Christmas Time is Here

Ta-da! The tree is up in all its glory, new handmade garland and all. 

 

The view from our couch...

 

And the view from the entryway...

 

Here are a couple close ups of the garland now that it has been ironed flat. Do you like it flat better? Or crinkled better? Maybe the difference isn't as great as I think it is, but I love it flat. 

I'm so grateful for this season, the time to be with family and friends celebrating the birth of Jesus. How cool that He is remembered all over the world. Our Savior and King...

I love spending time decorating and thinking of the gift God gave us in His Son. 

Some Mini Delights

I warn you in advance, this may not be the greatest post. I feel a bit stuck in one of those uninspired phases at the moment, but in an attempt to press on I will share some highlights from this past week. 

We did it! We bought our Christmas tree, stuffing the 6-plus footer into the back of our iddy biddy car. More on the decorative process later...

We hosted a mini thanksgiving dinner on Thanksgiving Eve and after the meal played Pit for the first time. Such a fun game. Have you tried it?

 

And we paid a visit to the coolest men's hair salon I've ever been in. My husband got his haircut at this place and while I sat in the lobby admiring the modern decor I couldn't help but sneak a picture. It's called the Men's Department in Minneapolis and they do an awesome job so if your man is picky about his locks, take him here. 

That's all I got for now. We're coming up on final's week at school so pray for my endurance if you think of it. Hope this post finds you healthy and happy.

Lots of love,

Courtney

Clothing and Colors

I look in my closet and think I have nothing to wear some days. How can that be? I see this photo and I realize my abundance. This is just half of my closet. Not to mention the two drawers and one shelf also filled with clothes. I don't say this to brag. I think there are some with more than that, but I know there are those with far less. And aside from that, these are just temporal things anyway. 

Yes, I am thankful for them. And yes, I love the option and fun of pairing new things together. But if there comes that day when nothing seems cute or fitting, I'm alright with that. God loves me regardless of my beautiful or not beautiful clothing. And I am thankful.

Thankful for my clothes and thankful they are colorful. (Seriously, imagine your closet filled with shades of gray. I love gray but not quite that much!)

Mostly I'm thankful for God's love.

Happy Thanksgiving all.

Bless you,

Snowflakes or Stars

I know it's not quite Christmas yet, but our first snow of the season came today putting me in the mood to crochet a festive garland. I figure if I start now it'll be ready when it comes time to decorate the tree. 

I always love the first snow. Perfect for snow angels...

What do you think of my husband's crazy color choice? Does it put you in a cheery mood? He insisted that all the other yarn in the yarn aisle was yarn a person could wear. This yarn on the other hand was fit for ornamenting a tree. I do believe I quite agree.

I can't decide if these look like snowflakes or stars. Either way I love how each has a color all its own. Reminds me of people. We're all made in the same image, yet possess unique colorful abilities and gifts.  (And yes, that's my deep thinking for the day).

Now I can't wait for that evergreen scent to flood our living room...

How soon is too soon to go tree shopping? Anyone?

A Beautiful Day

After spending much of the day out and about...

 

I'm now ready for a cozy evening indoors... and a weekend of relaxation and creativity.

I am thankful for beautiful days like these.

Sunny Interiors to Make You Smile

Welcome Susi, (FUN's first ever guest writer)...

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Hi, I'm Susi, a writer for Arcadian Lighting, where I blog about light fixtures and decorating ideas. I'm so happy to be visiting Feminine Unique New today as a guest blogger. My post is all about sunny interiors to make you smile. Oddly enough, it's raining as I write this, so these sunny rooms are the perfect way to lift my mood. Hope they make you and your readers smile. Enjoy!

Oversized sunshine yellow pillows are perfect in this living room that is awash in natural light from huge picture windows. Plenty of white and intense accent colors make it a happy, cheerful space.

Warm creams and tons of natural light make this a sunny interior sure to make you smile. Bright cheerful colored accents like aqua and yellow further the sunny feeling of the space.

A room filled with natural light is kept light and airy with loads of white. Natural wood and woven baskets ground the sunny space and add a bit of color and tons of texture.

Pops of red stand out in this sunny living room. I love the earthy yellow and tan colors mixed with vintage furnishings. This is definitely a room to make me smile. What a great combination of mirrors and lamps.

Cheerful yellow art work makes this white bedroom feel sunny. Purple is a great accent color to contrast with the yellow. The chicken painting is just so cute it makes me smile.

When I hear sunny, I think yellow. This yellow and white bedroom is full of great shapes and textures. A home office tucked in the former closet is cheerful enough to make me smile.

I love the light flooding into this stylish white kitchen. The vaulted ceiling and light colored floors add to the sunny feeling of the space. This is a great room to wake you up in the morning or, with those stylish hanging pendant lights, to send you off to bed at night.

This light filled breakfast nook gets sunny accents with yellow throw pillows. The gray cushions don't take away from the light and airy feeling; instead they ground the space and make the yellow pop. I hope these interiors brightened your mood and made you smile, they sure worked for me! Stop by Arcadian Lighting's blog if you're ever in need of inspiration or a table lamp or two.

(Images: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)

"Arcadian Lighting is the best source for lighting fixtures and accessories at discount prices. Arcadian Lighting has been in the lighting industry for over 15 years selling decorative home lighting fixtures and lamps online, and has become one of the top Internet retailers for home lighting products."

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Which one is your favorite? Mine is the third-to-last photo with the adorable desk area where I'm pretty sure I could write all my school papers in record time.

Happy Friday, the weekend's almost here!

Hands and Feet

I wanna be Your hands...

 

I wanna be Your feet...

I'll go where You send me, go where You send me. 

Can you hear the Newsboys singing that in your head? I had these photos ready for posting and was planning to write about the simple pleasure of wearing heels and nail polish when the song started playing over and over in my mind. And so it is that I'll be going about my day being the hands and feet of Jesus in heels and polished nails. 

This morning I'm spending some of my free time exploring new blogs out there. I'd love to visit yours if you'd leave me your link!

Love,

Fabric, Yarn, and Inspiration

How do you feel about vintage fabric? Charmed? Inspired? I instantly loved the print you see below. The picture is of the fabric of a skirt I found while thrifting last week. The design is wearable but I'm feeling tempted to refashion it. When and if I do I will definitely share it with you.

On a different topic entirely, does anyone else LOVE burning scented candles? I get good feelings every time I buy a new one. My latest flavor is called "tropical fruit." Totally out of season but I couldn't resist.

 

It's been a few days since my last post. I've been busy working on the project below. It's my latest crocheted creation slowly becoming a sweater with long sleeves and all. I'm new at sleeves and am still learning how to taper at the elbow, but I think I might just figure it out this time around. 

 

I feel entirely motivated to finish the sweater because I've got this stack of goodies waiting to be made into pretty things.

It's a beautiful time of year...

A What I'm Wearing Wednesday Walk

 

Hat & Leggings: Express.......Scarf & Top: H&M.......Coat & Boots: Target

Gloves: The Bibelot

Definitely a walk to remember...

To get some more outfit ideas, click here and visit The Pleated Poppy!

Grace's Design

A month or so ago I had a friend ask me to design and crochet a headband for her, and I promised it would be the first project I would tackle after finishing my piano recital. Last night I got to work and here's a peek at the result.

 

The width of the band is approximately two and a quarter inches until it reaches the ears where it tapers to just over one inch. The narrower width at the neck allows for your hair to lay better especially when you style it down.  

My friend asked for a rose-colored headband and as you can see this headband is in the very interesting color I like to call cream. What do you think Grace? Is this close to what you had in mind except in rosy hues? 

And what about you? If I were to make more for my shop would they sell do you think? I'm contemplating shades of mustard, emerald, magenta, and gray... 

How do you feel about the width and design? Any suggestions?

Happy middle-of-the-week day dear reader... I'm off to catch some sleep.

Love,

My Recital Last Weekend

The recital was a success. I'm still overflowing from all the kind words people greeted me with afterwards. I only wish I had more photos to share with you all. Here are two I took off a video clip from a friend in the audience. 

The photo below was taken after the reception when I realized we were about to go home and I hadn't taken any pictures yet. Thank you Clayton for staying late and helping us clean up!  

Thank you Sarah for these gorgeous flowers and the sparkly gold eye shadow!

 

And thank you Clarke & Aleah, and Candace for these!

Now it is back to the books for me. I'm squeezing in some last-minute homework for tomorrow's deadlines. I hope you've all had a lovely weekend.

It's Nearly Here...

Tomorrow night can't come quickly enough.

Source

My graduate piano recital performance is scheduled for 7 p.m. and I'm (cross-your-fingers, hold-your-breath)... ready. Of course feeling "ready" doesn't take the nerves away but at least helps me to interpret them as excitement and channel them into positive energy for musical expression. Or so I like to tell myself. Here's a peak at my program:

Program 

Prelude from English Suite No. 2 in a minor, BWV 807 ......................... J. S. Bach

Toccata & Fugue in c minor, BWV 911 ..................................................... J. S. Bach

Variations Serieuses in d minor, Op. 54 .................................... Felix Mendelssohn 

  

Intermission 

Sonata No. 23 in f minor, Op. 57 (Appassionata) .............. Ludwig van Beethoven 

 I. Allegro assai

 II. Andante con moto 

 III. Allegro ma non troppo 

I cannot wait to hear the final resounding f minor chords of the Appassionata Sonata around 8:30 p.m., to absorb the long-awaited relief of what I pray will be a successful performance. 

Source

I wish I had pictures of my dress but alas these lovely photos will stand in quite nicely until after the recital. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Love & God bless,