PAINTING KITCHEN COUNTERTOPS!

One of the easiest ways that we have made over our new house is with paint. As I've mentioned before, when we bought the house, it was 50 shades of beige. Between the floors, walls, and counters, the colors just had to go. But the problem with changing a kitchen is obviously, it's expensive. While we would love to eventually get new countertops and make a few other changes in the kitchen, we are not in a place where that is our priority right now.

Sooo I did a little searching, and I found...counter top paint! Seems a little crazy right? Well, it actually works really well! I got the Rustoleum Counter Top Coating paint at Home Depot (not to be confused with their product called "countertop transformations" which is much more complicated and expensive) and I got it in the color "pewter" which is dark gray.

It includes detailed instructions, but basically you just clean the counters really well, tape them off, and roll on the paint with a brush (tip: use a brush that is meant for super smooth surfaces). If you're wondering, as I was, how it holds up with being in such a high traffic area, it works really well! The paint is not like regular paint. It is SUPER sticky (takes forever to get off of your hands if you get some on you) and the thickness of it means that it doesn't chip like regular paint would. Our counters have a couple of spots that look a little rough (caused by not using the right kind of brush) but overall, it looks really smooth and nice and is a great, budget friendly alternative to new countertops. This will hold us over until we can afford to make that investment. Oh, and I also painted the walls in "Revere Pewter"(half strength) by Benjamin Moore. You can see more pictures of that color here!

What do you think? Would you paint your countertops?? :)

FASHION FRIDAY: C'EST LA VIE

Happy Fashion Friday! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas!

This week's outfit is perfect for this time of the year, with the crazy weather that we've been having, because...layers! I also love it because it's cozy and comfy and most importantly, it was inexpensive.

I'm wearing this super cute sweater over a Christmas-colored plaid shirt (both from Forever21!). I'm wearing Gap jeans (all my jeans are from there) and "Ruby" flats from Shoemint. I did my hair in a top knot, and I'm wearing Revlon red lipstick.

Sorry for the blurry picture I took in the car, but I also wore this cute scalloped bag from Asos (no longer available but here are some similar styles), and my nails are painted with Shirelle by MAC which I've had for years now and is my favorite red nail polish (lasts several days!).

Have a great weekend! xo!

CHRISTMAS PUPPY CHOW RECIPE

Merry Christmas!! I hope you're having a wonderful morning with your family.

This year, I made a special Christmas treat that turned out super yummy (don't let the name fool you!) so I thought I would share the recipe with you!

Holly's Christmas Puppy Chow

(makes 18 servings)

Ingredients:

9 cups Corn Chex cereal

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/4 cup butter

1 tsp pure vanilla

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 bag Christmas M & M's

gallon sized Ziplock bags

Directions:

Pour the cereal into a large bowl. Set aside. In a microwave safe bowl, melt the chocolate chips, peanut butter, and butter, stirring after every 30 seconds until smooth. Stir in vanilla. Pour over the cereal and gently stir until all the cereal pieces have been coated.

Transfer the cereal mix into a large food storage plastic bag (I used a 1 gallon sized bag). Carefully pour the powdered sugar into the bag. Seal the bag. Shake until all of the pieces are covered. Then add M & M's to your liking (I'm not sure exactly how much I added, just add until you see pretty red and green M & M's throughout the bag). 

Optional: Transfer to a new bag so that it looks nicer (the bag you used to mix everything up gets pretty messy looking). You can also add festive tags to the bag and give it as a gift!

I hope you have a very Merry Christmas! xo!

NEW ARRIVALS: SUGAR PAPER, EMILY LEY, KATE SPADE

Hey guys! It's almost time for Christmas - who's excited?? I finally got all of our gifts wrapped yesterday which feels so good (I love seeing them all piled up beneath the tree). I'm going to make a special treat tonight to bring home to the family (I'll post pictures and the recipe on Wednesday...so much to do! If you're feeling exhausted from the holiday stress, why not treat yourself to something pretty in the shop? :) You can shop all of the new arrivals here.

FASHION FRIDAY - HEART ON MY SLEEVE

Happy Friday! So I know this year isn't over yet, but one of my goals for the new year is to have more original posts (as in, posts with my own photos) so I thought I would see that you guys think about having "Fashion Fridays" where I show you what I wore that day. It's kind of like an outfit of the day post but it's an outfit of the week because I tend to dress nicely on Fridays. You wouldn't want to see my outfits of the day (unless you are inspired by messy hair / no makeup / yoga pants / tank tops posts - ha!). I'm not a "fashion blogger" by any means, but I thought this would be something fun for you guys and for me! Let me know what you think.

Today, I'm wearing this cute sweater from Asos with a heart elbow patch (this is now my like millionth navy and white striped shirt...I have a problem) with GAP jeans (similar) and riding boots from Shoemint last year. I'm really excited because the weather here is amazing and I probably won't even need a coat! I could get used to this.

I'm also wearing a coral necklace from a boutique in Franklin, TN (similar) and matching coral lipstick ("Lover's Coral" by Revlon) which I've been wearing almost every day. 

I hope you have an awesome weekend! xo!

THE DREAMER COLLECTION

Today I'm excited to introduce a new collection of prints in the shop, The Dreamer Collection! This is a set of 4 prints in a hot pink, gold, and black color palette and all different sizes, so that they can be easily arranged into a gallery wall. It includes two of my usual style typography prints, as well as two pattern prints to add to your collection. One is a hand painted rose pattern, and the other is a thin herringbone pattern that really shines in person! 

I was inspired to create these prints because the new year is coming, and I love that so much can change over the course of one year. It's hard for me to believe that just one year ago, Charm & Gumption hadn't even opened yet...anything could happen!

The prints are each available separately, or you can purchase the entire suite and save 25%. Shop them here! xo!

GUEST ROOMS ARE PAINTED!

Today, I am happy to report that both guest rooms in the new house are painted (hooray!). It's safe to say at this point, I am completely and utterly sick of painting walls...but I still have a little bit more to do. ugh. Anyway, let's focus on the positive! The guest rooms are done!

As I mentioned before, the entire house was painted in colors that I wasn't really crazy about (I like to keep things on the neutral side), but these guest rooms were the worst in my opinion. In fairness, they were kids' rooms and I remember a time when I wanted a lime green room too but that time is not now. :) The before pictures you see here are from our original house listing.

Guest Room 1:

As you can see, this room was done in fairly bright shades of blue. I went with my go-to paint color, Revere Pewter (half strength), that I've done the main areas of the house in for the top and Behr's White Truffle for the bottom. I wasn't sure exactly what colors we would be using in here since guest rooms tend to get hand-me-downs and whatever you can find, so I thought keeping it really neutral would be the best way to go.

Guest Room 2

This room...oh my. It took your breath away. We had to keep the door of this room shut until I painted it because you could see it from our bedroom and it was just blinding. I painted it in a minty blue color that is impossible to photograph with accuracy but the after photo is the closest that I could get. It's actually still a bit bright in real life (compared to the rest of our house), but it is a lot easier on the eyes than the green. With the chalkboard paint on one wall combined with this color, it took seeevvveral coats to get this room done (did I mention I'm tired of painting?). 

Let me know what you guys think in the comments below, and have a great week! xo!

GIFTS FOR HIM, $50 AND UNDER

Guys are so hard to buy for, so I tried to make it a little easier for you by rounding up some great finds under $50 for the men in your life. If you need some more ideas, check out last year's gift guides for the gentleman and the techie. Happy Shopping!

GIFTS FOR HER, $50 AND UNDER

Last year, I did several different gift guides with the help of my friends, but this year I thought I would keep it simple and just round up some of my favorite finds at 50 bucks and under. Today's is for the girls on your list and tomorrow's will be for the guys. Check out my picks below and happy shopping!

and some best sellers from my shop...

gold foil hustle print

gold foil be brave print

get it girl pencils

rosa notebooks

leather iPad mini clutch

ceramic desk accessories

NEW OFFICE ORGANIZATION

I can't even tell you guys how much my life has improved since getting my own office in the new house! Just having a place to keep everything for the shop out and organized makes my day so much more efficient (I used to work in a corner of the living room in our old apartment).

Yesterday, the mister and I put together this new Ikea Expedit Workstation (which consists of this shelf and this table). It is perfect for containing all of my shipping supplies and prints, and the attached table is the perfect shipping work area. I already had the smaller Expedit on the left, so I put it next to the larger one and made a giant shelf wall for all of the boutique items. I highly recommend the workstation for any other shop owners out there - it is the best solution I have found.

I want to get about 8 more of these under shelf baskets as well because they double the storage space:

I also hung this pretty garland up on the opposite wall, which makes the room a little sparklier. I can't wait to hang more art up in the house! I've been waiting until other priorities are done, like painting, but hanging art always makes a house feel more homey.

The second I got the camera out, Chester posed for me, so I had to take his picture too of course (such a little diva, this dog). :)

I hope you guys have a great week! xo

ME IN JAKE OWEN'S "GHOST TOWN" VIDEO

Hey guys! I hope you had a great Thanksgiving! I wanted to share this video that just came out (not sure if the single has been released yet) for the song "Ghost Town" by Jake Owen. You can see me around the 2 minute mark giving what the hubbs calls "surprise stink face" haha! :)

You can check out his new CD with this song on it here!

A FEW LIVING ROOM UPDATES

We've been slowly but surely furnishing and decorating the new house so I thought I would share a few of the new things that we've added to the living room. We've been sticking to a lot of neutrals and then I plan on adding some more color with art, pillows, and other little accessories. My favorite places to shop for home goods at the moment are Target and Wayfair - you can find such modern stylish stuff that's really affordable. You can check out the shopping sources at the bottom of the post!

Rug is the Safavieh Dhurrie Grey & Ivory Rug from Wayfair. More shopping sources below:

FREE SHIPPING THIS WEEKEND!

If you've had your eye on some custom Christmas cards, prints, or pencils, this weekend is the time to get them! Free shipping until Monday using the code below - go, go, go!

CHARM & GUMPTION + DESIGN DARLING COLLAB

I'm sure a lot of you have heard of the fabulous online boutique, Design Darling. Mackenzie and I have been Instagram friends for a while and she carries a couple of my items in her boutique already, so when she reached out to me about doing an exclusive collaboration I was so excited! This is what we came up with:

The print is a gold foil on white cardstock and it looks absolutely beautiful in person! It will be available soon, exclusively in the Design Darling shop. What do you guys think?

GOLD ACCESSORIES FOR FALL

The gold trend is here to stay, and it's perfect for fall. I recently bought some gold accessories that I have been wearing every single day and I thought I would share! A black flat and black booties are perfect everyday shoes, and the accents of gold give them a little edge. The jewelry dresses up any outfit - the chunky chain bracelet is my absolute fave! What do you think of my choices below?

go shopping:

1. Ruby Flats, ShoeMint

2. Brass Bunting Necklace, JewelMint

3. Chunky Link Bracelet, JewelMint

4. Sienna Boots, ShoeMint

5. Simple Studs - Brass, JewelMint

GOODBYE LITTLE APARTMENT

We're officially moved out of our beloved little apartment where we started our marriage and lived for the last three years. We are both so excited about our new house, but couldn't help but be a little nostalgic and sad about leaving this little space. We also couldn't believe that we lived there for so long once we saw how tiny it looked with no furniture! haha

HOLIDAY 2013 PREVIEW

Hey guys! Things are super crazy right now with the move, but I wanted to check in and give you a little sneak peek at the new holiday cards I've been working on. I'm trying to be really mindful this year of making something for everyone, rather than focusing completely on families / married couples / etc. 

Here are three that I've made so far:

What do you guys think? Is there anything specific that you look for when shopping for custom Christmas cards? Let me know in the comments below! xo

DIY ART

With all of the new house planning, I'm learning how quickly things can add up, so any way of cutting costs is super helpful right now. I came across these 4 DIY art projects that I think look way more expensive than they really are! Which is your favorite?

sources:

1. wit&whistle

2. kensfolk

3. housetweaking 

4. poppytalk

While we're on the subject, all of the instant download art in the Etsy shop is BOGO free this weekend, so if your office could use a little sprucing, now is the time! 2 for the price of one! Just use the code BOGOPRINTS.

FREEBIE: WORK HARD, BE KIND DESKTOP WALLPAPER

I love this quote by Conan O'Brien - so inspiring! This is a design from my inspiring postcard set in the shop. I hope that this colorful quote will brighten up your office (link below). 

click here to download this free desktop wallpaper!

NEW HOUSE PLANS: WALL COLORS

Hey guys! I just got back to Nashville yesterday after spending last week with family, and I'm back today with the first planning post about the new house.

We will have a couple of weeks of overlap between our apartment and new house, so I'm hoping to be able to get all of the painting done during that time. Currently, the house is full of colors that we are just not crazy about like beige, blue, and even lime green (yikes!). I want all of the colors to flow well together, so I created this little color palette board to get an idea of how it will all look.

What do you think of these colors? Do you have any advice about creating a color flow throughout a house? I would love to hear it in the comments below!

LINK LOVE / 41

{six things that I found funny, interesting, and/or nice to look at this week}

I may need to have a baby just because J.Crew came out with a baby line | I love this fall table runner DIY (made with potato stamps!) | a healthy pumpkin spice latte recipe you can make at home - yum! | Who else is obsessed with the Phillip Lim + Target collab? Loving these satchel bags. | cute fall look - girls have been wearing hats like this all over Nashville lately. | I cannot stop staring at this perfect bedside table styling - I definitely want to try to do something similar in the new house :)

stay in touch over the weekend!

Shop / Facebook / Instagram / Pinterest

WE BOUGHT A HOUSE!

About a year ago, we were looking for a house to rent. But we couldn't find anything in our price range and the right location, so we decided to just make the most out of our current apartment. That turned out nice and worked for a while, but we obviously still needed more space. After a period of considering moving back to Ohio, we decided to stay here for at least a few more years so it made sense to make an investment and buy a house!

The new house is further out of town than our current apartment which is right in the middle of the action. But after living here for a few years, it is worth it to us to live a little further away and have more space for our money.

Having our own house is such a dream come true! I'm so excited to move out of this tiny space, which feels tinier than ever right now! We close on the new house in about a month so things will be a little bit crazy for a while, but I will try to keep you guys updated as much as possible. xo!

LINK LOVE / 40

{six things that I found funny, interesting, and/or nice to look at this week}

the perfect cozy and affordable pullover from Target | lovely hair color for fall | I think I will be doing painted pumpkins this year for my autumn decorating | essie's chinchilly is my favorite nail polish to wear this time of year (photo from here) | the most adorable invitations for a little girl party ever - I wish I was invited | ahh the eternal cold weather dilemma

stay in touch over the weekend!

Shop / Facebook / Instagram / Pinterest

WORKSPACE WEDNESDAY: VINTAGE FLORALS

For today's post, I gathered up a bunch of items to help you recreate the workspace look below, which is full of vintage elements and whimsical florals. I feel like this is a really timeless, feminine style for a lady's workspace. What do you think?

inspiration photo source

shopping links:

craspedia | vintage blossom notebooks | mini pencils | vintage telephone | vintage brass container

GETTING CONSISTENTLY ORGANIZED

Oh, hi there. It's me...Holly...remember me? If not, it's okay. I haven't blogged in like a trillion years. 

Things with Charm & Gumption have been going really well lately. And when business stuff goes well it means that things are also really busy. So, on my list of things to do, writing a blog post always falls to the end of the list. But I'm going to get better! I promise (I know, I've said that before). 

How you ask? By dealing with my busy-ness the only way I know how: making lots and lots of lists. What I realized my schedule needs is more consistency. Any of you who work from home will know that having a consistent schedule is one of the hardest but most necessary parts of it. And lately, I just haven't been very consistent. 

So yesterday I made a list of all of the things I need to get done each week by category: blogging, order filling, emailing (you'd be shocked at how much time per day I spend sending/reading emails), as well as housework type stuff, like getting the groceries and doing the laundry. I realized that I could work a lot smarter (and not so hard) by spreading out all of these chores and things throughout the week rather than being a sporadic mess who's always running around like a chicken with her head cut off (duh). 

I got out my handy keyboard memo pad and wrote color coded to-do's for each category on each day and just doing that made me feel, like, ten times better. Cause I'm a weirdo like that.

How do you maintain a consistent schedule (or do you)? Any tips?

aristotle quote via Pinterest | keyboard memo pad