Hello Bookcases

If you recall a while back I had blogged about my ideas for our built in bookcases, if you  missed it you can catch up here.  Well a few months after that post the plans were all finalized and the installation began.  I'll go through the before/after photos as well as some during in a different post. For now I want to share with you how I used them to display some of our Christmas decor.  Now introducing, our built-in bookcases!

This was the first year we really had a place to display lots of Christmas decor and I loved it.  

 We set the bottoms shelf near the entrance up as a bar.  A few bottles of liquor, some pretty glasses decked out with some brass deer and surrounded by faux trees made it festive.

 Here is a close up of another shelf.  The gold sequin bird was from west elm last year and those bowls are of course anthropologie.

 Here is a better look of the left side.

 And the right side.

 These dogs are a favorite of mine!  I picked them up at a little store in Andersonville for $28 - score.

 We brought our boxwoods indoors for the winter.  To dress them up for Christmas I wrapped their planters in burlap and tied them with and aqua satin bow.  These clearly have nothing to do with our bookcases but I really loved how these turned out.

Hope you enjoyed a little pick into our Christmas decor.  I'll be posting photos of our tree this week and then will finally be putting all of our Holiday items to rest for the year.  How about you all - how long do you keep your Christmas decor up?  What is your favorite part of the house to decorate for the Holidays?

Don't forget to enter the Shabby Apple giveaway - it ends this Wednesday at midnight!

Happy Holidays!

For me the Christmas/Holiday season officially begins the day after Thanksgiving. So when I received an email announcement from Paper Source that they now have an at home letterpress machine I was very excited. I literallly want to sprint the few blocks to my nearest Paper Source and pick this up to get started on my Holiday cards. I absolutely love anything done in letterpress. I think it has such a classic, elegant look.

Last year we really dropped the ball on Holiday Cards. We got married in October, moved into our first home in November, and barely got our wedding Thank You's out before Christmas let alone any Christmas cards. So this year Holiday Cards are definitely on the to do list and I really want to make my own. So I just may need to squeeze this little guy into our Christmas budget.

Here are some pretty Holiday Letterpress Cards for some inspiration.

Smock Letterpress

Hello Lucky

Hello Lucky

Dingbat Press

Flickr

Boxcar Letterpress

Boxcar Letterpress

Bespoke Letterpress

Paper Source

Paper Source

Paper Source

What will you be doing for Holiday Cards this year?

Hello Christmas Table

I'm finally getting around to posting the photos from Christmas day at our house. I know it's a little late (as in more than a month) but better late than never right?!

Here is our table.

Bird's eye view. I purchased bunches of white flowers from a local florist.

The linen is from Crate and Barrel and the runner is just a $2 piece of burlap from JoAnn's.

Owl salt and pepper shakers from etsy.

I purchased Jadeite dinner plates on etsy and ebay, and the salad plates are my grandma's china. I love the gold greek key pattern on these.

Here is a look at our bar. I set it up on the console table in our entryway. Our entryway is right between our dining room and living room. The idea here was that hopefully by putting the drinks and appetizers out here it would keep the party out of the kitchen - it definitely helped to keep the kitchen a little quieter and less chaotic.

I grew paperwhites for the first time this year and I loved them.

Cantaloupe wrapped with prosciutto.

Gold and white polka dot glasses purchased at an antique store and silver straws from west elm.

I'm in love with this pitcher (belt and all) - another antique store find. These bacon wrapped dates were delish and very easy to make.

I hope you enjoyed our Christmas dinner decor!

Green, Aqua & Gold

So the color scheme for our Christmas table this year ended up being green, aqua & gold (if you couldn't tell from the title of this post).  This is probably my favorite table I've done for any of our Holidays/celebrations held in our home.  Here is a peek into our Christmas table.

I had so much fun putting this table together.  The paper confetti was cut using hole punches from card stock and gold glitter wrapping paper.  I loved the way the gold, green & aqua stood out against the white.  Did any of you do color schemes for your Christmas decor?  Any Holiday tables you'd like to share?  Hope you all had/having a Happy Holiday Season!

Hello Christmas Cards

Yes - it's February and I am finally posting photos of our Christmas cards from this year (ahem - last year now). I used these gift tag templates from Eat Drink Chic. I cut off the top portion to make them look more like cards instead of gift tags. I then added ribbon, some glitter, and wrote messages on the backsides.

OK, I'm really done with the Christmas related posts now. I promise. Although I could probably look at burlap year round.

Oh, Christmas Table

So I insisted that this year we would not be hosting a Holiday in our home.  But I caved and we will be hosting 17 family members for Christmas day.  I really do enjoy having so many people we love eating, drinking, and having a merry time in our tiny, little condo.  My downfall is that I can't help but to have many ideas of grandeur.  So here are my Christmas Table inspiration photos for this year.

Source: camillestyles.com via hellolover on Pinterest

Source: Uploaded by user via hellolover on Pinterest

Source: sittinginatreeevents.com via hellolover on Pinterest

Source: birchandbird.com via hellolover on Pinterest

Source: bridalmusings.com via hellolover on Pinterest

Source: ruffledblog.com via hellolover on Pinterest

Source: shannonsoutlook.com via hellolover on Pinterest

Source: pinterest.com via hellolover on Pinterest

Source: vivafullhouse.blogspot.com via hellolover on Pinterest

Trust me, I know these images probably seem all over the place in terms of style.  Some rustic, some with classic elements, and some very modern.  And really I'm hoping my table this year will be a little bit of each. I'm planning on a mix of aqua, chartreuse, gold, & white.  How many of your hosting?  Big plans for your Holiday tables?