Tag: Dunkin’ Donuts

Upgrading Faux-Fresh Christmas Garland

This post is sponsored by Dunkin’ Donuts. Every espresso at Dunkin’ Donuts is freshly ground and brewed for each drink and combined with steamed milk and foam in each of Dunkin’s espresso beverages. As I put a lot of thought and care into decorating for the holidays, it’s nice to know that the macchiatos from Dunkin’ that I drink as I work on the house are crafted with the same care!

Popping in today with a quick tip for making your faux garland look more lush and real. I kept thinking that I needed a new garland to get the look I wanted, when really I just needed to take the time to make the one I have work.

I bought a bunch of inexpensive faux-spruce garland strands years ago. They were pretty thin so I tripled them up and added lights before draping the garland along our stairs, but I wasn’t thrilled with how skimpy it looked. I mean, it wasn’t a big deal — it still looked really pretty, but I knew it could be better.

We had fresh garland for our HGTV Christmas issue shoot, but we didn’t get to enjoy it for the holidays because the shoot was done in April! And in the short time that we did have the garland on the stairway, it had made a huge mess. With a cat, a dog, and three kids going up and down those stairs multiple times a day, anything that goes there is going to get jostled. Faux-greenery is far more hardy, so I took our so-so 30-foot garland that looked great but a little thin, and made it into something I feel really good about decorating with.

I already had most of what I needed on hand: our faux-spruce garland, florist wire, clear Christmas lights, and gold ribbon. I picked up some supplementary faux-fresh pine garland (that looks more like cypress to me, but I like it) and stopped off at Dunkin’ Donuts for a mocha macchiato before heading home to get to work.

I took the 100-light strand of Christmas lights off of our spruce garland and laid the whole thing out on the floor to determine spacing for the new pine garland. It was an improvement, but we still had more of the faux-spruce and I liked the added fullness it brought. I wired everything together, starting at one end and spacing the connections about 12″ apart. I then added the lights back in, wrapping them in around the center of the garland a bit more tightly and using an additional 50-light strand.

I used coated picture wire to secure the garland to the stair railing, then added decorative gold ribbon. I also added a huge blue and white oversized ginger jar to hide the cords. Terrible placement with the aforementioned three kids? Possibly. It hasn’t been much of a draw yet — fingers crossed, that continues to be the case.

Once you’ve got the base of the garland right, you can change it up. I had a few ornaments in there before, but I like the simplicity of just greens with clear lights. I may change it up from year to year though. It would be pretty with Christmas picks other greenery, winterberry sprigs, pine cones, or ornaments.

December 13, 2016
Vintage Finds from Randolph Street Market

This post is sponsored by Dunkin’ Donuts. They’ve been serving up coffee for 66 years now, selling more than 1.9 billion cups of hot and iced coffee around the world every year. There are over 25,000 ways to order your coffee at Dunkin’ Donuts, and today is National Coffee Day! To celebrate, you can get a medium cup of coffee at Dunkin’ Donuts for just 66 cents.

The weather was perfect in Chicago this past weekend, so I took my best gal with me over to the Randolph Street Market. We stopped off at Dunkin’ Donuts first before seeking our flea market treasures — coffee for me, frozen hot chocolate and a donut for her.

Energized and ready, we continued on our way. The Market is held throughout the year indoors, but my favorite time to go is when they have the outdoor portion open too. There’s a booth that’s always there with vintage anatomical models and posters, and every time, I’m tempted to bring a couple home.

Bats! Cats! I wanted both of these too, but I restrained myself.

These gauges and nautical blue pointy things (technical term) were perfectly weathered. What would I use them for? No idea, but aren’t they pretty?

Giant mirror photo opp! Hello.

Vintage globes. One is cool, but a collection of them is always so much better.

I was into these old puppets.

Eleanor brought a toy butterfly with her to the Market, and we left with a collection of real specimens.

We are now the proud owners of a zillion old butterflies and moths! Such a good score. Some are more interesting and in better shape than others, but we’re both pretty excited about either framing them or coming up with some sort of display under a glass cloche. I’ll be sure to share it here when we do.

September 29, 2016
Coffee Crafted with Care

This post is sponsored by Dunkin’ Donuts. I’m an ambassador and will be sharing more throughout the year.

I told a few friends that I would be working with Dunkin’ Donuts this year, their immediate response was that “their coffee is so good.” And it is! I had no idea how much went into making sure that was the case though until I visited their headquarters in Boston.

They use 100% Arabica coffee beans, and I learned about the strict Dunkin’ Donuts Quality (DDQ) standards they hold themselves to throughout the entire process, from the beans being grown, harvested, roasted, and finally brewed. I went through the coffee cupping experience at their headquarters — noticing the differences between beans sourced from different regions. It reminded me of a wine tasting, and I had never compared coffee beans like that before. Their Original Blend is a light roast that brings together the best of several different coffee beans, and Dunkin’ Donuts Dark Roast is more bold, but still smooth without being bitter.

It all adds up to a reliable, freshly brewed cup of coffee. I only really got into drinking it a few years ago, and it quickly became a part of my daily routine. If I’ve got a busy day ahead of me, I need a little energy boost, and I especially love picking up a hot coffee when I have errands to run or places to take the kids. I work it into my routine — wake up and then wake everyone else up. Get the kids ready while Brandon showers, get myself ready while he does the school drop-off, grab my keys and head out the door, grab a drink, and get on with the day.

I feel extra fancy getting my coffee now, by the way. They gave me the Black Card! VIP right here.

June 1, 2016