Countdown to Christmas with Balsam Hill

Today I'm partnering with Balsam Hill for their Countdown to Christmas series. If you are visiting from Our Southern Home...Welcome! So glad you are here!

I am joining 23 other bloggers in counting down to Christmas as well as offering 25 lucky readers a $100 gift card to Balsam Hill. You can enter Here! 

Can you all believe that Christmas is in 19 days? It looks a bit different for us this year. Since the twins have been born, I have realized that this mama can't do it all. So we are really trying to simplify and enjoy this season without having to deck the halls to a "T" or bake excessive amounts of cookies. We are slowing down and soaking up the magic in these babies' eyes.

DIY Felt Tree

Christmas to me this year is spending time with the people that I love. As we have seen in the news most recently, life is precious so why not spend every moment with family and friends that mean so much to us!? I absolutely love this Advent Calendar from Balsam Hill and can't wait to make this our family tradition in the years to come. Placing activities for the kids to do each day will make this season even more meaningful. 

One tradition that I just can't seem to give up is decorating a tree with my collected vintage ornaments. I have so many fond memories that are attached to these ornaments.

We aren't throwing a party this year, but I just had to set the table in case you all want to come over! You know I love a good table setting and using my grandmother's china takes me back in time to sitting at this exact table in my grandparent's dining room on Christmas Eve.

I hope you all will take a few moments to slow down and really feel the meaning of Christmas this year. 

Tell me....what are some of your favorite family traditions? I need to pile some ideas away for the years to come. 

Make sure to visit Robin at All things Heart and Home tomorrow for more inspiration.

**Don't forget to enter the $100 giveaway! Enter HERE.***

**A Huge Thank You to Balsam Hill for the Embroidered Advent Calendar! We will enjoy this with our family for many years to come. All opinions and photographs are mine.**

Glimpses Into Our House at Christmas

Things around this blog haven't happened exactly how I thought they would this time of year, but nonetheless the house is decorated, gifts have been bought and about 1/4th of our cards have been mailed.
I usually do a full Home Tour around Christmas, but just didn't have a whole lot of energy to stage and take pictures.
So without further ado...here are some glimpses of things I love about our home at Christmas.

For more posts on Christmas Decor:

Holiday Home Tour 2013

Oh Holy Night Mantel

Simple Hot Cocoa Station

DIY Anthropologie Snow Globes

Posting might be a little light over the next couple of weeks. Looking forward to spending some sweet time with family and friends as well as catching up on some much needed rest.
XOXO

Linked up at:  Thrifty Decor Chick's Christmas Party & Two Purple Couches

Ethan Allen's Holiday Workshop {What I learned}

I hope all of you in the U.S. had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. It always goes way too fast. We spent a week in Hilton Head, SC with our family. It was quite relaxing and of course we ate WAY too much food. I am headed to the doctors tomorrow and hopefully he doesn't think I am having triplets by looking at the numbers on the scale! hehe

A couple of weeks ago I was invited to attend the holiday workshop at our local Ethan Allen. I went to the holiday workshop last year and really soaked up a lot of ideas and inspiration. The designers at Ethan Allen did not disappoint again this year. They came up with new and fresh ideas for all of us customers that attended.

I know many of you have already finished your holiday decorating, but for the rest of us that are either in the mist of pulling our bins from the attic or trying to decide how to decorate our trees, I thought I would share some of the tips and tricks they taught us. And for the rest of you overachievers....you can pin these thoughts for next year!

Of course I forgot to get a before picture...but here the designers took a plain buffet and mixed rustic lamps with a glitzy mirror to add some interest. I love the unexpected pop of red tulips instead of the typical amaryllis or paper-whites. The designers also gave us some tips of going out into your own backyard or gardens to pull out different textures in leaves and greenery to add depth and character.

This was a neat display on a dining room table. Here they added a plaid scarf instead of a table runner for warmth. I love the open box with the different heights of candles. They created an asymmetrical look, but it feels balanced with all the different materials used.

{P.S. I won the cute little footed silver tray! I can't wait to use it for the holidays!}

This picture is kind of washed out, but you get the general idea. This is what they called the transition from fall to winter using rustic, velvet, burgundy or burnt orange colors and textures. 

Tips:

-Place a Large tray on top of your coffee table for drinks and snacks

-Borrow pieces from other rooms

-Use spice colors to bring in the holiday look without going red and green

-Add candles for warmth

-Varying heights of objects on your tray or coffee table

-Use tray for entertaining with some small hors d'oeurves

-Place the recipe for your hors d'oeurves in a small frame on the coffee table for guests

I adore mercury glass for the holidays. It says classic and can be used around the home all winter. This adorable vignette boasts fabulous with yet again an asymmetrical look. I love that bowl layered with greens, gold beads, pine-cones and baubles! I think I need to add that idea to my dining room for sure.

After walking around the store and having the designers share their vignette's and ideas, we were invited back to the design room for hors d'oeurves. They had everything displayed perfectly using a gold, black and white color scheme. I of course loved the idea of the centerpiece below.

How great is this idea? Using an old mirror for a centerpiece and then layering candles and flowers on top to create a glam look for the holidays! Now...if only I had an old mirror laying around.


While we snacked on all of the fabulous treats, we were given some great tips and tricks on how to create a designer holiday tree.

And of course I didn't get a great picture of the tree they decorated....so here are a few of my favorites from around the web. I love the variation in colors and themes. 

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Colorful Ombre Tree

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So tell me....do you change your colors and themes every year or are you a traditionalist where everything looks pretty much the same year to year? 

Hope some of these ideas spurred you on to finished your decorating or at least get you started thinking about the holiday season!

I am off to do some Cyber Shopping in my sweats! Nothing better. Have a wonderful start to your week!

To view last year's Ethan Allen Holiday Tips and Tricks click HERE. 

{DIY} Gold Merry Christmas Garland

Thank you everyone for your sweet comments around the web yesterday on our Holiday Home Tour. It is always fun seeing a story told through pictures.

I was asked a few questions and the one that came up most frequent was the Merry Christmas Garland on the tree. Where did I get it? Well...I made it! It was so quick and simple. I was inspired by this picture from Pottery Barn's Christmas catalog:

Of course it wasn't on sale anywhere, so I decided to make my own. I had a few extra shipping boxes left in my garage, so I pulled them out one night and stenciled Merry Christmas while watching football and sipping wine.

I then used a spray adhesive and coated the letters, then sprinkled gold glitter over each one. I let them dry over night.

The next day I pulled out the glue gun and some leftover Violet Velvet Ribbon from my Fall Tablescape and glued the letters onto the ribbon. So simple!

I think the hardest part was getting the letters to lay the way I wanted them to on the tree! I must have fussed with them for over an hour. I would sit back and admire, then get up and fix a letter or two. (I am a little OCD when it comes to things like that!)

I am happy with how it turned out and it cost me next to nothing! I had the cardboard, spray adhesive, ribbon & glue gun on hand. Just had to pick up some cheap stencils and glitter.

The garland really adds a little glitz to our colorful tree!

What quick little DIYs have you all be whipping up for the holidays? Or are you just trying to survive!?
XOXO