Daily Inspiration: Merry 'belated' Christmas!

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How are you all? Are you holding up ok? Did you have a fantastic holiday and now you're gearing up for a great start to the new year?

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I sure am. . . I've been fending off a terrible little cold for almost 2.5 months now. . . today my doctor finally wrote me another prescription (this is the 3rd one!)to hopefully get over it this time around!

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Needless to say, more to come shortly. . . hope you had a Merry Christmas, that you enjoy your low-key week, and that you kick off New Years with a bang!

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Best wishes and more to come soon. . .

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Daily Inspiration: Christmas Door Decorations

I love nothing more than delightful holiday decor on homes. . . I'm necessarily talking about a big blow-up Grinch or a lit up Santa in someones front yard. I'm all for decor, of any kind, but I prefer subtle when it comes to holiday decor. . .

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Check out a few of these front door decorations. . .

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This arched entryway is simply lovely. . .

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These black double doors are fantastic and the wreath is hung in such a way that it is truly the focal point. . .

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Talk about a dramatic entryway. . LOVE!

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Check out this lantern. . .
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This is one of my favorites! The wreath on the snow is subtle and with the Tiffany blue door - its lovely!

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This is one of my favorites - check out the detail! Puts me right in the spirit. . .
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Happy Holidays to all of you. . . Enjoy your Thursday! I'm in Austin until Friday and then I'm jetsetting it home to host a holiday soiree this weekend! More to come. . .

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Melissa Bryant Giveaway - Last Chance!

LAST CHANCE - DON'T FORGET!!

Don't forget to leave your comment on the blog or send a brief email to simplecreativeinspiration@gmail.com today by 12:00am Midnight!

Here is the blog post for the contest!!

I'm enroute to Austin for the week!

Enjoy your Monday. . .

Daily Inspiration: Antiques in Pennsylvania

This year on Black Friday - my husband and I headed out antiquing to a few fabulous shops in Pennsylvania. My husband is originally from a small town fairly far, but outside of Philadelphia. ! We stumbled upon quite a few items, that if we had the space in our vehicle, I would have surely snagged. We saw a few fabulous finds - but came home with only one. . .
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Check out our new 'washing table' that is serving a wonderful purpose as a 'media stand' in our downstairs living room!

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L.O.V.E I.T!
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Would you believe we got this little gem for under a $100!
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I hope you have a fabulous weekend, we're off to the Windy City of Chicago for a quick trip filled with good friends, fabulous shopping and delicious food!

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Enjoy. . .

A Christmas Cookie Tradition. . .Raspberry Shortbreads Drizzled with Chocolate

Every year since I was a little girl I can remember baking tons of delicious Christmas Cookies for the holidays. Each year we would plan out specific days that we were planning to bake, mix, stir, chill and finally create our traditional Christmas creations. My mom would pull out each recipe card with care, place them on the kitchen counter with the perfect ingredients and we would make all of our treats in one day.

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For the past couple of years, my sweet sissy and I have not been able to make it home to take part in the cookie baking, so we plan a day to do it here in Indy! Each year our men know to roll up their sleeves and we have added a few new recipes to the mix, since they both have their favorites too!

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This year was no different - except we were a bit busy - so I've been baking during the day this week (luckily its easy to pop in a batch here and there while working from home, oh the luxury of laptops, wireless Internet and cell phones!) and we planned one evening this week to whip out as many as possible as a group!

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We baked our traditional line up -complete with one of our favorites - Raspberry Shortbreads, drizzled beautifully with White Chocolate. I had to share the recipe with you - because each year we get a ton of compliments on them - and they truly are To. Die. For!

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Enjoy. . .

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White Chocolate - Raspberry - Shortbread Cookies:

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Ingredients:

-2 cups Flour

-6 Tablespoons Sugar

-2 Tablespoons Corn Starch

-3/4 cup Margarine or Butter

Raspberry Filling:

-1/2 cup seedless Raspberry Preserves

- 2 teaspoons Corn Starch

Chocolate Drizzle:

- 3-4 ounces White or Dark Chocolate

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Directions:

Combine flour, sugar and corn starch; cut in butter until crumbly. Shape dough using hands into ball - knead 4 times. Divide dough in half, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Roll each half into 1/4 inch thickness on floured surface. Using a cookie cutter, cut into favorite shapes (I believe stars or circles look the best, the others don't work out quite as well with the preserves -- just ask my hubby,I freaked out on him when he tried to do other shapes - Crazy Abby came out for a brief minute! What can I say I'm a perfectionist!) then place on ungreased baking sheet. Make a thumbprint indentation on each cookie.

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Add preserves and corn starch to small saucepan. Cook on medium heat. Cook until raspberry filling bubbles - stir continuously. Filing should become thinner.

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Fill each thumbprint on cookie with preserves. Bake at 375 degrees for roughly 7 - 8 minutes, before they turn brown. Remove, carefully as they will crumble, to cooling rack. Once cookies are completely cooled heat chocolate slowly, while stirring, in microwave. Simply drizzle cookies with chocolate. Let cookies cool and dry - cookies will harden as they dry.

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Serve and wait for your guests to smile. . .from ear to ear!

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Enjoy. . .Happy Holidays!

Giveaway: Melissa Bryant = Love for your Home or Office!

I think it might be safe to assume that most of us have been busy the last few weeks hustling and bustling around trying to get everything situated for the holidays! I've been absolutely swamped - with holiday travel, work travel, home renovations and life itself! I haven't had a free second to blog, chat with friends or even catch up on my own life!

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Regardless, I am eager to share this giveaway with you all. . .You might remember a few months back when I shared Indianapolis based artist, Melissa Bryant and her lovely designs with you all. She creates those fantastic prints of chairs - she finds they represent and resemble people and by using her favorite fabrics, she upholsters them and then share them with the world!

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Melissa has kindly offered to do a giveaway and the lucky winner will get to choose their favorite print! (excluding her limited editions and original collages) What fun!

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With the hustle and bustle of the holiday season it is hard to find time to relax, refresh and rejuvenate. Some of us are fortunate enough to have a special place in our house where we can wind down, maybe its a delightful chair like one of Melissa Bryant's chairs; some may have a special coffee house or maybe you even find comfort in your gym, church or favorite lunch spot.

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With all of my travel for work, I find comfort and tend to relax by sitting in my living room, with my puppy at my feet, my lovely husband by my side and either a good book in hand, a favorite magazine in my lap or a few DVR shows of project runway, Greys, The Biggest Loser, or any HGTV show. I find comfort in cooking, baking and entertaining as well!

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How about you? Where do you find comfort during the busy times? Where do you go to unwind, relax and reevaluate? What helps keep you happy, energized and upbeat?

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Simply answer by Monday, December 7th at 12:00am, with your response. Send an email or leave a comment to win a delightful print for your house or office!
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Happy Start to your Holiday Season!! Good luck. . . Enjoy your Wednesday!