It's almost my 3rd Blogaversary!

Unbelievably, this little blog is about to be 3 years old!  My Blogaversary is December 11.  To celebrate, as is my custom, I'm going to have a giveaway!

Since December is such a busy time for all of us, though, I'm going to wait and have the giveaway in January.  Because by then we'll all be ready for some post-holiday fun, right?  How does that sound?

Meanwhile, I thought I'd show you the fun I had this past Sunday, when my buddy Rebecca and I attended a free Christmas decorating class at our local Pottery Barn.

It was so casual and relaxing: we literally sat on the furniture displayed in the front of the store and listened to one of their experts give us great ideas for tabletops, tablesettings, and hospitality.  It was truly inspiring!

I found all sorts of ideas around the store that I wanted to copy, like those cute boxwood topiaries, above...

and this Christmas ornament which reminded me of the Teacup Fairy I made last year at Silver Bella.

Rebecca held up this Christmas stocking for me to photograph because I loved the color combo of the fabric...

and I made sure to get a photo in front of one of their pretty tree displays.  In the end, Rebecca was totally inspired to do this sideboard display:

but we didn't think the bay leaf tree was worth the $99 price tag (even though, for attending the class, they offered all of us a 10% discount.)

So, after a trip to the craft store for supplies, later that evening we crafted one of our own!

Well, sort of.  Because, as you can see, we used silvery leaves instead of bay leaves.  But, I think it turned out beautifully!

We also did a bird nest project that Rebecca found in a magazine:

Here's mine, and Rebecca did hers with cardinals; we used greenery from her backyard.

Of course, after I got home I had to fuss with mine a bit more, and in the end I replaced my little bird with one I'd purchased at a craft fair:

I love it!  I think it's sweet, and it was very fun and holiday-cheer-y to get inspired at Pottery Barn, learn some tricks, and craft with a friend!