!) 

And finally, what tree would be complete with out an antler "angel"?! 

Merry Christmas from Sunday Beach!

CHRISTMAS CRAFTING (WITH KIDS)

this week i have been nannying part time for two adorable munchkins who are full of life, play and love! they have made me laugh so hard this week- it has been such a joy to spend time with them a few hours every day! plus hearing little kids laugh is the best sounds in the world- it makes my heart smile:)

after school play time was really fun yesterday, thanks to my sisters first grade crafting ideas and skills. we made the same 'puffy snowmen' that the first graders made - with a little more guidance... since staying focused at 3 and 5 can be a little challenging;)

i took some pictures of the process - easy to follow- for the next time you and the kiddos need a fun, easy crafting idea! 
*side note... once your 'snowman' is built the cream/glue needs to dry for a few hours before its ready to hang anywhere... he might just 'melt' off the paper if not ;)

here's where she got the cute idea!

DECK THE HALLS (THE LANE HOME)

with so much decorating going on for others this holiday season, i am really glad i decorated and strung twinkly-lights at my place a few weeks back.

so today i am sharing with you a few iphone pics i snapped around my festive little nest this week. there's no tree, since i will be around the family tree for Christmas, but there is garland and lots of mercury glass ornaments everywhere! 

i snatched up a bunch of them last year at WISTERA - they were having an amazing holiday sale that couldn't resist... it was my Christmas gift to myself:)
**they have similar ones again this year.. try these, these and these oh and these are the same ones i got last year!! if you live in dallas, their warehouse is a MUST!! 

do you have your home decorated for the holidays yet?!
hope you enjoy this little peek into my home!

DECK THE HALLS (LANE FAMILY HOME)

as promised, here is the beautiful tree...

strung with lights, our favorite ornaments and burlap! 

we always decorate a real tree together. when we were living in germany we would plant the live tree (roots and all) in our backyard after the season...

(they are all tall and grown up now!) 

there's just something about the smell of a fresh tree in the house that makes it feel like the season can officially start! 

every year, without fail, we blast the celine dion 'these are the special times' album 

(my sister will sing at the top of her lungs!) we toast with champagne and my mom will watch and 'direct' the madness as my sister and i unpack, move, hang and do the heavy lifting to get Christmas out of boxes and up and around the house. 

mom likes to come back and 'fluff' and add her touch of Christmas magic!

here's the outcome of our annual Christmas decorating activities/festivities:

helpful packing/decorating note:
after a few years of lugging multiple boxes of decorations up and down the attic stairs, we now have it down to a fine art of organized decorating skills. each box is labeled with its exact content.. almost down to which room each box needs to be unpacked in!
it make for less mess, confusion and all around a quicker process. i highly recommend it! you will not enjoy the first time you go through this process (putting it all away) but you will thank me next year when you bring all the boxes back out;)

FARMERS FINDS

every year my mom, sister and i head out to find the perfect Christmas tree for my moms house. this year we went to our local farmers market to find THE ONE!

after we found our gem of a tree, my mom did some shopping 
so my sister and i decided to get lost in the hay maze!! 
we did get lost and confused in the big maze a few times, but made it out together!



don't forget to come back tomorrow to see our gem of a Christmas tree all set up, strung with twinkly lights and decorated for the season!

DECK THE HALLS (CLIENTS HOME)

this past week has been a crazy one. 

recovering from a yucky head cold (bleh) and decorating a clients home for the Christmas Season has kept me from having any spare time to blog...sad face.

here are a few (no-so-professional-iphone-shots) from the beautiful home i decorated this past week. the color scheme was blues, greens, and silver/shiny things:

--the blues are big bows-- 

--the greens are the fresh garland and magnolia leaves from the backyard-- 

--the shiny is the ornaments, sparkly garland decorations and twinkly-lights--

growing up, we've always decorated with fresh garland and magnolia- it brings an amazing smell and holiday feel to the home!

thank you to the 'P' family for asking me to come in and decorated their home!

professional (non-iphone) photos to follow later!
*photos taken at clients home in dallas, texas

MAKING A WISH

:source:

today is my birthday...
and i am blessed to be celebrating with the best family and friends all day!

here's to living everyday like its your birthday and being 
grateful for all the beautiful blessings in our lives! 

ANTLERS AND CAMO

BOOTS/ RING/ WEEKENDER/ TOTE/ EARRINGS (similar)/ CASE

so with tomorrow being my birthday...
i thought i would share with you a few things on my wish list!
yes, i still make a list. on pintrest!

as you know i have an antler/camo obsession- and the items on my list clearly reflect that!

the coolest thing on my list this year, i think, are the 'give back boots' from the Boot Campaign.
$50 go towards the boots and $50 go back to "Cultivating Awareness, Promoting Patriotism, and Providing Assistance" for men and women in uniform! i totally would wear these all the time!

SCRUMPTIOUS

this past week was all about food...and carbs didn't count:)
so my friend ellie and i decided we wanted to make scones.
we were both first timers to this, we went all out... streusel and all!

i dont bake, much, ever... but these might have to be made again soon!
these puppies were surprisingly easy to make and oh-so delicious. 

ellie- so glad we had this scone-date. it was delightful.

**side note: ellie plays in THE BENJAMIN'S. 
you should check them out NOW!!!

ROAD TRIP:: DAY 4

day four... and we finally crossed into the great state of TEXAS!

we left tennessee around 10:30am that morning and almost made it to texas at sunset, missed it by an hour. (i like to blame day-light savings time!)

a little over 1,700 miles, 4 days... what a trip!

we saw so much of america, got to spend time with some great friends... defiantly put spotify to good use and made it back in one piece!

welcome to texas, tess!

its the great state many of us call HOME!

ROAD TRIP :: DAY 3

day three.. we were getting antsy about sitting in the car... all.day.
but the hills and mountains of tennessee were so beautiful it was another great and breathtaking drive. we drove across the eastern continental divide, through the great smokey mountain national park, right through nashville, only to end up at sunset in the cute little town of brentwood. we stayed in the most adorable home with an even more darling family:)

with 'sandy' blowing through the north eastern states only a week before our trip, the foliage was almost non-existing. but by the time we made it to tennessee it was absolutely stunning!

i took this picture as we were leaving the next morning, on the iphone, #nofilter... just perfect! 

ROAD TRIP :: DAY 2

after an early morning of walking/touring DC we got back on the road...

leaving DC, through virginia and ending up in north carolina by sunset. 

only two states on day two made the day feel longer!!

we spent the night with good family friends of my families. we met them back in 1996, we were all living in germany at the time and have kept in touch and stayed close friends ever since! it was so nice to spend the evening with them, catching up over wine and a home-cooked meal.  having friends spread out can be difficult, but in times like these, it was nice to meet up with them on an unexpected trip across the US!

ROAD TRIP :: DAY 1

last week I was on a road-trip across the country.. 14 states in 4 days.
crazy? yes, a little. but fun and so beautiful at the same time!

this week i am going to highlight the states we crossed each day with a favorite shot and or state-line sign to map out the route we took!

day 1: we left boston, had breakfast in rhode island, then drove through connecticut, new york, new jersey (both of which took 10 minutes to get though!) then on to delaware, maryland and ended the first days trip in DC...DC deserves its own post (stay tuned)!!

HOW MANY STATES....

:source:

just wanted to keep you lovely readers posted:

no, i have not fallen off the face of the earth, or left the blogging world...

but i am on a cross country road trip with a dear friend of mine!

day one we crossed 7 states!

day two.. only 2. 

the further south your travel, the larger the states get. 

today will mark day 3 on the road. again only crossing 2 states. 

then tomorrow we will be on the home-stretch... 

3 states to make it back to the great state of texas!

follow me on instagram @thelane for pictures and updates along the way:)

THE PROJECT: REVEALED

it's finally here... THE PROJECT revealed and in its new home!

beck- i owe you big time. your talents need to come out more often. 

thank you from the bottom of my heart for listening to all of my crazy ideas for the past months and helping me make them come to life! 

there is a prayer written around the antlers, its been hanging on my bathroom mirror for a few years now, and it was perfect for this project- i love the words and reading them everyday: 

May today there be peace within.

May you trust that you are exactly where you are meant to be.

May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith in yourself and others.

May you use the gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you.

May you be content with yourself just the way you are.

Let this knowledge settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, 

dance, praise and love.

It is there for each and every one of us.

This is my prayer.