holiday — Read — Julianna Strickland

kitschy christmas

Somehow, as a millennial, the 1950’s are nostalgic for me. As a kid I loved to wander the aisles of dusty, sprawling antique malls with my mom, digging for treasure. We ferried home vintage Fiesta pitchers and mint green Jadeite bowls and any piece of Pyrex bakeware we could get our hands on. When considering how to celebrate the holiday this year, I kept returning to my fascination with retro holiday decor: shiny silver tinsel made of lead (oh god!), bottlebrush trees, and of course, the ubiquitous holiday spread.

dessert, holidaysJulianna StricklandDecember 17, 2018christmas, holiday, meal, feast, spread, julianna strickland, pink, jello, jello mold, bake, cook, entertain Comment

diy paper flower wreath

FALL. IS. HERE. And it’s hot in LA so it doesn’t feel like fall yet, but that’s not stopping me from getting in the spirit with this cute AF wreath. I’m a little bored of faux foliage wreaths, so I decided to create something that will last longer than fresh flowers, but feels just as chic as live blooms.

DIYJulianna StricklandSeptember 24, 2018faux flower, wreath, fall, paper, paper flower, home decor, lifestyle, decoration, holiday, autumn, paper rose, rose, garden rose, flowers, julianna strickland, juliannaComment

surprise your mom with some fancy-looking balloons

This year for Mother's Day, I've teamed up with two of my talented friends who are new moms, Ashley Adams and Brandi Milloy, to share a few projects for a sweet Mother's Day party. These ideas could be for your mom, for your friends who are moms, or even just for yourself (shhh...if you're not a mom, I won't tell).

how to organize your gift wrapping supplies

Julianna Strickland’s Gift Wrapping Resume:

Wichita Kansas, 1998: Attended afternoon gift-wrapping class with mother. Learned various ways to enfold items in cellophane and tulle.

Wichita, Kansas 1998 – 2004: Worked as “Strickland Family Personal Gift Wrapper” (an esteemed but unpaid position). Wrapped everyone’s gifts except for own.

Los Angeles, CA 2010: Was short on cash and put listing on Craigslist as, “Freelance Professional Gift Wrapper.” Hired once, made approx. $75.

Los Angeles, CA 2010 – Present: Currently in possession of one extremely messy under-bed gift-wrap storage box (see below).

5 packing secrets from a professional organizer

I haven’t always been a light packer. Growing up (when there was free checked luggage on flights), I adhered to the “more is more” mentality. This escalated to a point when I was twelve years old and brought an enormous, person-sized blue feather and a four foot inflatable crayon on vacation to decorate my hotel room. I remember carefully arranging those items in the room and thinking THIS HAS GONE TOO FAR. Surprisingly, I didn’t learn to hone it in until I was in college, but I suppose better late than never.