A Sprinkle of Holiday Decor

I’m not going to bore you with the details but I’m behind on blogging due to computer issues.  UGH!  Back in the saddle again and now trying to play catch up.  FEW!  Here we go with a little post on how we decorated our house.

We purchased and decorated our tree the first week of December.  I like to enjoy it the entire month. I relish in the ambiance it creates.  I enjoy  lighting the fire and candles, having a nice glass of wine or champagne, and gazing at our sparkly tree.   Our color scheme is simple; white, silver and anything that sparkles.   I kept our holiday decorating to a minimum by just accessorizing a few key areas.  I hung stockings on the fireplace, added some holiday decor to the dining table, and planted paper whites and amaryllis (I love the smell and enjoy the blooms).

I started in the dining area.  The runner on the table stays on all year round along with the ceramic urn.  I just added some touches of mercury glass and tea lights to dress up the table.  The branches were purchased from Michaels (got 50% off for $3.99 a stem), I wanted more, but this is all they had.  They look like real tree branches with fake snow and pine cones.  I had about six women in line ask me where I found them only to tell them I grabbed all that were left.  Since we live in LA finding tree branches is next to impossible.  I added these two trees from Home Goods which are made from pine cones with a silver color.  The little reindeer are from Pottery Barn and were purchased last year (see my post Winter Wonderland).  I fell in love with these little vases from Pottery Barn, made from mercury glass.  When I first saw them, I thought they were candle holders but they are actually bud vases (plus, they were only $8.00).  I had to have them.  Also, I bought eight or nine of the mercury glass tea lights from Target.  They were $.99 each.  Can you believe it?  I bought eight of them. They are great to use all year round.  Well take a peek inside our little beach house for a sprinkle of our holiday decor.

      

 

I had this bell wreath from my old apartment, it’s been sitting in a box for years. I pulled it out and added it to our China cabinet and it had two matching bells that were ornaments (too heavy for the tree) so I hung them on the drawer knobs (purchased at Pottery Barn).

On the chest that sits across from our dining table, I added a few touches of greenery and silver to compliment the table.  Each year, I use my grandmothers vintage casserole dish and fill it with paper whites.  I like the vintage look of the dish.  You can really use any vintage piece of silver or container for paper whites.  I reused the nuts left over from Thanksgiving.  They sit in a vintage silver candy dish given to me my mom’s best friend (she was cleaning her closets and throwing a bunch of silver away, I was like a little kid in school…pick me! pick me!), and a silver mercury glass candle holder I got from my favorite store,  Home Goods.  The mercury glass candlestick adds a hint of sparkle to tie in with the table. The photo below that one, is another tray I got from my mom’s friend.  Remember the one cleaning out her closets.  I used it at Thanksgiving for the champagne.  I added pine cones, a beaker with some left over greens from Thanksgiving and added a candle.

Here’s an overall look at the chest.

It’s so hard to capture our tree.  Whenever, I have taken it with a camera it just never comes out.  I found a setting called “night” and I tried that.  Waa Laa! Finally, something that shows how it looks when it’s  lit up at night. I use on average five to seven boxes of lights.  I used to be a wrap it around the tree girl, until I met my old roommate, Jen.  She taught me how to weave the lights in and out so it sparkles from within.  I liked it so much, I have kept it up over the years…however, I curse her every year for showing me how great it can look, because now I’m obsessed with it. It takes so much time to put it up and take it down.  Thanks Jen :)  The only thing I wished I purchased was starfish garland.

 

 

Here is a close up of some ornaments that I have collected over the years.  Rosie do you recognize the one in the center?  It always goes at the top of the tree.  I look for things that will sparkle when the lights hit them.  Most of my ornaments come from Home Goods and Marshalls.  They have tons of ornaments that look vintage at the fraction of the cost of major retailers.   Most of them come from Poland where the higher quality glass ornaments are produced. 

I love my clip on birds. The Santa below is from Home Goods and the starfish is from my mom.  Every year she sends me one ornament.  I love my big fat puffy lady below too….Compliments again of Home Goods.          

Oh Yes! To satisfy the man in the house we have a football, a rocket and somewhere on our tree a Minnesota Vikings helmet.  He makes sure they are front and center to screw up my color scheme.  It’s also his way of reminding me there is a guy living in the house. LOL!

      Our stockings.

        We have a tiny bathroom guest downstairs that I decorated.  To keep it simple, I just added some eucalyptus to the vase, some holiday guest towels, and greens in a tiny bud vase to add a splash of color. 

That’s it folks! I didn’t have a lot of time to edit so sorry if I’m rambling, but then again, what else is new?  Ha! Ha! I’m on a rice and beans budget this year, so everything was repurposed or purchased on sale or at a discounted store.  How about you?  Did you repurpose or go hog wild? What color scheme did you use this year?  Hope your enjoying all the festivities….look forward to your comments!