after Christmas - decorating for winter.

Happy New Year friends!
I hope you had a gorgeous holiday season.

Didn't it just fly by? I can't believe I'm [slowly] taking down the Christmas decorations.

But don't despair! Even though Christmas is but a memory, there is still plenty of winter left for cozy decorating:

Pull up a chair. Throw an uber cozy faux fur blankie on top. Fill a wonderful basket with frosty pinecone wreaths.  Hmmm now what's missing?

Oh yes. The coffee. Sorely needed to survive a Christmas dismantling session.

[Interesting how that meant the basket needed reorganizing after the coffee came around!]

What about you? Does Christmas decor still rule in your house? Or is it already long gone?

Wishing you all the best this New Year!




accessory sources...
HomeGoods: basket on table
Pier1: frosty pinecone wreaths, faux fur blankie
DecorSteals: Reindeer Feed pillow
World Market: hanging basket

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a farmhouse Christmas - creating a vignette.

Ok don't hate me.

I know it's still November.

I couldn't help it. I was putting away the Halloween decorations and mine eyes fell upon the Christmas decorations...and I just grabbed one bucket. Just one.

The magic was that bucket held the blue milk glass globes that I scored on clearance from Wisteria last year. But today is your lucky day, because they brought them back again this year!

I thought I'd do something a little different and show you the evolution of my farmhouse Christmas vignette.

For me, farmhouse is natural elements, lots of texture, rubbed and worn wood tones, with just the merest hint of sparkle thrown in for balance...

Ready? Here we go...

First, I placed a tree and a mason jar snow scene on the console table: 

Next came my rustic Target lantern [another clearance score!], filled with simple white glass ornaments:

Added another mason jar snow scene. Can never have enough of those!:

Oh hello Mr. White & Gold Reindeer, aren't you pretty?

Now how about a blue milk glass globe and a twig snowflake:

Every Christmas vignette could use a lovely soft green wreath, and more milk glass globes, right?  You'll see I also flipped Mr. Reindeer to face the other way and moved the twig snowflake down to lean against the lantern:

As of this second, this Christmas vignette is done.

Famous last words.

Who am I kidding? I'm sure I'll be fussing with it for a few more days!

happy winter solstice - free winter word art!

Happy Winter Solstice everyone!

I have a special affinity for December 21 not only because it's my birthday  :-)
but more importantly I love taking time on the Solstice to reflect on the quiet and stillness of winter, and the promise of things to come.

The evergreens laden with snow.

Buds appearing on deciduous trees, ready to burst forth in the Spring.

Quiet walks on crisp mornings.

Like no other time of the year, that feeling that I'm a part of nature. And that it's a part of me.

For me this is joy.

So I wanted to capture this in some custom word art that I could print and hang in our home to keep me in tune with this feeling.

And because you're awesome, you can click here to download a free PDF copy.  It's 8.5" x 11" with approximately 1/4" margin all the way around so if you plan to frame it, a thin frame works best.

Enjoy this very special Winter Solstice day.

a lovely rustic christmas.

I couldn't wait to decorate our home for Christmas this year...the day after Thanksgiving wasn't 2 seconds old before I ripped the fall decorations down and put up the Christmas ones.

by far, my favorite elements are the 75 feet of fresh cedar garland [oh yes, it's nice to live in the pacific nw!] on the front porch and the old garden lantern that I ran to earth in the garage. crammed it full of lights and nestled it in a metal basket on the front porch.

[old rusted garden lantern, repurposed.]

for me, it's tempting to just do it the same every year but since I committed to trying new things in my life I mixed it up just a bit.

[portion of the mantle.]

below is one of 2 clay santas. I love their skinny orientation and you can definitely feel the soft clay. neat.

[clay santa.]

[snowmen on the ledge by the front door.]

[gotta have an owl.]

another lovely portland christmas.

every year come september, I start to get excited for winter and christmas in the pacific northwest. strolling in downtown portland, dropping into the always lovely benson hotel for a spiced cider and a little tree-gazing...

[christmas tree - benson hotel - downtown portland or].

[christmas tree - benson hotel - downtown portland or].

then heading down to the pearl district, where it seems that the lights on the street trees twinkle the brightest.

[pearl district trees - downtown portland or].

ah, christmas in portland. sigh. however did I live without it for so long?