Tag: Christmas lights

Merry Christmas!

The tree is up, the garland is draped over our banister, and the fireplace mantle decoration is a little lacking. It’s Christmas, 2017 style! Mostly good, but with some disappointments. Such is life!

(Honestly, the home feels warm and cozy, and will even more so when friends and family arrive.)

Things are very much as they were last year. A few new ornaments that the kids made are on the tree, but the rest are the same. The background has changed slightly, as we have our lovely rugs in the double parlor and custom pink linen curtains behind the tree. I am planning to have a custom curved curtain rod made for that bow window, so the too-slender rods that are there now are only temporary, but the effect is still so pretty.

The presents under the tree are looking cute too. White wrapping paper with gold foil (Sugar Paper sent some over and I liked it so much I went and bought some more) plus ribbon in various widths and shades of pink, coral, and red complete the scheme.

The library doesn’t need much more for Christmas, but I do tuck a some greenery and berries on top of the secretary on the other side of the room.

The stairs look as they usually do this time of year. They’re at their best for Christmas.

The fireplace, well. I was trying to work with the decorations we already had, but also to come up with something I haven’t shown before. If you follow me on Instagram, you might have seen the earlier incarnation in my Stories: white bottle brush trees a’plenty. I took them all away, changed it up to some greenery and my peacock, and called it a day. It’s a peacock forest scene? Not my best work, but what I really had in mind needed a beautiful, huge mirror.

This was the vision.

Still weird, but a prettier weird. So I think a giant Louis-Philippe-style mirror is in our future? Time to make that fireplace really shine like I should have from the start. (Not just for Christmas, obviously. The mirror will be a welcome year-round addition.)

And then outside the house looks like this. Hey there, roofers!

We have some house stuff to discuss, but that’s a story for another day.

Merry Christmas!

December 22, 2017
Christmas Decorations (Part 2: Downstairs)

Yesterday, I showed you the upstairs, as it is decorated for Christmas. Today is all about the main floor.

I did find a better place for my DIY Colorblock Christmas trees than the dining room hutch. I split them into two groups and put half on a side table, along with a snow globe, little brass tree, and tiny deer. I have a lot of deer in the house right now. I put the others on the coffee table. I added a poinsettia (~~poisonous!~~ [oops, they’re not]) and my Eames bird (sharp little spike feet!) for the photo shoot, but those are both now safely out of reach. The kids play on the coffee table everyday, so I usually keep it completely cleared.

Fa la la la la, pink Christmas tree.

So, the pink bulbs. They’re not my favorite. I love (LOVE) my pink Christmas tree, but I’ve always wished the bulbs were clear. Well over a third of them were burnt out, and we’ve tried many times to find replacements. Last year, I called Treetopia (the company I bought the tree from) to ask about replacements, and they said that they couldn’t help. This year, I tried again because we had the magazine shoot scheduled, and I didn’t want a bunch of dark spots on the tree (since I’m sure the pink tree is what they were most interested in). Apparently you can now buy replacement bulbs, and the “lightbulb specialist” I talked to said that they were available in clear with a pink base. Huzzah! Two weeks went by, and I received my bulbs. I ordered 250 clear bulbs, I received 50 pink ones. Better than nothing, but not what I was hoping for. Thus, the onslaught of hot pink lighting. Supposedly replacements will be on their way, probably sometime in January. I like pink as much as the next person (OK, way more), but I want those clear bulbs.

That was a fun tree-light diatribe. Onward, to the dining room!

I picked up all of the mercury glass on sale from west elm, and the banner across the window is from Minted and Alt Summit. The rest of the table setting was done with what we already had on hand.

There are a couple of kid-friendly flameless candles in the corner, and a few twee vignettes in the hutch. Our stockings are hanging by the built-in, and that area has also been de-coned, as noted. There was just too much going on over there. Related: Oh look, more deer!

This is what the table will look like when we host a family brunch on Christmas Eve. Except, you know, with food. I’m angling for Chilaquiles. That’s sort of festive, with some red and green, right?

I’m looking forward to seeing all of our decorations as photographed by a pro. I’m not sure if I’ll get a sneak peek, or if I have to wait until next year when the magazine comes out. I’m eager to see it though! When I was contacted for a possible shoot, I responded “you know our tree is pink, right?”

Seriously, those clear bulbs need to get here.

December 21, 2012
Christmas Decorations (Part 1: Upstairs)

I know — it’s a little late in the game to finally be sharing our Christmas decorations! The house was photographed this year for the Christmas issue of a magazine (to come out next year, obviously), so I was focused on getting the little details right. Today I’ll share the upstairs decorations, and tomorrow the living and dining rooms.

First, here’s Eleanor’s room.

She picked out her little white tree last year, and she was happy to see its return. She decorated it herself (she really likes those spiky glitter ornaments), and was adamant about there being a star on top. We didn’t have one, so I bought a glittery star-shaped ornament to use and all was well. I probably wouldn’t have draped her bed with garland, but we had the magazine shoot and I was feeling a little extra pressure to really Christmas it up. E likes it, because “now her bed looks like a sleigh.”

(And I stand by my love for all the weird deer in my house.)

August’s room was decorated too. The little Christmas tree is usually on top of his dresser, but his room is so small and hard to photograph that I moved it over to the table (temporarily) to fit it all in one shot with the wreath and reindeer in the window. It looks really nice there — it just wouldn’t survive very long!

The library has had the silver tree for the last few years — mostly because we already own it and I figure we might as well use it. We already had the birds, and the red yarn balls are new (from IKEA). I was slightly freaking out (oh, just slightly) about there needing to be something else up there, so I invited Kathryn over for a second opinion. She suggested the white feather wreaths from west elm, and I like how they tie in to the white feather birds on the tree.

The other side of the library has had those brass deer up all year. I guess that’s strange? I added some garland and ornaments, white Christmas lights, and my giant sequin disco ball ornament things.

I think of these as the ancillary decorations. The pink tree is the real star of the house, and no doubt why we were chosen for the magazine. I’ll share the downstairs photos tomorrow!

December 20, 2012
Happy New Year!

We had beautiful weather over the weekend, with highs in the mid-forties, so we decided to see the Zoo Lights at Brookfield this year. August is sick, so Brandon stayed home with him, but my Uncle Ray was able to join me and Eleanor. Brookfield Zoo bills themselves as having the largest light display in Chicagoland and after having visited, I don’t doubt it.

The wind was chilly, but we popped in to some of the indoor exhibits to warm up every so often. Then Eleanor rode the carousel before leaving, and everyone ended the ride with a joyous exclamation of “Happy Zoo Year!”

It must be odd as the ride operator, having to shout that hundreds of times in an evening. It made our ride feel special though, which was appreciated… Especially after waiting in line, realizing I had to get in a different line to buy tickets, and then waiting in line again with tickets in hand. Happy Zoo Year, indeed.

But then hey, we did get our photo taken with some furries. So there’s that.

Happy new year!

January 2, 2012