My Winter White Living Rooom

I'm super excited to share with you what I call my winter white living room! I received so many wonderful compliments about my living room, as well as lots of positive questions about how I decorated this space.

I'm to happy to share all the details with y'all!

Design Tip:  It's important to get some classic decor pieces that you love and fit your personal style.  This will save you money because you could refinish or repurpose those pieces in the future for an  to updated look - instead of buying new. My coffee table of 12 years is a great example. It's solid wood with a classic design. I've painted it several times to update it - instead of buying new!

Christmas Tree Details

This year I had the privilege of receiving a 9 foot Flocked Christmas tree from King of Christmas. It gave me a whole new direction for decorating my living room! Since my flocked tree is such a natural beauty I chose to keep the decor simple and stately. I opted for larger round ornaments rather than many small ones. 

When decorating my tree the first thing I do is put on the ribbon. I cut about 5-6 foot strips, a little longer than the length of the tree. Then I start from the top and tuck about ever 3-6 inches it into the center of the tree - making it "bubble out." I repeat these streps until I reach the bottom of the tree. Then I cut 12 inch strips of another patterned ribbons and place those around the tree to fill in empty spaces.  I add sprigs of frosted sticks and silver was stems throughout. For a tree skirt I just added white fabric and an old white curtain I had in my decorator closet! Crazy huh? 

Garland and Wreath

I purchased the garland on my fireplace about five years ago from Hobby Lobby. (I also have the same garland on my stairs.) The garland was originally just green. I added flocked pieces or stems, to brighten it up and give it an updated snowy look. 

Decor

 The Santa Claus boxes under the tree were a new addition this year! They were sent to me by a darling home decor shop called Krumpets Home Decor. The white candle sticks on the hearth I've had forever! I bought them from Hobby Lobby 8 years ago when they were black. I painted them white to give them a fresh new look. 

The mecury glass vases and candles sticks, and cathedral mirror, are part of my everyday decor and are up on my mantle year round. Most times I like to mix holiday decor with my everyday decor. 

Here are the references to where my decor is from:

Silver trees - Home Goods.
Large Decorative Truck Figurine came from Target.   

Decorative white deer - ZGallerie. 

Believe Sign- Kirklands
Mercury Glass- At Home

Hosting a Winter Wonderland Dinner

Tonight was a special night! I had the wonderful opportunity to speak and host dinner at my home for forty women from my church. It made me so happy to see so many beautiful faces. 

Our theme for the night was "We are like Snowflakes, Different in our own Beautiful Way." 

It's good to remind ourselves how beautiful, special and unique we each are!

  

(Read all the details below.)

I've been planing this dinner with several ladies from church for a few months now. All the details were set and on Sunday night, my husband and older sons went to church and borrowed four tables and forty chairs. Monday they set them up in our living room, and then my friend Laura and I went to town setting tables. We borrowed forty chair covers and place settings (including real silverware, and glass etched goblets), from a lady in our church congregation. (She has 250 formal place settings that she bought years ago for her five daughters weddings! We also borrowed white table cloths from church. I had most of the centerpiece decor. 

We had snowflake luminaries on walk way leading up to my front door. We also had five talented young women from church sing christmas carols as the older ladies arrived for dinner. 
The girls sounded like angels!

We had dessert/candy bar where we had silver candies in glass containers - and glass trays filled of varieties of cheesecakes squares. (Unfortunently, I didn't get a lot of pics of the dessert bar.) 

I could not have done this with out the help from a few amazing ladies from church! These women were some of three most selfless, serving, women I have ever met! They took care of all the food (lasagna, garlic bread and Cesar salad), and drinks. Not to mention they washed every dish by hand! One lady even brought her own dish gloves and dish towels -prepared to help! They were outstanding! My home was spotless when everyone left! 

It was a wonderful, magical night for all! My heart was so happy to share my home! 

Woodland Elegance

I am so honored and excited to be on the 2017 Treetopia Design Council! 

I was given the wonderful opportunity to select several products of my choice from Treetopia.com. The products I chose were perfect for the "Woodland Elegance" theme I had in mind for my dining room. I wanted the room to be elegant, cozy, traditional, and stylish - as my dining room takes center stage on Christmas Eve.  My family's greatest Christmas Eve tradition is dressing in our Sunday best, having a delicious formal dinner, followed by attending a candlelight church service. It's a tradition my grandparents started long ago when my mother was young - and now has been passed down to my children. 

For starters, I wanted a traditional Christmas tree to be the focal point of the room and that would capture the woodland theme. The 7.5 Noble Fir Tree  did just that with its perfect color, texture, size and shape! 

This tree represents the magic of Christmas to me with its sparkling glitter, gold ornaments, and whimsical reindeer, coupled with natural pinecones. It is reminiscent of my childhood when we as a family would cut down our tree in the snowy Minnesota forest. We would bring it home and decorate to resemble a tree like in a department store window. I wanted to recreate that feeling for my own children so that they too can have the wonder and awe that accompanies the majesty of the holiday season.

The Gemmed Up Pearl Ornaments I picked out are a dream! They add such sparkle and elegance, and remind me of the vintage handmade ornaments my grandmother used to make by hand for us years ago. In fact, I can still visualize her pushing straight pins delicately as to place each piece of sequence and pearl by hand. 

Keeping with the neutral color scheme, I also added different gold textured balls, because a variety of textures helps create visual interest as well as a customized look. 

 I also chose the Harvest Pine 10' Garland and Harvest Pine 24" Wreath to compliment my buffet table. The intricate details of the pine and fur foliage mixed with the green and white berries, make this wreath and garland truly magical! I love how there are lights on both the garland and wreath - adding more magic! I did add a few layers of ribbon and placed a few gold ball ornaments around, but I didn't want to take away from the wreath and garland's natural beauty and unique texture! 

This room, now dressed in the Woodland Elegance theme, is ready to usher in a magical Christmas Eve to be enjoyed by friends and family! 

Make sure to stop by the Treetopia Blog and see all the amazing trees from the rest of the 
2017 Treetopia Design Council!

Making an Old Christmas Tree New Again!

 One of the most popular trends in christmas decor is having a flocked Christmas tree with different types of ribbon and embellishments. While flocked trees are beautiful, it's not always possible to ditch your perfectly good Christmas tree for a new one. So I've discovered a great way to achieve the "Pinterest" look without breaking the bank!

My Christmas tree is about 10 years old and all green. I needed to freshen it up! I really wanted to make it look more like a flocked tree, so I went and bought a few large flocked tree pieces, or stems, from my local Michael's Craft store and stuck them in the tree. Then I bought smaller pieces of flocked different shades greenery to add more dimension to my tree. 

 Tall Christmas tree toppers are all the rage, so I went to Hobby Lobby and bought these red tall sprigs. They originally had lime green in them, but I took it out and just used the red. I also used silver floral stems to fill in the top and make it look more dramatic. 

My garland came from Hobby Lobby about four years ago. It too was just solid green, so I added all different types of floral stems with different shades.  I also added several ribbons with different patterns and colors for more interest.

I also used decorative mesh to help fill in empty spots where the tree might not be as full.

I hope you enjoy your tree and make wonderful memories with it for years to come! 

Christmas Tree Inspiration!

Christmas time is a magical time in the decorating world! 

I just love seeing how so many talented people are decorating thier home for the Christmas season! 

I wanted to share these inspirational photos with you from some of my favorite websites! 

I love this little piece of winter wonderland from World Market.

For elegant looking tree Randi, at Randi Garrett Design is one of my decorating heroes, everything she does is so regal!

Lucy, from Craftberry Bush put together this cozy Christmas farmhouse dream!

And another one of my favorites, Kelley Nan,  decorated the gorgeous tree with romantic flair- using pastel colors and accents of gold.

For an all white goodness- this tree from The Happy Happy Nester is perfect!

And I had to showcase this whimsical tree because it's just so darn cute! Check it out 

 RAZ Imports

The Christmas Season is Here!

I love Christmas time! And to kick of the holiday season my family and I attended the lighting of the our town square HUGE Christmas tree! It was so magical! 

Then we came home and watched the Wonderful World of Disney's TV spectacular. It was such a marvelous atmosphere with the glow of the fire and sparkle of the twinkling Christmas lights! I wanted to share a couple of photos with you.
It's amazing how things look so different in the daytime and nighttime!

Daytime

Nighttime

Daytime

Nighttime

Holiday Coffee Table Decor

One of my favor decor things to do is change out my coffee table decor for different holidays!

I always keep the same basic pieces: the candles, candles sticks, and white tray. Then I add decor according to the themed holiday. Below is normal coffee table decor that I have up for most of the year. 

Then for Valentine's Day, I change out the flowers, but keep the same vase. I add new pink and red pillows and a Valentine's banner on the fire place. It changes the entire look! 

 During Christmas season, I took out my glass square vase and replaced it with an apothecary jar fill with festive silver and gold balls. Then I covered the tray with different textured greenery and a few extra large Christmas ornaments. By using different textures in my greenery it added depth and interest to the arrangement.

You can do this with any holiday! The possibilities are endless! Just incorporate your favorite color holiday decor with a few of your normal decor pieces!

Dining Room Table Display!

I'm sad to take down my dining room Christmas decorations, but super excited to welcome in the New Year with all it's happy things that await! Especially since our baby girl will be arriving sometimes before the 14th of January!

For my dining room tablescape,  I used a lot of different pieces that all had the same color pallet, but different textures. I used glass, glitter, ceramics, mesh, and mirrors, and fabric. They all worked together to create a winter wonderland look.