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!