I love finding the perfect gifts for my friends and family over the holidays. I made a gift guide last year for the “twenty-everything,” and I’m back again this year with FIVE gift guides to give you ideas for everyone on your list! This guide is all about what to give your hostess friends for the holidays. Keep scrolling to see my picks, and stay tuned for the upcoming gift guides in the coming days!
Since Valentine's Day is just two days away–and Galentine's Day is tomorrow–I thought I'd show you how I decorated my bar cart for the holiday. A bar cart provides a great focal point for the room, as well as serving a functional purpose. Just a few changes to the decorations and you're all set!
I got this pink shimmery backdrop paper at Michaels and hung up three long strips behind the cart. It was a great way to make the space festive without having to involve paint or anything drastic!
I framed a great holiday card to add some dimension to the cart. You could also frame a small piece of art, or even a fun drink recipe for your guests! I also punched hearts out of red glittery wrapping paper, and used double sided tape to stick them together with the string in between. Easiest garland ever.
These X and O dishes are from the new Alphabet Soup collection at Michaels–I can't tell you how excited I was that they even had an X! I initially bought it because my design studio is X Height Ment, and then when I got home and was planning my Valentine's Day posts, I kicked myself for not buying the O too. So I had to go back and get it the next day (of course).
I love how this cart turned out! It's so festive and fun, and makes for a great place for guests to gather while they're filling their glasses. Now for the real question of the holiday– Conversation hearts: love em or leave em? I love them, but I love pretty much anything that's pure sugar. I recently found out that so many people aren't even tempted by them! Which camp are you in?
I'm not someone who loves DIY wrapping paper, mostly because so many great wrapping paper already exists. I am, however, someone who definitely loves a homemade touch on the card or the gift tag!
I made these printable gift tags and ran them through my Minc foil applicator. I got this for my birthday and it's amazing. I love how easy it is to make a simple laser print really gorgeous. (This isn't a sponsored post; I just really love it!)
Print out the PDF below on cardstock with a laser printer, and cut your favorite color of foil sheet to size for the tags. I ran them through on heat setting 3 and it worked perfectly!
The first page has six different gift tags to choose from, and the second page is a full pattern page of Xs and Os so you can cut them in whatever shape you want!
The foil is so shiny; it looks amazing when it catches the light–although that also makes it really difficult to photograph!
I hope you love these tags as much as I do! You can totally adapt them to any wrapping paper, depending on the color of foil you choose. Which one is your favorite?
Valentine's Day is so soon! I know I already made the Cupid Shooters for this holiday, but I couldn't resist making another gorgeous red and pink drink. This Strawberry Sweetheart is perfect for a night in with your friends or your significant other.
Ingredients:
ice
sliced strawberries
frozen strawberries
pink champagne
To Make:
Puree your frozen strawberries until they reach a smooth consistency.
Pour strawberry puree and champagne into your glass—this part is just to taste! Add more strawberries if you want it a little sweeter or more champagne if you like it a little more boozy.
Add ice and sliced strawberries to garnish.
I like to slice my strawberries into hearts for a little extra Valentine-y flair! Just cut a small triangle out of the larger end to make the shape.
Who will you be drinking your Strawberry Sweetheart with this Valentine's Day?
By this point, you guys must know how much I love Valentine's Day. I don't always wear a ton of pink and red (although I'm slowly incorporating more of it into my wardrobe), but I'm always up for wearing it on my nails! This manicure is so cute for the holiday or for every day. You just need red and pink nail polish, and some sort of tape to do the color blocking.
Paint your nails with a base coat for to keep them from staining. Y'all already know this base coat is one of my favorites.
Then paint on your red polish and let it dry.
Tape off the tips of your nails—I'm using these white tip guides meant for making french manicures to make it super easy. If you have a steady hand, you can do this part without the tape.
Paint the tips in a light pink. When the paint is mostly dry, peel off the tape and wait for the pink to finish setting before polishing the whole thing off with a clear coat!
The best thing about this manicure is that it's more subtle than painting a heart on your nails, but it still matches pretty much everything related to the holiday—so you'll want to pick up everything red and pink you can find!
You can totally switch up the colors and do pink with red tips too. Tag me in pictures of your manicures on instagram @xheightment!
