Caspari Christmas Ballet

Humor me.

I know Christmas is LONG gone but I never showed you my Christmas table. And I loved it so much that it made me sad to put it away without showing you. So here it is.

You know Caspari is my fave and they debuted this Christmas Ballet collection this year...and I had to have it:

The Nutcracker Ballet depicted in a napkin full of hot pink, red, blue and green. Be still my heart.

I paired it with my wedding china, Derby Panel Green by Royal Crown Derby:

I also used my wedding crystal for wine and light pink glass tumblers from IKEA for water.

Paper napkins served as a table runner as well as coasters. 

Hot pink poinsettias took center stage inside small glass vases (Tip: Did you know you should "sear" the stems of cut poinsettias with a lighter/flame in arrangements? My cut stems are still going strong weeks later). 

Various crystal candlesticks with Caspari taper candles in shades of red, hot pink, and light pink provided ambience.

Everything perched atop a red tablecloth (also Caspari, obvi) that is wonderful for fancy dinners because it feels more like fabric than paper.

And then, we had the Christmas mice:

I made a little trip to IKEA where I picked up a dozen mice for 99 cents each, followed by a trip to the craft store for some pink tulle for the ballerinas and some felt for the gentlemice.

After a relatively short crafting session where I just eyeballed everything and went to town with a hot glue gun, I had a small army of Christmas mice to adorn the table. The perfect finishing touch to each setting and the kids loved them.

And that's a wrap on Christmas. Thanks for playing.

Have a great weekend...see you next week!

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Berry Christmas

I am asking myself why the combination of red and purple has never occurred to me for a Christmas tree. I've definitely used purple in Christmas decorations, but never on my tree. This image is giving me a lot to think about. Meanwhile, look at that floor!

Christmas countdown is on...I am fielding daily questions about its proximity. If you celebrate, hope the lead up is proving joyful.

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Friday Crush

A friend/co-worker turned me onto the Instagram account of pmqfortwo 👀 - it's bananas. Holy moly, I can't stop looking at it - especially all of her Christmas posts. She love Nutcrackers just like I do. And everything is pink and sparkly and just beautiful. Do yourself a favor and peep her account or, better yet, follow it.

Busy week. Ana Claire turned FOUR. As in four YEARS. I just can't. But she did - and we celebrated it. I'm going to slow down and savor this season that is too soon coming to a close. Have a great weekend - see you next week!

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Chinoiserie Christmas Dream

Someone has been holding out on me.

I didn't know the blog Chez V existed. And although these photos are old news from 2014, they are perfectly relevant for any Chinoiserie-lover decorating for Christmas.

All images via Chez V

This image below is from a different post I can't track down, but let me tell you, the pink poinsettia inside the blue/white porcelain is pretty much everything to me right now:

I have never had hot pink poinsettias at Christmas...but this year I WILL. I am planning a whole Christmas table around them and I couldn't be more excited about it. And then I saw this picture. And I may never have another Christmas in my life without pink poinsettias.

Aside from the pink plants, this whole Christmas situation above is amazing. The magnolia leaves, those stockings, the tree...all of it. We are getting a slow start to Christmas decorating this year, but I'm hoping to knock most of it out this weekend and will be referencing these photos as I go.

😍💕🎄 (<--Emoji in blogger. #finally)

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Buffalo Check for (Christmas) Breakfast

Home of Betty Peachey, Design by Randy Luken, Photo by Daniel Feldcamp for housetrends.com

Oh, to have a breakfast nook surrounded by windows where you can cozy up with a cup of coffee in your pajamas on a cold winter morning. And when I pine for this type of space, the image in my head usually looks something like this one above. 

I am 100% on board with the color blue at Christmas and its role on these chairs is stunning. And hung wreaths are so timeless and beautiful, especially when hung with a pretty ribbon. I love simple spaces that pack a delightful punch.

Y'all, last week was c-r-a-z-y-town. I'm shocked I survived, to be honest. But I did...though I peaced out on the blog last week (sorry if you noticed and/or missed me). I'm committed to fully enjoying the next two weeks of Christmas because I know I'm going to blink and my favorite holiday will be over!

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Applique Christmas Tree Skirts

If you like your Christmas to be a kaleidoscope of color, may I recommend these whimsical, fun, detailed and beautiful appliqué tree skirts?

The skirts are handmade by Peruvian artisans and the best part of purchasing them is that part of your spend goes to aid UNICEF. Win, win.

These are truly beautiful, heirloom items but their colors and friendly motif keep them casual and fun...your kids will love them. I could see a tree decorated with those trendy colored ball ornaments in shades of blue, pink, red and green with a big yellow star at the top.

Check out the stockings too!

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Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas, folks. This is our annual stocking picture (Carter's fantastic idea) and I think I got Ana Claire to stand still with the promise of applesauce. Thought you might enjoy the cuteness.

I think this wraps me up for 2014! Baby boy has yet to make his debut but I'm ready to check out, enjoy Christmas, and wait for his arrival.

Not sure when I'll be back with full posts but I'll definitely post once he's here. From there, let's play it by ear, shall we? I didn't stay away too, too long with Ana Claire and I expect it will be the same with this baby.

I hope you have a wonderful holiday with your loved ones and that 2015 brings you nothing but the absolute best.

xoxoxo,

D

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Greenbrier Christmas

The weekend we visited The Greenbrier was the first weekend they had their Christmas decorations out. Let's be clear that I planned our trip to coincide with this. And despite my terrible camera phone pictures, I did capture some of the Greenbrier Glee.

^ Terrible picture that I tried to make "vintage-y" via Instagram filters ^

Impossible to think that the already festive decor of The Greenbrier could get any more festive for a holiday, but they manage. And seeing all the traditional Christmas colors against the juicy tones of The Greenbrier's aesthetic was just a treat for the eyes. I think we visited at the perfect time of year.

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Caspari Nutcracker Bar

I mentioned that my Caspari holiday inspiration wasn't quite done with my Thanksgiving coverage. The Christmas displays I saw at Caspari HQ when I visited in November were AMAZING. And none caught my attention more than this nutcracker bar!

Y'all know I'm devoted to nutcrackers and I couldn't stop staring at this gorgeous display accented with the most delicious tones of cobalt blue. I've really jumped on the blue train at Christmas as I love how it sets off the traditional red and green tones of the season and this bar captures the look exactly.

Not so great pictures but trust me that the look was ridiculously good in person. Caspari has the most incredible assortment of items with their nutcracker motif, as you can see. Like that big guy in the center? He's an advent calendar! Love, love, love.

Shop Caspari's Nutcracker Suite collection here...

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Catalog Pick: MacKenzie-Childs Ornaments at Horchow

Dearest Santa,

Please bring me one of each! MacKenzie-Childs (a favorite of mine) ornaments from Horchow - what Christmas tree dreams are made of:

If I was a loaded lady in the monetary sense of the word, I would for sure and for certain purchase every single one of these ornaments - actually, multiples of each - and deck out my tree in all sorts of black and white checkered ribbon, red poinsettias and otherwise festive accoutrements to bring the fun style of MacKenzie-Childs to my Christmas decorating!

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Merry Christmas

We wish you a Merry Christmas.

Love, 

Daniela, Ana Claire (& Carter)

Candy Christmas Tree

We have two Christmas trees.  I think this might have been the primary reason why I was so thrilled to renovate the basement into our family room - the opportunity for a second tree!

And I knew exactly what I wanted to do in our family room...a candy tree. Something bright, colorful and sweet. We debuted the tree last year but seeing as how I was super-dee-duper pregnant I didn't get around to blogging about it.

So here it is this year:

And if you remember what our family room looks like, you'll see that the bright pops of candy color are right at home in this room. In fact, I'm pretty sure the desire for a candy tree might have influenced this room's color palette.

Every Christmas, my mother-in-law takes me to my favorite shop in Columbia, SC called Madison Hall where they have a gigantic Christmas room devoted to ornaments which is where I purchased the majority of the ornaments for this tree. I can't wait to go back this year and keep adding to this one...and I hope as Ana Claire gets older, she comes to love her sweet candy tree as much as I do.

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Friday Crush

(Someone remind me where this image is from...Southern Living?)

I am planning a red buffalo check shirt for my Christmas Day ensemble...so I'm basically going to look like this table. And love it! What a beautiful, traditional, sweet table setting. Love the pretty package in the center of the bowl...lovely ribbon can do magical things.

Hope y'all enjoy the last weekend of the Christmas season. See you next week!

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Wreaths on Windows

image via Southern Living

The Christmas season is flying by....slow down, Christmas! I'd like at least two more weeks of enjoyment. Two more weeks to completely savor images like this one...I LOVE wreaths on windows. And the size of these wreaths with big red bows adorning an adorable cape cod with Chippendale railings...well, it's Holiday Heaven. Totally saving this idea for the day when I have that gorgeous window-walled sunroom.

What's your favorite way to decorate outdoors for Christmas?

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Raggedy Ann Christmas Tree

Do your children have a color palette? Ana Claire does. Is that because I'm a weird designer mom or do parents do that? Since before she was born I gravitated toward the combination of red, pink and blue. There is nary a yellow, green or purple outfit to be found in her closet.

So being that the child's palette is red, pink and blue, a Raggedy Ann themed first birthday party was an obvious choice. And celebrating Ana Claire's birthday so close to Christmas meant that, clearly, our Christmas tree had to match her birthday party theme. I couldn't have an all-green and white situation competing with my her red/pink/blue party.

Also, I kind of switched up the Christmas color scheme in our living room last year to a more traditional palette of reds, greens and blues. Remember our stockings?

SO WHAT I'M SAYING IS, the tree got a makeover this year. And it began with this little idea I had of wrapping sweet blue ribbon around candy canes:

And one of our gifts to Ana Claire for her birthday was this Raggedy Ann ornament:

And then it kinda spiraled from there into this:

And the twinkly evening view...my favorite:

Now, keep in mind, virtually everything on this tree is new so I had to really keep tight on the budget. The ribbons are present toppers that I just separated out into individual strands and tied to the branches. The candy canes were obvi low cost but have a great impact. The balls and bead garland are from Target. And the painted ornaments are wooden ones that I picked up at AC Moore for $1 and painted to match the tree.

I must say, I am really digging it. Thanks for having a birthday so close to Christmas, baby girl. Gave mama an excuse to redecorate. Although I will likely not repeat this tree next year, I do like that I have more of a red/blue foundation to build upon to jive with our stockings and our blue and white porcelain in the living room. Just think I'll add a little more green to it next year.

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