{ Goals }

This year, I have not written any resolutions.

It's not because there aren't things in my life that I want to change, because I do. And I'm working on it. But I find that when I write down resolutions, I have a very, very hard time keeping them.

Is anyone else like that? Good, I'm glad it's not just me.

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However, I do have some goals. Things I'd really like to do in the future. I started thinking about it even more when I saw this post on Mandi's blog about { 101 things in 1001 days }.

So I started my list.

Some of them are not very significant. Things like "Learn to crochet a cup cozy". Others are bigger, like "Take a trip up north to see the leaves change." I'll post them all once I finish my list.

What are your goals?

A {Blessed} Christmas

Whew.

I can hardly believe that Christmas is over.

The presents unwrapped, the food eaten, the family visited, and even a birthday celebrated.

{Gee, that makes it all sound pretty depressing!}

But I'm not depressed about it. I had one of the lovliest Christmases I can remember!

The birthday celebrated just happened to be my own (any guesses on how old I am?), and it was fabulous. So many people blessed me with gifts, and my sweetheart came over for dinner, and it was so fun. =)

The only downside is the fact that I'm battling a nasty cold, which does tend to put a damper on things. I'm hoping for speedy recovery!

This week promises to be a busy one. I may not be around much, but after the New Year, blogging should resume as normal.

So tell me: How was your Christmas? Really, I'd love to hear about it!

{Merry Christmas}

{source}

God rest ye merry, gentlemen

Let nothing you dismay

Remember Christ our Saviour

Was born on Christmas day

To save us all from satan's power

When we were gone astray

O tidings of comfort and joy...

Merry Christmas!

{Heartstrings}

Heartstrings

I'm in love with this necklace from Lisa Leonard.

I love the hearts.

I love the sentimental quality.

I love the customization.

*sigh*

Is there a Lisa Leonard piece you're wishing for? Tell me about it!

If you've never heard of Lisa Leonard, you are missing out on a lot of loveliness.

And you should go now. :)

Holiday Posting

Happy Monday, everyone!

My goodness, the holidays are fast approaching, and I'm sure all of you are busy with plans and preparations. I love this time of year.

But I did just want to let you know that my blogging may suffer because of the holidays. I plan to be around, and will {hopefully} post some small things, I just don't know how much. After the first of the year, I should be back to my "normal" blogging schedule. Well, as "normal" as it gets, at least. :)

If you'd like to chat, feel free to send me an email:

thesweetestpetunia AT gmail DOT com

I'd love to hear from you!

Merry Christmas!

{One Week}

Christmas is one week away.

Wow.

{source}

Are you ready?

I'm ready. Christmas is so exciting to me. It always has been, and hopefully it always will be! I love the {slight, so far} change in the weather, decorating the house, picking out a tree, drinking hot chocolate with a candy cane stirred in, buying gifts for those I love, wrapping the gifts up all nice and pretty, listening to Christmas music, going to parties...

It's just so fun. =)

This week will probably be a busy one, but I don't mind. Sometimes I just enjoy being busy, even if it makes me tired. But if you're getting worn out from the holiday season, I suggest you take some time for yourself and make some of this:

Peppermint Stick Cocoa Recipe

And then you can send some to me. And to Lindsay. We would love you forever. =)

{Finally}

Yesterday afternoon, I told myself that I had to take these pictures. And I did. Although I'm not the best photographer in the world, but at least you'll get the general idea.

You ladies certainly are creative! I loved all the ideas you gave me, and I'll share a few before I show you what I actually did make.

Eva Gallant:

Maybe individually they could be used as an accent pin on a dress or coat; or glued around a vanity mirror like a frame?

Juggling Thoughts:

What about a pin in the hair? Or attach a hair tie to it?

Ms. Diva:

I'm thinking what about putting them on a fleece scarf?

Lisa Kate:

Sew them onto a few headbands, for sure. I think they would make ultra cute accessories!

There were other great ideas, too, and if you'd like to read them you can check out the original post.

I liked the scarf idea, and I got these fleece examples for $5. So I had to group them in three's (I can be a little strange like that), and instead of sewing them directly to the scarves, I sewed them onto safety pins and pinned them to the scarves. So if you wanted the flowers in a different spot, you can move them! I thought that was a nice touch.

I was also planning on making some hair pins. I made 3 sets, but 2 of them went bye-bye before I took the pictures (They were Christmas gifts for my sweetheart's nieces). So I can only show you the one, but they're all really cute.

{The color is kind of strange in this picture...sorry. Someday I'll learn to take better photos. Or get Photoshop so I can fix them.}

I also got some simple plastic skinny headbands to use:

I actually wore the purple-flower headband last week for fun, and people liked it! The 2 white headbands will have their own flowers someday soon, I just haven't done it yet.

So there ya go!

I'm sure there's more I can do with these, but right now I don't have much time to play around with them. I have made more though, so if inspiration comes upon me, I'll be ready. =)

I will hopefully put up a tutorial on how to make these yo-yo's after the New Year, but if you're dying to know how to make them now, Heather Bailey's tutorial worked great for me!

Oh, and if you come up with any more clever uses, be sure to let me know. =)

On a Wednesday...

...when I totally forgot to take pictures so I could show you all the fun I've made with these:

...and when I promise you they'll be up tomorrow. Thanks in advance for your patience.

...When I discovered that Pandora is one of my all-time favorite websites. And that my favorite "channels" have to do with Dario Marianelli and Bing Crosby (although not both at the same time).

...When I'm missing this sweet guy like crazy.

...When I'm {finally} going to go get my hair cut this afternoon. After I've put it off for a looong time.

{And I'm excited. I like getting my hair cut!}

...And when Christmas is only 9 days away. Can you believe it??

How are you on this Wednesday? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

It's a {Christmas Tour}

Today I'm joining in with The Nester for a {Christmas Tour}! I originally had no intention whatsoever to post about Christmas decor...which is mainly because we did not have any decorations out until a few days ago.

I'll warn you in advance that we don't have a lot in the way of deorations. And I'm certainly not The Nester. But I hope you'll enjoy this little tour anyway. =)

It all started with a red tablecloth. We have a pretty large table, and I love the red tablecloth because it add so much color. Yes, color makes me happy. For the centerpiece, you have to use a little imagination. When I put that out on Friday, the platter was filled with peppermints. It looked extremely festive and fun. Of course, then people in my family ate them. But at least they enjoyed it.

{It did look very nice.}

And then we have our manger scene. I gave them pretty much free reign on our hutch, and apparently they like to spread out. =)

{I told myself I was not going to mention this, but look at Mary and Joseph. Is it just me, or are they slightly disproportionate?}

Moving up on the hutch...

I love these cinnamon pinecones! They smell sooo lovely, and I loved stacking them in the bowl. The only thing missing would be a littl birdie to tuck in there, but I used what I had. My mom found the plates at a yard sale, and they bring some winter to this warm Florida holiday. =)

Our little "entryway" dresser. I think the grouping is fun, even though I need to find a spot for our other three stockings!

I would loooove to show off our tree, too, but I took these pictures before we actually decorated our tree...and who takes a picture of an undecorated tree?

I will show you my favorite ornament though:

I made this little angel last year, and now I wish I had made about a dozen of them! I think she's very pretty. And I loved doing all the stitching. Someday I'll have to find the pattern I used for her body and wings and make myself some more. =)

Thank you so much for coming along on this tour with me! I hope you enjoyed what you saw. You can go visit The Nester to see even more lovely homes!

{Sunday Chat}

Does anyone else just feel very tired on Sunday afternoons? Maybe it's just me.

{conversation between me and my sweetheart today}

Him: Are you doing anything exciting today?

Me: Well...I was kind of thinking about taking a nap.

Him: And that's exciting?

Hey, to me, extra sleep is always exciting.

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I finally pulled out our Christmas decorations on Friday night, mainly because we were having company over. Gotta look nice, right? We got our tree last night, too (more on that another time). Sooo, if I can pull myself together enough to take pictures this afternoon, I will be participating in The Nester's Christmas Tour tomorrow:

I can just feel the excitement. =)

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Oh yes, I do have one more little piece of info for today.

Who is the lucky {Gussy Giveaway} winner??

Well, Random.org has spoken, and #36 is the winner...

Lisa!

Lisa, please go ahead and shoot me an email {thesweetestpetunia AT gmail DOT com} so I can put you in touch with Maggie! But be quick, if you don't email me within 3 days (by Wednesday morning) I'll have to choose a new winner. And I'd really hate to do that to you.

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Okay, now I need to go practice my photography lack of skills so I can join in on that Chrismas Tour...

Surprise! {It's a Giveaway!!}

If you've been a fan of The Sweetest Petunia for very long, you've probably picked up on the fact that I really like Gussy. Really like Gussy.

In fact, I have 2 Gussy's of my own. But of course, that doesn't stop me from wishing for more.

You can find Gussy (aka Maggie) on Etsy and blogging at Gussy has a lot to say.

Guess what? You have the chance to get some Gussy for yourself! That's right, Maggie is offering one lucky person a $30 shop credit!

Can I just admit that I'm a tad bit jealous?

So here's what you've got to do:

Hop on over to Gussy and pick your favorite. Come back and leave me a comment telling me what it is!

Extra entries? Of course!

{Leave one comment for each}

-Follow Maggie's blog.

-Follow Maggie on Twitter.

-Tweet the giveaway (link to this post).

-Blog about it (again, link here).

-Follow The Sweetest Petunia

This giveaway will end on Saturday night at 9:00pm (EST), and I'll announce the winner on Sunday afternoon-ish.

Good luck!!

Today I Am...

{Recovering}

Yesterday was a loong day. Driving, talking, dressing, driving, dinner, walking, driving...it got a little tiresome. The good news?

I know what I'm wearing for my friend's wedding. And I'm excited because I'm the Maid of Honor.

{Sewing}

I really enjoyed everyone's ideas from this post. I've been working on some of them, and I think I've used all of these:

So I'd like to make some more today. Don't worry, I'll show you what I've come up with soon!

{Reviewing}

This book right here.

{Cleaning}

So that my lovely room...

...stays that way.

What are you doing today?

A Little {early} Christmas

Christmas Tree

Yes, today it's Christmas a little early. But I love Christmas so much I couldn't resist, it being the first Monday in December and all. So to celebrate the season, I've put together a little quiz for ya. Because I love to answer questons!

{ When do you put up your Christmas Tree? }

Late. I'd like to put it up earlier (like the first of December), but my mom likes to wait until a week or two before Christmas. So we don't have any decorations up yet.

{ Favorite Holiday drink? }

I can't stand eggnog, so I'd have to say hot chocolate. But I could drink that anytime!

{ Favorite Christmas song? }

Right now it's O Holy Night by Barlow Girl. Winter Wonderland is also and all-time favorite of mine.

{ What do you like the most about December? }

There is so much I love about it. Here in Florida, the weather starts to cool off, Christmas lights go up, presents are given, parties start...It's just fun to me. Yes, it is very busy and very hectic, but I enjoy it. And of course, my birthday also happens to land on Christmas Day, so that's an extra dose of fun for me. :)

Okay, now it's your turn. Pick one of these questions (or all four!) and leave me a comment with your answer! Or you could post it on your blog and leave me the link. I'd love to hear about your Christmas!

And by the way; Merry SITSmas!

The Art of Paper {an update}

I realized the other day that I have not mentioned anything about my shop, The Art of Paper, for quite a while. No, I haven't forgotten about the shop. I just forgot to write about it.

{and those two things are totally different, right?}

Two Trees

Christmas cards are available right now, although it may be a little late to be sending them. But hey, if you want some? Go for it! Otherwise I will be discontinuing them in January and bringing some back next October-ish.

Spread Your Wings

I don't know about you, but I have had major butterfly love lately. I love adding them to my cards. I think I currently have 3 card sets involving butterflies listed, and another set that I need to list, and a set being given away right here. You could say I'm slightly obsessed.

Musical Notes

Love music? Know someone who does? These would be a great gift! Although, I'm kind of tempted to keep them for myself...

My shop has not been a big seller. Which I wasn't really expecting it to be, but I know I could be a little more diligent in promoting my shop. I'd love to see those 4 sales turn into even more. I'm {hoping} to start The Art of Paper--The Blog in January, get a mailing list going, and do some advertising...but I'll be sure to let you know!

So feel free to stop by The Art of Paper, look around...you could even buy something if you really want to. But not because I told you to or anything. 

{Needing Ideas}

Yes, I am needing ideas. And I need all of you to help me out. You see, I came across this Heather Bailey tutorial on how to make yo-yo's (which I'd rather call flowers), so I've been making them.

And stacking them, and adding buttons, and all that good stuff.

But now I'm at a loss.What should I do with these lovely little flowers? I could attach them all to pins, but then where would I use them?

I know you ladies can be creative, so please help this poor girl out.

What should I use these flowers for?

I'm up for pretty much any suggestion. Except for sewing them into a quilt. But you know what I mean.

And maybe if you're really nice, I could send you one?

{Just to Let You Know}

Fabulous K's giveaways are in full swing, and they are lovely. There is some Gussy up for grabs, My Little Buffalo calling cards, a beautiful My Sparrow pillow...trust me, you want to go check it out. All giveaway are open until Dec. 4th, so what are you waiting for?

Monday Musings {no. 4}

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I hope all of you had a lovely Thanksgiving! If you read my {Thankful Day} post, you know that I am thankful for love. But trust me, there is SO much more that I am thankful for. I'd just hate to take up the rest of your life telling you about it.

One thing I am thankful for is my family. I spent most of Thanksgiving with my entire family (who lives near us). I love that we all live close. Grandparents, two uncles, two aunts, nine cousins, my parents, and the five girls. Makes for large family gatherings with lots of food, but we always have enough to go around. And I am thankful for that.

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Gussy!

Okay, yes, I realize that I pretty much shamelessly promote Maggie's products at any chance I get, but I can't help it. I just love me some Gussy!

And this lovely pouch...

...now belongs to me! I love it.

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Did you know that Christmas is approximately 24 days, 16 hours, 4 minutes away as I type this??

photo credit

Wow. I looove Christmas, and I'm starting to get excited about it. Have you started up the Christmas season at your house?

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Happy Monday, everyone!

{Thankful Day}

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You wanna know something I am really thankful for?

I'm thankful for love. Sometimes I just feel like I want to share love with everyone, so that they can be happy the way I am. I'm grateful for my parent's love, as they guide and protect me. I'm thanful for my 4 sisters, who love me even when we don't get along. For my friends, who love me enough to listen, to laugh, and to play. And for my amazing man. Because he loves me through it all, good or bad, no matter what. And I'm a better person because of it.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Super Cute!

Have I ever mentioned that blog award excite me? Whenever I see an award post, and then I see my name? Excitement ensues. I mean, I know that in the scheme of things, bloggy awards won't really get you anywhere, but I still think they're fun to get and fun to give.

This particular award was passed on to me by Kelli at Sustaining Creativity. Thank you, Kelli! The rules of acceptance are pretty simple; pass it on to 10 other bloggers and let them know about it! Well, okay then...

(And these are in no particular order.)

Angel Face Designs--Heather is really sweet, she has an amazingly cute little girl, and she makes jewelry. How cool is that?!

Aunt Spicy--I always enjoy Aunt Spicy's posts. She's very creative, and I wish I could sew like her.

Becoming Briggs--People who write novels (or have novels in progress) are pretty amazing to me. Plus, she posts fun stuff like Not Me Monday's.

Diamonds, Fur and Laundry--Jenn is a sweet blogger, and it's fun to read about her life.

Erica's Bloggity Blog--I think Erica is really cool. Really.

Sparkle is my Crack!--Lisa Kate and I were lip gloss swap partners, and she does a lot of fun things (that I could never do) with makeup.

The Shabby Tiara--I love it when Suzanne posts a "Pink Saturday"!

Jack and Mandy - The Blog--Mandy's stories make me laugh, especially the ones about Jack. They're cute together (in my opinion).

Haus of Girls--What can I say? I live in a House of Girls, too!

Gussy has a lot to say.--I love Maggie's blog. And her Etsy shop. She's just all around amazing.

So there ya go! 10 bloggers that I enjoy, and now you can check them out, too!

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When I posted about my "blog schedule" yesterday, I kind of forgot that Thanksgiving was this week; whoops! So there won't really be a schedule. We'll try for next week.

Monday Musings {and a giveaway winner!}

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I just have to ask. Has anyone tried the new Caramel Brulee Latte at Starbucks? I know, I know...I make it sound like I really am addicted to Starbucks...but I promise I'm not. I just really want to try it. But first I thought I'd see if anyone else likes it! So let me know.

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Guess what? We have a winner for the Cymbaline Designs giveaway!

Snow White Teardrop

I plugged the numbers in at Random.org, and number ONE happened to be the lucky one. And the winner is

Heidi!

I've already sent Heidi an email, so congratulations!

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I really just want to give all of you blog followers and commenters a huge

Thank You

While I try to remind myself that comments and followers aren't everything, they do help me feel encouraged to blog. Does that make sense? So thanks. Because all of you are pretty special.

And really, I'm not just saying that.

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Last night I sat down and wrote myself a "blogging schedule". Not a big deal really, just a simple thing. I'm hoping that having a blogging plan will keep me from getting stressed out when I feel like I don't have anything to post. And this is perfectly flexible for me. It will probably change. Of course. So if you'd like to know what to expect for now, here it is:

Monday--a Monday Musings post like this one. I like the freedom to be random.

Wednesday--Whatever post I think up. This depends mostly on my life. I'll write about what I'm thinking, how I'm feeling, or something funny that happened.

Friday--I'll share something I like. It might be in the form of some Etsy finds, or a product I love. I'd love to do some giveaways, too, but I'm still working on that.

Tomorrow I'll already be changing my schedule, though. I got an award over the weekend and I need to make my "formal acceptance speech". Do you have a cute blog? I need to nominate 10 others for the award, and I'm giving you a chance to get one. Just leave a link and I'll come visit you! Tomorrow the cute blogs will be announced.

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Well, that about all I've got for now. Whew! Hope you all had a great weekend. Feel free to tell me about it!

{Plum}

Plum is one of my all time favorite colors. Not quite purple, but still kinda the same.

Orchid Charm

Plum Luxury

Plum Drop

How do you feel about plum?

Be sure to enter the Cymbaline Designs giveaway! Ends on Monday morning!