IT'S CHRISTMAS TIME!

Wow is it a week until Christmas all ready? Time flies when you are having fun! This December has been exciting with all the Holiday parties, Christmas movies, gift wrapping (yes, I love to wrap presents!), fire enjoying, and more - that I have not had much time to post! I am happy to squeeze this post in to share our festive Christmas decor. You may have seen a tiny peek at it here when I posted about our first fire.

Like I have said before - I love Christmas and filling the house with wonderful scents and decor is one of the highlights. I host an annual "Feliz Navidad" party for my girlfriends and that always helps kick to me in to full decorating mode. Here are some details from around the house. I am still collecting my Christmas decorations so each year I have been able to add a few new touches! 

The mantle - those are red and green bulbs (not pink like they look!). I wanted a larger wreath but that was the biggest natural wreath I could find, oh well!

I love my glitter reindeer!

This is a newbie for 2011 and it will definitely be repeated next year - I used this image as my inspiration and created a garland card holder. I bought 18' of natural garland from a local nursery and draped it around the doorway (I used command hooks to hold it) with lights. I used glitter clothespins my co-worker made (via pinterest) to clip the cards on the garland. The more sparkles the better! I was so happy with the way this project turned out! Since then we have collected many more cards, so here is a recent picture + a close up of the clothes pins (via my instagram).

p.s. you can see a tiny glimpse of the new baskets I hung over the buffet.

The tablescape

clippings from our tree are in the center surrounded by popcorn berries, pine cones, candles, and glitter deer (of course!)

Our Christmas china - Old St. Nick by Vietri

Also a newbie for this year - a glitter church, tree, and caroler purchased in Blue Ridge, GA during our couples trip to the mountains! I thought it was so cute and I could not resist the sparkles. It sits a top our buffet behind the dining table. 

The tree! Sorry I don't have a good picture ... this one is taken over our sofa so the bottom half is cut off. Bummer!

I made this DIY burlap garland last year, but with all the wedding festivities I got too tied up (no pun intended!) to post about it. So, I plan to share the directions this year! It adds the perfect neutral, and natural, touch to the tree.

My favorite gift wrap tied up with this red/white twill ribbon

glitter tulle!

Last but not least, one of my favorite Christmas traditions so far is the Homewood tradition of lining the streets with lit Christmas trees. It just seems so magical - I know that sounds cheesy, but it is so fun to ride around and see everyone chiming in. I took this picture one day on my ride home ... I just couldn't resist.

Merry to you and yours this December! I hope you all have a sparkly Christmas.

MASTER BR: sneak peek!

Melrose's master bedroom is slowly, but surely, coming together and it is so exciting! While I wait on a few last pieces the final reveal, I wanted to give you a little sneak peek to keep you on your toes (haha)! Lately I have been swamped with wedding designs, Christmas card designs, Christmas parties, holiday decorating, etc. but receiving these new pieces have kept me motivated and happy. Oh how I love Christmas! Check out these detail shots!

And, to make things even more exciting, we had our first real fire in Melrose! No smore's makin' or popcorn poppin' was involved, but toes were warmed and wine was enjoyed! Now I am obsessed with having the natural warmth - although, it makes Melrose smell like a campfire!

What do you think so far? I hope everyone has a great weekend and it's filled with Christmas spirit! More pictures to come!

HOLIDAY WISH LIST

Since today is the first day of December I thought I would share my holiday wish list! Maybe these suggestions will help spur ideas for you as well! The hubs and I are celebrating our first newlywed Christmas together with my family in Virginia. It should be a fun, snow filled holiday and I can't wait. 

ONE: I love these new ring and bracelet cloches from Pottery Barn. I could definitely see these sitting on my dresser. (the web says they are unavailable, but hopefully that is temporary or they are still in store!?)
TWO: Flash reflector to help prevent the flash lighting being too harsh 
THREE: I can totally see myself sportin' these long button gloves this winter! I hate cold hands and feet!
FOUR: These "tiny tots" canvases by Lucie Wallace have been making their rounds on the blog world lately and I am obsessed with her style! I would take any of her paintings, but these cute little ones are more wallet friendly!
FIVE: This Timex watch face paired with the leopard strap is so classic. 
SIX: These mini ikat bowls from Anthropologie are perfect for storing jewelry. I want my drawer to be filled with these and look like this! 
SEVEN: This is a little unrealistic at the moment, but I would love a 35 mm lens for my Canon Rebel. I currently use a 50 mm and it is fantastic for close ups, but this 35 mm can capture so much more!
EIGHT: I can visualize this faux fur throw on my bed right now! So warm, cozy, and stylish!
NINE: And this would be perfect on Brandon's dresser to house his watch, change, wallet, etc. - need something for his jewelry too, right!?
TEN: I also think this would be adorable for holding jewelry on my dresser - check out this image!


What is on your wish list? Please share!

CREATIVE DESIGN

Here's some creative Christmas designs for your Cyber Monday! I love finding beautiful typography and illustrations in unexpected places! 

Panera Bread 

This is the bookeyed suzanne font that Abode Love and I have been drooling over ever since we purchased bookeyed jack (I really love all the tart workshop fonts)! We know have both bookeyed fonts and are forcing it onto all our designs! I love the sweet, winter illustration paired with the delicate type - such a great way to warm up a chilly day!

Eddie Bauer

I love seeing different types of mediums used in marketing rather than just graphics. This watercolor illustration is so simple, but perfect for this seasonal campaign - just the right amount of color and detail to not over power the message! 

INSPIRATION BOARD: melrose's master bedroom

I just posted my inspiration photos and now I wanted to share my official design. So far we have successfully updated the paint color (wall and ceiling), hung curtains and rods, purchased a dresser for myself, replaced the fan, and arranged few knick knacks, but the main issue is the furniture. It is in desperate need of a new home (yard sale!). It was Brandon's furniture as a child and has made it's way to Auburn, to his frat house, to Montgomery, and now to Homewood so you can imagine the war wounds it has incurred since then! 


I am not a huge fan of matchy-matchy furniture sets - nothing against them, just not my style. I like to find separate pieces that work well together so you have variety in the room. And this way you can add pieces that contrast one another so it doesn't end up seeming "too dark" or "too masculine/feminine".


Brandon got it stuck in his head that we needed all wood furniture for some reason so that is where the search began. I love the upholstered, tufted headboards that are so trendy right now, but apparently that would not cut it with B. After much research and deliberation, I settled on this beautiful, modern sleigh bed with carved rosettes. Our bedroom is not very deep, so I am still anxious to see how the exaggerated sleigh headboard fits in the room. We had to order the one without the footboard to leave walking room for the dresser. 


Here is a simple layout of one side of the room to illustrate the new bed and decor. Due to my industrial design background, I have to make sure everything fits and coordinates perfectly so this is to scale!

sorry for the image of the quilt, Serena & Lily no longer makes that so I had to use the only miniscule pic I could find

Yes, that is Brandon's skull mount above the bed. I thought the space looked too symmetrical and since the headboard is straight across, I thought it needed something above it to balance it. The large white frames above each nightstand will be 30" square and display a wedding picture in each. They will be similar to the ones I made for above my bar except with a large matt and small picture. And above each frame is a small, gold gilded convex mirror. 


For the rest of the room, I created an inspiration board with the other items I have in mind for the room. I can't wait for it all to come in so I can begin arranging it all!

ONE: restoration hardware empire rosette sleigh bed
TWO: trio of antlers
THREE: brass lion door knocker
FOUR: west elm striped sheets
FIVE: coral ikat fabric for euro shams
SIX: round wooden mirror
SEVEN: serena & lily gold quilt
EIGHT: haven's harbor nightstand
NINE: cape comber bachelor's chest
TEN: restoration hardware empire rosette dresser 


Don't worry, this isn't all ... I am leaving some stuff to the imagination! I will be sure to post B&A pictures once I have it all in place. Also making it's way into the bedroom and on my nightstand are a few of these gorgeous books I posted about earlier. 

follow my pinterest board for quick updates too!