Christmas Around The Kitchen

Hi Friends! I am so thankful that this year as Christmas draws near I am able to slow it down a bit more and enjoy getting things set up for all of our family celebrations.  It's hard to believe that it was only a few years ago that I started decorating the kitchen with a Candy Land theme.    I have to say this theme is one of my favorite and holds near and dear to my heart.  I guess we never really outgrow "visions of sugarplums dancing in our heads", do we?

Rather then moving the bakers rack out of this space I decided to keep it here and just place the tree right in front of it.  

I also decided to keep the top a little simpler this year with the addition of a few new ribbons.

We are all about chevron here and I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the color combinations on this ribbon.  I knew immediately it would be perfect for my kitchen tree.

Then I decided it would look even better if I added a little twine ribbon as well.  

On the bakers rack, I decided to keep out a good bit of my regular decor sprinkled with Christmas.

My elves sure look up to mischief this year, don't they?

And speaking of sprinkling....how do you like the sprinkling of snow?  I love it!!!

  I have to tell you all I am just absolutely beside myself with joy about these picture effects.  I promise you I have not purposely added one effect myself. The only thing I have done was edit my pictures in Picasa then upload them to blogger.  When creating this post and adding a picture I am seeing two images to choose from.  One that is what I uploaded and one with special effects.  It's like either Blogger, Google, or Picasa is giving me a Christmas present.  It's crazy, y'all!

Well, before I go I've got to share my newly created coffee bar in the kitchen.  You may remember this as the wine bar last year.  I moved that over to another space in my kitchen after getting a new Keurig last month.  I'm still tweaking this area and playing with the decor here.

For the holidays, I think I've settled on this.

 Thanks so much for stopping by and enjoying the magic in my kitchen this year!

I am still hoping to get in at least a few more posts of my holiday decorating before Christmas arrives, if time permits.  If you enjoy holiday decorating please stop back by again sometime.  My next post will feature my dining room.  Come on back to see my nativity and hear about an amazing find I came across to complete my set.

Thanks so much for visiting today! Have a blessed Sunday Everyone!

It's a Very Berry Christmas!

Hi Friends! Are you ready for Christmas yet? Hard to believe it's only in a few more weeks, isn't it?  We are nearly ready as far as the decorating goes this year, with the exception of a few final touches.  

This year I created a very berry look with using much of what I already had on hand, only using it in different ways.  Speaking of using things differently, once again I've created a whole new look on the mantle simply by swapping out a few things from the fall vignette and adding in a few new elements for Christmas.  To see the fall mantle, you may jump back by click HERE.    

And...Wallah!  Here's my Christmas mantle!  

What?  You want to see color?  Sorry!  I just couldn't resist playing around with Picasa's photo editing.  I just absolutely love seeing black and white photos this time of year.

For those of you who want to see a little color I've included a those as well.

Don't ask me how I did this, that's the first time I've seen this happen, but I love, love, love it!

Much of what I used here is a combination of what I already had on the mantle, like the wreath and the willow votive candle holders. I simply added berries to the wreath, changed out the garland and added the reindeer and additional candlesticks.

Also rather then having a large bow here in the center, I decided to bring back this clock to balance it all out.  I love that it is the perfect color too!

Before I show you the tree, I wanted to show you how I carried the berry theme a little more throughout the house.  In the guest half bath, I hung a berry candle ring on the small iron gate.  

The coffee table has a simple votive candle surrounded by berries on a tray.  I love all the layers here that keep it from looking puny on the table.

Okay, now on to the tree.  This year I am all about layers!

Although this is old school to many of you, I finally added a burlap ribbon to my tree this year.  I actually purchased the burlap last year but never got around to using it.  I brought back the willow garland that I used last year.  It looks great with the burlap and was the perfect addition with all the other garlands I used.

You heard me right friends, I said ALL the other garlands.  This year I added several strands of garland that I have never used on my tree before.  I had three long strands of berry garland shown here above that I have used on my stairway and mantle in years past.  I don't know why I have never thought of putting on the tree before, but I am so glad I thought of it this year.  I cannot tell you how much depth it gave the tree.  I guess this is just one of those tricks you learn over time, huh?  LOL!

The top of my tree got a new addition too.  I found this willow star at a thrift store this year and new it would be perfect on my tree.

I still wasn't ready to part with my copper star trio though, so I simply added them to the top as well.  Love the combination here!

More twigs and berries add to the overall effect for a very dramatic topper.

And that is how it all came together for a very berry Christmas!

I'll be back again to share my other trees with you soon.  I've made a few slight changes to the tree in the kitchen this year so you may want to pop back by again later, okay?

Thanks so much for stopping by! 

From our house to yours, 

Wishing all of you,

 a VERY BERRY MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Thankful Tablescape

Hello Blogland!  I couldn't resist sharing a Thankful tablescape with you because I've got so much to be thankful for, much of which never comes across on this blog.  Some of you have asked again where I've been.  Well, the long and short of it is, I've been working! My new job now in retail allows me to work during the week and have my weekends and Mondays off.  What a blessing that is, and I love it!

I am not blogging as much these days because it's really just not that much of a priority to me. Quite simply, I've decided to leave the everyday blogging to all you wonderful and inspirational professional bloggers.  I do hope that there's still room out here for those like me who want to pop in on occasion and share.  I am still looking at your blogs and gaining beautiful inspiration and ideas as I am sure you can see from much of what I share as well.  So....without further ado, here's a Thanksgiving tablescape that I hope you will enjoy!

Love my turkey basket.  It was from Ah, at home.  Too bad they are no longer in business.

I decided to give this years setting a mixture of old and new.

The "Be Thankful" bags were from Michaels last year. 

I just couldn't resist using these linen placemats that I purchased from a church/yard sale a few years back.  I just love the fall colors of the crewelwork on them.

My fabulous Lenox dinner plate is from my Butlers Pantry collection.

And the salad plates were from TJ Maxx and Marshalls.

Now, isn't this the cutest little thing?  I found these corn holder plates at a local thrift store.  I love that they are just the perfect color match to my Butlers Pantry dishes as well.

Here' s some new! New style and new linens.  I just had to make these chevron napkins this year to be a little trendy ya know!

I like the way the chevron coordinated with my runner I purchased a few years ago from Joanne fabrics.

I used my grandmothers crystal with the gold etchings for the wine and these pretty gold goblets purchased from a resale store were the perfect choice for tea.

Gobble, gobble shakers were from Ross.

From this view, I think either my brown or woven place mats may have been a better choice but then I wouldn't have gotten to use the linen ones...and well, I like those...alot!!! LOL!

These candlesticks were the perfect choice of color.  I love how well they coordinated with my runner.

And the pine cone candles have always reminded me of fall.

Here's a little trick I learned from all of you bloggers.  Wrap some jute twine around almost anything and it will add just that extra touch of cuteness!

I've also done a little rearranging in the dining room too.  I moved my china hutch off the side wall and placed it on the back wall of the dining room where the marble table and mirror used to be.  I had another side table in here where this black sideboard is now and the black side board was where the marble table is now.  Basically, I took out one of the extra side tables because it was feeling just a little too crowded to me. Even though we only use this room a few times a year, I still like it to feel as spacious as possible.  I still revamping this room little by little.  Hoping to find a new rug this year.  Now that's quite a challenge.  Would love any suggestions on that!

Well, there's my Thankful table y'all!  I hope you enjoyed it.

For more beautiful tablescapes please check out

Let's Dish

and

Tablescape Thursday

I can hardly wait to get things set up for Christmas this year.  I am literally chomping at the bit.  I may even break tradition and do it this weekend.  Well, maybe.  

We shall see!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

I wish each of you a very Happy Thanksgiving!