Small and Simple Christmas 2008

Since part of our holidays will be spent out of town this year, I decided not to haul the many, many boxes down from the attic and just decorate small and simple. I got some of my normal January decor out and mixed it with a few new bargans I picked up.



For the mantel, I picked up a few glittery red picks at Michael's for $.29 each and scattered them around my everyday candles and just stuck with a red and black theme. The picks are all red, sparkley apples - an ode to Twilight. =)




At Michael's they had a set of 3 outdoor crystal trees. The bottoms were meant to be stuck in the ground and wouldn't stand on their own so I bought some styrofoam cubes at Dollar Tree and used those as a base for each of the trees. White styrofoam can pass as snow so it worked. Then I bought 3 velvet poinsettias in a cool turquoise with silver accents and poked these into each of the bases to camoflage the light wires. Then I bunched a white tablecloth around all of it to soften the look.




I filled a glass vessel with clear plastic ice rocks, turquoise glass orbs and ornaments. The big silver ornament is from Marshalls and much more inexpensive than I have seen before.




There are crystal and glass candle holders and a large silver candle holder with the same light turquoise candles. Another big round ornament from Marshalls.





The mirror and frame set I bought at Big Lots and filled the frames with pictures of my kids in the snow, which I made black and white and then tinted turquoise or pink in Photobucket.







The feathery, baby Snowy Owl is a find from Z Gallery this year.






And of course, there's a Snow Faerie casting his winter spell on our home.




The complete look.


Happy Holidays!

Tahyee Sahalee 2007

My parents named their cabin "Tahyee Sahalee", much like one would name a big estate or plantation. We call it a cabin but it is actually their dream home in the mountains. The name originated from one of the many Native American languages. It translates to "eagle up above" and for us, this symbolizes my maternal grandfather who passed on 14 years ago and loved bald eagles.

Every year, my mom and I decorate the cabin for Christmas the weekend after Thanksgiving and every year we have more to add to the tree. The tree is a faux, tall and skinny being wired with colored lights. My mom wanted white lights, but they were out of that kind when she purchased it so she added her own. It is a hodge podge of woodsy cabin ornaments, small sleds and other do-dads she's collected from friends bringing house warming gifts to Christmas presents for the cabin. It has black, red and white flannel wired ribbon, lots of snowballs and snowflakes, and feathers, stars and every kind of what-not at the top.



I must say that this year was better than the last.




The mantel I recently redid for my mom, adding the horse picture, candlesticks, the topiaries and the garland, lights, berries and branches. Those pieces are permanently on the mantel and for the holidays we only added the "Joy" and the bells on the lamps.

My Home at Christmas 2007

I changed a few things this year than in previous years. I hope you enjoy!

I got this odd/vintage looking star at Pier 1 in an after holiday sale. It was a total steal and I have this new obsession with tinsel so I love it!



This wreath is on a closet door but it is the first thing you see when entering my home. Notice the faerie hiding at the top?




A few things I hung from an iron corner flourish in the entry way to my kitchen.




I love how the glitter shows up under the glow of the lights.



A snowy display in my kitchen window above my sink.




My vintage elf collection. Yes, I even decorate the top of our stereo. =)




Advent calendar I bought at Target. I put candies and other fun trinkets in it for my kids. There are even little coupons for fun-with-mom rolled up with tiny ribbon behind some of the doors.




I could not find any polka dot ornaments so I bought a white set and drew them on with a black Sharpie. The feather tree is a Martha Stewart Kmart find.




This is our dining table centerpiece.




This is the dsiplay on top of my entertainment center. It may be against the rule book to decorate the top of your electronics but my home is very small so I take all the surfaces I can get!

The ornaments are mostly Martha Stewart Kmart glitter ornaments bought on clearance after Christmas. Others I found at Dollar Tree. The Santa was a gift from my Faerie Godmother, the nutcracker was mine when I was young and the giant hanging ornament was something I copied from a display at Martin's.





I decided to put my grape garland on my mantel this year along with the red and white candy ornaments.







Tree topper. I just love how the little glittery balls look like they are floating in the air with the faeries.





This looks much better than in years past with my new olive curtains and dark wood blinds.





All glowy and enchanting....

The Sever's Home Christmas 2007

Allison and Wes Sever had very little Christmas decor when I started with them. The first year I bought fabric, ribbon, ornaments, floral, a Santa, garland and tree topper. They bought the pre-lit faux tree. Whatever was bought this first year was repeated in their decor for the next 3 years but changed up a little each year. Even though it may have cost a few hundred for the initial decorations, they certainly got their money's worth by repeating it thereafter. In 2007, we decided to change it up by rearranging the furniture. Unfortunately, I don't have "before" pictures of their furniture arrangement, but the end result was lovely and inviting for a work party they hosted later that week.

The Sever's have several large mirrors throughout their living and family rooms. I decided to hang a few wreaths on them.



This is the wreath I gifted them the first year I decorated their home. This is my tradition for my customers. This was simply a Martha Stewart wreath from Kmart that I added some glittery poinsettias to.





Another wreath over a mirror in the living room. We had extra ribbon left over so we dressed up an old faux wreath with it.




A bench along part of their long entry way.



The seat was covered in an off white material. I recovered it in this fabric that matched the holiday decor.




An arrangement on top of the piano. I added pinecones for a festive touch.



Allison already had this faux bough with berries and pine cones and the candle holder. I placed the candle holder on top of the bough and added some inexpensive candles in varying heights from Michael's.




This golden nativity looked perfect on her gold chest of drawers in the entry to the kitchen.




The gingerbread house was a gift from a relative and it went nicely with the gold and brown Santa. I also took some of their kids' hand-made ornaments and placed them amongst this display.




Garland on the staircase. I used the same floral, ribbon and ornaments that were in the tree so that it would coordinate since it was in the same room.








Back half of the living room.



Centerpiece for dining table. I used two platters Allison already had, stacked them on top of each other and added some left over ornaments.



We placed the dining table on the diagonal of the room for a different, more dramatic effect.




The reflection of the tree in a mirror across the room.




Tree close-ups.

This quilled tree topper is also from Martha Stewart's Kmart line.




The fabric is billowy tafeta I wove in and out of the tree with the ribbon.




I also placed one of the large mirrors behind the tree so that it is viewable from all angles.

Christmas at the Dahlbergs 2007

The Dahlberg home is a great example of working with their current basics and collections and adding just a few more accents for less than $50 to enhance the look. Sometimes it just takes a different eye to arrange collections around the house in a new way. I put this little elf village in the guest bathroom with some frosted mini pines for just a little Christmas touch.




Their Christmas village went nicely in the entertainment center in a room where their grandchildren stay while visiting for the holidays.




One of their mini nativities added a nice touch a hallway cabinet amongst family pictures.





Their more expensive nativity went nicely in the living room on top of a curio out of reach of small hands. More mini pines soften the figures.




For every new home I am privileged to work in, I gift them a personally decorated wreath.





A few fun nick-knacks around more family pictures on a kitchen counter that shares space with the family room.




The other side of the counter. Some good pieces they already had.





The Dahlbergs already had the faux garland, gold trees, gold creche and gold sprigs. I grouped the gold together here to accent the gilded frame already over the mantel. I also added the lights and ribbon and large ornament. The giant ornament stands well all alone when it is offset and balanced with the trees.






This deer couple was from past Christmases.





The fiber-optic tree balanced out the fern on the other side of the mantel and had a nice gold base to help pull it together with the rest of the mantel decor.




Their angel's cloak went nicely with their flower arrangement.




More pines and another village vignette.




Their snowy look cute along side their adorable snowman.




The whole look. We didn't have to move everything, just gave it a festive touch.




The Dahlberg home has two mirrored alcoves; one in the hallway and one in the entry way. This one was in the hallway. They already had this creche, which was mostly brown and gold so I accented with the large ornaments in the same color scheme. I hung them from the top of the alcove by fish line at varying lengths and they look great reflected in the mirror.





I just love this fabulous creche of theirs and accented, like the other, with large ornaments in the same color scheme that also have a Middle Eastern feel.




This Santa and small figures had lots of earth tones to them so I grouped them together and placed them on the dining table amongst a garland of ivy and grapes.





The Dahlbergs had recently switched their tree theme from woodsy to red and silver and it was located in their bay window in the living room. The silver was okay because it wasn't in the same room as the gold-themed mantel. They had purchased the white lights, ball ornaments and a few silver spiral sprigs. I added the ribbon, the glittery red poinsettias and more sprigs for the arrangement at the top.