HGTV Dream home in my dream location!

Growing up my family spent every summer for nearly a decade vacationing at Kiawah Island, SC. source It was a hidden gem back in the day. It didn't take long for people to start to notice the possibilities of the island and the when the Ocean Course hosted the Ryder cup in 1991, our secret island started to get some attention. More people started coming to our favorite Island on the East Coast. I have fond memories of spending the day at the beach, digging in the tide pools, finding sand dollars and climbing the dunes.  We would spend time walking the boardwalks, watching alligators in the lagoons, riding bikes on the paved trails {usually to the ice cream shop} and crabbing and shelling in the tidal creeks. Kiawah Island is about a half an hour drive from Charleston and a day would always be spent exploring that beautiful historic city.  Hymans Seafood was always our dinner spot in Charleston.  It seems to have gotten a bit more popular too!
When my husband and I were married nearly 15 years ago, we honeymooned at Kiawah Island. We had a fantastic time lounging on the beach, riding bikes on the trails and once, my new husband even skipped a rock onto an alligators's nose!   It was no surprise to me that the HGTV dream home this year is in beautiful Kiawah Island. Kiawah Island is a place I haven't visited in 15 years, but was such a part of my middle school and teenage years.  I would love to go back some day!  These pictures take me back to the beautiful landscape around this low country. The marsh area in the backyard is what so many of our rental condo's looked upon through the years. It wasn't uncommon to be eating breakfast outside and keeping a count on the various birds, jumping fish and alligators that you could spot. Know what I love about this front porch? It isn't the deck chairs, though they are beautiful. It's the grand live oak sitting softly nearby with a story all of it's own from years of residency. I love everything about the great room {well, except maybe the gate on the fireplace...that I just sort of like} I love how open and airy this room is with views from all sides. It's a room that is comfortable and classic without being stuffy and over designed. I'm not usually a big fan of contemporary design, but the way the designers used a mix of classic and contemporary touches in the kitchen just seems to work. The dining area is just off of the kitchen and the long table would be great for large family gatherings and crab nights! The laundry room and pantry are tied for my least favorite rooms. The contemporary design was attempted in the laundry room again, but this time instead of making it work, the cabinets just look cheap. The pantry is a fantastic size, but I think that the designers could have sprung for some cabinet doors instead of this trellis style fabric skirt. The master bedroom suite seems small, but I love the neutral tone with the touches of blue throughout. I love how the rug draws you in. I love this whitewashed coral mounted on the linen mat. The master bath carries out the neutral beachy tone. My favorite thing are the coral shadowboxes. Probably my favorite spot in the whole house is this bunk niche. I love the nautical stripes paired with bursts of apple green. Just off of the bunk room, the loft beams are an amazing focal point of this room. The guest bedroom is amazing. But the thing I love most is that in each room, there is some painted furniture that not only gives the room a bit of surprise, but also some much needed color for the muted color palate. The twin bedroom painted in turquoise screams east coast beach. I love all the subtle hints of color mixed all throughout the room. When I came to the island as a teenager, I know this would have been my favorite room in the whole house. Now as a mom of a teenager and a pre-teen, I know they could spend hours after sun drenched days, swinging, chatting, and playing ping pong. Seeing the HGTV dream house in Kiawah Island has me all kinds of excited to win. And yes, I am entering the contest twice a day. Fingers crossed! What's your favorite thing about the new HGTV dream house?

Exciting Things Happening in 2013! Join in the fun!

There are lots of exciting things happening in 2013 and I don't want you to miss out! Did you know you can follow me on Pinterest? If you follow me, I will follow you back. {Unless you pin stupid stuff, then I stop following.}
If you need an invite let me know. I'm happy to send one to you. I would love to connect more with my readers in the New Year. Are you hanging out with me on Facebook? Don't miss out on any Holy Craft Happenings. I want to get to know who you are. Let's hang out. I am excited to be celebrating my third blogging anniversary in February. If you have an item you want to offer for a giveaway, please contact me. You can check my advertising tab for my demographics and information on just how many people could see and hear about your awesome products during that time. As always, I do offer advertising this year. Please check my rates and let me know if we can work together. Looking forward to lots of exciting opportunities in 2013! Thanks for following along and being a part of them.

Classroom Valentine's Round up

We finish with one holiday and are quickly moving on to the next.  I like to make the kids Valentine's for their classes every year, and I know a lot of you do to. If you follow me on Pinterest, you will know that I have been pinning some classroom Valentine ideas. I like to choose cheap and easy Valentine's that can be mass produced for about 25 students. I thought I would share some of the ones I found with you today.

Martha Stewart has these candy dot hearts that seem like a snap to pull together. The Coterie blog has these cute sucker Valentine's. You could easily make the tags in your Silhouette SD software or on Picmonkey These little matchbox Valentine's from inchmark are super cute. Who doesn't love a little present to open?

This little Valentine is super cute. And I have the typewriter file in my Silhouette library already. I'm thinking this would be perfect for my 5th grader. source I made these years ago for my son when he was in pre-school. It's an oldie but a goodie from Jolly Lollies. A Small Snippet provides the free bag topper for these pop rocks Valentine's. I'm kind of a big fan of these pirate Valentine's. They are free from Mer Mag.  All you have to do is cut out the felt heart and sew it on. These Valentine envelopes from Nest of Posies would be adorable if you didn't have to make a zillion of them!  They would be great if you had a small class, or fun to make just for your own kids.
I love a clever Valentine that doesn't need candy to make it awesome. These Rebus Valentine's found free on Martha Stewart are pretty cool. Again, no candy needed! Love these {and don't even have to change the name for my Owen!} from dandee dandee has lots of fun Valentine's day ideas. Love this magnifying glass these friendship bracelets are pretty fun Valentine's too.  Also from dandee. A Creative Cookie made cute monster covers for little nerds packets. These goldfish crackers would be fun for the pre-school crowd. You can see the full tutorial at Backless Shirt Stitch/Craft offers up these free Lego Valentine's. Just add the glow stick and you are set! If I had been thinking ahead, I would have stocked up on 1 cent rulers at back to school time. These are another great non-candy Valentine that comes in handy. Go to Thompson and Spring for the details. I made these felt mustaches and cards for my son last year. and these were the Valentine's my daughter gave last year. Love the bookmark idea for the older kids. from 30 days And for your {bigger} Valentine, don't miss out on this free coffee cup printable  from eat, drink, chic Did you get any ideas for your Valentine's? Which is your favorite?

Top Craft Posts of 2012

On Monday, I shared with you my top posts of 2012. Interestingly enough, none of them were craft related. And crafts are my favorite thing! So, I'm going to do a recap of the top craft posts of 2012. In January I showed you all how to make your own adjustable ring base. In February, my Valentine's day recap has been a popular post. However, my favorite craft from February was probably this ruffle dress {from a cardigan} that I made for my daughter to wear to her daddy/daughter dance. I also love my linen and book page canvas that I did. In March, I made this $10 stenciled rug. I still love it. In April, I put together some Disney themed crafts for my nieces first trip. In May, I RIT dyed my favorite jeans and showed you how too!
In June I made a mod podge silhouette charm bracelet of my three favorite people. I also made a growth chart ruler that is a family favorite. In July I shared with you the details of the mermaid themed birthday party that I decorated for my niece's 5th birthday. In August, I showed you how to make custom TOMS shoes. In September I shared my Restoration Hardware subway art knock off {from an old canvas} In October, I shared with you how I took Dollar Store pumpkins and updated them with some book pages and twine. In November I showed you how I made my favorite new Christmas decoration, reindeer subway art. I had a few favorite Christmas crafts I wanted to share with you as well. Glitter Christmas Pillows Sheet Music wreath  sheet music Christmas trees {from cereal boxes} and a tutorial for chalkboard art   Finally in December, we wrapped it up with {gasp} another Dollar Store craft. Updated glitter light bulb ornaments Did I miss any of your favorite crafts of 2012? Did any of my crafts inspire you to make your own version? If so, please don't hesitate to send me pictures or a link to your blog post.   I would love to start a monthly reader feature. Thank you all for reading along with me this past year. We are sure to have lots more fun in 2013!