Creating a Cozy Christmas

To get ready to celebrate Christmas, I have done a little decoration shopping!

I fell in love with all the soft, wool ornaments and decorations from West Elm.

So, I placed an order last week and recently received my package. I just had to have this sweet woolen bird ornament. I'm so drawn to the cozy, creamy wool decorations.

I got a pair of cream wool Christmas stockings and had them personalized with my kids names. The flax-colored linen pointsettas will go along nicely with my silver vintage mercury glass ornament collection to create balanced softness and glitz.

I started decorating the tree!

I'm just getting started and am expecting another small West Elm box. ;)

I'll be adding their wool snowflakes to what I already have here.

I filled my old chip wood basket with extra trees branches and gathered pinecones. For a finishing touch, I added a white bell.

My tree skirt was a post Christmas sale find from Marshalls. I am hoping to find an all cream one after Christmas this year. I do love the red and white Swedish look, too. :)

I hope you are having fun treasuring the season, too. :)

I wish much peace and serenity to you in Advent.

And wishes for a pleasant weekend!

♥ ♥ ♥

Lara

Light, Bright and Sparkly

Hi there and a Merriest Christmastime to you!

We went to the Christmas Tree farm over the weekend to cut down our Christmas tree. I didn't take any photos of that because I wanted to be in the moment more, not to mention the fact that we got there nearly 20 minutes before sundown! We had to pick a tree fast. We ended up bringing home a Douglas Fir tree, fresh wreaths, and some lovely fresh greenery for decorating. After the tree went through the shaking machine, I salvaged about every sprig I could carry for decorating purposes. ;)

I also went vintage ornament shopping and here is some of my selections (above and below). I just love vintage ornaments. I think it is so amazing that something has been around and decorated Christmas trees for decades.

Here is a closeup of our tree...

I hung the wreaths on my interior windows using clear suction cup hooks - they're holding nicely. I wanted to hang the wreaths in the interior windows using thick ribbon, but I still have to yet figure out how to do that; I don't think I have the right type of windows for that look.

I will be sharing much more Christmas decorating photos in posts to come.

I am doing white lights.

And here are some extra tree pieces put in a pitcher on my dining sideboard.

I can't wait for the paperwhites to flower! :)

I hope you are having a great new week!

Hugs

♥ ♥ ♥

Lara



Cranberry Garland and Vintage Ball Ornaments

Hello and Happy Thanksgiving week!

I really go into Christmas decorating mode right after Thanksgiving. We will be getting our tree on Black Friday. I have a favorite farm not too farm from my house that has the most fragrant "You Cut" trees. I am so eager to get our tree and really start decorating! I am dreaming of the smell of fresh Christmas tree right now. 

Last night, I busted out a few boxes of my vintage silver ball ornaments. I absolutely love the patina on these. I would love to go hunting for some more vintage ornaments.

Over the weekend, I picked up some more cranberries. Initially, I had the intention of making a cranberry star to hang in the kitchen window, BUT I failed to get the right weight of wire and my star just flopped! I am going to make another, but I used the mistake for a impromptu cranberry garland. I decorated my Ikea shelf with some blue jars, vintage ornaments, and the cranberry garland. I'm liking the blue and red next to each other, and of course the pretty silver.

I let my little one lend me a hand with the stringing. :)

We are going to my in law's house for Thanksgiving, as well as celebrating my daughter's 6th birthday because her birthday falls on Thanksgiving Day this year! Then we will do a small party for her with my side of the family here at my house later on this month.

I still need to figure out what side dish and dessert I am bringing on Thursday.

I am so excited to share with you my Christmas decorating!

 There will be upcoming posts on that soon. My Christmas feel this year is elegant silver, white and creamy wools, and of course lots of natural elements - warm and cozy with magical clear lights.

I wish you a safe and very Happy Thanksgiving for you and your loved ones!

♥ ♥ ♥

Lara



Paperwhites Growing

Just another post from me before the weekend. :)

I moved my paperwhite bulbs over to my antique white drop leaf table yesterday and my paperwhite bulbs are starting to sprout like crazy. They are near a heating vent now and I think they like that. I've also been keeping the roots hydrated. These little simple things {like watching my bulbs grow} bring me daily joy! I wonder how long before I have little white paper white blossoms? Before Christmas? Hmm, I'll see! I'll be sure to share more photos of them once they are in full bloom. I don't even remember what a paperwhite smells like! In the nineties I used to work at Pier One Imports for a few years and our manager put in-bloom paperwhites out at the registers every Christmas. It's funny how the scent escapes me right now since it's been years, but I am sure looking forward to smelling them once again.

 Hope you didn't mind two posts from me in one day.

I like to document these sort of things. ;)

Have a wonderful weekend!

♥ ♥ ♥

Lara



Holiday Colour from Chanel

Hello sweethearts!

A few weeks ago, I ran into the department store to get a Chanel nail polish color that I had been wanting. The counter was out of the shade, but ironically they had just gotten the shipment that very day of Malice - the new holiday shade.

I instantly fell in love with the color! I have been a huge fan of dark, vampy reds since the nineties and I love wearing it on short nails very much. I remember back (if I'm correct) when Madonna helped launch the whole Vamp nail color trend. That, and Black Honey from Clinique lip tint. Love that and still do! :)

I tried out the color on my nails today. It is a beautiful color that will definitely be on my nails for the upcoming holidays.

I have been starting to practice my self-portraits. I find them so interesting and creative; even if they are yet but a small "piece of you." ;) But, they are tricky starting out. I need much more experience with time creating them. I've been reading lots of tips on the subject online lately.

And I made a little "bokeh" with some Christmas lights for this shot - so easy to do when your F/stop is taken down near as low as it can go.

 This bottom image was taken at 1.4.

Have a lovely evening!

♥ ♥ ♥

Lara

Fresh Cranberry Scones

Hi there! I hope you are doing good today!

I had a bag of fresh organic cranberries and wanted to use them.

So, I baked something I have never tried making before - scones!

I love scones and get them mainly at Panera Bread. They are perfection with coffee. To me, they taste like a cross between a cookie, a pancake, and pie crust.

I decided to try making my own.

My daughter really loves baking with me. In fact, she begs me to bake things with her about once a week. I think she sure is picking up a lot of baking skills for being only 5 years old. She will turn 6 on Thanksgiving this year. :)

Here is how we made ours...

In a large bowl, mix together 1 and 3/4 cup unbleached flour, 1/3 cup sugar, 3 teaspoons baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon baking soda.

I cut in 5 TBS of cold butter (diced) using my hands until mixture became crumbly.

Then, I added in 1 cup of fresh cranberries.

(I cut each cranberry in 4 quarters, then measured out a cup.)

My daughter folded in the cranberries and also mixed in 2/3 cup of buttermilk, 1 and 1/2 TBS of fresh lemon juice, and 2 tsp of lemon zest.

She loves to dump in ingredients to the bowl and stir things around. :)

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and shape into a disc.

Cut scones into eighths and place on a parchment lined baking sheet.

400 degree oven

They bake up fast - about 15 minutes!

While the scones were cooling, I made a super quick sugar glaze.

The glaze balances out the tart fresh berries well.

Sift 1 cup of powered sugar and mix in 2 TBS of water. Drizzle as much or little as you like over the top of the scones.

Yum!

These are so easy to make!

 They would be wonderful for a Sunday breakfast.

♥ ♥ ♥

Lara

Willow Stars and Starting Paperwhites

I thought these willow star ornaments were really cute that I recently found at Target. I plan to go get some more and they will be going on our Christmas tree when we get one. They also had them in a heart shape.

But, for now, I added them to some branches for a sort of natural pre-holiday decoration. I like neutral and muted whites, creams, and mushroom browns - so these were completely my style! :) Target has some pretty cute ornaments this year in their "natural" style selections.

I also have started my the very first paperwhite bulbs I've ever done in the house.

I ended up getting 3 bags of bulbs from Home Depot, along with a bag of pea pebbles and I planted them in a huge antique mixing bowl and in a smaller white German bowl that was a lucky find for me.

I got the inspiration to plant paperwhites for Christmas from HERE.

I hope they will bloom for me!

It was warm this weekend, but this morning we woke up to rain that turned to ice. I hear it snowed in Indiana, so that means we should be getting it soon. It was so cold this morning - where you can't catch your breath almost if you run out for a few minutes.

Grandparents had the kids Friday through Sunday morning, so my husband and I got caught up on the incoming "Breaking Bad" episodes we got in from Netflix - we are so addicted to watching that drama; it is really good!! :)

Thanksgiving is approaching very soon - - hard to believe!

Take Good Care!

♥ ♥ ♥

Lara

I Heart Macarons

I caught a glimpse of macarons at the bakery this weekend! I picked up some in strawberry jam, pistachio, and chocolate.

 They are such a nice little treat; don't you think?

 But, beware... they hold this little super power that keep you from trying as many flavors as you can. ;)

And now I completely understand why they are a very much photographed object.

They sure are fun to take photos of! :)

This morning we had our first heavy frost - it almost looked like snow.

Best wishes for a great week!

♥ ♥ ♥

Lara