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a little place on the water

December 29, 2015

exterior house pleasure in simple things blog

Okay, I didn’t get this past weekend off and I am working three jobs this week, but I did get to spend Christmas Day with the people that matter the most to me and it was pretty darn special. I hope your day was as wonderful as mine!

inside the beach house pleasure in simple things blog

sitting out with a waterview pleasure in simple things blog

Because Friday will be the month’s book giveaway, I am sharing a quick field trip today…a few photos I took of a little getaway by the water I was lucky enough to visit…this is a detached family room that is pure heaven! Yes, please. I’ll take one! This is the type of place my dreams are made of!

room with a view pleasure in simple things blog

Enjoy the photos and enjoy the end of 2015 and ushering in 2016!

waterview in CT pleasure in simple things blog

Thanks for stopping by!

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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seas & greetings

December 25, 2015

Seas & Greetings from pleasure in simple things blog

Merry Christmas dear friends!

poinsetta in sea urchin pleasure in simple things blog
My wish for you is to be surrounded by those you love.  The very best of the season to you!

driftwood christmas tree pleasure in simple things blog

And, remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie xo

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putting it all together

December 22, 2015

packages for coastal christmas pleasure in simple things blog

I have started to wrap gifts and I am having some real fun – using beach totes, wicker baskets, and wooden trays to package and display gifts for my sea glass themed holiday!  I thought I would take a few quick minutes to show you how I am incorporating the things I have been making and sharing with you.

using feathers in wrapping pleasure in simple things blog

Remember the crab on the gift tag from this post?  He is looking good with my sea glass colored dotted wrapping paper. :)  And, the feather I made in this post is looking great with it as well!

relabeling bottles pleasure in simple things blog

The bottle labels I shared in this post are exactly what I needed to make the wine bottles for my table – as well as the ones I am giving as gifts – look right on theme!

coastal bottle wrapping pleasure in simple things blog

You can see that the sea glass tags I shared in this post look great as well!

feather wrapping pleasure in simple things blog

That is how I used some of my creations!  I so do love a good theme – and, it is so fun when everything starts coming together!  I have plenty more to do as I continue with my wrapping!  I will try and share more photos to Instagram and Facebook as I continue.  How are you doing with your wrapping?

sea glass christmas pleasure in simple things blog

Thanks for stopping by!  Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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christmas magic

December 18, 2015

the mood at Grace pleasure in simple things blog

The best time to visit a favorite store as the holidays approach is when Christmas gift buying has been completed.  Sound crazy?  Well, once the pressure is off to find the perfect gifts, the whole shopping experience changes.  The perspective shifts from one that has been focused on gift buying to one that is enjoying the shopping experience in an entirely different way.

scarves at Grace pleasure in simple things blog

For me, I can genuinely appreciate my surroundings and soak in the effort that has been made to create a beautiful holiday aesthetic.  If I should find a little something special to add to a stocking – fine.  But, there is no real urgency to the gift buying.

blue and neutral scarf pleasure in simple things blog

You probably know by now that one of my favorite stores is Grace.  Today, for Friday field trip, I am sharing some of the wonderful holiday aesthetic created by this marvelous shop in Niantic.  Enjoy!

Grace decor pleasure in simple things blog

whale at Grace pleasure in simple things blog

jewlery at Grace pleasure in simple things blog

ombre sweater at Grace pleasure in simple things blog

let it snow pleasure in simple things blog

magic at Grace pleasure in simple things blog

a because your heart pleasure in simple things blog

aqua at Grace pleasure in simple things blog

Thanks for stopping by!

grace packages pleasure in simple things blog

Have a wonderful weekend and remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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a few more gift tags

December 15, 2015

making a crab gift tag pleasure in simple things blog

It is time to start wrapping gifts! I am way behind on my planned Thanksgiving weekend wrapping session!

I have all the supplies together. I made the sea glass gift tags and the painted metallic feathers to adorn my packages…But, wait…shouldn’t I have a couple sea creatures to add to the mix?

sparkly crab gift tag pleasure in simple things blog

I decided to make a couple more quick gift tags and they are super simple to create in no time flat!

For the crab, I used a teeny, tiny rubber stamp I found at the craft store. The size alone makes it super cute! I added it to card stock using an aqua colored ink stamp pad. To add the holiday sparkle, I just used a cotton swab to add a few dabs of aqua sparkle craft paint. Super easy and super cute!

crab gift tag supplies pleasure in simple things blog

The starfish gift tag took even less supplies to create than the crab gift tag. I used a light gray watercolor marker to draw a quick, free hand outline of a starfish. To this too, I added a few dabs of acrylic metallic craft paint to give it a little more bling!

starfish gift tag pleasure in simple things blog

Now I am content with my collection of gift tags for my sea glass holiday themed packages!

crab gift tag pleasure in simple things blog

Thanks for stopping by! Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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sea glass diy gift tags

December 11, 2015

sea glass gift tags pleasure in simple things blog

For Friday field trip today, we are visiting ‘gift wrap central’ where I designed some gift tags to go along with my sea glass holiday theme.

diy sea glass gift tags pleasure in simple things blog

I decided the perfect detail for my gift tags was grommets. Not only are they currently a big fashion trend, but they add a nice ‘beachy’ vibe to my tags!

grommets on gift tags pleasure in simple things blog

Since I was designing these gift tags myself, I wanted to make them unique. That was part of the reason I decided to make them a little different shape than a typical gift tag. I decided on long rectangles – cutting card stock into 1“ x 4 1/4“ strips.

holiday gift tags diy sea glass pleasure in simple things blog

After I cut the tags, I added the grommet detail. If you decide to make these – don’t be intimidated by the grommets! They come in 2 pieces and are easily applied using a simple 2-piece metal tool and a hammer. The grommets and tool are inexpensive and are available at any craft store. Believe me; once you apply your first grommet, you will come up with tons of applications!

making sea glass gift tags pleasure in simple things blog

I used twine on my tags to stay consistent with my theme. Lastly, I used a big dab of strong glue, careful not to let the glue show, to attach a small piece of sea glass to each tag. Pretty easy, right?

final sea glass gift tags pleasure in simple things blog

I love the way these tags came out! It makes me eager to get wrapping!

Thanks for stopping by! Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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holiday gingerbread fudge recipe

December 8, 2015

holiday gingerbread boy fudge pleasure in simple things blog

I am taking a little break today from my coastal holiday theme. I will be making sea glass candy soon enough, but today I am sharing the recipe for fudge with a taste of the holidays. What is the holiday flavor I am referring to? Gingerbread!

This is a very easy sweet to make and no special candy making supplies are required. For my dry spices, I always use Penzy brand spices. For those that use spices from the supermarket, you may want to double the ginger and cinnamon since I find Penzy spices to be more potent than supermarket brands.

holiday gingerbread fudge pleasure in simple things blog

Use the best white chocolate you can find – the grocery store usually carries Lindt or Ghirardelli brands. I always buy bars of white chocolate and never white chocolate chips. There are usually a lot more ingredients listed on the white chocolate chips compared to the ingredients on the bars of white chocolate and I prefer to eliminate them! I also choose not to add any brown food coloring, but you can add some if you want your fudge colored brown like gingerbread.

a gingerbread fudge recipe pleasure in simple things blog

holiday gingerbread fudge cut into gingerbread boys pleasure in simple things blogI cut the fudge into tiny little gingerbread boys! I will be making them into pops and using them as a garnish on a cake for a friend’s party. On a stick, they make a great dessert favor!

Using a 1 ¾” gingerbread boy cookie cutter, I cut 17 pieces of fudge. (I rolled the leftover pieces into 14, 1” balls for another purpose.)

Whether on a stick or in a box, there are so many fun ways to package up these tasty little gingerbread boys…have fun with it!

Thanks for stopping by!

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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message in a bottle ornament diy

December 4, 2015

message in the bottle diy by pleasure in simple things blog

My imagination is in overdrive this year for my ornament designs since I chose sea glass as my holiday theme and I love anything with a coastal theme! I have so many ornament ideas, but I am limiting myself to a few designs because there is so much to accomplish in preparation for the holidays and not enough time to do it all!

One ornament I knew I wanted to create was one that was inspired by a message in a bottle. Today, for Friday field trip, I am providing the instructions to make this easy to create ornament. I chose to use an iridescent, clear glass, hollow globe ornament instead of the obvious choice of a small bottle.

message in a bottle ornament supplies pleasure in simple things blog

Rather than write the ‘message’ myself, I opted to use a scrap of paper that already had writing on it, ripping the edges before rolling it up and tying it with a small scrap of twine.

I removed the top that came with the ornament and I poured some sand into the globe. Since it is the holidays, a little optional glitter is a nice addition to the sand! Next, I added the prepared message.

I replaced the top of the ornament with a cork. It is really simple to repurpose a cork since it is easy to trim with a knife to the size needed. After trimming the cork to the size I needed to fit snuggly in the top of the ornament, I screwed in a small screw eye and added a piece of twine for hanging. Any scrap of thin ribbon or rope will do in place of the twine.

making a message in the bottle ornament pleasure in simple things blog

That’s my ‘message in a bottle’ ornament! Easy, right?  This is a wonderful ornament to make as a gift for a newly married couple.  Use sand from their honeymoon for inside the ornament and write their wedding date or a love note on the ‘message!’

I hope I have inspired you to create your own message in a bottle ornament!

Thanks for stopping by! Have a wonderful weekend and remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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december book giveaway!

December 1, 2015

birds of a feather coloring giveaway pleasure in simple things blog

For the second month in a row, I have chosen an adult coloring book for the month’s book giveaway! There was a great response for last month’s giveaway selection Lost Ocean and, although Johanna Basford’s coloring books are great, there are some other great ones out there to choose from as well!

coloring book bird giveaway pleasure in simple things blog

To prove my point, I have chosen Birds of a Feather by Vicki Sawyer as this month’s giveaway selection. I just love the illustrations! The finished pages of this adult coloring book are definitely suitable to frame as nature prints. Just leave a comment on this post for a chance to win this book. I will also include some coloring pencils with the book for the winner of this selection.

partially colored page pleasure in simple things adult coloring giveaway

I am pleased to announce TWO winners of Lost Ocean by Johanna Basford. That is right – I am sending two lucky people a copy of Lost Ocean with a box of colored pencils! Janet and Gabi S. were chosen randomly from the comments I received. Please email me gals and let me know where to send your gifts! A special thank you to everyone that entered by leaving a comment. Please try again this month for another beautiful coloring book!

bluebird coloring book page pleasure in simple things blog

For this month’s Instagram challenge, let’s share photos of our favorite holiday ornaments! They can be new ornaments, old favorites, or something you made yourself. I can’t wait to see your favorites for 2015!

pleasure in simple things instagram dec 2015 challenge ornaments

Thanks so much for stopping by! Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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