Amazing Bookshelves

Our house is tiny and it's got zero storage areas. On the other hand, I've got tons of books. It's tough. Most of my belongings are still at my parent's place.

So, most days I'm daydreaming about installing bookshelves around our place. I would love to have them everywhere: the living room, the tv room, our master bedroom. I find them a lovely way to accesorize and add interest to any space.

So today's Eye Candy is on bookshelves. Look at these unusual ones!

What a beautiful way to showcase books in the living room!

Notice the cute little wooden branch? Isn't it a beautiful bookshelf?

Sooooo practical! Love it!

Now that's cool!

Again with the tree theme. I'm in love with trees and them decorating spaces!!!

A subtle change in the branch style.

These are flexi tubes... I love the simple aesthetics on this one.

Now that's what I'm talking about! Huge storage space!

Which one's your favorite?

All images via toxel

Alex Meitlis Design

Hey there! Welcome to day 2 of Eye Candy Week.

Today's eye candy is DE.LI.CIOUS!!!! The following images are all from the M. Residence Neve Zedek, by Alex Meitlis Architecture and Design.

As always, enjoy!

Aren't they delightful? What do you think? Do tell me!

Eye Candy Week!

Being out for the holidays, enjoying a sunny, warm winter at the beach is truly inspirational. Views, sounds, smells, flavors, you name it!

So I wanted to share all the inspiration I'm getting out here to you guys and gals! After all, who doesn't love great pics to get ideas from?

Ready?

Well, here's today's eye candy. These amazing outdoor design is all by Honeymoon.

Enjoy!

International Gift Exchange

A while ago, back in November, I read about an amazing idea: an International Gift Exchange at Craftaholics Anonymous. I couldn't believe it. Wouldn't it be fun to receive a gift in the mail? A handmade gift? Things couldn't get any better.

In spite of the crazyness that December brought to my life (due to an awful amount of work at the office and Christmas celebrations), the effort was worth it. I sent my gift all the way to Switzerland on time.

Well, a few days ago, I received my gifts (yay!). I couldn't blog about it at the time, but I'm ready to share with you my wonderful surprise. Look what the mail got me!!!!

A beautiful set of holiday handprinted cards and envelopes. Lovely ribbon, huh?

Look at these cuties!

And there's more, jewelry! Gorgeous necklace and earrings in my favorite color!

Let me remind you, everything is handmade.

The talented young lady behind this lovely Christmas gift is Elizabeth Bodin (thank you, girl!).

You can check her blog love me for me here for more of her amazing creations.

So tell me, did you participate in any gift exchange? Were you nice enough to get presents for Christmas? Do share!

P.S. By the way, I'm linking this to Craftaholics Anonymous International Gift Exchange Linky Party, in case you're curious enough to check out more gifts.

Merry Christmas Everybody!!!!

Courtesy of Southern Living

From our home to yours, may you have the most wonderful Christmas Eve ever!!

Remember:

enjoy

laugh

hug

hold hands

love

most of all, remember

Jesus is the gift.

Merry Christmas!!!!!!

Ideas for Your Christmas Table

With one day left for Christmas Eve, I thought I'd share with you some last minute ideas for setting your Christmas table and place cards. I hope you find some useful ideas for your own Christmas dinner.

courtesy of Southern Living

Courtesy of Martha Stewart

Courtesy of Southern Living

Courtesy of House to Home

This las picture isn't a table image, but I loved this cute and simple idea for a last minute decoration. So easy to do this in your own home!

Courtesy of Southern Living

Last but not least, remember what Christmas is really about. You don't need a magazine home, nor a perfect Christmas dinner. The perfect Christmas is about enjoying your time with your loved ones.

Happy holidays from Casa Haus!!!!

Easiest Red Wine Punch Ever

Everyone I know is short on time lately, so I thought I'd share with you a wonderful recipe a dear friend of mine gave me. This will definitely help you out if you're hosting a dinner or if you're getting together with friends.

Believe me. Try this one for yourself and your guests will love it (you will too after you see for yourself how easy this is). This is an excellent opportunity for you to shine with an amazing drink and just little effort.

You'll need:

1 liter red wine

2 liter bottle of regular 7 up

Canned fruit cocktail

Ice

How to:

Put 2 cups of fruit cocktail in a jug.

Pour 4 cups of wine.

Leave for 15 minutes.

Pour 2 liters of 7 up.

Add ice.

That's it!

Enjoy!

Happy holidays!

P.S. I'm linking this to DIY Day at Kimba's A Soft Place to Land
and Show and Tell at Blue Cricket Design

Christmas House Tour

It's been a busy December, but I finally managed to finish our Chirstmas decor this year. Hurray! It's just a little touches here and there, but I love to see our holiday makeover. It makes me happy.

Welcome to our merry Christmas Home!

On the door, one of the pine cone wreaths I made a few weeks ago.

I loved the way this very wreath looked in the powder room, so I used another one to embelish the space for our guests and us. I also placed some pinecones for a Christmas accent.

In the kitchen, I've added a few sparkles of red and white here and there.

Remeber my ornament display in the basket on top of the microwave?

Now here comes my favorite part of all: our living room.

Our tree is wearing the last minute skirt I made for it.

I love the way my centerpiece turned out.

Especially being soooo easy! I just placed the elements and arranged them to look pretty.

(I changed the candles for these ones I found on sale -2 dollars each! But my previous centerpiece looked also very cute).

Of course I'm also very proud of the way our tree turned out too. I used some ornaments I had bought last Christmas.

But I also used the snowflake ornaments I made earlier this month.

And of course, pinecones!

As a topper, I made a larger snowflake ornament (exact same steps). This time I chose red to give it more contrast.

Eventhough I'm not hosting any dinners this year, I love the way our little Casa Haus looks these holidays. Makes me happy!

Happy Holidays!!!!!

I'm linking up with Rhoda's Home for the Holidays, the Nester's Christmas Tour of Homes, Sarah's Christmas Tree Party, Donna's Christmas Trees Unite Party and Cheri's It's So Very Christmasy.

Craftaholics Anonymous Feature

Yay! I'm so happy I could dance! My Simple and Sweet Girl Headbands Tutorial has just been featured at Craftaholics Anonymous! Linda is such an amazing crafter and DIYer, with hundreds of projects for you to choose from. Thanks for the intervention, Linda!

If you'd like to check the tutorial go here. These headbands are an excellent gift idea for your daughters, nieces, students, grandaughters... girl friends or even yourself!

Oh, and if you come from Craftaholics Anonymous and are new here: Welcome!

I'm so happy to have you over. Please feel free to look around and leave me comments. I love them!

Last Minute Christmas Decor

Hi there! Are you late for your holiday decorations? Do you think you're missing some sparkles of color at home? Then keep reading!

This Christmas came to me too soon. Don't get me wrong; I LOVE Christmas time of year. It's just that, as a working mom and a somewhat newly wed, time has passed me by so fast I haven't had the time to sit still and do everything I wanted. But then again, who has? The holiday season is one of the busiest of all.

Today I decided to finish my home decorations, and I wasn't planning on spending neither too much time nor money. Wanna take a look?

Easy tree skirt

If you haven't got a tree skirt, there's no need to worry. A simple and effective way to make one is to use any piece of matching fabric you have at home. I used a cheap but lively red piece of cloth I had (I think I bought a yard for 1 dolar!).

This is how our tree looks with its brand new skirt:

Decorating with Glass Ornaments

If you have some spare ornaments around your home, there are plenty of ways to use them besides the tree. Here's what I made:

Lovely basket for my kitchen.

{Don't worry, you don't need to fill it all. Use newspaper to fill the bottom ;) }

Festive centerpiece for my coffe table.

Fill a cookie jar, and you get a beautiful ornament display.

Now, my living room is looking prettier!

So there you have it, a couple of quick and easy ideas for you to try at home.

I'm posting about my tree later on, so stay tuned! ;)

P.S. I'm linking this to Blue Eyed Blessings.
Check for more ideas there!

Hanging Candle Lanterns

Today we took our 8-year-old girl to the movies. Has any of you seen Disney's The Princess and the Frog?

What a source of inspiration! The soundtrack is amazing! (I'm a jazz lover, and it's set in New Orleans, so you figure). However, above all, I found lovely inspiration for light decor.

There are plenty of images to choose from. Take this one, for instance. Notice the beautiful paper lanterns hanging from trees?

There's a gorgeous scene where the vodoo priestess sings to both frogs. I couldn't stop looking at the jars hanging from the branches with candles inside of them.

I've been trying to find that scene so I can show you what I mean, but I can't fin it. :(

However, all the images triggered my desire to use my collection of glass jars to make candles for my patio or living room. Apparently, many already use hanging jar lanterns at weddings.

Here are some of the things I found while searching for more inspiration on this project I plan on doing for the next time I have friends over for dinner.

courtesy of bridal daze

courtesy of etsywtf

courtesy of ehow

courtesy of weddingbee

courtesy of craftynest

courtesy of michellekaufmann

And as always... enjoy!