Holiday Home Tour in Mollie Makes & a DIY (Thompson Family-Life)

I'm so excited to share something I worked on at the beginning of this year, when my holiday decor was still up from LAST year's Christmas - my Holiday Home Tour in Mollie Makes Magazine! I have to say, I'm so not ready to put up THIS year's decor yet because, well, full disclosure, the decor was up through March of this year (!!!). Early March, but MARCH. It was crazyness. Life got busy and it just took me forever to photograph it all. I didn't want to mess with it during the holiday season, so I decided to just wait til the new year to do it. But in the end, I'm so glad I had the opportunity to really take my time and get some good pictures.

It's always such an honor to be in Mollie Makes! Print has really been a dying breed over the past few years, but I feel that it's coming back with a vengeance in the form of beautiful magazines such as this one. Most of the lovely ones seem to be coming from Europe, or the UK in this case! The team at Mollie Makes are some of the most wonderful people to work with. Even though the magazine seems to be wildly successful, I get a sense that it's still a small tight-knit team working on something they are passionate about. And they couldn't be nicer.

What I love about this magazine (aside from the velvety paper stock they use - I'm a paper snob at heart!) is that it's something I can sit down with and relax, take in one spread at a time and not feel visually overwhelmed like I do with the internet. I truly feel that the DIY and Decor online world has become so insanely overly saturated that it just plain exhausts me. I actually rarely check out design blogs anymore and I only look at Pinterest when I'm looking for something in particular. My brain just can't take it all in anymore. It's always nice to be inspired, but I just can't consume it like I used to. Magazines are a nice breather from that.

This issue has some beautiful things inside (you can sneak a peek here!) including some super cute papers from my designer friend Kat, as well as a pretty calendar that comes with adorable stickers! If you are in Europe or elsewhere overseas, you've probably already seen this issue #46 out in the wild. (They actually have a NEW second holiday issue #47 that you guys can get your hands on!) Since Mollie Makes makes its way over here in the States usually a month later, after the UK release, that is why I waited to post about it. This issue (#46) should be out at Barnes and Noble and craft stores such as Michaels and Joann in the next week or so.

I thought I would share some of the photos that didn't make the cut. To see the best of the bunch, get your hands on this issue!

I added some new projects to our decor just for this issue, including these ombre dyed bottle brush trees.

I also gave this cardboard tree a makeover (it was from IKEA last year and originally a dark green color). I painted it orange to match my decor and I added the large cardboard circle at the top to simulate a star's glow. The tree originally came with some other diecut paper ornaments, but they didn't match my decor so I bought some diecut cardstock circles off Etsy that I made into "ornaments". I really love how it came out! You'll have to check out the magazine to see the entire tree.

I'm not sure I've ever shown this three panel screen Ethan and I made last year. It hides the elliptical machine that we never use. ; ) We made wooden frames, stretched the turquoise fabric around those and then attached the PVC precut panels to the front of the frames. We love how it came out! It is very tall and adds a nice visual break up of the room. But it's still light enough to close up and move, you know in case we ever want to exercise (cough never cough).

I also had the opportunity to create a DIY craft tutorial to go along with the home tour - these cute Mini Felt House Fairy Lights. It was so much fun! I actually worked on this only a few months ago. I used some gorgeous 100% wool felt in yummy colors, sponsored by Crafty Wool Felt. The full step-by-step instructions are inside this issue!

I'm off to see if I can find my own copy tomorrow! I hope you'll check it out if you see it here in the States. : )

Photograpy and Styling by Danielle Thompson