merry, merry

if anyone is looking for me, i am locked in my closet wrapping presies.
wishing you and yours the happiest of holidays. see you later (2010?)
xo christina

Tuesday Tablescape

marthastewart.com

I love this song

I just heard this song on Pandora and love it. Reminds me of George Winston, but with words. The two women who sing it are named Sarah Bareilles & Ingrid Michaelson.
Winter Song

Sunday Morning

I spy

There is so much to ooh and ahhh at in this issue of Lonny Magazine, but I did have to comment that this is a GREAT technique to reign in those floppy (but lovely) paperwhites!

Brad Ford, I like your style -- bamboo and raffia, two must haves in this house!

image via lonnymag.com

Wreath Fun

Here are the wreaths I have have made for our home this holiday season. Keep in mind, I was trying to use color and stay away from the "traditional" look :-). The one in the kitchen is a bit psychedelic, but it is fun and today our elf decided to sit in it. The perfect hiding place for, Cooper, who realizes he must stay out of reach of the kids!!

This is the formal one. It is hanging in our Living Room. One of the nice things about having very little on your walls is that you can transform your home during the holidays.

This is the only wreath I actually planned! I have had this boxwood wreath for a couple of weeks and I knew I wanted to something the kids would enjoy. I got all of these supplies at Michaels, and the ribbon was left over from an old Sue Fisher King purchase (she has the BEST ribbon). I am so happy with this one!

Our slightly abused Christmas tree. Notice the lack of real ornaments on the bottom. Teddy keeps pulling everything off so I am constantly moving all of the ornaments up to the top except for the fun homemade ones on the bottom. Slightly wacky, but festive nonetheless.

My kitchen corner looking so festive.

Happy Decorating!!!

Hanging Holiday Cards

One of my favorite things is receiving holiday cards from friends near and far. I always try to display them in some way so the happy faces fill our home with warmth. This year, I took advantage of the blank walls (and strong vertical lines) in our dining room and I hung ribbon from little nails. I have been stapling cards on as they arrive and if I run out, I will simply add another ribbon!

How do you display your holiday cards?

Hey Santa...

Do you think you could roll this up in plastic and stuff it down my chimney this xmas?

Many thanks, and I promise to be good.

xo Christina

madelineweinrib.com

exterior inspiration

pics from cottage living

Bazaar & more

Have you checked out Serena and Lily lately? Look at the Bazaar section. Here are some things I found fun - many of which are now sold..

worth keeping tabs on this.



and I just love this table- so fun for a guest room's bedside table(s). It seems to be a stocked item and comes in white and melon.

all pics via serenaandlily.com

Mock-Ups

I am deciding on a light for our kitchen and this seemed like the perfect time to talk about mock-ups. If you are thinking of making some changes to your house - like purchasing a carpet, moving furniture and changing light fixtures (and you don't have the items out on approval), it is so important to do a mock-up to see if you will like the changes.

The first thing you need to have in your junk drawer is Blue Painters Tape....

I capitalized those words to show you how important I think Blue Tape is! It is the best, you can use it on the floor to visualize a new sized carpet - just stick it down on carpet or wood and it comes right off. You can also tape off the size of upholstered chairs, and occasional pieces to see how you would like to lay out a room. It is so helpful.

I also use this miracle tape to hold up Athena's artwork on our kitchen walls. It doesn't peel the paper and it comes off the wall nicely. You really need to buy this if you don't have it, or stuff someone's stocking with it for xmas. They will thank you.

So back to the light fixture. I tied up the pendant lights in our kitchen (using bread ties:-)to see if I wanted to do a flush mount fixture instead of pendants, and immediately I loved the results. It really opened up the room to remove something hanging over our island. These ceilings are low.

Then I found a fixture I loved here

but after reflecting on the price, and receiving the RH catalog, I decided this one will work just fine. I actually like it better.

Next, had to figure out the size to order and here is where the fun began. I couldn't find any cardboard boxes in the garage so I hit the playroom to see if the kids had anything which might roughly be the same size. I came up with this Melissa and Doug wooden box which is 15 inches long. I then used kitchen string (also another necessity) to hang it precariously over the tied up fixture and see what I thought.

Here are the results - close up. It is hanging lower than the real one will, but from one end of the island I was really able to visualize the width of the fixture, and I think I am going to order the middle sized light instead of the large which is perhaps just a tad big for our kitchen.

As cheesy as this looks, putting a little extra time into these decisions can save you money and aggravation in the end!

Happy Friday everyone! We have Christmas in the Square here tonight! Hingham does it right. Santa rides into town on a fire truck. Should be a lot of fun with family and friends.

See you Monday.

Kitchen Update

Our new backsplash! Simple, white.

Tuesday Tablescape

peter dunham (photograph from domino)

THE SEASON OF JOY & COLOR

Hi! Hope you all had fabulous Thanksgivings.
Moving right along... I am so in the Christmas Spirit, I have to try hard to contain it. Now, I realize it isn't December yet, but we are really feeling the Holiday Joy early this year (mostly due to Athena, who is so excited for Santa). This will be our first Christmas in our new home (woohoo!) and I have gotten so excited for decorating. We got our tree yesterday and we have hung some lights outside.
I have decided to go for a colorful Christmas this year and two things have motivated this.

First - this image:

anna spiro - absolutelybeautifulthings

I spied this wreath on absoultelybeautiful things blog last year. I promised myself I would try to recreate this wreath. There is something so fresh and modern about it, yet it uses vintage ornaments. Too cool.

The second inspiration for our colorful decorations was this goldmine I found at my local junk shop in Newton. Have I told you about this place? The name is ANTIQUE SHOP. No, I am not kidding. It is worth a peek if you are in the area (356 Watertown St, Newton, MA). I got my andirons there (pic later). I dragged the kids in -- slightly crazy-- and while they played with the vintage marbles I spied a basket on the floor in back that had about 20 Mexican ornaments.

I have long envied my sister in law's amazing ornament collection which consists of many hand painted tin ornaments she picked up in her travels to Mexico over the years. They are bright, quirky, and so unique. Well, who would have guessed I would find some in Newton, MA!? I picked through the pile and pulled out birds (obvi) and some other ones which seemed fitting for our tree. I thought that these bright colors in addition to silver- would be the perfect theme for our tree this year.


I hope you all are doing well!

Do You Need a Laugh?!

Look at this turkey my mom made with some friends the other day!!! I had to post this.

A centerpiece with a sense of personality and humor!!!

Have a Wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends, everyone.

Thank you so much for reading this blog!

Christina

Turkey Day Table

From last year...

Tuesday Tablescape

lonnymag.com

Haste Makes Waste

This statement is ringing in my ears today.
I had purchased an orchid the week after we moved here and it just recently died after six months of beautiful blossoms. It was a great orchid and seemed so happy in the window of my kitchen. Anyway, I have been keeping it in the bar area and today I decided to cut it back and store it out of the way for the winter. The top was shrivelled but what I didn't notice until after I hastily snapped off the majority of the orchid stalk, was this!!!!

It had already sprouted new growth (something I have a hard time getting an orchid to do - let alone right after it dies)!!!! I gasped and almost started to cry! How could I have done something so stupid!?! If I had only taken the time to examine all sides of the stalk I would have seen that in a second. But it was too late. Oh well, I am hoping it will try to shoot another growth even after being severed.

On a positive note, I finally bought a fun plant for my basket! I have been looking for ornamental fig tree but they are so hard to come by here. I went with a banana tree, and I love it!

Also, here is what I bought to replace the orchid. It is called a Bromiliad and if you don't have a green thumb, this just might be the plant for you. All it requires is a sunny spot and a little water in the cup which is formed by its leaves. It is in the pineapple family and is so fun and cheerful. Nothing like bringing something tropical indoors during the chilly months. Athena picked out our new watering can which she insisted I photograph...

One last house update. I am loving my new Dash and Albert Runner. It really ties with the green in the dining room and the blue I plan to paint the kitchen.

Rain, Rain

It is raining here today - pretty yucky - but I can't complain since it has been a BEAUTIFUL month here and I even took advantage of yesterday's warm temps to get the rest of my spring bulbs planted. The freezing temps will be here before we know it, but I have umbrellas on my mind...

Swoozies has a couple of cute monogrammed umbrellas - great stocking stuffers!

This (below)also comes in green and pink with chocolate:

swoozies.com

The old-school duck handle umbrella. Available in many fun colors on decorativethings.com:

So cute for kids! Athena has this frog one:

amazon.com

I love this clear one from Target:


Check out umbrellas.net for a great selection of every kind of umbrella (even some fun lace parasols (fun for a vintage bride).

How fun are the colors on this umbrella?


umbrellas.net

Pagoda - my favorite. Isn't this beautifully constructed?! It also comes in brown, green and black.

umbrellas.net

Vintage, Parisian. This reminded me of a DVF dress...

umbrellas.net

Happy Friday, everyone! Hope you stay dry wherever you are!

November Artwork

by athena

Tuesday Tablescape

Start with a Roberta Roller Rabbit cloth to drape over your round table:
Then add these glasses from Pottery Barn

Pull out your timeless williams-sonoma apilco plates

But don't be too boring. Mix these bowls in from anthropologie:

add set the table with these:

Classic white hemstitched napkins from williams sonoma always look right.

You can splurge on these Kim Seybert napkin rings - or for a more cost-effective option - tie raffia around the napkins, or use orange or red (or combined) grosgrain ribbons as napkin rings.

Do you have a large hurricane lantern? Place that in the middle of the table - perhaps on a tray and then surround with oranges and greenery - or for a more crisp look group some of these hurricanes together (go for odd number)

There you have it. A fun Tuesday Tablescape.