Christmas Tablescape

I bought 4 plates from Target in the pattern I've been drooling over for the past couple of weeks. It's brown with a gold scroll pattern and gold edging. I set it up here on my dining room table with some bronze candlesticks and metallic candle rings that I found on sale at Michaels, and a table runner from Marshalls.

I also found some chargers at Home Goods that really help to set if off. I've never been to Home Goods before, the closest one is about 45 minutes away from me, so I took a trip there yesterday. I knew it was related to Marshall's, but I didn't know it was just a big extension of the store.

I am thinking about getting some gold flatware. It seems odd to put silver with all this gold.

Shiny Ornaments

I finally got most of my cleaning done, so I am beginning to decorate for Christmas. I still want to shampoo my carpeting and clean out the bedroom, but neither of those things interfere with decorating.

I am considering getting an artificial tree. I think I may get a real one this year, and look for one after Christmas for next year when I have the new house. The living room is on the second floor, and I think I'd rather not drag a live tree up and down the steps.

I have been looking online at decorations and I'm watching holiday decorating shows on HGTV to get some new ideas, though I don't want to spend much money. I have been evolving my decor over the past several years from a primitive country look to a more warm traditional one, and that includes Christmas decorating. I started that by getting a second tree at my old house and doing a traditional look in the formal living room and kept the country look in the family room.

Since my divorce I have not had the option of two trees; I have barely had room for one, so I have been keeping the tree in a country look and spreading the traditional look around the rest of the room.

I'm finding the internet is a really great way to define your style and get ideas of the look you want to create. It just takes a little time to go through photos and blogs and websites to find things that you find really appealing and group them together to find a cohesive theme.

Sometimes it's not all that cohesive and that is part of the problem I'm facing to decorate the new house. So many things appeal to me!

One thing I have found I have a really strong preference for is ornate sparkly Christmas ornaments in warm colors. Aren't these gorgeous?

Well, enough typing for now, I have decorating to do!

Decorating for Christmas

Here is the wreath I am hanging on my door for Christmas. Michaels has a lot of things on sale and I had a rare coupon for 15% off the entire purchase including sales items, so I got a lot of good deals last night. I picked up the wreath, which had the large pinecones and pepperberries already on it, and enhanced it with some fruit picks, gold leaves and ribbon that I got at the dollar store. Now it is just what I wanted, a mix of natural materials and glitzy shiny stuff.

I took the week off from work to clean my apartment and start paring down my stuff in preparation for the move, but so far all I have managed to do is buy more stuff! I got some little glass drop ornaments at Target and I'm decorating my cheesy brass chandelier for Christmas with them and an extremely glittery leaf garland from Michaels. I need more bows but here is the basic effect:

So at this point, I have finished shopping for 10 of the 12 people on my list and everything I have is wrapped, I have planned for some crafts I want to do, cookies I want to bake, candy to make, and I started decorating even though I have not cleaned yet. So, essentially I have done the fun "work" and procrastinated all the not so fun stuff. (Plus now I am writing about it rather than getting started). So, I'm going to start cleaning now. Really. As soon as I get a shower.

Dinnerware

I love dishes, earth-toned, patterned ones in particular. These are some of my favorites. This red one is called "Novus", you can get 4 place settings for about $850.










This next one is called "Arabesque" and is considerably less expensive at about $215 for 4 place settings. I love the hand-painted look of the pattern:

This one is "Provence", in a beautiful mustard and brick red color scheme with a floral pattern. I have found this one several places, and the prices vary but it's in the same range as the one above.

Target has a holiday set in stores right now, it's a chocolate brown with a gold swirl pattern, but I don't have a shot of it. I may just have to buy a small set of it.







While I was drooling over dinnerware patterns on Horchow, I also found a completely gorgeous Christmas wreath. This is perfect, it blends natural materials, earth tones, and sparkly accents:

Beautiful Christmas Cookies

Nothing like some gorgeous photos of Christmas cookies to get you in the mood for baking. I am not ready to start yet, but looking doesn't have any calories.


























































I think I am going to experiment with fondant and royal icing this year when I bake. I'm sure my results won't be this stunning, but practice makes perfect!

Christmas Decorations

Isn't this a pretty way to decorate a window for Christmas?
















I love the look of these glittery ornaments nestled in "snow":




























I love the warm colors of these - earthy and sparkly at the same time:
















I went to Marshalls today at lunch and found almost nothing! Well, I did get a little plate and a tiny Christmas ornament, but I really expected to find something completely irresistible, and it didn't happen. Oh well, tis the season for giving anyway, not receiving!

Fireplace Mantels

I love an old fireplace mantel decorated for Christmas. My new house does not have a fireplace, unfortunately, but I plan to eventually get a fake one anyway.


This one is particularly beautiful:


There is an architectural salvage place nearby where I can choose from hundreds of antique mantels. I like this one, or something similar. I have not been there in a while but I think this will run around $1500 or so. Well worth it to preserve a gorgeous piece of history.


I can picture it decorated with greens and candles now. I can't wait to get my house!

Christmas on the way...

As soon as Halloween is over, I always start thinking about Christmas. It is my favorite time of year. I have a considerable amount of shopping done by now, and while I am trying very hard to be good and not spend any extra money before I get the house, I can't help thinking about decorating it for the holidays next year. I've been browsing Christmas Wreaths on flickr and here are some favorites:

I'd like to do something like these, with beautiful natural materials. My front door will be red, and I think the green will look great against it.


But, part of me is drawn to shiny glitzy things too. This vintage ornament wreath is gorgeous.