Christmas Stuff

First of all, here's a peppermint hot cocoa for you. Love these mugs. You can never have too many mugs is my motto. 

Is your shopping, wrapping, and baking all done? Well, if so lucky you. I'm still a bit behind and typing furiously to get a quick post out. At this point I'm all about getting to the bliss. I'm willing to burn the midnight oil to get it all done. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and it's called Christmas break! I cannot wait to be done and relaxing with my family. I'm looking forward to that most of all. Hope you are going to be enjoying some of that soon too.

I am in love with these hand painted bowls and plates from Italy. So glad I got these to deliver Christmas goodies in. Homegoods again a few weeks ago. Wish I bought more.

Okay now here's the perfect cookie to gift- Biscotti. They last a long time in a jar and they are a hard cookie so they can't be over-baked. I love that they outlast all the sugar cookies and you can enjoy them with your tea or cappuccino into January. They are fast to make and the house smells delicious!

First toast your almonds.

Love my new happy measuring cups from Pier 1. They make me want to bake.

Love this brand and the licorice smell!

Turn dough into two logs, on parchment.

Slice the logs a bit diagonal to make longer biscotti.

Place them cut side down on wire rack and bake again.

 Anise Biscotti Recipe (from Martha Stewart's radio blog) Here.

Now here's a few last minute gift ideas if you still need one.

Pop a cute bottle topper on a your favorite wine and tie with a pretty postcard with a handwritten greeting. Got this box of Xmas postcards from Barnes & Noble and they're perfect for gifts. Love the owl bottle stopper from Pier 1.

How about an Ivy or Rosemary topiary? Trader Joes has both. This is a gift anyone would love in their kitchen after the holidays. Tie on a cute card or add a pot and it's adorable. I used a poinsettia card from the same box.

A lot of kids over? Why not have them decorate mugs? These we got from the Birthday Express on line, but you can also get them at Starbucks. It's fun, keeps them busy and we set up a hot cocoa bar for them too.

How cute are these mugs?

Our hot cocoa bar.. Kids loved the sprinkles and candy canes the best.

Our neighbor, Abby with a mug she decorated.

Hey, how about a Christmas cake? It's not something you traditionally think about. My son has a December birthday and has always loved getting one from our local Lunardi's. He has been getting them since he was two and he's ten now! Aren't they cute?

His  cake!

Hope you get to your holiday zen! (Isn't that an oxymoron?)

Kim :)

I'm Dreaming of a Grey Christmas..

A holiday table at my dream French Chateau. 

Suddenly, it seems the home decor world is loaded with natural burlaps and linens and books covered in plain brown wrappers.  Here in California, the neutral colors seems to compliment the natural light-flooded rooms and have beachy appeal. Just add trees and greenery and you have fresh Christmas look!

 I, for one, am ready to embrace a calmer palette for the holdays. I put away much of my tired old decor and kept only my favorites. Don't you almost feel criminal or something if you don't put out the whole shebang? It does feel cleaner and less cluttered. And there's nothing like Christmas to clutter your house up big time! Don't get me started on that..

Love the Tiffany Blue and burlap. Quite a contradiction. Photo  via Habitually Chic.

My tree for sure needed calm, and my cheesy synthetic tree skirt wasn't making the cut anymore, so I headed out to find some resolution. (Never mind it had been snagged about a million times by the cats in their fervent worship of the tree! )  I had burlap on the brain and headed to the fabric store. There I found pink and blue burlap. Really? If you're going for that look, then why would you want pink? Also if you are thinking pink, why then burlap? Well, I digress, but I huffed out of there and I'm still with said tree skirt. I'm keeping my eyes out for a neutral one like my neighbor Kims.

Her  tree skirt. Sorry I was so busy getting the cute Eiffel Tower in that I cut off the tree top. :(

The great part about burlap is it's a utilitarian fabric.  No sewing needed. Just cut and arrange! You can't hem this stuff! ( It would be hard.) Another great thing, it's CHEAP, if you didn't already suspect so. The downside- darn scratchy... Well, I hope you're not wearing it! In a pinch, linen will have the same look, much higher price. Linen is for investment pieces, like the ones sold at Restoration Hardware.

Linen walls and books covered in kraft paper.

via Lovely things. Suddenly kraft paper wrap looks luxurious.

You may have also noticed the emergence of all things grey, linen and burlap in Restoration Hardware and many other home shops. It has it's orgins in Belgium and the designer Axel Vervoordt. He has lead what is called the wabi-sabi movement in interior design and decoration.  To quote Belgian Pearls, a lovely blog on Belgian Design, " Wabi–sabi stands for finding beauty in imperfection, that it values simplicity, pureness and modesty. Back to basics."

Okay, I guess that is where the the humblest of fabrics, burlap, enters and distressed, unfinished woods too. You can see how the plain brown wrap on books, etc. also calms everything. Perhaps the attraction to this aesthetic is due the craziness of modern life and the need for less. It has something very clean about it. Kind of the opposite of holiday decor, which is why it's restraint may be a welcome change.

Great table and tree skirts.  Love the stockings trimmed in linen or burlap.

I got very excited when I saw some burlap wired ribbon all over the trees at my favorite local boutiques, Fioris.  It looks very California and cute. The stylish Kim ( yes the friend again, not me) also loved it and refreshed her formerly red ribboned door wreaths with new burlap bows. Didn't it turn out chic?

Kim's door with burlap. 

Check out Kim's burlap pillow on her bed too. I'm jealous.

Once I started looking around, well it seems I have been embracing some burlap too. I just didn't notice all the things in my house that are linen or burlapy.  Sorry, probably not a word, but I'm making it one. Check it out. I'm liking it and may add more. I figure in this frenetic season the more zen around me, the better. 

My favorite frame from a trip to Hawaii.

Another Pottery Barn frame. Love this photo of my Grandma and grandkids.

Burlap pillow cover from Pottery Barn bought last Christmas.

If you want a fresh, California Christmas look, think burlap, grey and white, and add twigs and branches!

Burlap candle holders with our address on our mantle.

Wannabee  burlap?

More frames in linen and burlap.

Here's the find of the week. Mini-trees from Trader Joes in darling burlap wrap. I think they were $5.99! What a cute  small gift! Bet they are going quick.

And now, I'm on way to the Goodwill truck this weekend with some shiny, red items!

My favorite linen pillow out for Christmas.

Kim :)

Bring it on!

Got to have a Golden Gate Bridge here in the Bay Area!

I am recovering from last weekend! I had a cookie exchange, my youngest son's 10th Birthday party, our town's Christmas parade, (which my cub scout was in), got the tree, did the house lights, decor and I am fried! Oh, and I ordered my cards on-line last night, while bleary-eyed. I hope they come out okay. It was about 11:30, usually not a good time to conduct business.

Our tree. Please look away from my tree skirt. I'm working on it. My husband has a tarp under it...Don't ask!

Le mantel. I have a motley collection of stockings, but we like it that way. No matching monograms here.

Yesterday afternoon, I was all carols and lights! I was ready for the decorating! To get started, I always must have requisite Christmas playlist, hot cocoas and cappuccinos, and all the family involved! We start out by opening each boy's box with their ornaments. Each year the boys collect one or two new ornaments and we date them and if they are a gift put from whom. I personally love unwrapping our photo ornaments. Each year, I try to frame one from our card or a pic from that season. Then we unwrap old family ornaments and of course the precious school ones. I had to laugh as my youngest placed a huge, gold 5x7 macaroni one with his photo from preschool in the front and center of the tree! In fact, it became a bit of a problem that each kid was placing his favorites in the prime real-estate of the tree. After a few renditions of, "Grandma got run over by a Reindeer," and a bit of a scuffle over who owned the ice-cube Santa, it seemed everybody split and I was left with the dregs. Left behind were the, "Meh," decorations, a floor littered with fir needles and a tree seriously imbalanced! After finding all my favorites crammed towards the back, I went to work rearranging everyone's handiwork so the tree could look half decent!

Griffin's preschool macaroni frame.

Jackson's preschool ornament.

A basket of ornaments on my library shelf.

Some more xmas fluff. I added tree cuttings to my favorite candle,  furry throw and a stone pine cone.

Of course living here in Northern California, we always get a live tree! I love that smell when you walk through the door. We are very close to the Santa Cruz Mountains, which is home to tons of tree-farms. However, I don't go that route, after one too many bad experiences with Douglas Firs. Yes, I am sorry to say it, but I've had red flying beatles in my house and dead trees after a week of cutting! Since those mishaps, I have been a Noble or Fraser-Fir convert, and go to a local nursery for one of those from up in the  Great Northwest. This year I went to a very close local place, The Green Thumb, and the trees were gorgeous and actually priced very reasonably. The nurseries usually have very inexpensive wreaths and I always get one at the same time. Last year, mine smelled so good and I kept it up until February!

My wreath. I am actually starting to like this blue door.

Some favorites. Bird nests in the tree are supposed to be good luck. I am always attracted to initials.

My father has a wonderful tradition of doing a Christmas snow scene with little houses and people that he had collected since his childhood. I always adored it as a girl and played with it. My boys also love helping put it up and seeing it. That is something he still does with them. My Dad also collects nutcrackers and when my oldest, Jackson was small, he started a buying them for him too. Now, Jackson has the start of his own collection, which he lovingly arranges and displays each holiday. Now that he is 13, he decides where they go and how they look best. Each one has the date and place gotten and from whom on the bottom. Griffin, my 10 year old, also has a collection. He collects lighthouse ornaments. He has been obsessed with them since he was very small, and so it seemed a natural choice for him!

Jackson and part of his collection he arranged.

One of Griffin's lighthouses.

From my Mom.

From where my husband grew up, a magical place.

My favorite ornaments, besides the photos and kid creations, are the ones from my husbands and my childhoods. We have some my Mom got for me, like ballerinas and skiing angels and whimsical ones I cherish. I also have some sea-themed ones from my husband's hometown of Trinidad, California on the ocean. Globes, Eiffel Towers, and travel mementos are also favorites. I truly love a tree that tells a story about the family and I'm afraid mine won't be featured in Elle Decor, anytime soon!

From one of my favorite photo cards of the boys roasting marshmallows on the beach.

Well, I'm off now to hit the stores with a peppermint latte. Now that I've come up for air, I promise more blogs and sooner!

Happy Holidays!

Kim

I wasn't the only one worn out! My buddy Hobbes, after all the excitement.

Hunter Gatherer Decorating

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We did. Besides our family dinner on Thursday, we were almost all alone on our little court for 5 days. In fact, the whole town, seemed to go away for the holiday. It was nice to be here. We saw a Arthur's Christmas with the kids, (super), and had a date night movie too. We saw George Clooney in the Descendants - great movie and George is... (husbands look away), a total fox! We ate lots of leftovers, walked the dogs we were sitting through the leaf-filled park, and got together with good friends. We even hit a farmer's market on Sunday. The best part is the pace of these kind of holidays and the quality time together. Being with all my family on Thursday was really special.

My youngest walking Ruby, one of our charges this weekend.

When my favorite neighbor and good pal Kim returned from her holiday, we brain-stormed some pre-tree holiday fluff for the home.  Recently she had snagged a faux mercury glass vase at Homegoods and was wondering how to display it for xmas. Our phone rings and she asks, "Hey, will your husband mind if I clip a few berries for my vase?"

Some of the lovely foliage on our court. 

"Are you kidding?, " I said, "He probably wouldn't know if the tree got taken down! I'll meet you outside with the hackers!"  From then on, we had a jolly time clipping away at this and that in the hood. I'll say it worked out for the best that most people were away. Anyhow, we used berries from Pistachio trees, Juniper branches- the ones' with white berries look best, and some Sequoia sprigs (thanks to the beast in my front yard.)

Kim's vase with her creation.

Kim's creation came out lovely and partnered with her new runner and glass bulbs acquired on the Homegoods run, her home looks darling. This inspired me to begin a new regular feature I will call, CHECK OUT HER HOUSE! Coming later this week, the first edition and more on the stylish Kim, a French teacher, and her Gallic-inspired home! Here's a preview.

Her holiday runner and pretty bulbs. Don't they look festive? She added a topiary she had from Restoration Hardware.

My arrangement on the mantle for now. The berries are quite heavy, so they will tend to hang.

Another view of what I used.

Pomegranates and Persimmons make wonderful winter centerpieces. These are from the Campbell Farmer's Market. Love the colors mixed with apples and Asian Pears.

If you don't have berries, any conifer tree branches will work. Add in pine cones and a bright ribbon or colored vase and you have a show-stopper for your entry, table or mantle.  Anything natural is much more beautiful and smells better than any fake store-bought greenery. A bowl piled with Pomegranates or walnuts with a nutcracker, bring in the natural and add richness to your home. You can even use pieces from your Christmas tree if you already have it. You'll get that holiday feeling without going all Kris Kringle on your home yet. And don't forget to check out your neighbor's yard. ;)

Kim