$150 gilded mint giveaway!

Happy Tuesday! I am thrilled to be here with an amazing GIVEAWAY today... Jennifer Latimer, of Gilded Mint, is offering a $150 gift card to one of my readers - just in time for the holidays. Her shop is full of beautiful, original art - I am in love with so many of her pieces. Jennifer was recently named an "Emerging Artist" by One Kings Lane (one of my faves), and after seeing her work, you'll know why.

all images via jennifer latimer

Visit her Etsy shop HERE

Visit her website HERE

TO ENTER:

- follow Decorgreat via Google Friend Connect (mandatory)

- visit Jennifer's shop & website and leave a comment with your favorite piece (mandatory)

FOR ADDITIONAL ENTRIES:

- tweet about this giveaway and link to your tweet in an additional comment

- facebook about this giveaway and link in an additional comment

- pin one of Jennifer's pieces from this post on your pinterest page and link to your pin in an additional comment 

I will be closing this giveaway on Friday at 3pm Pacific Time - GOOD LUCK! 

My Weekend

Welcome back! I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend, I know I did. The long weekend was so great - we had so much fun, and got a lot of things done around our home. We spent Thanksgiving day with our friends and their family. It was so nice to be surrounded with friendly faces and great food since our families are across the country, and we won't be seeing them until Christmas. 

Taking a stroll

Beyond thankful 

Thanksgiving with my girl

Thanksgiving pies - how great is her dining room? Love the Kelly Wearstler wallpaper

I've been eyeing these Jonathan Adler salt&peppers for some time now, and had to buy them for our host and hostess on Thanksgiving. Aren't they cute?  

Spent some time at the beach on Saturday...Sophia slept through the whole event. Even though I miss a good blizzard from time to time, I am so thankful to be able to hit the beach in November. We finally got a carrier, and ended up going with the Ergo - an early Christmas present. So far, so good - it's comfortable to wear, and S seems to enjoy 'riding' in it. 

My new rug came, and I love it! After we moved all of the furniture, placed the rug, and replaced the furniture, we ended up hauling it upstairs to our bedroom - it looks much better in there. Now I need to get started on completing our bedroom. 

I got bored with my acrylic tray, so I decided to paint the bottom of it, and I'm loving the way it turned out. 

a bit more exciting

We kicked off the season with some Christmas decorating and holiday tunes. We decided this is the last year with our faux tree - next year we're going for the 'real deal.' I always had a real tree growing up, and I want Sophia to have that experience as well - it's something I always loved. 

Be sure to check back tomorrow for an amazing GIVEAWAY! 

thankful & happy

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours. I have so many wonderful things to be thankful for this year, and can't wait to celebrate my pure bliss all day long! Today, and every day, I'm thankful for GOD, family (especially my sweet babe this year), friends, home, this blog, and passion for life.

"give thanks to the LORD for he is good; his love endures forever"

all images via 

Suzani Love

I've been falling for Suzani for quite some time now, and my admiration is growing due to gorgeous images like the ones below. I'm convinced I need a Suzani (authentic or print) somewhere in my home...bedroom? dining room? living room? I'm sure I could find a great home for one ;). Ebay is a great source for beautiful, authentic Suzanis on the cheap! 

all images via

(the most delish) crockpot enchiladas

I love Mexican food. Really, I could eat it every day if given the option. My favorite recipe? Chicken enchiladas. I have been using the same recipe for the past 6 years, and I love it - but it was so time consuming with cooking the chicken, shredding the chicken, putting it all in pan to saute together, etc...so I decided to utilize my favorite kitchen appliance - the crockpot. This recipe went from taking 1 hr 15 minutes to a total (working) time of 20 minutes! These enchiladas are a major crowd pleaser, and make great leftovers!

I like to top mine with avocado instead of sour cream

Ready to pop into the oven

Ingredients:
- chicken breasts (I use 2 large for hubby & I)
- salt & pepper
- cumin
- garlic powder
- mexican spice blend
- 1 red onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 can corn
- 1 can green chiles, seeded and chopped
- 1 can black beans
- 1 can stewed tomatoes
- 1 can (6oz) tomato paste
- corn tortillas
- enchilada sauce
- cheese, avocado, sour cream (for toppings)

Directions:
- put chicken & stewed tomatoes in crockpot, cook on low for 7 hours
- add salt & pepper, cumin, garlic powder, corn, green chiles, beans, and tomato paste to crockpot, stir and continue cooking for 30 minutes - 1 hour
- preheat oven to 350 degrees
- saute onion & garlic in olive oil, add to crockpot and mix all ingredients together
- shred chicken in crockpot (should be very easy at this point)
- microwave tortillas for 15 seconds or so until soft
- coat bottom of a baking dish with enchilada sauce
- using a shallow bowl, dip each tortilla in enchilada sauce, covering both sides
- spoon 1/4 cup of enchilada mixture into tortillas, fold over, and place into baking dish
- continue until baking dish is full, then top with remaining enchilada sauce and and cheese
- bake for 15 minutes at 350

DIY Chalkboard Tutorial

I've been wanting a chalkboard somewhere in my home for a while now, but haven't gotten around to buying one yet. I really like the look of the Restoration Hardware chalkboards, but didn't want to fork over that much $ for a chalkboard. So I decided - DIY it was.

We headed to Lowe's over the weekend to purchase our supplies:
- plywood (I bought a 2x4 pre-cut piece for $13)
- chalkboard paint in the can (not spray)
- stain
- steel wool (sandpaper will work as well)
- paint roller
- painters tape

The process was simple, but time consuming. I spent a total of two days working on my chalkboard, but it could be done in one day if desired. I am very happy with the result, and am debating on whether or not we will purchase a frame for it - I kind of like the industrial look it has with the 'raw' edge.

Picking up our supplies - my assistant fell asleep on the job.

Step One: Use painters tape to make a border (this is if you are staining a border). I simply lined up the edge of the tape with the edge of my wood.  

Step Two: Apply chalkboard paint using a roller. Apply a generous (but NOT thick) layer of paint, let it dry completely, then sand or steel wool the first coat. Paint second coat, let dry, sand. Paint third coat...etc. I ended up with four coats of paint because my wood grain was still showing through. (It would probably work best to sand your board BEFORE you start, but I didn't). 

Step Three: After the final coat is completely dry, carefully pull tape off exposing your border.

Step Four: Stain time! Carefully stain the border of your chalkboard - make sure to follow the directions according to the stain you choose. 

Step Five: Chalk it up - cover the entire chalkboard with chalk. This step is VERY important. 

Step Six: ENJOY! Decorate and hang/lean your chalkboard in its new home. Super simple tutorial - give it a shot! 

Friday Four

Happy Friday ladies and gents  (let's get real)! I am so ready for the weekend - how about you? I've been busy crafting the week away...my hands hurt. I am making a few Christmas treats for my niece's and nephew(s) - my sister-in-law is due in December and they are not finding out the gender (talk about discipline)! 2012 seems to be the year of the babies - my parents have gone from having 2 grandkids to 5...there must be something in the water. ;) Anyway, have you ever heard of Jess Brown dolls? I am in love, and decided to try a DIY version since the 'real deal' doll is $200+ and that's a bit over our spending limit for each babe - ha! They are turning out great (I think), and it's a lot of fun to give homemade gifts, don't you think? 

here's my inspo - I'll show you mine when I finish!

Onto my 'Friday four' - four things I'm loving this week. I had a lot of fun with this last week, so I have decided to do it again! 

1. Eucalyptus Spearmint Body Scrub 

I am typically a Bath & Body Works hater, but when my husband brought this home for me, I thought I'd give it a try. Holy goodness, I can't tell you how amazing this scrub is. The smell, the crystals, and the way it leaves my skin is just delish! I get out of the shower feeling like I just put lotion on - it leaves my skin so hydrated, essential for winter. Seriously, you have to try it for yourself - you won't be disappointed! 

2. DeLonghi Nespresso Lattissima Plus ...AKA coffee maker

my latte this morning 

This machine is my new BFF - I honestly get excited at night that it's almost morning (I couldn't be more serious). I have wanted an espresso machine for a loooong time, but the machine of my dreams is $8,000. I mean...really, who pays that much for a coffee maker? Not me...at least, not now. Having a latte in my own kitchen every morning is amazing, AND it tastes better than Starbucks. The pods seem a bit expensive, but it comes out to fifty cents for a grande latte - compared to $4 at Starbucks, not bad! The milk container is removable, so you can just pop it back in the fridge - so convenient! Even better...IT'S ON SALE at Sur la Table right now - great gift for the holidays! Get it here. 

3. AngelCare Baby Monitor 

I originally thought I wanted a video monitor, and I still might (in the future). But for right now, this monitor is perfect. I was so paranoid about Sophia suffocating/stopping breathing (like every new mom), but this monitor puts my mind at ease. The sensor pad is placed under their mattress, and if the baby stops breathing for 20 seconds, an alarm goes off. You can also look at the monitor and see a little pendulum swinging, which means the baby is breathing. I would highly recommend this monitor to all new parents - it's nice to not have to run into your babes room every 10 minutes and put your hand in front of their face to feel their breath - lol. 

4. H&M Wool Hat

I bought this hat in black, and have been wearing it all too often! I love a great winter hat, and this one does not disappoint! Only $17.99, and I've gotten so many compliments on it. I have a few other wool hats that are much pricier, and honestly I wear this one just as much! 

Have a fab weekend, friends!