Friday, December 8, 2017

Cozy at Christmas


I am honored to have been asked once again to join the Cozy at Christmas Holiday Blog Tour.


My favorite part of Christmas is seeing old friends.


By old friends, I mean all the fun pieces I have amassed over the past 48 holiday seasons.


If it was up to me, I'd keep my Maileg pixies out year round,


but truthfully the fun of the pixies is that I only play with them one month a year.


I love the gift bags (I think I have had the one on the left for about 30 years) and got the idea from Natalie of Vintage Porch to use the bags for pillows.


When we downsized 20 years ago, I gave away a beloved rocking horse collection due to limited space, but I have obviously started a new collection.


Both wagons have been in my collection for about 25 years, but the one on the left got a coat of green paint this year.


I love using books in vignettes and these red books (vintage books from my mother-in-law) are used  year round.


Tattered and torn children's books along with my aunt's copy of A Christmas Carol and my mother's copy of Little Women all come out of hiding for the month of December.


Space is limited in the house to decorate,


so I love having both the ladder and the tall cupboard to create Christmas vignettes.


Every year I add a few new faux trees to my collection.


We go away for Christmas each year, but I try to have one or two real trees - I hope to keep this one growing through the year.


and this little rosemary tree smells wonderful in the house.


New pillows in the guest room make it nice and cozy as do all new Christmas pillows in the living room.


Like all my "toys", the pillows will go into hiding after making our house all comfy and cozy this December.


I hope you too are having a Cozy Christmas.

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And now it's time for you to visit all the other great Cozy at Christmas posts.








Posted by at 6:00 AM 33 comments

Tuesday, December 5, 2017

A Cottage Christmas

I am honored to be part of the Christmas Tour of Homes this year with 25 dynamic and creative bloggers.


I love our house year round, but especially at Christmas.


Since 2003, our tradition is to take a family vacation at Christmas so there are no real trees in the house.


I bought this tree in 2003 and even after 14 years it looks fine adorned with a wooden bead garland I bought in 1987.


Our step back cupboard provides a nice background for the tree and the vintage look shopping cart is a fun container.


I've been purging and limiting my purchases due to the lack of space, but I couldn't pass up the cute wooden horse candlestick.


The dining room is my favorite room to decorate-


  the wall of windows,


the shelf above the windows,


and our new plate racks are all perfect spots for both old and new treasures.


The kitchen is Steve's domain, but I get free reign on the open shelves.


All my red and white dishes came out of the cupboard


to fill up the shelves and the few bits of jadeite I received as gifts last Christmas fit right in.


With a background of white, the living room is easy to decorate for Christmas.


All the "beachy" decor was moved to the bedroom and a few new pillows were added to the sofa.


Our home is Steve's art gallery so the paintings don't change (until they sell), but Christmas trees, greenery, sparkling ornaments and of course Christmas stockings make the mantel festive.


I looked for a Charlie Brown tree for over a month and finally found just what I was looking for.


I had fun decorating these shelves in the living room


and it smells so good in this corner with all the different scents of the candles.


The old typewriter is one of my favorite items to decorate seasonally and this tall candlestick might be a new favorite decor piece.


The guest room is decorated 


and ready for this little guy who's coming with his mommy today.


 Andy won't even notice the decorations in this room,


but next year I bet he will want to play with all the pixies


which gives me an excuse to keep adding to my collection of Maileg toys.


Yes, I have a bit of a problem - I blame my Scandinavian roots (grandma was born in Norway) that draw me to all the pixies.


The bedroom has a nautical theme going on because my sweet daughter-in-law recently bought me fun pillows.


 I popped a mini tree with shells and starfish into an old beach bucket.


My sister has the magic touch for gifts - Neptune Santa was a gift the year we moved into our beach cottage.


Stop by again on Friday to see my "Christmas Outside" post as part of the Cozy at Christmas blog tour.


And now, on to the rest of the Christmas Tour of Homes.

MONDAY
Deeply Southern Home ... Noting Grace ... 
The Red Painted Cottage ... 
Poofing the Pillows ... Love Create Celebrate 

 TUESDAY
Simple Nature Decor ... Houseologie ... 
At Home With Jemma ...
 Paint Yourself a Smile ... County Road 407 
Posted by at 6:22 AM 35 comments

Saturday, November 11, 2017

One Holiday At a Time


I love decorating for Christmas, but I always like to give Thanksgiving its due.


The cabinet in the entry has been cleaned out and organized


just in case someone opens it during the holidays.


When we designed the plate racks for the dining room, the large yellow platter was the measurement for the height - it was my mother's and I love seeing it on display.


I laugh because I don't think she ever used the platter - it simply sat on the top of the refrigerator for my entire childhood.


We're still waiting to hear if the guest room will be occupied at Thanksgiving,


but it is ready.


I could not bear to put away the Halloween cat I purchased on sale last week so she's waiting to greet any guests.


I got in the Thanksgiving mood by making a pie.


I have been seeing gorgeous pies on Instagram so I gave it a try.


I am responsible for pies on Thanksgiving and I like how my version turned out - fortunately the neighbors helped us eat it.


And now, for a dose of reality - this is what the guest room often looks like since it doubles as my creative space.


I hand quilted 3 stockings for KC's family and today I need to embroider the names because I'm running out of time.



I hope you are enjoying the lead up to Thanksgiving.

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Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson - Share Your Cup
Posted by at 11:08 AM 31 comments
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