Tag: christmas

Winter Wonderland Tablescape 2015

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Last year we created a cozy warm burgundy Christmas decor to welcome home our Evie who had been in the hospital for 4 months. We wanted it warm and inviting as a big welcome home. This year we went in a completely different direction, creating a winter wonderland look full of frosty snowflakes and sparkling silver.

Both the table and the sideboard are decked out with pine bough garlands, with silver balls and snowflake accents. We spent forever polishing every piece of silver in the house so that everything would sparkle in our frosty wonderland.(Once again, please ignore the empty picture frames – two professional artists in the house and we have empty frames – yep- cuckoo birds!)

The snowflakes have been carefully placed to appear as though they have just randomly fallen from the sky and landed around the house.

 

 

Mr. and Mrs. Clause are a cherished family heirloom that come out every Christmas. This year they have taken center stage as our Christmas table centerpiece.

 

We placed a few Christmas balls in silver candlestick holders. An elf seems to have photo-bombed our decorating photo shoot! So fun! Such an awesome trick for taking ADORABLE pictures of your pets, kids, grand-kids or even some whimsical selfies. 

Check out how it’s done here: 

 

These gorgeous silver ornaments are actually salt and pepper shakers. Its quite a rare delight when form and functionality meet like this.

 

 

Here’s the table place settings with baroque silver charger plates and baroque silver candy dishes on top. The candy dishes will be filled with candy for Christmas day. 

 

Our sideboard/buffet has got a cascading sheer cover that has an embroidered lace pattern that subtly mimics snowflakes.

 

At night, this look really comes to life with white twinkle lights everywhere!

I’ve just realized there are no pictures that include the tree or any other parts of the house. More pictures to come!

Thanks for stopping by, and have a Merry Christmas, Happy Holiday and Joyous Season!

Here is a look at last year‘s cozy warm burgundy decor.


Last Christmas! Check out more pictures here:
Christmas 2014

Super Easy Trick: Adorable Christmas Pics

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A Super Easy Trick for the Most Adorable Christmas Pictures!
Facebookpreview ChristmasPhotos2 

I was photographing some Christmas decorating ideas when a little elf photobombed my pictures! The results were so adorable that I immediately knew I had to share the idea.

All you need is an adorable baby, an adorable child, adorable pet, or your adorable self and a shiny reflective Christmas ball for the cutest and silliest pictures or video you’ve ever seen.

The giggles will abound and the memories will last a lifetime.

SPECIAL TIPS! If the Christmas ball is on the tree you’ll have a lovely pine background, but you can also place a Christmas ball in a candlestick holder making it easier to take the picture in the best selfie (or elfie) lighting!

If you have some antique heirloom ornaments this would be an even more sentimental picture. Taking these pictures every year as a family tradition would be a great alternative to a more serious family portrait, and they would look great on your own custom Christmas Cards!

Instagram WinterWonderland9
Above: The Christmas ball is hanging on the tree.

Instagram WinterWonderland4a

Above: the Christmas ball is placed in a silver candlestick holder making it possible to take the picture in the best selfie (or elfie) lighting!

Instagram WinterWonderland5a

You can sneak the camera in over their shoulder and hide behind them for a solo portrait, or you can both squeeze into the shot together for a unique holiday couples portrait.

Have fun with it, and let me know how your pictures turned out in the comments section below!

Holiday Candy Hacks

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Creative Holiday Candy hack!

Catch the after Christmas sales for red and green mixed chocolates like M&M’s and Hershey Kisses.

Sort the candies by color and store them away (so you won’t be tempted to eat them!).

Now you have both Valentine’s Day AND St. Patrick’s day covered! 

You are covering two holidays at once, and your holiday chocolate needs through mid-March while getting deep discounts from after Christmas Sales.








‘True Love Kisses’ and red M&M’s for your sweetheart on Valentine’s Day.









‘Kiss-Me-I’m-Irish Kisses’ and green M&M’s for the leprechauns on St. Patrick’s Day.

Holiday Home Tour 2014 – Better Late than never!

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As I mentioned in a previous post, home renovations and stressful events had delayed the start of our holiday decorating until mid-to-late December.

We’ve got our Evie Bird home now after a nearly 4 month hospital stay. 

Though most people have taken down their Christmas decorations by now, we’ve extended the season a bit so that she can enjoy that home-for-the-holidays feel a bit before we move on to the next holiday.

So, though it’s late for a holiday home tour, we’re on our own holiday schedule this year and it’s still Christmas at our house!

With the snow coming down for Winter Storm Juno, I am definitely enjoying the extra cozy feel of still having Christmas decorations. 

Come on in from the cold and blowing snow and stay a while!



Pictured above is our Dining Room Table and Sideboard set with deep red brocade table cloth and napkins. 
The centerpiece is a white china cake pedestal with dried pomegranates and vintage silver salt and pepper shakers shaped like ornaments on an oval silver tray. The centerpiece is flanked by mistletoe kissing balls mounted on silver candlestick holders.

The sideboard is covered in deep red poinsettia patterned brocade fabric with sheer white draped fabric, and pine boughs adorned with sparkling snowflakes and white twinkle lights.


Each place setting is a pure white china set atop silver baroque charger plates. 

Matching baroque silver nut dish added on top for some extra sparkle along with cloth napkins that match the table cloth, wrapped in silver napkin rings with crystal accents.


Our dining room french doors are decked with pine boughs covered in pine cones and little white twinkle lights. 

On the french doors you’ll find two matching pine wreaths covered in deep red poinsettias, over-sized snowflakes and a single white candle in the center of each wreath with a flickering flame bulbs.









Our tea cart is set with our freshly polished silver tea set resting on cheery Christmas tartan tea towels, and the most adorably whimsical plush gingerbread men that look like they are related to the Fraggle Rock Doozers!


Our silverware caddy has been re-purposed for the season as a candy cane caddy. So that we are always ready with a fresh candy cane for every cup of eggnog or peppermint chocolate milk.

A small gingerbread creation station has been set up with some candies in small clear bowls on a silver tray, and a small decoration station has been set up with spare Christmas ornaments on a silver tray.
Here is a blurry picture of most of the above items all together in one shot, along with our Christmas tree.
Want to find out how I created this entire opulent Christmas look with practically no decorating budget? Check here!(article and link coming soon)
China pattern: Alsace by Farberware
Silverware Pattern: Baroque by Godinger
Silver Chargers and Nut Dishes: silver plate baroque style – unknown discontinued line.

Last Minute Christmas Decorating and a Flooring Update!

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I promised frequent updates on the hardwood flooring restoration project, but unfortunately there have been no updates to report. 

Due to some big-time stressful life events, we decided it would be best for all of us to put this project on hold and avoid adding to our stress. 

We had planned on finishing this project before Thanksgiving, and it is now rapidly approaching Christmas.

Anyone who knows me knows, I LOVE decorating for Christmas. 

I look forward to it all year – I am always trying to extend the season by starting earlier and leaving the decorations up a little longer than most people do. As you can imagine, waiting and waiting until mid-December with no end to the waiting in sight has been torture. 

 We felt like we were skipping Christmas by living in an un-decorated work-zone.

So, we moved the furniture back into place and put up the Christmas decorations in a hurry. (♪♫ because we need a little Christmas, right this very minute…♫♪)

We’re referring to the current state of the unfinished floor as ‘charmingly rustic’ – in other words scratched, rough, and discolored wood with a few remnants of 50 year old varnish around the edges.

In certain light (at night) the unfinished hardwood in the dining room doesn’t look all that different from the finished wood in the living room, and the transition is not too terribly noticeable – and it doesn’t take any imagination to envision how it will look when it is done.

In daylight it is a whole different story – but still a huge improvement over the tired old plastic-covered-picture-of-bricks linoleum that wasn’t fooling anyone.

A Christmas decorating home tour will be coming soon (hopefully), with pictures that artfully avoid daylight and/or showing the unsightly areas that are still unfinished.

Until then, here is a taste! Enjoy!

Peppermint Eggnog — Candy Crushing it for Christmas

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It’s officially the Christmas Season — time for fun and festive food and drink. 

I don’t know about you, but I am just too busy to go out gathering eggs and nogs to make eggnog from scratch. We buy a jug of it at the supermarket  — but just because it isn’t home-made doesn’t mean it can’t look and taste like it is!

We topped it with a swirl of whipped cream and a bit of crushed candy cane — then tossed in a whole candy cane as a festive swirly stick. 

It’s not all about looks though, (♪♫ It’s all about that bass, ’bout that bass, ’bout that bass, no treble ♫♪) we want it to taste great too! Adding a candy cane really adds a pop of peppermint that tastes, smells and looks like Christmastime. 

This same whipped cream and candy cane treatment is amaze-balls on hot coco as well. Go the extra step of adding some peppermint schnapps if you really want to be full of the holiday spirit — and spirits.

If you are wondering how one might go about crushing the candy cane, I am sure there are lots of ways to do this — none of which involve playing the insidiously addictive Facebook game Candy Crush. 

We used a mortar and pestle. It worked well and made me feel like I was concocting a magical holiday potion — maybe one that cures mistle-toe in elves.

I am sure a hammer and a ziplock bag would work just as well though in a pinch (for crushing candy canes — not treating elves with mistle-toe. That would be cruel).

Now when a candy cane breaks as I pull it out of the box I don’t feel so bad  — all the more for beverage garnish!

UPDATE! Some of you have written in sharing that you are crushing your candy canes in a food processor set to ‘pulverize.’ What a great idea, especially if you are making a lot of it for a holiday party! Thank you all for sharing your tips!

UPDATE AGAIN!: Some of you have asked where I got these gorgeous clear glass pedestal mugs. If you’d like some of these mugs to grace your holiday table, or a lovely mortar and pestle similar to the ones pictured above, I found some on Amazon. Links added below. Enjoy!

Cranberry Sauce!

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If your family is like mine, and wants the jellied cranberry sauce from the can — jazz up that oh-so-classy can shape with a few fresh cranberries on the side as garnish. 

I think I’ll tuck a few fresh mint leaves among the cranberries next time as well! 

♫ I don’t think you’re ready for this jelly…cranberries’s too foodilicious for ya babe♫

Please accept my apologies for putting the song Bootilicious in your head, but my thought is that maybe if it transfers to your head it will stop being in mine!

Silliness aside, I hope you had a happy, healthy and beautiful Thanksgiving. I also hope that you are able to fully and deeply feel and see all the love, beauty and everyday miracles that surround you!

Happy Thanksgiving!