Inspired by charm giveaway & Dare to... give homemade gifts! (Preview)

This week's Dare to DIY is a special one, because my friend Michael at Inspired by Charm has offered a very special giveaway to one friend of NewlyWoodwards.

Yay! What better way to get into the holiday spirit!

Michael is a solid blog friend and a hard-core DIYer. Plus, he owns a fabulous bed and breakfast with a beautiful gift shoppe in Pennsylvania. Amazing, right? And he has impeccable taste. So, when he asked me if I was interested in a giveaway, I couldn't say yes fast enough.

Check out the ways to enter at the bottom of this post.

But, before I tell you all about that... let's chat about this week's challenge: Dare to... give homemade gifts! It happens to be one of my six favorite challenges.

It's not too late! There are still several weeks until Christmas. Don't let blogland let you believe that if you haven't been working on gifts since June, you cannot give homemade gifts.


You can. And, this week's challenge is the perfect chance.

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Dare to... give homemade gifts!
Nothing is more special than a gift made by you. Don't think it's too late! Try out something new to give this year - ideas include bath an body items, kitchen gifts, hand-sewn clothing or home decor.

Here are some of my favorite ideas from last year's party (You can check out all 46 entries from last year here.)

An ornament wreath by Leah at Kesler Espressler

A coffee cozy by Leslie at Our Soft Spot to Land

A ruffled scarf from Jenny at Anything Pretty

Reusable sandwich bags by Leigh at Popcorn Ideas

Etched mugs by Lauren at Lauren Makes

A crocheted flower brooch by Kellie at KellieBelle.

I am really excited about this week. It's always a great place to find inspiration and there are several gifts from last year that I'd like to recreate this year.

Speaking of gifts...

In the spirit of holiday gifts, Michael has generously offered one of you a nice selection of goodies from his shoppe for the giveaway.  And, trust me, you'll love it!

Shall I break this down for you?

• Two bars of ZUM holiday soap - Naughty (frankincense-lavender) & Nice (peppermint-lavender)
• Honey, made in his hometown of St. Mary's at Riddles Honey Farm
• A vintage-looking glass jar with red lid - perfect to fill with holiday goodies! 
• A candle tree
• Two votive candles from Bridgewater - Christmas bliss and frosted berry
• A pack of 10 holiday cards from Night Owl Paper Goods
• A jar of Michael's own red pepper jam.
• A sprig of cypress pine (faux, of course).

Ummm... yeah. Can I pick my own name?

No?

So, I know you wanna know how to enter, right? Let me count the ways.
1. Comment on this post. Tell me what you want for Christmas. (In case you are wondering, I'm hoping Santa brings me installed windows and insulated walls. Romantic, right?)
2. Go visit Michael at Inspired by Charm and leave him a comment. (Come back and let me know.)
3. Tell others about this - on Facebook, your blog, Twitter, etc. (Come back and let me know.)

4. Link up to "Dare to... give homemade gifts!" this Sunday for an extra entry or two!

This giveaway ends on Monday, Dec. 6, at 5 p.m.

Are you ready?
Will you dare?

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Dare to... eat cookies! (Week 3/6)

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving, friends. I'm still recovering from the excitement.

(My brother took this picture from the back seat on the way to lunch. Ryan's trying to hug me. Unsafe.)

So, this week is perfect for the holiday recovery period -

COOKIES!

Dare to... eat cookies!
As we begin to attend holiday parties, share your favorite cookie recipe for all to enjoy. It’s like a digital cookie swap. Share the recipe and a review of the cookie. If you can, add a picture. And don't worry about the extra calories. At Christmas, cookies are calorie-free.

I tried a new recipe from my Aunt Cathie for the party and brought them to share with family on Thanksgiving. They were very sweet and rich with the maple flavoring. They are more cake-like than cookie. But, I really liked them. Ryan decided he doesn't like maple. But, if you do, this is a good recipe to try.

Vermont Maple Nut Cookies
1/2 c. shortening
1 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 c. sour cream
1 tablespoon maple flavoring

2-3/4 c. flour

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 c. chopped nuts (pecans -or- walnuts)

Mix shortening, sugars, and eggs. Stir in sour cream and flavoring. Add dry ingredients and nuts. Drop onto greased cookie sheets and bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes.

Frosting:
2 c. powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. maple flavoring
2 tablespoons butter, softened
2 tablespoons milk

Combine powdered sugar, maple flavoring and butter. Mix and add the milk. Beat until smooth.

Now it's your turn...

What did you DARE to come up with?

A couple of guidelines:

1. Please link to the specific post, not your general blog address.

2. Please include a teaser of your post - for example, I would write Vermont maple cookies
3. Please visit at least one other blog below and comment! This will help us all meet each other.

4. Link your post back up to NewlyWoodwards with text or this button. Just pull the code from below.

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Did you dare?

I love turkey! I love family! I love black Friday. (You can bet your bippy that I am shopping at the crack of dawn - or before.)

But, I also love Dare to DIY!

Did you check any of this week's projects? Awesome. Fabulous. Funny. Entertaining. Amazing.

Here are a few of my favorites:
I'm loving  Allison at Groovy Wine Lips' elegant Spode holiday tableware, wine cork place cards, tree.... and the pug isn't so bad, either. ;)

Shannon at Shannanigans may be going for extra credit. Her table was ahhhhmazing. I'm serious when I say I want to transplant this entire setup over to my house. Now. She has straws in her glasses!!! PEOPLE! She's awesome. As a back up to stealing her entire dining room, I'm totally making something with an old sweater. Did you say that candle holder?

The natural elements from Erin at Domestic Adventures had be at hello. And, the corner-piece instead of a centerpiece - brilliance.

Robin at Happy at Home has a knack for all things classic and lovely. With a touch of frill. I love her ruffled napkins and turkey placecards.

Leah at Whitaker's Window really put together a lovely table with striped fabric placemats and acorn people napkin rings. (And, as an aside, I want her table at my house.)

Thank you to everyone for playing along this week. I hope you had fun.

If you haven't gotten the chance to check out last week's projects, please take a moment to do so. I think you'll be happy you did.

And, let's be honest, you're still in a coma from yesterday. Am I right? What better way to spend the day than being inspired by tables?

What was your favorite project this week?


(See you all back here on Sunday night/Monday for next week's party - Dare to... eat cookies!)

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Renovation progress report - week 16

Happy Thanksgiving, friends!

I'm sure you are currently donning your loosest-fitting elastic pants and practicing your mouth-opening exercises (to shovel down the most food at once).

Oh wait, is that just me?

But because I'm most thankful for my wonderful husband and the amazing work he's completing on the house, I figured I'd still cover our week in renovation progress. (Do I have to tell you that I use "us" liberally? I didn't think so.)

The fence is complete.

And not a moment too soon. It's freezing around these parts.

If I do say so myself... the fence is gorgeous.

And I'm being honest when I tell you that these are the prettiest gates I've ever seen on a shadowbox fence. And that's even considering my bias. Pretty.

Do you love?

Progress is also being made in the kitchen. Since the plumbing is all approved, we can close up walls and get that kitchen moving. Yippee.

But, because we like to make things difficult, we decided to tear out the horrible ceiling and install a bunch of lights.

Although I am going to miss the skylight to the upstairs bathroom. So sanitary.

There will be a fan in the middle of the kitchen for circulation (a must, in my opinion) and six bright can lights. They can be turned on and off separately, which is handy because the can lights are much prettier. (Our current house is all on one switch and I'm giddy about the new setup.)

A kitchen cannot be too bright, in my humble opinion. Once the ceiling was closed up, the kitchen looked fab.

So, that's the week in progress. More coming soon.

Now you can get back to your turkey-induced coma. Have fun with that, okay?

House list is updated.

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Friends and Christmas trees

So, as far as I'm concerned, the holidays are here. Okay... I know tomorrow is Thanksgiving, so don't flame me for jumping ahead. But, there's a reason why I'm in the holiday mood.

My college roommate, Ali, was in town over the weekend. You've met her (here and here and here). She and I saw Harry Potter (which, by the way, a-MAY-zing). But, we also hit on the real start of the holiday season for me - Festival of Trees.

This is us by the ginormous teddy bear tree. (Love.)


Emily also met up with us. At which point I decided to go ga-ga over everything holiday and take a gazilla photos.

It's a magical place...

My favorite nurses by the nurses tree.

And a few of my favorite inspiration photos.

(Corks as garland)

And because we were in the spirit, we promptly made a wreath for Ali's front door...

 and painted some ornaments...

So you'll forgive me for feeling a little fa-la-la-like. Won't you?

All those lights and trees do it to me.

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Dare to... eat cookies! (Preview)

I had a sneaking suspicion that this week's Dare to DIY would be amazing! And, I was not disappointed. Did you check out some of the great tablescapes? You are all outdoing ourselves.

Now, it's time for the this week's inspiration. This is the perfect party as we approach Thanksgiving. Make up a big batch of your favorite cookies and bring them to your Thanksgiving party. Or, just let your husband eat them all. (Not that that happened at our house.)

Dare to... eat cookies!

As we begin to attend holiday parties, share your favorite cookie recipe for all to enjoy. It’s like a digital cookie swap. Share the recipe and a review of the cookie. If you can, add a picture. And don't worry about the extra calories. At Christmas, cookies are calorie-free.

My mouth is watering just thinking about this one. I don't think I need to give you any inspiration, but here are a few that I want to try.

Here are a few selections from last year's Dare to DIY party.

Chocolate-mint wafers at Domestic Adventure

Chocolate covered Oreos at My Happy House

Jam-filled butter cookies at Casa de Edgewood

Banana nut bread cookies at KellieBelle

Chocolate hazelnut thumbprints at Alex & Jess

I hope you'll dare to join in again this week. Can't wait to see what you come up with!

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Dare to... entertain! (Week 2/6)

Welcome to the second week of Dare to DIY at NewlyWoodwards.

Dare to… entertain!

Show us your table! If you are not hosting Thanksgiving, take this opportunity to make your table look great. Bring out your dishes and napkins and set your table. I promise you that it will make you smile every time you walk by. Get creative and use new things. Or go true DIY and make something totally new.

First, what I came up with...

Simple and natural table setting

After making my "I am thankful for..." chalkboard chargers last week, I knew I had to use them in the table setting. Way to go me, killing two birds with one stone. Or two weeks of blog parties with one project, if you are getting specific.

I've had the same fall table decorations since September, and I was definitely ready for something different. But, I knew I should use what I have and put it together in a new way.

When I saw these votives on the wishlist of Erin at Domestic Adventures, I was reminded that I had 6 artichoke votive holders that I picked up nearly a year ago for pennies. I thought they'd be great on place settings. So, why not now?

I pulled them out and they were actually prettier than I remembered.

And the colors totally went with my other decor in the dining room.

I pulled out the simple square burlap tablecloth picked up on the Iowa Road Trip with Jen.

For the centerpiece, I wanted to show off the cool wine corks I also swiped at Reusable Usables. Don't they look nice in the wire candle holder? It's nothing difficult or fancy, but I like it.

I'm really pleased with how it looks. Simple and natural.

What do you think?

Now, onto the good part...

What did you DARE to come up with?

A couple of guidelines:

1. Please link to the specific post, not your general blog address.

2. Please include a teaser of your post - for example, I would write Thankful table
3. Please visit at least one other blog below and comment! This will help us all meet each other.

4. Link your post back up to NewlyWoodwards with text or this button. Just pull the code from below.

<a href="http://www.newlywoodwards.com"><img alt="Dare to DIY" width="240" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2733/4060076946_f42bf7d673_m.jpg" height="160" /></a>

 I'm so excited to see what you come up with. Thanks in advance for joining the party this week.






(Reminder: I'll post ideas for next week's dare on Tuesday.)

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