Nope, we didn’t find out that we’re having twins. There’s definitely just one little guy or girl in there (we actually found out the bean’s sex the day before Christmas Eve and will be revealing it shortly so stay tuned for that…). But we also discovered two unexpected and totally amazing holiday gifts waiting for us in our PO Box when we checked it one last time before heading over to John’s family’s house on the 24th.
One item was a box from one of our lovely readers who attached a note that said she enjoyed our blog regularly and referenced my love of ceramic animals. Of course I could hardly contain myself as I tore open the package to see what little white creature would be joining my faux-managerie. And I literally squealed with glee when I learned it was a small ceramic peacock in the most clean and elegant snow globe I’d ever seen. I’d actually been eying this baby from West Elm for months, so imagine my surprise when it arrived out of thin air from sweet Katie in Texas. What a fantastic and unexpected gift! Here’s my regal little peacock in all of her fine feathered white ceramic glory:
And here she is living it up on our living room side table after a little snowstorm ensued:
Isn’t that fun? We’re so glad to have something decorative to post about since we actually received a ton of baby stuff from the family for the holidays so we didn’t think we’d even have a holiday gift post because there was nary a home-decor-related object in sight. But we said there were two surprises right? Well, back to that. The other item in our PO Box was a large flat envelope, which also came with a sweet card from another one of our readers named Steph (coincidentally also from Texas- my you guys are kind down there!) saying that she enjoyed keeping up with us and our blog and wished us a very happy holiday. And look what we found inside:
Yes that is custom art work of our furbaby Burger! And yes we are in love with it. Of course the sender mentioned that she knew we adored having portraits of our beloved four-legger around and she thought this one could be added to our existing collection:
Isn’t it a fantastic little ode to our favorite pooch? We just kept staring at it in awe (so pretty! so realistic! so generous!). So that’s how this post about holiday house stuff came to be. The kindness of strangers. Well, except that we consider all of our readers to be friends, and this is exactly why. Thanks Katie and Steph! Two gushing thank you notes are already in the mail…
But what about you guys? Did you get anything home related for the holidays? Any huge surprises like a new car or twins or a leopard print snuggie? Do tell.
Lisa in Seattle says
That painting perfectly captures the essence of Burger! We surprised ourselves by finally finding the perfect quilt – king size in muted tones of brick, sage and gold – for our Arts & Crafts inspired bedroom. Most quilts are real eyeball-scorchers, but not this one!
Natalie says
Love your snowglobe and your adorable art! I broke one of my favorite mirrors a few months ago – it was quite tragic. My husband told me he put it out in the shop until we could find a new mirror to put in the gorgeous frame, so I didn’t think anything of it. He had one of our friends who is an artist paint a custom painting for me (of one of MY crosses in my house!) and perfectly fit it into the uniquely shaped frame. It is so beautiful, and perfectly matches our bedroom! It was an amazing surprise!
Tiffany says
I scored some super be-a-utiful sconces from Crate and Barrel! I was lusting after them back in late October, and sent a pic message to the hubbs to get his opinion. He liked ’em, but at $80 for the set, I wasn’t about to spend my cash on it (I was shopping with birthday money, and I was on the prowl for clothing and shoes!). To my surprise, the hubbs remembered the sconces and gifted them to me on Christmas morning! I absolutely love them…. we just hung them, but haven’t put candles on them yet, so I haven’t posted pics on my blog…. but you can see the sconces at C&B’s website (called Twig Bunch Sconces).
Kate says
Ahh that is so sweet of your readers!! I got a surprise sewing machine, just in time before we move into the new house!
Kate says
I think it is a girl too. You put “guy” first to trick us. I think.
Donna @ dh-designs says
Don’t know if you remember me asking a few posts back about a paint sprayer – well – that what I got for Christmas. Not exactly a home-decor item – but it is going to have a major part in creating some great home-decor items! I am itching to get it going, but – too cold to be working in my unheated garage these days. Yet another reason to anxiously await springtime!
Rosemary says
I got a house for Christmas! We found our house on Valentine’s Day and finally closed on December 15th. It was a 10 month process! To make things special, we decided to make Christmas Eve our first night here. We slept on an air mattress in an empty bedroom but couldn’t have asked for a better gift than to finally wake up in our home on Christmas morning.
My family was also so generous, giving us gifts and gift cards for our house. Definitely a Christmas to remember.
Kara says
I am due about the same time as you, and just found out we’re having a girl this week (we already have a son). I can’t wait to find out what you are having. I hope a girl, so I can copy all your decor ideas.
Candace says
I love the snow globe! It’s gorgeous.
Molly says
Can’t wait to hear what you’re having!!! I’m going to say… GIRL!!!!
Stacey says
Love the blog! Etsy’s featured artist today, mud puppy, has a slew of clay critters that made me think of all yours when I saw them…!
YoungHouseLove says
Oooh, thanks for the tip Stacey! Off to check them out…
xo,
s
Kristi says
What fun gifts from your readers! We all enjoy your creativity and DIY spirit!
We received a generous gift card to Lowe’s to help us in our nursery~ our little sea monkey arrives the end of April. Thanks to your posts and such, I’ve gotten some great inspiration!
I’m sure you enjoyed your appt. las week as much as my hubby and I did a few weeks ago! What an amazing thing to share together, and it makes it all so much more “real.” We all can’t wait to hear your baby news!
Any suggestions on paint types/brands to use for a mural? We’ve got a lot of wall space to work with in the room, and my current thought is to add something fun to the walls that will grow with our little fella for a while.
Happy New Year to you, “the Bean,” and Burger, too! :)
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Kristi,
Hmm, good question! I would google around for “nursery mural” and see what images you find as inspiration. You can also look to favorite childrens’ books or other iconic kid-related pics (ex: you could replicate a tree from Where The Wild Things Are on the wall for a wild and imaginative effect). Then just choose low or no VOC paint to create your image (we love Mythic paint and Home Depot’s Freshaire paint as two great zero VOC alternatives that are perfect for prego moms and babies on the way). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Dana says
I, too, think it’s a girl. But I’ve been known to be wrong when guessing baby genders!
For Christmas, I got a stencil from hubs. (It’s the knot from Sunny’s!!) Can’t wait to use it. My other fave is a ceramic artichoke also from the hubs.
Hope you had a great holiday!
YoungHouseLove says
Ooh we love that stencil from Sunny’s. It’s one of our all-time favorites!
xo,
s
jamie says
You should add a poll to your website so we can all guess boy/girl before you announce!
Amanda says
Oh wow!! Where does one find contact information for Steph- I am wondering if she is for hire!?
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Amanda,
A few others have already asked for Steph’s info so you can find it by scrolling back through the comments for that info (which we shared earlier this morning). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Jen says
It’s not quite so artsy or decorative… but I got a Central Vaccum!! I never thought I’d be so excited to clean, but it’s long overdue with 2 cats!
We’re installing it Saturday! Have a great New Years guys!
Rosanne says
Love the snowglobe. And Love that it’s a peacock! My sis and I have this thing with peacocks…(every once in a while one shows up in the mail) It all started with the huge one my Mom had hanging in our livingroom for years…(it was quite hideous.) Wish I would have seen this one for her, she would have cracked up! and by the way, I was sure I had gotten a Snuggie from my in-laws, but it turned out being a Beautiful ceramic Christmas dish…what at surprise!
Suzi Q says
Lovely gifts! I seriously love them both. =) What I got for Christmas was to finally start our kitchen re-do! We have those oh so classy honey oak cabinets and laminate counter tops. Ick. We are on a mini budget so we are DIY’in it to the max. We are currently refinishing the cabinets and installing the counter tops. I will have to send before and after pics when we get done. I’m so excited! Thanks for your blog…it brings me tons of inspiration and smiles!
Amy says
I adore peacocks! That is a fantastic little snowglobe!
This holiday I’m calling lovingly, the year of the kitchen. My family and my beau’s family were kind enough to help us stock our tiny kitchen full of new cookware and appliances. My brother also sent us an aprhodisiac cookbook! It’ll be a good way to ring in the new year!
The best part – at the end of Januray we’re moving into a much larger apartment that my boyfriend is the building manager of – giving us free reign to redesign everything (at no or very little cost to us – the landlord is covering a lot of the renovations). We’re working on new floors in the kitchen and bathroom right now.
It will be a lot of work – the previous tenants left gauges (and even holes!) in the walls and the carpet may need to be replaced. The kitchen is getting a total redo as well.
One question – what is your opinion on IKEA cabinetry? We don’t want to spend a lot since it is a rental, but we do plan on living there for 4-5 years until we buy our first home. What is there now is mismatched and falling apart, plus there are no (literally zero) countertops.
Thanks again! I stumbled across your blog yesterday and I absolutely love it!
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Amy,
We have heard nothing but great things about Ikea cabinetry (although we do know that it’s affordable because it’s not quite made from the same quality and solid materials that higher-end cabinetry offers- like KraftMaid for example). So if you’re looking for something affordable and reasonably durable for the next decade or two it’s definitely a great option. The only reason we went with higher-end solid wood cabinetry from KraftMaid (and paid a pretty penny for it) is because we plan to live here pretty much forever, so it made sense to invest in something that we believe will still be in great shape in 50 years when we’re old and gray (and too tired to remodel the kitchen again) so it really goes back to your plans and how long you’d like to be in your house and how much you want to “invest” up front in your kitch. But we’ve seen so many great looking Ikea kitchens that we totally endorse them! Oh and Ikea countertops (especially the butcher block option) are amazingly priced and can look really charming and high-end so they’re also a great option (along with a simple solid surface choice, like white Corian). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Kristi says
Thanks for the ideas and suggestions! What a big help! I also found some neat decal sites in my searching, too…thought I’d share it with all the peeps:
http://www.dalidecals.com
http://www.rightonthewalls.com
forwallsdecals.com
flair4all.com
YoungHouseLove says
Awesome. Thanks so much for sharing the links!
xo,
s
Anne says
Sherry and John,
What great presents! The snow globe slips right into your home as if it had always been there. And that painting of Burger….fabulous!! When little bean comes along and steals all the limelight, that portrait of Burger will help to remind you both that he once was the one and only “top dog” in your lives!
Kalee says
Ooooh, is that snow globe still available? I cannot find it, and we’re doing our living room in deep peacock colors, and our Christmas decorations white and silver so it would be perfect! Please let me know if it’s still out there somewhere.
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Kalee,
We didn’t see it online anymore but it might still be available in stores (you can even call one that’s far away and see if they’ll ship it to you as if it were an online order). Oh and don’t forget to search for it on ebay. Happy hunting!
xo,
s
Heather from San Diego says
Wow! Both gifts are amazing but the painting of Burger blows my mind! I have two standard poodles that are the loves of my life. Can you pass my contact info onto the person who sent it to you in case they would like to do one for me? Not sure if they are in the dog portrait biz but I would love to commission them to do the same as they did for Burger for my Marlo and Elliott!
PS – I think it’s a boy!!
Love to you both!
Heather
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Heather,
That was actually one of the first questions we got on this post, so just scroll back through the comments to find all of Steph’s contact info. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Yvette says
Speaking of Christmas gifts, I have an etiquette question. I noticed that you mentioned sending thank you notes – I am used to sending cards out for everything. At Christmas time, our daughter and son get so many things, it is hard to keep straight who gave them what. Is it customary to keep track of things to send everyone out a thank you card for Christmas gifts or only the people who are out of town? Oh and CONGRATS on the baby girl news ;-)
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Yvette,
Hmm, we’re hardly etiquette experts, but we try to send out quick thank you cards to everyone who gave us anything (whether they’re local and they stopped by with cookies or they live across the country and sent us something via snail mail). Of course since you have a daughter she might receive tons of stuff which makes that effort a lot harder, but for us it’s just writing about 15 cards and popping them in the mail (it’s easy to remember what everyone gave us since it’s only a little over a dozen items so it’s not too hard on the brain). One way to remember more definitively what your daughter received would be to keep a list as she opens things (like they do at a baby shower) or have her keep all the cards with their respective gifts so she can write thank yous without straining to remember who gave her what. Our niece and nephew get a ton of presents and write cute cards that very morning while things are still fresh in their minds (so around an hour after present-opening we get a handmade card that says “thanks for the itunes gift card and the new headphones” or something to that effect. Very cute. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
mandie says
How FUN! Love your wall with doggie prints! My hubby and I got each other our first D-SLR camera for Christmas, and it’s definitely our FAVE! COngrats on the sweet girl coming your way!