Hello friends, it's me Leslie and I'm here today to bring you a very merry holiday edition of Color Me Pretty. For me, it's all about apple green, red and aqua at the moment because it feels fresh and joyous. What do you think of this palette?

Here's how my inspiration began. First, I got really inspired by an old photo I found of my aunt at the Calgary Stampede circa 1970. The pale minty aqua was in my head for days and then I picked up a notebook set by Rifle Papers (for Chronicle Books) at Anthropologie and figured I had a pretty color combination to work with. Here is what inspired my color selections...

I later realized that my chosen palette is very Martha Stewart Living circa December 2009. Oh well! Great colors are meant to be used again and again. Check out that back issue if you can though as it is loaded with inspiration from Martha's expert team.

During the holiday season I always enjoy some kind of crafting project. These days I am obsessed with painting driftwood. I promise, living on the dark and rainy Vancouver Island has not made me totally bonkers (yet). I am just really inspired by the work I saw in the summer of Toronto artist Ginette Lapalme. I saw this photo in her flickr and this post on her Tumblr and thought what a great idea! I decided to make a holiday tree out of driftwood I collected off the beach as shown above. I painted some patterns on each piece using acrylic paint from Martha Stewart Crafts. I am thinking of mounting it to a framed board or I could also hang them on a wall. These small pieces of driftwood are very light and thus easy to hang.

Holiday parties do not have to be elaborate. Little gestures of unexpected color can make regular items seem festive. I plan on using more of these stripey straws from my friend Jessie’s shop Sweet Lulu. She also supplies the petite milk bottles I have been using and some great treat bags that I have stocked up on.

Stripey straws can also make cute cards! I couldn’t help but cut up a few in apple green to make another tree motif. Simple buttons glued to white cardstock with a hand drawn stitch border can also be cute to pin on your mood board or to use as a pretty gift tag.

Gift-wrapping is a paper fanatics dream job. I could wrap gifts for days if I get to use interesting papers! I combined ordinary school supply graph papers with fabric tapes and various pieces of patterned prettiness I had around. I also tried drawing some patterns on some kraft boxes to use for some little treasures I will be giving during the holidays. I used a basic white acrylic paint to prime the boxes and then used some Marvy markers to add a few colors. These simple patterns should look nice even after the holidays are over.

Lastly, never underestimate the power of a single bloom! Pop them into clear bottles and wrap the bottles with your favorite washi tape, masking tap or fabric. If you use several down the center of your table you have a very affordable yet lovely tabletop with little effort.

Well, that’s it from me folks. I hope you all got an idea or two to take with you. I look forward to seeing you back here in the new year. Have a wonderful holiday season, all my very best to you. -- Leslie Shewring, A Creative Mint.

(photos/styling: leslie shewring)