THE SCOOP #96

Welcome to

THE SCOOP #96

This week is a fun and busy week...

Wednesday I'm participating in the

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER CHRISTMAS EDITION...

Me and 5 other fabulous and creative bloggers will be sharing ways to create, decorate, and  work some Christmas magic... at the last minute! So if you need a little Christmas inspiration you will want to stop by!

Thursday I am part of a Christmas Farmhouse Tour... I've been waiting to share all the Holiday decor in my Farmhouse kitchen!  If you like "farmhouse" you will love this tour of Christmas farmhouses!

Then on Friday, I'll be sharing my very favorite Christmas cookie as part of

CHRISTMAS COOKIE EXCHANGE






Please visit the following blogs to see what cookies they have brought to the Christmas Cookie Exchange...

Monday, Dec. 9th

The Everyday Home

Atta Girl Says

Southern Color

All Things Heart and Home

Deja Vue Designs

Shabby Art Boutique

Tuesday, Dec. 10th

Worthing Court

Town and Country Living

Lilacs and Longhorns

Inspiration for Moms

VINTAGE NEWS JUNKIE

Designers Sweet Spot

Wednesday, Dec. 11th

Marty's Musings

Domestically Speaking

My Soulful Home

Sweet Pea

Our Southern Home

A Delightsome Life

Thursday, Dec. 12th

Cottage at the Crossroads

Pennywise

Major Hoff Takes a Wife

Country Design Style

House on the Way

Fresh Idea Studio

Friday, Dec. 13th

Confessions of a Plate Addict

Stone Gable

Create and Babble

So Much Better With Age

Cupcakes and Crinolines

The Happier Homemaker

Welcome back to The Scoop

The weekly linky party featuring the scoop on the

best posts from around the web!

More exposure + less time = win win!

------> (INSERT NEW SCOOP PICTURE HERE) <--------

 We are 

Anita from Cedar Hill Farmhouse

 Debbie from Confessions of a Plate Addict

and Barb from The Everyday Home 
Yvonne from Stone Gable ...
and new to the group... Suzy from Worthing Court


  Our Host this Week is Barb with The Everyday Home





  Hi Everyone!  I actually have TWO very special people to introduce you to this week. But first - did you get a chance to visit 


  The Everyday Home 2013 Christmas Tour?





Our home is decked out and I would love it if you would come to visit me.






  Mr. Buck would be ever so grateful, too...





   ...we promise it will make you smile.

The first person I would like to introduce you to

is Suzy with Worthing Court.

I am so happy that Suzy is the newest member of

The Scoop.  So I am going to let her tell you

a little bit about herself...

Hi everyone!  I'm Suzy from Worthing Court.

I'm over the moon excited to be added as the newest

co-host at The Scoop!

This is such a wonderful group of ladies who host The Scoop

every week.  I'm humbled to be joining them.

I've been blogging at Worthing Court for about 2 1/2 years.  

When I started this venture it was purely meant as a creative

outlet for me and a way to share my passion for all things home

decor.  Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine what it would

morph into!  The creative sharing is totally fun, but nothing

compares to the people that I've met and the friendships that

have developed along the way.

I don't have a bottomless pocketbook - I guess not many

of us do - so you'll often find me blogging about thrifty

decorating projects and reusing items that I already own.

 Like one of my guestrooms that I've been working on.  

I was in need of a size-specific thrifty nightstand and came

up with the idea of using a laundry hamper turned upside-down.

 It works great!  Ceiling medallions with round mirrors attached

and spray painted frames and mats (that I already had) work

great for inexpensive artwork.

 The Perfect Nightstand

I'm a huge believer in "paying in forward", so I love it when

I can help others with their own Design Dilemmas.   Right

now, my step-by-step professional designer secrets for decorating

a Christmas tree is extremely popular.  Their tips and directions

apply to any tree - no matter the style of your decor.

How To: Step-By-Step Designer's Christmas

Tree Decorating 

Along the lines of using what I have, I recently completed

the re-do of my basement family room.  I had to deal with wall

color that I don't like and furniture that I don't care for.  Check

out all of the diy projects involved, the before and afters and my

tricks for keeping the eye from focusing on the furniture too much.

Every now and then, I'll share a Recipe too.  I know what it's

like to be a working mom, so I'm all about easy, fast and

tasty when it comes to recipes!

Recipes from Worthing Court

 We have a teeny-tiny condo located on the oceanfront in

North Carolina that I like to share projects from too.  Take a

look at these DIY Bookcases From Kitchen Cabinets

that my hubby completed a few months ago.

 Kitchen Cabinets Turned Into A Bookcase

This is just the tip of the iceberg.  I have lots to share and I love

learning from you too!

Please join me at Worthing Court.  

I look forward to meeting you!

Thanks Suzy and welcome to The Scoop!

The next person I would like to introduce is

our special Guest Host.

Please welcome Jennifer Carroll with

Celebrating Everyday Life with Jennifer Carroll.  






Hello friends both old and new! I’m delighted to be guest hosting “The Scoop” with you this week. For those of you who haven’t met me before, my name is Jennifer and I am the publisher of Celebrating Everyday Life with Jennifer Carroll, the magazine and blog. My magazine is published six times per year and is filled with food, decor and inspiration to help you celebrate, everyday!







In the November/December issue we celebrate the holidays and all the joys they bring! Join us for a Hot Cocoa Porch Party...






  a Gingerbread Wonderland...







  a Christmas Party Hop...







  Fun & festive DIY projects, beautiful homes, delicious recipes and much, much more!




Oh and I have exciting news! We now offer six month and twelve month digital subscriptions! These make wonderful gifts this holiday season!! OK, let’s get down to The Scoop! I was asked to pick 5-6 favorites from the link party - sounds simple, right? Wrong. This was so, so difficult because there were so many amazing projects and I sincerely mean that. But since I had to pick, here are some links that I especially loved and hope you will too.







First up, if you know me, you know I love entertaining and thought this Luxe Cheese Tray tutorial from Hello Little Home was perfect for this season of entertaining but also imaginative. Chocolate on a cheese tray? What a great idea! Plus, Kristen gave a lot of great details and tips on selecting and arranging too.







I am always awed and delighted with Amy from Twigg Studios' Creations and she has not disappointed me with this spectacular looking Tiramisu cake. Who wouldn’t want to run right up to that if you saw it at a holiday party? It’s almost too pretty to eat… but only almost! Grab a fork!



I love great DIY furniture makeovers and was so smitten with “Jameson” by Danielle at Silver Pennies. What a talent she has for creating that “crumbled/distressed to perfection” look that I adore! Makes me want to makeover another piece of furniture, right now!



  This Lampshade Christmas Tree from Danielle at Blessed Serendipity totally surprised me with its adorableness! I haven’t always had an appreciation for vintage “kitschy” ornaments but in the last couple of years they've been growing on me and her unique tree with its masses of beaded baubles and cheerful colors just makes me smile. So sweet!








  I recently got a bunch of tiny vintage tart pans (although mine aren’t French!) so I was very inspired by Kathleen from Faded Charm’s French Tin Tarts ornament project. She has created such a serene setting, I want to just sit back, relax and soak in all the joie de Noel that is happening over there!







  I am a big fan of easy projects that deliver a great look - the whole ‘luxe for less’ concept - and I have to say that this Tissue Paper Christmas Tree from Poppi Linn Studio fits this to a “T”. A simple project that looks like a million bucks. I can’t wait to try it! It doesn’t hurt that it does look similar to a bee skep and I have a growing collection of them… Now I can make my own variations! Love that!! Thank you all for allowing me to party with you this week. It’s been an honor and a pleasure! Happy Celebrating!  

Thank you so much Jennifer.  We loved having you as

our Guest Host.

And...thank you for linking up, friends!

Please read the guidelines before participating:

• Follow and/or subscribe to your host blog.
• Be sure to include THE SCOOP button or text link to in your linked post...mandatory to be featured!
• By linking up you are agreeing that the photos are yours or that you have permission to use them, that we may use those photos to feature your project on a blog post, Facebook, Pinterest, or Twitter with a link back to your blog, of course.
• Please go to the source of a photo to pin it to Pinterest so that the originator of the post gets the credit.