Tag: Christmas

Happy Holidays

Eleanor and August had a lot of fun decorating the tree this year. The front part at least, up to about four feet high. They kept saying “I could do this all day!” and in fact, they did. Over multiple days.

I stepped in when they were done and added ornaments to the rest of the tree, and I spaced theirs out a bit. Brandon’s mom gave us some of the ornaments she had collected over the years from when he was a kid, so those have been added to our tree now too.

I also picked up an ornament representing each of us and painted the hair to better match ours. 2014: the year we became a family of five! (!)

I didn’t go too crazy with the decorations this year because it wasn’t easy with a baby always on my hip. There are little touches here and there throughout the house though, like on this little table in the dining room.

I also swapped out the tassel on our secretary for a soft bunny ornament decked out in red and green. It’s cute, but mostly I did it because I figured the kids would like it.

You’ve already seen the fireplace, but now our stockings have been hung from the mantel. Those gold initials were from Restoration Hardware, but it looks like they stopped carrying them this year, so I’ll have to find a ‘C’ from elsewhere that matches.

There are a lot of exciting projects and opportunities coming up for me in the next couple of months. It’s hard to juggle everything with Calvin being so little, and with Eleanor and August too, but I can’t complain. I’m planning projects for the house, responding to press inquiries that I hope will turn into something more, scheduling campaigns, and even contemplating a part-time job offer that has come along for something that I’d love to do.

Sometimes you just have to jump in and say yes.

I continue to be grateful for this blog, and I’m glad to be able to share my life, my finds, and my home with you. I’m going to take off a little time between now and the new year to spend time with Brandon, the kids, friends, and family, but I’m looking forward to meeting you back here in January. Happy holidays, everyone!

December 22, 2014
The Fireplace Mantel, Decorated for Christmas

This post is sponsored by Target.
Shop Home Décor for modern luxury made easy.

Confession: we waited until after Thanksgiving to put our tree up, but I started bringing out the Christmas decorations for the rest of the house a couple of weeks ago! The fireplace is sporting a mix of decorations that we already owned with a few new additions from Target.

I really liked this holiday berry garland, but I used the silver ornament garland that we already owned and then added a few loose gold ornaments to fill in some bare spots. The candle holders are the same ones you saw last month in the dining room. I picked up several small and large bottle brush trees in both silver and white to add to the mantel, and further staggered the height by propping a few of the trees up on small upside-down bowls that are hidden behind the ornaments.

The brass deer are vintage. I loved decorating with them each year in the old house, so it’s fun to see them here on top of the fireplace. You can pick up this guy if you’re looking for a new deer of your own, or maybe just a small ceramic stag head for kicks?

Had the vintage painting leaning on the mantel been something more precious, I probably would have hesitated to string the “happy holidays” glitter banner across it. It may not be the greatest work of art, but I think it is the perfect backdrop for those sparkly letters! And speaking of sparkle, behold. Glitter! Gold! Silver! It’s all very merry.

Our stockings will soon be hung by the fireplace, but that isn’t the only change to come. My sister is hosting a Christmas party this year and she asked if she could borrow some decorations, so I have a feeling some of these will be moving to her apartment soon. At least I was able to enjoy this setup for a little while first! Besides, what are sisters for? (For stealing all of your cute Christmas decor, apparently. Ha!)

This post is sponsored by Target. Shop Home Décor for modern luxury made easy.

December 8, 2014
Christmastime is Here

Deer are congregating on the fireplace.

Some garland found its way to the stairs.

(I had a bunch of the fake stuff from IKEA last year. It’s skimpy, so I tripled it up, and it’s still skimpy. Maybe we’ll get fresh greenery next year instead to do these stairs justice.)

And the table is a mini forest.

The Christmas tree got a few welcome additions from the kids.

We have a couple of extra little trees around too, made and decorated by the kids.

Presents are present.

And my fancy blogger tree is looking festive.

Soon the children will be nestled all snug in their beds, while visions of Plants vs. Zombies dance in their heads.

Merry Christmas!

December 23, 2013
I’ve Gone All Traditional On You

With the Christmas tree, that is.

tree c/o Treetopia

I still love our pink tree, but it’s only 6′ tall. It was a little undersized in the old house, but in the Victorian, with its 10′ high ceilings, it would have been way out of proportion. Plus that tree just had its day in Cottages and Bungalows magazine’s Christmas issue, and I wanted to try a green tree for our first Christmas in the new house. We did the same thing when we moved from our apartment (silver tinsel) to the first house (green).

We haven’t decorated the whole house for the holidays yet, but we finished up the tree last night.

I bought my Pretty in Pink Christmas tree from Treetopia in 2009. The second floor is looking a little crazy right now, since that’s where our unpacked boxes have been congregating, but I may use the tree up there eventually. (This year? No promises.) Treetopia wrote to me a couple of months ago, offering the tree of my choice, so I chose the realistic-looking Oh Christmas Tree.

I’ve been arranging and rearranging the two parlors, so the space is a little sparse at the moment. I did move one of the green chairs over that I showed you yesterday. Again, it looks nice — it’s just not in line with what my overall plans were.

We’re so happy with the placement of the tree in front of those curved windows though! It was one of the things that Brandon and I were looking forward to when decorating this house.

November 14, 2013
Cottages and Bungalows Christmas Issue

I got word last December that a magazine was interested in featuring my house in their 2013 Christmas issue. A couple of weeks after the initial email, Cottages and Bungalows had arranged for a photographer to come and shoot my home, all decorated for the holidays. And now, one year later, the issue is out on newsstands!

I knew which rooms were being shot of course, but I had no idea they would use all of the photos in a ten-page spread. I was out to lunch with a friend when I saw it, and whoa, was I excited. It’s so fun to see the pink Christmas tree in print, and for the old house to get one last hurrah!

Thank you, Cottages and Bungalows!

p.s. If you’d like to see more details and get a little more information on those decorations, I wrote about it last year, here and here. It’s kind of cool to see how different it all looked in the magazine’s photos versus mine.

November 4, 2013
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