So long, 2011! Welcome, 2012!

How are you spending the last few days of 2011? Wherever you are, and whatever you're doing to celebrate, we wish you lots of fun and joy! Here are a two last minute ways to celebrate...

As a Family

Gather together to create a family journal or photo album. Designate a page in the journal or album for each month. Ask each family member to reminisce and write down their favorite memories from the year. Include fun photos, clippings from newspapers or magazine, ticket stubs from events, or other trinkets. The album will be a great keepsake to hold on to and look through at the end of next year!

With Friends

Ask your closest friends to join together for a New Year's Eve party. For fun, put each person's name in a hat, and have each friend draw a name. Without revealing the name you chose, write a prediction (it can be serious or funny) for that friend in the coming year. Once everyone is done, throw all the predictions back into the hat. Passing the hat around, have each person read one prediction out loud until they are all read. It's sure to be fun, and makes a great party game!


Image via Martha Stewart

New Year's Day Brunch for the Ladies

After a night full of countdowns and confetti, gather your closest girlfriends to ring in the New Year with a delightful brunch. Use tones of gold and pink for your decor, and be sure to add just the right amount of sparkle and shine.

Give each guest a cute party cracker, full of confetti and candies to take home -- 100 Layer Cake

Serve Pear and Cranberry Bellinis in addition to mimosas and classic champagne -- Martha Stewart

Tomato and Ricotta Pie and scones are two delicious dishes to serve -- Good Housekeeping, Martha Stewart

Dress in a sparkly skirt, sequin sash or a glittering headband to look festive -- J.Crew, Ban.do

Place gold confetti, pink candles and small white floral arrangements on the table -- Green Wedding Shoes

Choose a champagne themed invitation, like this style from Karen Adams -- FineStationery.com

Add creative labels to champagne bottles with words like, "Pop" and "Fizz" -- Green Wedding Shoes

Foreign Adoption Celebration

My dear friend Jen was just notified that her adoption of a little girl from South Africa is finally proceeding. She leaves in a week to go and pick up her little one, which left us a very short amount of time to throw together a small shower to celebrate the arrival of her daughter. With a foreign adoption, it's always nice to highlight and celebrate the heritage of the child at the shower, thus we settled on a subtle pink, brown and khaki safari theme. I just adore the artwork from PeaceLoveEtsy with the quote about adoption, and the shop owner even helped us create a matching monogram print containing Jen's daughter's new initials. Here is an inspiration board for our gathering:

Adoption Quotation Print from Etsy Seller PeaceLoveEtsy

Chambray Animal Group from Restoration Hardware

Cupcake Toppers from Etsy Seller MoreThanACupcake

Invitation by William Arthur available at FineStationery.com

Personalized rolling luggage and luggage tags are great gift ideas for the traveling child. -- Pottery Barn Kids and Stacy Claire Boyd available at FineStationery.com

2012 Pantone Color of the Year: Tangerine Tango

Press Release, Interior, Purse, Stationery

What to do with your Holiday Cards

A great way to reuse all of the holiday greeting cards that you've received is to make ornaments from them. This is a fun craft that results in a great keepsake! Click through to read the instructions, and happy crafting!

Christmas Greetings

Hollyberry Invitation by Inviting Company, available at FineStationery.com

Our Picks for Christmas Cookies

To kick off the big holiday weekend, Jess and I wanted to share a sweet treat (or two, rather!) with you. Here are our favorite picks for Christmas cookies this year, along with the reason and the recipe. Enjoy!

"My grandmother clipped this cookie recipe from a newspaper more than 30 years ago, and since then it has remained a family favorite. These macaroons may look a bit plain-Jane, but the chewy texture and delightful almond flavor can be quite addicting!" --Jess

This year, my favorite holiday flavor is peppermint. I usually lean toward cinnamon or gingerbread, but the crisp minty flavor works so well in many treats. For this cookie,  I used a simple sugar cookie recipe and added crushed peppermint candies (I've got a whole bag of them in my cupboard!)

Winter White Wedding

A winter wedding can be very beautiful -- snow softly falling, cozy venues, shimmering details. Here are a few details that would come together to make a lovely winter white wedding:

Tulle puffs add a whimsical touch, while white linens and floral arrangements look fresh and pretty -- Martha Stewart

Bridesmaids will look lovely in pale grey dresses with white pashminas and a hint of icy sparkle -- J.Crew

Wrap favors in white fabric and top with a tulle bow -- Martha Stewart

An all white bouquet is a stunning choice -- Martha Stewart

Serve dainty white desserts like mousse and white chocolate -- Martha Stewart

Buddy the Elf Themed Party

One of my favorite Christmas movies is Elf. Who doesn't love all that holiday cheer? I was very excited to see the fun Elf themed party that was posted on Kara's Party Ideas, complete with Buddy the Elf's favorite treats! Check out some of the photos from this party, and be sure to click over to the original post to see the rest.

Photos via Kara's Party Ideas

Happy Hanukkah

Menorah Invitation by Pipo Press

Paper Dreidel, Glitter Ball Cookies, Potato Latkes  

Fox Hunt Nursery

Hello readers! I am delighted to be rejoining the Finestationery.com family as a contributing writer for The Finer Things. A lot has happened in the time I've spent away from blogging. My husband and I welcomed a precious baby girl into the world, we sold our first home and are currently in the process of building our dream house. We were also happily surprised to find that we're expecting our third child, a boy, in spring of 2012! Whew-- we know how to stay busy, don't we? Still, I have really missed the community and all the readers here at The Finer Things and I am excited to get to know all of our new followers as we continue to admire stationery, style and the finer things in life together.

With baby number three on the way, I have been busy brainstorming new nursery ideas. The board below depicts one theme I’ve considered. Inspired by an old-English fox hunt, this space is perfect for even the tiniest gent. With warm and worn leather accents, colorful tartan and an occasional touch of whimsy, it is sure to be a cozy and stylish place for an infant, but will also grow with my little one.




Send an elegant birth announcement for your little lad, like the one pictured from Prentiss Douthit (available at FineStationery.com)

A carved mount from Legends Rocking Horses serves as a beautiful decoration now, and a perfect play item later.

Use a whimsical chandelier from Petite Tresor to add fun to an otherwise sophisticated space.

Decorate the space with a cozy wool rug and use a worn-leather chair instead of a traditional rocker for seating.

Store diapers, wipes and other baby necessities in decorative hat boxes like these from Eastern Influence.

Finally, provide your little one with plenty of red and tartan accessories, like this lovely bib and changing pad set from Ralph Lauren.

Exciting News for The Finer Things!

Some of our long time readers will remember Jess, who wrote this blog before handing The Finer Things torch over to me in April of 2010. Jess took some time to welcome her second beautiful baby into the world, and has been a very busy mama since then! Her posts were inspiring and fun, and all of us here at FineStationery.com have missed her lovely voice on the blog. That brings me to some very exciting news...

Today, it is my great pleasure to welcome Jess back to The Finer Things blog! Starting today, you'll start to see a few posts written by Jess, and perhaps some great collaborations between Jess and myself. I'm really excited about all the great ideas and themes that Jess has in store for you!

Jess and I have some great things planned for The Finer Things, and we hope you'll come along for the ride! Be sure to check back later today for a cute nursery theme that Jess will be sharing!

2011 Gift Guide Series: Coworkers

We're wrapping up (no pun intended!) our 2011 Gift Guide Series today with simple gifts for your favorite coworkers. You probably only have a few days left in the office before the holiday weekend is upon us, and it's always nice to celebrate the coworkers that you see every day. Here are a few ideas to say "thanks" and "Happy Holidays!":

1. Taking notes during meetings is more fun with a cute, personalized notepad -- Boatman Geller, available at FineStationery.com

2. Bake a sweet treat at home, and package it in a festive way -- Recipe & image via Martha Stewart

3. These ornaments can be filled with candies or a note of thanks -- Williams Sonoma

4. The coworker who has a sweet tooth will love this glass candy dish that resembles a Ziploc bag! -- Uncommon Goods

5. Coffee is a staple in any office, and a pretty mug should be a staple, too! -- Crate&Barrel

In case you missed our other gift guides...

For Your Neighbor

For Her

For Him

For Teens & Tweens

For Kids

Still searching?

Card above by Prentiss Douthit

Shop All Holiday Greeting Cards available by Dec. 25th

Shop All Photo Cards available by Dec. 25th

New Year's Eve Ideas

Card above by Stacy Claire Boyd, available at FineStationery.com

Hosting a New Year's Eve bash? Here are a few festive ideas to get the party started:

Use brightly colored craft paper and some scrapbooking numbers to create these fun "clocks". Hang them in your party space! (Ideas and image via Fiskars)

Be sure to have confetti on hand for tossing at midnight. Sew two pieces of vellum paper together, leaving an open space at the top to add confetti. (Ideas and image via Fiskars)

Using a small star-shaped hole punch, jazz up the corners of cocktail napkins. You can also create fun drink markers that look like clocks. (Ideas and image via Fiskars)

Serve champagne to toast with, but create a signature cocktail for added fun. A Pear and Cranberry Bellini is a great winter drink, as well as a Ginger Sparkler!

Re-Purposing Holiday Decor for your New Year's Party

Event planner Shawn Rabideau (who happens to be one of Celebrations.com's Party Planning Experts) appeared on Fox News Live last week to discuss re-purposing your holiday decorations for New Year's Eve parties. In case you missed the segment,  you can check it out {here}. We loved Shawn's great tips! Below, he is featuring one of our fun New Year's Eve invitations -- the Countdown Invitation by Meri Meri!

Shawn's tips:

- Turn a Christmas wreath into a winter wreath or centerpiece by removing the red decorations and ribbons and leaving any silver or snowy white accents.

- Use wine glasses and other glassware to hold candles. Add leftover sugars from Christmas cookies for an accent.

- Use leftover decorating sugars from holiday sugar cookies to rim the glasses for New Year's Eve cocktails.

- Reduce stress by creating a to-do list for your party prep.

Shawn also put together two amazing tables for a bit of holiday party inspiration. You can check them out {here}.

Thanks, Shawn!

Cookie Menorah for Hanukkah

If you're looking for a fun Hanukkah project or centerpiece, check out this cookie menorah by Amy Atlas. Her creativity never ceases to amaze us! Get the kids involved by letting them decorate simple sugar cookies that are cut in the shape of candles. Bake a lollipop stick into the cookie to place each one into the menorah. This is a Hanukkah decoration that is truly sweet:

2011 Gift Guide Series: Teens (and Tweens)

Teens and tweens are perhaps that hardest to shop for during the holiday season. Their ever-changing tastes make it difficult to choose the perfect gift. Here are a few fun ideas to supplement the standard gift cards they typically add to their wishlist:

1. Word pillows will be a great accent in their room -- PB Teen

2. & 3. Cool iPhone cases to please him and her -- J.Crew

4. Warm mittens make great stocking stuffers for both boys and girls -- Gap

5. She'll love a fun nail art kit -- Fredflare.com

6. He'll get a kick out of these drumstick pencils -- Fredflare.com

7. This book of 99 DIY duct tape projects will keep them busy -- Uncommon Goods

8. A Sneaker Painting Kit is a great choice for artsy guys and girls -- Uncommon Goods

Decorating Like a Pro

Have you ever wondered how the cookies in bake shops are so beautifully decorated? Around this time of the year, I always admire the pretty icing work on cookies and cakes in the bakery. FoodNetwork.com posted a tutorial on decorating cookies that will leave you with a few pro tips. Happy baking!

What kinds of cookies are you baking this holiday season?

Creative Holiday Gift Wrapping

Here are just a few of our favorite gift wrapping ideas, just in time for the holiday season. This year, make a statement and get creative when wrapping -- whether you use fabric, yarn, stamps or jingle bells!

Clockwise, starting at top left: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Introducing...

Shop All 6 FineExclusives Styles Now

2011 Gift Guide Series: Kids

Our 2011 Gift Guide Series continues today with toys for the little ones. Kids love gifts that are colorful, interactive, and unique, making them the most fun to shop for! Here are a few of our ideas to get you started:

1. After the holiday break, send them back to school in style with a fun backpack!

2. This toy-tote-and-play-mat-in-one (say that 3 times fast!) is great for kids that are always on the go!

3. What could be more fun for little feet than animal printed Toms?

4. Perhaps Santa will leave a new pair of special holiday pajamas for your little one under the tree.

5. Cushy floor pillows are perfect for playrooms or to place in front of the TV when its movie time!

6. Dinnertime is much more fun with a personalized plate from Boatman Geller (available at FineStationery.com).