Hello again! I am so excited to introduce you today to my late-night instant-messaging buddy, Kristen from Ella Claire. This beautiful night-owl has become my dear friend. I love chatting with her and was so thrilled to meet her in person at SNAP. She has the kindest, sweetest spirit about her, and she is so easy to trust and to love!
Not only is Kristen wonderful, but she is crazy talented. I have never seen someone transform rooms and furniture so effortlessly and flawlessly into fabulous country chic perfection. Everything she does has a softness and a vintage flair, and I love it! She told me once that when she was in middle school she just wanted to go to garage sales and find vintage pieces that she could repaint. She was vintage country chic before it was popular!
As you know, burlap and whites and the soft vintage look isn’t what I usually gravitate toward for my own decorations and projects, but I think it is truly stunning and always ooh and aah over the homes of those who have mastered it. I just know myself. The first time sitting on those lovely cream couches I would end up spilling a can of Dr. Pepper all over them. I am not cut out for elegance.
Now it’s time to meet Kristen!
Isn’t she a beauty?! Find out more about her here. You should also follow her on Pinterest and Facebook!
Kristen is a woman of many, many talents, but in my opinion she excels the most at home decor and DIY fabulousness. The details of her home are so lovely and intricate. For instance, see those black clips holding up the pictures of the flowers in the middle picture? They are mousetraps. GENIUS, right?! She is so amazing! Check out her lovely Home Tour post to see more pictures!
This is my favorite room in Kristen’s home: the Vintage Play Area!! The red KILLS me! This room just screams my name! I want her to come recreate it for my little Jade! She put it together with pieces she slowly collected and gave a makeover. Perfection.
One of the amazing things Kristen does in her home is her chalkboards. She has stunning chalkboards. They look like they jumped off of a page of an Anthropologie or Pottery Barn catalogue. And she does them by HAND! It’s almost sickening. 😉 Here are two tutorials from the master which will help you learn how to jump on the chalkboard bandwagon in a major way: her Chalkboard Drawing Tutorial and Chalkboard Maintenance 101.
And sometimes she paints her signs instead…… Too much talent, I tell you! Don’t you just love this Autumn Sign that she made for her entryway?!
The last thing that I want to show you in Kristen’s lovely home is her TREES!!! Oh man, her TREES!!! You have to see them to believe them. All year through she has elaborate, vintage-decorated trees. Just thinking about decorating those trees makes me exhausted. I think they should be featured in a magazine, don’t you?! From left to right you can see her Christmas Tree, Halloween Tree, and Vintage Valentine Tree. Swoon…..
As you can see, Kristen does a lot of decorating with burlap. Burlap is a tricky fabric! It can be stiff and stinky and messy. But never fear, because Kristen has mastered the art of working with burlap and has some amazingly simple tips that will help you wash and cut burlap! Check out her post here.
Another thing about Kristen that you may not know is that she is a bit of a font junkie, and she has created amazing lists of her favorite free fonts. You can find all of her lists here. Here are three of my personal favorites: Vintage Fonts, Valentine’s Love Letter Fonts, and Number Fonts.
Now let’s wrap up this gush-fest with a couple of quick and easy recipes. I haven’t tried the Homemade Mac & Cheese in a Mug yet, but she told me it’s amazing, and I can verify that the Asparagus Recipe is delicious and sumper simple. It was a big hit at our house!
Last but not least, I want to give a shout-out to Kristen’s cute online store, Ella Claire: the Shoppe. You will love what you find there, I’m sure of it!
I hope that you take some time to browse Kristen’s blog and fall in love with it as much as I have! She is a truly lovely person, both inside and out!
Quickly, before you go, did you see yesterday’s roundup of 75 S’mores Inspired Recipes?! It was the kick-off to a summer-long series called S’mores Saturdays. Check back every Saturday for a new recipe if you love S’more-y Goodness as much as I do!!
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Sarah!! This is the sweetest thing I have ever read! Thank you so much for all of the sweet things you said about me. You just totally made my day sweet girl. Thank you so much!
You are so welcome!! I mean every word!