Gift Guide: Gifts for the Girly Girl

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Every girl needs a bit of shine, floral and vintage in their collection. These dress forms make great necklace holders and this pearl pillow would be a perfect touch to a lavender mohair chair.

1. Peony Rectangular Tray: $58 2. Pearl Pillow: $67 3. Peony Serving Bowl: $138 4. Dress Forms: $56-$78

Don't forget to enter our giveaway here. This could be a perfect gift for yourself during this holiday season!

Giveaway Time!

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Give your room a holiday make-over and add this charming little pillow into the mix! We're so excited to share this one with you!

Enter to win by following these rules:

- Follow this blog and leave us a comment. - For an extra entry, post this giveaway on your blog, Facebook, Twitter, etc.  Just copy the link into your comment on this post so that we can see it and your name will be entered twice. The giveaway closes one week from today, Wednesday, December 15th and the winner will be chosen at random and announced on Thursday, December 16th. Please leave your email address so that we can contact you! Good luck!

How-To Dress Your Mantle

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The holidays seem to be approaching more quickly than usual this year. Whether there was time in your busy schedule to adorn your home with holiday delights this past weekend or you have it on your to do list this weekend, there's always room for some inspiration. The mantle is a great place to start adding bits of Christmas cheer.Keep it simple and fresh by adding a fresh garland with a few pinecones. Hang a simple green wreath above with a luxe ribbon to make it look a bit more glamorous.

For a more modern look, use creamy whites with powder blue accents. The graphic banner and resin deer heads are perfect and the bell garland adds the perfect touch of jewelry to this mantle. Need something a bit more traditional and sophisticated? Take your silver goblets and add some tiny pine trees into the mix.

Make use of what you have, with your collection of white pots and just add some greenery to each. Add a few ornaments for a touch of sparkle.

Have a glamourous mantle with ornaments that glitter and mercury glass candlesticks. The giant snowflakes make a bold statement and add a bit of fun to the mix. Dreaming of a white Christmas? White wreaths and branches are a beautiful way to decorate your mantle. The reflection of a wreath in the mirror above a mantle is so lovely. Add a bit of sparkle to your wreath to make is sparkle more. Adding these charming white ruffled stockings is the perfect way to finish off a polished look.

Using traditional reds and greens is a timeless way to decorate your mantle. Add a bit of whimsy to it with oversized snowflakes and patterned stockings. No mantle? Be creative... use your upright piano to hang your stockings and dress it with a fresh garland.

[photos from Style at Home, Southern Accents and Country Living]

Happy Thanksgiving - Table Inspiration

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With Thanksgiving in a few days, many of us are preparing for our big feast. Whether going out of town to visit family or hosting your own Thanksgiving, we all could use a bit of table decor inspiration. Taking advantage of the colors of fall to adorn the table, use candles, flowers and even produce to make your statement. Adding a clean and simple place card will add a touch of modern to your traditional Thanksgiving.

A whimsical Thanksgiving with paper leaves or a fanciful tree as decoration for your table. Bring in the fun colors from some ripened pears and a fall squash.

For a more formal table setting use candlesticks and fresh flowers adorned with gourds and your very best china.

Add some spunk to the table using white pumpkins and an array of vases. Add a graphic table runner and place mats for a more contemporary feel.

Create a graphic Thanksgiving with a fun message on each plate and a great place card. Even set a children's table covered in paper for the kids to draw on while they eat.

[photos from Elle Decor, House Beautiful, Country Living, and Martha Stewart]

Inspiration in Unusual Places - Fall Clothing

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We all love new clothes for each season - a cozy sweater, a great pair of riding boots, or a luxurious scarf. Why not add a few new items to our home for each season as well and let our clothing choices inspire our interiors? Deep purples, reds and oranges, jewel tones of all sorts, can be added to a space simply and quickly by adding a rug or pillows. Place a rug under a dark dining room table for a pop of color or hang a great pattern on the wall to replace the traditional framed artwork. Add pillows of different colors and textures to a bench to make an entry more inviting.

A splash of gold and raspberry can brighten up an otherwise neutral space. Throw in a bit of sheen by adding a silk pillow or add a colorful patterned chair to liven up a sophisticated space.

Texture galore! A luxurious mohair sofa, a smooth and reflective starburst sculpture, a Chesterfield sofa with careful button tufting or a beautiful cowhide underneath a coffee table bring a room to perfection!

[photos from Elle Decor, Lonny Magazine and Anthropologie]

Lovely Thoughts... An Alice Lane Christmas

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"Between hosting visitors, attending soirees, and dividing your free time between finding the perfect presents and elegantly trimming the tree, it's easy to get caught up in the rush of the season. But the holidays shouldn't be so frantic that you miss all the fun. Instead, the season is about taking the time to enjoy the company of family and friends, indulge in decadent dishes, and deck the halls with decor that truly warms your space." -Elle Decor Magazine

Charming stockings, lovely wreath hangers, luxurious velvet throws and more! Come see all of our great holiday decor here at Alice Lane!

Don't forget about your pre-holiday gift to you... Bring in this coupon to receive 10% off your holiday decor purchase!

Inspiration in Unusual Places - Halloween

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With Halloween right around the corner, ghosts and pumpkins, ghouls and goblins, orange and black, lowly lit rooms and mirrors come to mind. Don't be fooled though, great design inspiration for an all-year-round space can come from this quirky holiday! The dark walls and soft lighting of this powder room seem as though this would be the setting for a scene in a scary movie, but when used in a home, it gives this room a feeling of luxury and richness.

The black furniture, metallic lamp and candlestick accents juxtaposed with the reclaimed wood flooring and paneling add the perfect touch of shine to this room. The glow of the candles and the black bird sculpture are perfectly sophisticated Halloween decor.

This very traditional space is very elegant with it's white lacquered walls, velvet upholstery, large antique cabinet and the delicate crystal chandelier.

In the library, with the candlestick... The black cabinetry and paneling give this room a very dramatic feel and the silver sconces, art lamps, and articulating desk lamp make the room come alive.

Reminiscent of a creature of sorts, this contemporary and sculptural lamp creates a soft, eerie glow but suites the space nicely by contrasting the rough finish of the wood and sturdy brick.

Take the traditional Halloween colors - orange and black - use them tastefully in a space and you will end up with a lovely modern space like this!

This black embossed wallpaper is evocative of something you would see in an old haunted mansion and immediately fall in love with! This and the collection of great antiques create the character of this room.

[images via Flickr, Elle Decor, Lonny Magazine and Design Sponge]

Giveaway Time!

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An easy way to spruce up a room is by simply replacing or adding a few new throw pillows. We have decided to share this charming little pillow with one lucky reader!

Enter to win by following these rules:

- Follow this blog and leave us a comment. - For an extra entry, post this giveaway on your blog, Facebook, Twitter, etc.  Just copy the link into your comment on this post so that we can see it and your name will be entered twice. The giveaway closes one week from today, Tuesday, November 2nd and the winner will be chosen at random and announced on Wednesday, November 3rd. Please leave your email address so that we can contact you! Good luck!

How to Care for Your Linen Sheets

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We are so excited about one of our new bedding lines! Libeco Home offers bed linens made of Belgian linen that are luxurious and comfortable. We recently received a shipment of bed sheets in white and stone and have a sampling of duvet covers and other bed linens offered by Libeco Home.

Linen sheets are our most favorite because linen is an all-natural fabric that is hypoallergenic, antibacterial and thermo-regulating - it's insulating in the cold and cool and breathable when it's warm! They are extremely durable and exceptionally long-lasting. These sheets will actually get better as time goes by; they become softer, smoother and more lustrous.

One important thing to help your linen sheets last, is the way that you wash them.

WASHING - Wash your linens as soon as possible after a spill or spot. - Do not overload the machine. - Choose the machine setting with maximum water level. - Use a mild soap. Avoid strong detergents, especially concentrated forms. - Do not use detergents with optical whiteners when washing linen. - Avoid all types of bleaches. - Recommended temperature is a warm wash 104 degrees F as a maximum.

DRYING - Fill your tumbler with half the normal capacity in order to let the linen move freely during the drying process. Line-dry if desired. - Do not over-dry. Use a short cycle setting as linen dries quickly. - Use a medium temperature machine setting, and a slower tumble setting, if available.

PRESSING - 100% linen can be ironed at the highest temperature with a hot steam iron.