NEW Sweet Sweater 'Sweetie Pies'!

May I present my newest Sweet Sweater Original creation? 

Say Hello to the 'Sweet Sweater Sweetie Pie'! TM 

I've been thinking about this project for a LONG time... decades, actually. The idea was originally inspired by the art of Mary Engelbreit, resulting in a 'Sweetie Pie' chair that I painted to sell in my shop. (My tiny shop was located next to a pie bakery, and my friend the owner LOVED this chair!) A client saw the chair, bought it, and then requested the same art on a cabinet she already had:

Way back then, I thought of making little felt or sweater pies to coordinate with this theme... a great idea, I just never got around to making any. Until recently, when I discovered a positively CUTE find that made me think 'Oh that is the PERFECT prop for the pies!!!' It was this cute lil' container (it holds lip balm) at my local DAISO store that kicked me into gear:

I purchased two of them and then hustled across the street to the craft store to buy some red pompoms - I already had everything else I needed at home. With February on the horizon, I thought I should share it in time for you to make your own versions for Valentine's Day decor!

Follow along with me as I finally make a ''Sweet Sweater Sweetie Pie'...

Winter Inspiration for January 🕯

Hello, my friends... I hope the new year finds you well!
I'm currently enjoying these rare rainy January days by embracing a slower schedule - filled with reading, journaling, refreshing the house after the holiday season, and considering ideas for future projects. Rather than rushing around making plans and exhausting myself, I'm finding this new approach fills me with much more joy!

Isn't that what we all hope for in January? Energy for a fresh start? 

How nice it is to be able to choose for ourselves just how we will embrace that in our own lives - and as I shared in my last post, I'm listening to Mother Nature and my own energy cycles to make that 'fresh start' one that isn't fueled by expectations and habits that just don't work for me anymore. For instance, I've made the decision to change my habit of creating 'one project per week' content to share here on the blog.

Instead, I'm going to be publishing a post the first week of each month, sharing the things that are currently inspiring me... something I've changed or created in our home, resources I've discovered that I think you might enjoy, books, quotes, music, scents, places I've visited, even a simple recipe once in awhile! You'll still see a full-on project tutorial occasionally, and posts sharing my content when it is published in magazines. 

My hope is that sharing bite-size doses of inspiration at the beginning of each month will encourage you to enjoy the seasons in truly simple ways, inspiring you to join me in embracing the art & craft of seasonal living (not just seasonal decorating) all year long.

Continue reading to see what's inspiring me this month!

Embracing the Art of Seasonal Living...

image credit: Rose Color Creative 

Winter has arrived... along with a new year and all of the possibilities it holds.

I've always loved decorating seasonally, by bringing the beauty of nature into my home every season of the year. Sometimes it is by actually bringing natural elements indoors, or creating a replication of what I see in nature. Other times it is a hint at something I enjoy about that season (like making snowmen or pumpkins out of sweaters!).

After finding the lovely graphic image shown above on Pinterest, I visited the linked website - Rose Color Creative. There I discovered a post with a delightful concept: 'Working in Rhythms: The Power of Seasonal Productivity'.

In that post (read it here), the owner of Rose Color Creative, Mariah Scott, shares some simple relationships between the cycles of nature's seasons and our own energy levels... what I've decided to call 'the art of seasonal living'.

WINTER: Celebrating the Return of the Light

Winter arrived on December 21st, 2025, heralded by the solstice and a new moon.

We in the Northern Hemisphere shift from losing light to gaining light each day... and that always makes a big difference in my moods. When I think of decorating my home for the winter season, I think of light. Because in all of its forms and iterations, light brings joy and warmth and hope...

Whatever your decorating style, architecture, or location is, you can harness the joy of light in your home. For decades, my practice has been to leave all of the warm white twinkly lights up after Christmas, as well as to add more candles and some clear glass elements to reflect that light everywhere.

More Ideas Ahead...

HOLIDAY: Mid-Mod Nativity

Because the 'Reason for the Season' is important to me, I've created and shared a lot of nativity scenes over the years...

From repainting ceramic figurines to look like terra cotta and placing ornaments on top of bud vases to turning wood scraps into figures for a 'NativiTIKI', I've put my creative brain to work every holiday season to match my themes. (I have linked my favorites at the end of this post)

This year my nativity is simple and modern in style, which fits the Mid Mod Holiday theme perfectly...

HOLIDAY: Mid-Mod Theme Review

Before the holidays are over, I thought a review of all of my projects + posts for this holiday season would be helpful if you've missed any. I'm linking them below, in the order they appeared on the blog.

Continue Reading...

HOLIDAY: Wrap It Up Mid Mod Style!

 

I'll be honest and say that my favorite 'gift giving' part of Christmas is wrapping the gifts and filling the stockings! I had so much fun over the years finding fun, interesting, maybe educational, and yummy goodies to load up my four kids' stockings each year...

... and yes, I wrapped EVERY item that went into their stockings!

(Truth be told, I did that to slow them down, so Mommy could enjoy a cup of coffee and a cinnamon roll on Christmas morning before the mayhem began!)

Stockings aren't *just* for hanging from the mantel, tho. 

Continue reading to see a few other ways I've used them during the holidays - plus a fun way to embellish them with Mid Mod style. (And in true 'Deb' style, when I can't find what I want, I MAKE it. So I've included a quick tutorial for making your own wrapping paper design!)

HOLIDAY: Vinyl & Chenille 'Paper' Chains

I'm not really a 'trend' girl, but when something grabs the collective attention, I notice it.

Like the release of Taylor Swift's 'Life of a Showgirl' album, which hatched four fun sparkly pumpkins for my fall blog series. The deep-hued color palette and classic elements included in the 'new' holiday look dubbed 'Ralph Lauren Christmas' is just a new name, not a new style. And the recent selection of a white hue for the color of the year 2026 and the responses to it are most certainly trending right now - and oh, I DO have thoughts, but I'll keep those over on Instagram to spare you from my disappointment.

There IS one current trend that I can get on board with...
As a creator of seasonal decor using primarily re-purposed, re-used, and sustainable materials, the fervor over paper chains this season is giving me LIFE!

I love seeing all of the ways that people everywhere are creating them and using them in their holiday decor - and many have expressed that they'll be keeping them up well after the new year, too. I'm all in on that idea! (And I may just make MORE to add to my studio!)

I whipped up two different 'chains' that fit my current Mid-Mod inspired theme, just for my own enjoyment... but once I hung them on my studio wall, I decided to include a blog post about them. It's not like you need a tutorial to tell you how to make them - most of us have been doing that since kindergarten. I just thought I'd remind you that you can use just about anything to create them - including vinyl placemats!

The inspiration from mid-century modern style comes from my memories, as well as documented trends and styles from that period. So incorporating a childhood (mine was in the mid-sixties through the 70's) craft in this holiday series just feels right... and I even included a special little touch that my Mom used to add to my paper chains way back when!

Continue reading for all the details...