December Stylish Monday - "All That Sparkles"

I am so happy to announce that I am part of a new group of women fashion bloggers.  If you remember in my last Fashion Post  I mentioned that the Ageless Style Link Up had ended and I was looking for a new group to join.  Well, Shelbee kindly asked me to join her group so here I am!  I am so excited to be a part of this new group.  They operate like Ageless Style, picking a theme, and doing one link up per month.

This month's theme is "All That Sparkles".  That's a fun theme for the holidays, isn't it?  I decided since Christmas will be spent in the comfort of my own home that I would create a comfy, casual, yet sparkly outfit.

 

I chose to bring the sparkle in with a sequin tank, lots of big, sparkly jewelry, gold shoes, metallic nail polish, and glossy lips.  I brought the comfy in with stretchy high waist denim and a cardigan.

It's hard to see in the photographs, but the sequin tank is very sparkly in real life.  The tank has gold sequins sewn in rows up and down the top,  

Because the tank has such a low cut, I was able to add this pretty statement necklace;  the more bling for the holidays the better!

I also wore sparkly rose gold earrings, a faux diamond bracelet, rings, and I colored my nails a neutral metallic color.

I have always loved the idea of dressing up denim with heels.  These sparkly gold shoes were the perfect added touch to my "All That Sparkles" outfit.

I shopped my closet for this outfit, and all though all the pieces are very old, I have never worn them together before.  I liked this outfit so much I decided to wear it for Christmas Day!  Isn't it wonderful when we can create new outfits using old clothes from our own closet?  It's a great money saver.

Now it's time to look at what the other ladies of the group are wearing;  and be sure to join our link up at the end of the post!

Shelbee of Shelbee on the Edge

Shelbee - Shelbee on the Edge - I recently found this sequined mini skirt on a thrifting adventure for something sparkly for another style challenge. I ended up wearing something different for that one so I was excited for this style theme to wear the skirt. I added my floral sequined boots, a leopard print sweater, and my faux fur coat (also thrifted) with statement gold jewelry for my shiny festive outfit in black, tan, and gold. It never hurts to add some sparkle and shine to our days! Happy holidays!

Nina - Sharing Our Journey

Nina - Sharing a Journey - It’s that time of year when glitter and glitz, sequins and bows can and should be worn daily!  Hop over to lift your spirits and add a little glitter to even the smallest of things.

Michele - On Instagram as Seechele_styles

Michele - On Instagram as Seechele_styles 

My Sequined top is thrifted, the camo joggers are from Walmart and my sneakers are from SHEIN.  It’s a party on the top, and casual on the bottom, showing you can mix it up.

Ada - Elegance and Mommyhood

Ada - Elegance and Mommyhood - This has been the year of rediscovering my closet - COVID and all - so I am wearing an outfit featuring pieces I have owned, like this fitted cropped beaded+sequined hot pink tank top styled beautifully with a maroon shimmery tweed skirt (love that asymmetrical ruffle). I went for a monochrome look by pairing it with these cranberry studded suede booties. Between the top, my rhinestone hair clip, my jewelry and my gorgeous gold tree I got a lot of sparkle in this look. Tis the season to Shimmer and SPARKLE!!  

Nicole - High Latitude Style

Nicole - High Latitude Style - Being a dancer sparkle is my thing. Can you imagine a ballroom gown without Rhinestones or sequins? Of course, the sequins also can be worn at day. 

                                                        Julie - Fashion Trends and Friends

Julie - Fashion Trends and Friends -  Can a girl ever wear or have too many sparkles?  I think not!  This month’s theme is totally in my wheelhouse!  I love and am most attracted to all things sparkly:  rhinestones, glitter, shimmery threads and material, metallics, and the more sequins the merrier!  I know that December is typically the month to shine but why not all year long?  Since we’re staying home more than ever and wearing more leisure wear than perhaps we have in the past, I’m really excited that current trends are incorporating sparkles into leisure wear!  Being fancy and sparkly brings me great joy even if I’m only sitting on Zoom all day!  If over the top sparkle isn’t your thing, it can be super easy to just have a touch sparkle!  Shine on Friends!

Andy - Pearls and Pantsuits

Andy - Pearls and Pantsuits - I’ve had this jacket for a while and just love the subtle pop of sparkle on the sleeves, so when I found the fully sequined top at TJMaxx I just knew it would work well with that jacket and so many other things in my closet! It’s a lovely rose gold color and is lightweight enough for our warmer Louisiana winter weather. I adore sparkle! Give me all the sparkle! 

                                                               Suzanne - Ask Suzanne Bell

Suzanne - Ask Suzanne Bell - This holiday, our activities may look different than seasons past, but we cannot give up and let the Covid steal our sparkle.  These days, running errands, baking, picking up take-out, or binge-watching classic holiday movies on the couch are opportunities to swap out the yoga pants for something more festive in order to feel a bit more put together, and in the spirit of the holiday season. By swapping out a plain white tee for this thrifted sequin rocker tee and velvet duster, I felt a whole new level of festiveness.

Nancy - Nancy's Fashion Style

Nancy -  Nancy’s Fashion Style - I’ve been looking for a perfect gold sequin top for months now but can’t find it! So annoying! However….I do have this gorgeous rose gold shiny metallic kind a skirt. Very glowy and perfect for the holidays with a gorgeous black blouse and black heels. But for now I am wearing it for these cold days before!

Emma - Style Splash

Emma - Style Splash - “I bought this ‘Golden Girl’ sweater last winter, and when it popped up in an Instagram memory I thought it would be perfect for this theme. It seems I’m not the only one who loves it because I’ve seen several celebrities wearing it on TV in the last week. True to the slogan I had to add more gold; I finally managed to get hold of these gold boots after patiently waiting for months for them to become available on eBay in my size (they sold out very quickly in Zara). I think they were worth the wait!”

And Now Me....

Amy - Amy’s Creative Pursuits - Since Christmas will be spent in the comfort of our home this year I decided to create a comfy casual yet sparkly outfit at the same time.  I paired comfy jeans with a sequined tank and then I added even more sparkle and shine with jewelry and fun gold sandals.

I absolutely love all the ways each woman in this group brought sparkle to their outfits.  Which looks are your favorites?  I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.  And be sure to link up with us this month.

Have A Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

My 2020 Christmas Home Tour

Welcome to my 2020 Christmas Home Tour.  I know this will be a different Christmas for many depending on where you live in the country or the in world, and many people even wondered if they should even bother to decorate the house because "Who will see it?".  I have always decorated my home from top to bottom  for years, and the only people who ever really see it is my own nuclear family and all of my blog readers, so nothings really changed for me.  Plus, I believe that no matter what politicians may say, we follow The "Who's" down in "Whoville" and say nothing "Will Stop Christmas From Coming" in the Johnson household.  Christ was still born on Christmas Day and his birth will be celebrated no matter what!

Now on to the Christmas Decor!  In last year's Christmas Home Tour I did my living room tree in white and gold and I mentioned in that post that the following year I would like to do it in either red and white or white and teal.  I ended up buying ornaments in both colors at Hobby Lobby for 75% off after Christmas.  This year I decided to try the trendy "frosty teal".  It turned out ok.  I felt the teal never really showed up in the tree as much as I would have liked.  Perhaps I had too much white in the tree or I need a teal ribbon in the tree (I went back to Hobby Lobby this year for some teal ribbon and they did not have any).  So I decided to try and pull the teal out of the tree by wrapping my presents in white Kraft paper and an assortment of teal ribbon and handmade blue/teal snowflake tags (more on that in next week's craft post).

You can see the frosty mint/teal much better in the close ups.  I bought two types of mint bulbs and then some frosty mint foliage (Lamb's Ear, bottom of photo).

The staircase I did almost exactly the same as last year except I removed the gold bows and ornaments and used strictly white ribbon and bows.

View of the tree as seen from the dining room.  Swags are above each doorway.

This is the dining room looking into the office with a far away view of the family room.  I hung garland around the doorway and decorated it with soft gold bows and ornaments.  Christmas plates are placed on the plate rail all around the room.  On the piano I have my usual photo collage to match the season and my decorated tiered tray.

I bought this photo collage frame at Walmart a few years ago.  I change the photos with the seasons.  I love that there is no glass, and just clips.  It makes it so easy to change out the photos and with the grandkids growing and changing so fast, I need to change the photos out often.  These pictures are from my Christmas Photo Shoot with the grand kids.

On the left of the piano sits my tiered tray decorated for Christmas.  I did it exactly the same as I did last year.  You can see more details in THIS POST.

For the buffet, I placed white candles and greenery decorated in white and gold.

The chandelier is decorated with green boughs and white and gold accents.  The dining room centerpiece has to be kid friendly so I just filled a decorative bowl full of shatterproof ornaments.

Now this room is very different than last year because after last Christmas this room was renovated.  It use to be our family room, but because we needed an extra guest room for our growing family, it was renovated into a master bedroom suite.  We still use it as our main tv room when the whole family is together but mostly it is used as by husband and I for our "little getaway" when the kids are over.  We let the kids and grandkids take the entire third floor to sleep in, and then we sleep down here.  The grey curtains you see in the foreground provide privacy if needed.

I draped the entry into this room with garland and burgundy bows.

At the top of the garland I hung a banner.

We started renovating this room before the pandemic and barely got most of the construction done when the pandemic hit.  It was perfect timing because our kids sheltered in place with us for three months until the lockdowns were lifted.  After the kids moved out, it was spring and we started building our vegetable garden and got so busy we never really finished this room.  We were going to put in new carpeting, varnish the doors, and hang pictures.  But that never happened and hopefully can be done this winter unless there is some big economic recession.  You can read more about the renovation of this room HERE.

We wanted to create some sort of enclosure to the bedroom portion of the room, but we didn't want to block out the light, so we used sliding glass doors.  Privacy is not really an issue unless we have company, and then we just pull the curtain shut seen in the first doorway.

On the entrance to the guest bedroom I hung garland with gold lights and put a mix of bells and bows on top.

I could not fit a tree into this room like I have in previous years, so I hung a very large wreath on the wall instead.

I decorated the wreath in red and gold and hung Christmas bells and a "Merry Christmas" banner on it.

To both the right and the left of the bed I placed miniature trees decorated with red florals and gold bulbs and ribbon.

Large gold bells hang in the garland on either side of the bed.

The garland above the bed is what I'm most proud of.  I wanted this room to be a romantic Christmas retreat for my husband and I so I draped the area above the head board with greenery and gold lights.  I filled the greenery with gold ribbon and florals and topped it with a large red bow and red poinsettias.

On the bed I placed two embroidered Christmas pillows.

On the left side of the bedroom I placed a floral arrangement on the dresser.

I picked up this birch candle holder at Hobby Lobby for 90% at an after Christmas sale.  After Christmas, especially WAY AFTER Christmas is the best time to pick up Christmas decor.  The stores are practically giving it away!  I decorated the greenery surrounding the birch candle holder with red poinsettias and berries.

On the right side of the bed are some bookshelves.  I simply added more greenery decorated with red flowers and berries, and then I displayed a Christmas book and a snow globe.  On the bed I laid a Christmas throw.

The sunroom is almost exactly the same as last years, except I didn't do as much.  I simply hung a wreath in every window and created a small swag on each post of the staircase.

A close up of one of the small wreaths.

I put a sleigh and reindeer on the long dining room table.

A large wreath hangs above the door at the base of the stair case.

There are three posts on the staircase.  I hung some greenery and a big red bow on each post.

 I hope you enjoyed seeing my 2020 Christmas Home Tour!  I have certainly enjoyed seeing all of your Christmas decor.

Have A Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!