It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

Greetings my friends!  Christmas is upon us, and I couldn't be any happier!  I had my decorations up the day after Thanksgiving.  Like many of you, I planned to listen to my Christmas music while decorating, but my i-Pod has gone kaput on me.  I did the next best thing and put on some great made-for-TV Christmas movies.

My Christmas colors are red, gold, and green.  I am such a traditionalist!  These colors have served me well over the years, and I truly love them more today.  My mantle has green garland with tiny gold beads intertwined.  I found the needlepoint stockings at Tuesday Morning many years ago.

Growing up my parents gave each of us a real hand-made nutcrackers as a Christmas present every year probably until I was out of college.  My mother put such thought into which ones she bought us...the year I was into horse-back riding, the nutcracker I received had an equestrian theme.  My brothers are both avid outdoorsmen, so many of their nutcrackers are fisherman, skiiers, etc.  You get the idea.  My mother graciously gave me my entire collection and even some of my brother's nutcrackers.  Neither have interest in them, so I gladly took them.  Not only are they on my mantle, I also have them on my dining room buffet and on the console in the office.  They bring back so many wonderful memories each time I see them!  

My mother in-law knows how much I love nutcrakcers, so one year she gifted her collection to me.  It is so fun to pull them out each year.

The vignette in my dining room is a favorite of mine.  The pedestal bowl has 84 candy-canes hanging from the inside with a beautiful ornament serving as the anchor.  The garland on each candle was purchased at my favorite home store while I was living in Denver (The Lark).

Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree!  When my husband and I first purchased our faux tree in 2007 (our first Christmas!) from Home Depot, we also purchased red and gold ball ornaments.  Those were our only ornaments that year.  I have managed to pick up a few ornaments here and there over the last three years and some friends have gifted us with some sentimental ornaments.  As I began to decorate the tree this year, my mother in-law rang my doorbell with a bag full of the most beautiful glass ornaments for our tree.  Boy am I a lucky girl!  If I say so myself, I think our tree is pretty spectacular!  Here it is in all of it's glory

Thank you for reading my blog!  If you can't tell, I truly love Christmas!  Enjoy the holidays with your loved ones!

Thanksgiving Table

Happy Thanksgiving friends!  The holidays...Halloween-New Year's Eve are my absolute favorite time of year!  This year I am having a small gathering at HSH for Thanksgiving lunch.  I use the same china each year (Woodland by Spode).  The bird motifs make it the perfect Thanksgiving china.  However, I try to change up the tablescapes each year.  This year I went with a burlap tablecloth, orange linen napkins, and orange candlesticks.  I purchased the burlap from JoAnn's and fused together four yards with Stitch Witchery.  Here are the photos of my table:

And, here's a close-up:

I really love the green and white flowers as a centerpiece.  I made three small arrangements using mint julep cups and placed them together on a footed silver tray.

On the other side is the buffet where we will serve desserts.

I hope you enjoy time with your friends and family.  Have a happy turkey day!