HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE: GIFTS FOR YOUR FRIENDS (UNDER $50!)

First of all, Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you're all spending the day with family or friends, and have found something to be grateful for. We're spending the week in San Francisco as a family, and I'm feeling so grateful for my three (soon to be four!) wonderful boys. I'm also so grateful for all of you amazing readers that make this blog possible and allow me to have a creative outfit and share the things I'm so passionate about. So thank you, thank you, thank you.

Now continuing with Merrick's Guide to the Holidays! During the holidays, I love shopping for my friends. It's a bit of a challenge, since everyone has different styles and tastes, but I love coming up with the perfect gift that I know they'll absolutely love. I had so much fun putting together this gift guide, because I chose only things I knew I would love receiving, so it's filled with some of my favorite things and you'll for sure be able to find something for your friends in this gift guide!

I also know how expensive it can get to buy something for all of your friends, so I've kept all of these gifts (except for one or two) under $50, and some as low as $5, so you can shop for everyone!

The images in the collage below are clickable, so just hover over and click to shop! 

(the only item not clickable is the curling wand, which is on sale for this weekend $17.99 with code BFWAND17).  I've also included regular links below if that's easier for you!

EMMA SUNGLASSES  |  NARS LIPSTICK  |  BAUBLE BAR TASSEL BRACELET  |  GRAY FEDORA  |  NUDE BOW FLATS (also come in black!) | CONTOUR PALETTE  |  FRINGE CROSSBODY BAG  |  ‘THINGS ARE TOTALLY GOING TO WORK OUT’ NOTEBOOKS

VOLCANO CANDLE  |  HAPPY IPHONE CASE (50% off!) | WINKING GLITTER IPHONE CASE

  |  FLORAL IPHONE CASE  |  BLUE POM POM HAT  |  BLACK POM POM HAT (on sale for $18) | CHEEK STAIN  |

FAUX FUR POM POM CLIP (comes in lots of colors!) | RIFLE PAPER NOTE CARDS

MACARON WALL ART  | ABSTRACT WALL ART  |  ANTLER JEWELRY DISH  |  GOLD GRID CUFF  |  GREEN FLANNEL TOP (comes in tons of colors!) | LEOPARD LOAFERS  |  NUME CURLING WAND (any classic wand on sale for $17.99 with code BFWAND17, or get 60% off your entire order + Free Shipping with code BFTOOL60!)

LEOPARD CLUTCH  |  POLAROID CAMERA  |  SECHE VITE NAIL POLISH TOP COAT  |  THE SARTORIALIST BOOK  |   NYX MATTE LIPSTICK  |  NOTECARDS  |  OVERSIZED CRYSTAL STUDS   |  EYESHADOW PALETTE

PLAID BLANKET SCARF  |  RED PLAID BLANKET SCARF (under $25!) | POM POM KEY CHAIN | FAUX LEATHER TOTE BAG  | JULEP CREME NAIL COLOR

And don't forget to stop by the blog tomorrow for a bunch of my Black Friday sale favorites, including the sale on The Modern Girl's Guide to Sewing that starts tonight at midnight -- don't miss it!

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MODERN GIRL'S CHRISTMAS: RED PLAID DRESS

OUTFIT DETAILS: DRESS MADE BY ME -- TUTORIAL HERE  ||  PATENT LEATHER HEELS  ||  NECKLACE  ||  BRACELET  ||  LIPSTICK 

This week Leanne and I have been sharing holiday style with garments you can make with The Modern Girl's Guide to Sewing! Our courses will be on sale this weekend, so don't miss the chance to pick up our Beginner's Course, the Intermediate Course, or both of them!

On Monday I shared a gold sequin skirt, and yesterday Leanne shared a gorgeous burgundy lace skirt, both made with instructions from our Beginners Guide.

The Intermediate course teaches more advanced skills, and the last video in the course takes you through a step by step tutorial for a shift dress, like the one I'm wearing here. I slimmed down the sides to make it more baby bump friendly and obviously used a stretchy knit material.

Make sure to check Leanne's blog tomorrow to see her holiday shift dress, and then snag yourself a course this weekend while they're on sale so you can whip up some amazing handmade holiday clothing!

HANDMADE HOLIDAYS: DIY LEOPARD LACE-UP FLATS

Today I'm so excited to share with you my first handmade gift of the season...and it's a good one! I love making handmade gifts for my friends and family because they have such a special touch to them.

The challenge for me in making gifts is that I want a project that will actually be better than something I can buy in the store, and will cost me less than if I bought it at the store. This fits the bill on both accounts, and your mom, girlfriends, or sisters will die over them.

OUTFIT DETAILS: SIMILAR LITTLE BLACK DRESS HERE & HERE  ||  SIMILAR BAG  ||  SIMILAR EARRINGS  ||  SIMILAR BRACELET

Lace up flats are huge this season, and are a super easy project to DIY. But take it a step further and paint them to create gorgeous little leopard flats!

Click READ MORE below to find the full step by step tutorial!

photos by rad and happy

MODERN GIRL'S CHRISTMAS: GOLD SEQUIN SKIRT

When Leanne and I created The Modern Girl's Guide to Sewing, we did it because we wanted to teach women and girls how to make their own wardrobes. There are so many amazing pieces you can make, and it's just not that hard! 

During the holidays in particular, I love whipping up a one-of-a-kind piece that I can wear to a holiday party. During Halloween, we dedicated an entire week to handmade costumes, and now that Christmas is upon us we're back with another full week of handmade Christmas style! 

This week we'll show you four different holiday style ideas, each created with pieces you'll learn to make in The Modern Girl's Guide to Sewing, and at the end of the week our courses will be ON SALE, so don't miss that!

First up, the sequin skirt...

OUTFIT DETAILS: SEQUIN SKIRT MADE BY ME, TUTORIAL HERE  ||  PLAID BUTTON UP  ||  PATENT LEATHER HEELS  ||  GOLD WATCH  ||  SPIKE BRACELET  ||  DIAMOND BRACELET  ||  LIPSTICK

A sequin skirt is such a holiday classic, and it's actually really easy to make! A skirt like this could be paired with basic black, white, or red, but I chose this green and blue plaid button up for a little unexpected holiday glam. A swipe of red lipstick, a stack of gold bracelets, and some black heels, and you're ready for a party in no time. 

Our online video sewing courses teach you how to use your sewing machine, measure and sew darts, insert zippers, hem a dress, create a professional neckline, and so much more. In our Beginner's course, we teach you all the basics of sewing and then use those skills to create a cute and simple A-line skirt, like the gold sequin one I'm wearing here. Did you know that such basic skills could create such a killer holiday skirt?? 

The great thing about this skirt pattern is that it works for maternity and non-maternity -- just add a little extra length to make sure it covers your bump and is still as long as you'd like it. The elastic waist gives you all the room you'll need. 

Leanne will be sharing another style of this same skirt tutorial on her blog tomorrow, so don't miss it! 

Both of our courses will be ON SALE this week for Black Friday through Cyber Monday! Mark your calendars, text your husbands, email your moms, or do whatever you need to do so you make sure that our guide shows up under your tree early this Christmas!

DIY FRIDAY: GLITTER AND FUR HOLIDAY PILLOW (IKEA HACK)

ROOM AND OUTFIT DETAILS: TURTLENECK SWEATER  |  RED LIPSTICK  |  GRAY COUCH  |  RED THROW BLANKET  |  FUR LUMBAR PILLOW  |  BLACK AND WHITE PILLOW  |  SIMILAR GOLD PILLOW  |  WHITE FUR PILLOW, MADE BY ME (TUTORIAL BELOW!)

As Holidays at Home week comes to a close, I'm super excited to show you a simple and fun pillow you can make for the holidays. It would be a great gift for someone you love, or you might just be selfish like me and want to keep it for yourself because it's just too darn cute.

When I had the idea for this pillow, I immediately thought of my amazingly talented friend, Tara from Rad and Happy. She does beautiful calligraphy, and I knew she could come up with a great design for the front of the pillow. And of course she did -- I'm completely obsessed with how it turned out.

She's sharing the FREE printable of "Let It Snow" over on her blog today (which you can use for this project, or just print it out and frame it for winter...cause that would be so cute too), and I'm sharing the tutorial for the pillow below!

Click READ MORE to find the full tutorial!

DISPLAYING YOUR HOLIDAY CARDS + A MINTED.COM GIVEAWAY!

I'm pretty sure everyone in the world loves getting happy mail. I know I do, so I love when December comes around and people send their holiday cards.

Minted is far and away my favorite holiday card site -- they have fantastic and unique designs (I love this floral one and everything in their foil collection), super high quality cards, and really good prices. Their turnaround is also super quick, which is very important during the holidays when you have a million other things on your plate.

Today I've teamed up with Minted to give away $250 to use on anything on their site (the giveaway is at the bottom of the post!), and I'm sharing two easy ways to display your holiday cards this year. I always just tape mine to the wall, but having them hung around the house like this is just so pretty and festive.

Here are our cards we've sent out over the last five years (we didn't start sending them out until B was born)

Now for two easy ways to display them!

1. Use a sturdy ribbon and hang it across your fireplace, or just on a blank wall. Use mini clothespins to clip the cards to the ribbon.

I think it would look so pretty if you had five or six rows of ribbon, all with your hanging cards!

2. Hang vertical strings of ribbon over your mantel, or just in strands along a blank wall. Use clothespins to clip the pictures to the ribbon.

Again, this would look so pretty with a wall filled with rows of vertical strands.

OUTFIT DETAILS: DRESS c/o OLIVE LANE SHOP  ||  BOOTS c/o RACK ROOM SHOES

And now for the giveaway! Use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter to win $250 to Minted -- now is the perfect time to order your holiday cards, so hurry and enter!  Giveaway ends next Wednesday at midnight. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

SIMPLE TOUCHES FOR GETTING YOUR HOUSE HOLIDAY READY

In case you missed it in yesterday's post, we're in full blown Merrick's Guide to the Holidays here on the blog! This week's theme is Holidays at Home, so of course we need to talk about holiday home decorations.

One of my favorite memories growing up was putting up all of our Christmas decorations as a family the day after Thanksgiving. There's just something so magical, cozy, and special about Christmas decor, and now that I have my own home I want my family to feel that during the holidays. 

Every year we pick up a few new decorations, and this year I've teamed up with World Market to share a few fun items to give that special touch to your home and bring that cozy and homey magic to your home during the holidays. World Market is one of my favorite home goods stores because it has unique, quality, and beautiful pieces, and all at such great prices.

We're going in phases of decorating this year -- first these little touches with small decor and pillows, next week we'll put the tree up, and probably the week after that I'll get the rest of my house completely holiday ready.

I love World Market's collection of pillows and blankets this year, and although I have a bunch of already on my couch, I think a whole couch full of pillows and a cozy throw blanket make any room feel inviting.  I chose a few new pillows that felt festive and special, but could still be used year round if we wanted to rotate (all except this Fa-la-la-la-la pillow which was just too cute to pass up).  But I'm loving this fur one, and of course a pop of red brought some color to the room.

I also wanted a simple coffee table decoration, so I found these candles and glass cylinder vases, wrapped them in garland, and set them on the table next to this amazing reindeer wooden tray.

And lastly, for the mantel, I added some garland, pretty glitter paper trees, a holiday banner, and a pretty string of fake cranberries. I also can't wait to add our stockings up there once they come out of storage, and some logs for the fireplace.

It doesn't take much to make a room feel cozy and festive -- just a few simple touches and a basic room becomes magical and holiday ready.



ROOM DETAILS: FA-LA-LA PILLOW (also love this one!) ||  FUR PILLOW  ||  RED THROW  ||  RED PILLOW  ||  MACY'S COUCH (ALMOST IDENTICAL HERE)  ||  IKEA BLACK AND WHITE PILLOWS  ||  KATHY DAVIS "JOY" PILLOW, c/o  ||  (all other pillows from west elm a few years ago and no longer available)

REINDEER TRAY  ||  CHALKBOARD COCOA MUGS  ||  CANDLES  ||  CYLINDER VASES  

HOLIDAY BANNER  ||  WHITE GLITTER TREES  ||  CRANBERRY GARLAND 

OUTFIT DETAILS: TURTLENECK  ||  SWEATER  ||  JEANS  ||  SIMILAR BABY PLAID SHIRT

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photos by rad and happy | created in partnership with World Market