Last Thursday night, the Land of Nod had the brilliant idea of hosting trunk shows across the country to showcase some of their beautiful holiday decor and absolutely precious toy collection.  I was really excited and honored to be a part of the whole event, and it was such a blast. (Sources from above: Glass Christmas trees, hourglasses, Giant Sequin Bows; Goody Gumball Garland; Winter Wondergraph Garland; Starry Garland)The house was glittering with Christmas decorations, and it really felt like Christmas morning with toys all over the place!  (above items: Brock Plush-o-Saur, Ty Plush-o-Saur, Yellow Lab Pooch, Armin Plush-o-Saur, Fern Doll, Charlie Doll, Starry Garland)All the hostesses were asked to invite a group of friends over for a trunk show, and Land of Nod sent box after box of toys to give away.  It was such a treat to ask over some of my mama friends (including Lesley, Jessica, Anna, and Kristin!) and send them home with goodies to put under the tree Christmas morning.  (Decor items above: similar tree skirt; Rainbow ornaments; Giant Sequin Bows; Goody Gumball Garland; Winter Wondergraph Garland; Starry Garland; Little Faux Sheep Pillows)All the hostesses also got a dollhouse and dollhouse decor kit to decorate.  Some of the other girls got super crafty (I adore Kelly's gorgeous loft version!), but I had to delegate that responsibility to Vivi.  She happily took over and put some of her favorite little friends all over it.  It really is the most darling little house! (Items above: Embroidered Metallic Garland; 12 days of Christmas ornaments; Dollhouse)Isn't that doll above the sweetest?  I love that whole collection.It's a little hard to tell, but some of you asked about the verse on the mirror.  It's white vinyl that I cut (I have a cutter, but I think you can do something similar if you have a silhoutte or cricut).  Also, a few of you asked about the shelves above.  They are the Ekby brackets from Ikea spray painted a coppery gold, hung with brass screws and paired with old barnwood. (Sources from above: Glass Christmas trees, hourglasses, Gold lamp)I had a lot of fun with the food.  Lately, I have taken to delegating out the food responsibility when throwing a shower, or ordering food for a large party, but since it was a small group, I enjoyed doing some baking.  I made these gingerbread whoopie pies, and they were definitely the hit of the treat buffet.  No one touched the pound cake.  Seriously, go make some.  They aren't too difficult, and are so so good.  I also put together a cheese tray for something savory, and it might just be my new favorite thing to do at a party.  It was so easy, and felt very elegant.  This blog post was super helpful for my clueless self when trying to select cheese.Those banners were a part of my effort to spend little to no money outside the food budget (um, not normally a strong point of mine).  I had a roll of kraft paper, and just painted on it with acrylic paint.  I stitched a pocket in the top and hung them up with wooden dowels and string.  Super easy and inexpensive.  I'm thinking about photographing them and adding them to the Society6 shop - would y'all be interested?  The centerpiece is just evergreen branches stuck in a vase so I had a place to display the beautiful 12 Days of Christmas ornaments.  And now on to the best part!The Land of Nod is offering a 15% discount on everything from November 25th through 27th (with code "cheer")!  If you have any Christmas or nursery shopping to do, now is a great time.  Above are some of the items we gave away at the party (seriously, it was the best "white elephant" Christmas game ever!) and these were all Vivi-approved.  She tested every last one.  The hit for her and the party guests was definitely the sleeping bag, and I have ordered one for her Christmas (I think it will be super fun for overnights at grandparents'!).  Surprisingly, she seemed to be the most disappointed over the disappearance of that shark - she said he was a very nice shark and wouldn't eat anyone.  She has the ability to see the best in people/sharks. (Sources: Ty Plush-a-Saur, Fox sleeping bag, Agnes Doll, Nod Chair, Teepee, Intergalactic Play Set, wearable shark.)

Now, hop on over to check out the other parties from Thursday night.  So much fun inspiration!!  It was the perfect kickoff to the holiday season, and I'm thoroughly enjoying the glow of my Christmas tree, even though it's not Thanksgiving yet.  Thanks so much to the Land of Nod for being so generous and fun to work with, and thanks to Trina of La La Lovely for all her hard work in coordinating the details of hosting so many parties on one night!

Kirsten of Simply Grove; Chassity of Look Linger Love; Darcy of No Monsters in My Bed; Rebecca + Suzanne of A Feteful Life; Carrie + Morgan of Ampersand Design Studios; Kelly of Studio DIY; Raechel of Finding My Feet; Kirsten of 6th Street Design School and the ladies of the Small Fry Blog; Cristin of Simplified Bee; Michaela of Michaela Noelle Design, and Mary of the fantastic Makery